Monte Carlo DEA and budget allocation for data collection: An application to measure supply chain efficiency

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

A Two-Phased Gradient Technique For Budget Allocation: An Application To Data Collection Budget Allocation In Efficiency Measurement Of DEA.

This paper presents a gradient based algorithm to solve the data collection budget allocation problem in efficiency measurement of DEA

Influence of Employee Involvement in Total Productive Maintenance Practices on Job Characteristics: The Malaysian Scenario

The main goal of this study is to examine whether the extent of involvement in Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) practices has a positive effect on job characteristics. Data was gathered from a sample of 184 respondents derived from manufacturing companies in Malaysia. Results from the regression analyses revealed that the extent of employee’s involvement in TPM practices is positively related to the five core job dimensions (skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback). Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed

A new integrated multi-criteria decision-making model for resilient supplier selection

Unexpected worldwide disruptions brought various challenges to supply chain management thus manipulating the research direction towards resilience. Since the supplier is one of the important supply chain elements, the challenges can be overcome through resilient supplier selection. Supplier selection is a multi-criteria decision-making problem where several criteria are involved. In this study, GRA-BWM-TOPSIS was proposed to evaluate resilient suppliers. Seven resilience criteria which were Quality, Lead Time, Cost, Flexibility, Visibility, Responsiveness and Financial Stability have been proposed and five experts were selected to provide judgments for the selection process. By using the proposed method, the criteria importance levels were obtained using GRA and the criteria weights were computed using BWM, together with a consistency test. TOPSIS was applied to evaluate the suppliers’ performances. Through a case study in a food manufacturing company, 10 suppliers were evaluated and ranked. A validation process was carried out and the managerial implications were provided to ensure the effectiveness of the proposed model. GRA-BWM-TOPSIS is suitable for resilient supplier selection when there are uncertainties and incomplete data

A framework for evaluating the performance of sustainable service supply chain management under uncertainty

Developing and accessing a measure of sustainable service supply chain management (SSSCM) performance is currently a key challenge. The main contributions of this study are two-fold. First, this paper provides valuable support for SSSCM regarding the nature of network hierarchical relations with qualitative and quantitative scales. Second, this study indicates the practical implementation and enhances management effectiveness for SSSCM. The literature on SSSCM is very limited and performance measures need to have a systematic framework. The purpose of this study is to develop and evaluate the SSSCM importance based on aspects i.e., environmentally conscious design, environmental service operations design and environmentally sustainable design. This paper developed a hierarchical network for SSSCM in a closed-loop hierarchical structure. A generalized quantitative evaluation model based on the Fuzzy Delphi Method and Analytical Network Process were then used to consider both the interdependence among measures and the fuzziness of subjective measures in SSSCM. The results indicate that the top-ranking aspect to consider is that of environmental service operation design, and the top criteria is reverse logistics integrated into service packag

Application of an evolutionary algorithm-based ensemble model to job-shop scheduling

In this paper, a novel evolutionary algorithm is applied to tackle job-shop scheduling tasks in manufacturing environments. Specifically, a modified micro genetic algorithm (MmGA) is used as the building block to formulate an ensemble model to undertake multi-objective optimisation problems in job-shop scheduling. The MmGA ensemble is able to approximate the optimal solution under the Pareto optimality principle. To evaluate the effectiveness of the MmGA ensemble, a case study based on real requirements is conducted. The results positively indicate the effectiveness of the MmGA ensemble in undertaking job-shop scheduling problems

An Ultra-Wideband Circularly Polarized Asymmetric-S Antenna With Enhanced Bandwidth and Beamwidth Performance

This paper introduces an ultra-wideband circularly polarized (CP) asymmetric-S antenna with wide axial ratio beamwidth (ARBW) for C-band applications. The proposed antenna is realized by bending a linearly polarized dipole into asymmetric-S shape with variable trace width, which achieves CP radiation. Unlike the reported symmetric-S antenna, the proposed antenna is constituted with two unequal curved arms to enhance the bandwidth and beamwidth performances. Compared with the symmetric-S antenna, the proposed antenna demonstrates much wider AR bandwidth and wider ARBW over broader frequency range. A prototype is fabricated to verify the design principle. The measured and simulated results are very consistent and both indicate that the proposed antenna has a wide impedance bandwidth (VSWR <; 2) of 70.2% (3.58 to 7.46 GHz), and a wide 3-dB AR bandwidth of 84.8% (2.75 to 6.8 GHz). Moreover, maximum ARBW of 153° is achieved, and a 3-dB ARBW of more than 100° is maintained within a wide operation bandwidth of 46.3% (3.65-5.85 GHz)