Identification and severity assessment of challenges in the adoption of industry 4.0 in Indian construction industry

The current exploratory study identifies the major challenges in the adoption of Industry 4.0 framework in the Indian construction industry and subsequently ranks the challenges on the basis of the severity. Based on the extant literature review and personal interaction with construction management, information technology (IT) professionals, and academicians, twenty-five challenges were identified. After validating the challenges, they were ranked from most severe to least severe using the multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method based on rough set theory that leans on the indiscernibility relation between the objects. The study indicates that huge initial investments and costs incurred to mobilize the internet of things (IoT) enabled framework in the construction firms are the major obstacles to the adoption of the Industry 4.0 methods. The recruitment of experts to train the employees and workers is seen as another big hurdle in the aforementioned objective. It is a challenge to educate and train them on sophisticated technology that requires a basic understanding of computer fundamentals and IT-related concepts that is found lacking in the workers employed at the lower levels. Proper maintenance of sensitive tools and equipment such as IoT devices is a challenging task due to the nature of the activities taking place at construction sites. The multi-criteria method of ranking based on Dominance-based Rough Set Analysis (DRSA) has never been attempted to rank the challenges and assign a severity score. The study adds novelty to the existing literature in the domain of multi-criteria ranking by including a tool that is new to this area of research

Dynamic behaviour of woven bio fiber composite

The effect of weaving pattern and natural filler addition on the dynamic properties of composite structure was investigated. The reinforcement effect of plain, basket, and twill weave were compared with randomly oriented natural fiber in short form. An experimental modal analysis was used to determine the fundamental natural frequency and modal damping factor of composite structure. The results for a woven reinforced composite were compared with those of a randomly oriented short fiber composite. Reinforcement with woven form enhanced the fundamental natural frequency, while randomly oriented short fiber enhanced the damping factor of composite material. In addition, mechanical properties, such as tensile and flexural behavior, were examined to understand the effect of reinforcement on the composite material. The sisal bio fiber with woven form enhanced the properties of the composite material

Embracing drones and the Internet of drones systems in manufacturing – An exploration of obstacles

The manufacturing sector attributes the growing prominence of Drones and the Internet of Drones (IoD) systems to their multifaceted utility in delivery, process monitoring, infrastructure inspection, inventory management, predictive maintenance, and safety inspections. Despite their potential benefits, adopting these technologies faces significant obstacles that need systematic identification and resolution. The current literature inadequately addresses the barriers impeding the adoption of Drones and IoD systems in manufacturing, indicating a research gap. This study bridges this gap by providing comprehensive insights and facilitating the organisational transition towards embracing Drone and IoD technologies. (...

Analysis of key challenges to implementation of FEFO in perishable food supply chain

Implementing FEFO practices has become essential for organizations globally to minimize spoilage, enhance inventory turnover, and ensure compliance with health and safety standards. To aid stakeholders in effectively adopting FEFO, it is crucial to identify and address the challenges involved in its implementation. Through an extensive literature review using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology and insights from industry experts, this study identifies thirteen core challenges that hinder FEFO adoption. PRISMA methodology was used to systematically organize the existing literature for the purpose of this study. Using tools like Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) and Total Interpretive Structural Modelling (TISM), the challenges were examined and ranked according to their interdependencies, providing insights into the cause-effect relationships among them. After applying DEMATEL, an alpha threshold value of 0.368 revealed that challenges in effective storage management are the primary barrier in implementing FEFO practices. With level partitioning, this challenge emerged as the most significant, forming the foundation for a roadmap designed to assist stakeholders. The findings from this study offer managers actionable insights for implementing effective FEFO techniques within their organizations. The study's novelty lies in its combination of DEMATEL and TISM methodologies, along with a roadmap that highlights strategic and policy-focused recommendations to support efficient FEFO adoption and the systematic study of challenges preventing effective FEFO adoption. This paper aids implementation of FEFO for better inventory control and management, reduced wastage and greater efficiency. The paper also effectively outlines and analyses the order of importance of challenges in FEFO implementation and their interdependence.Journal of Agriculture and Food Researc

Barriers in repurposing an existing manufacturing plant: a total interpretive structural modeling (TISM) approach

Repurposing of an existing manufacturing plant is an emerging field due to the increase in emergencies of the covid-19 pandemic with the need of rapid responses which has a wide range of potential applications in sustainment of the manufacturing plant in these unfavourable times and helping of the economy. It makes the manufacturing plant adaptable to changes, makes it productive by manufacturing products that are currently in demand, prevents the dissolution of the plant and thus harvests the maximum potential of the manufacturing plant in the need of an emergency. However, not many industries and plants are suited to make the appropriate changes and lack knowledge on how to proceed to do so. The paper identifies the barriers that are faced in the transition for repurposing a general manufacturing plant to a more suited plant for current emergencies that need rapid response. These barriers hinder the repurposing of the manufacturing plant and impact the business decisions to establish a manufacturing plant suited for emergency situations. Surveys and information from various experts in this field are used to identify these barriers and document their interdependencies and influence on one another. The data is graphed and analysed utilizing TISM (Total Interpretive Structural Modelling) and MICMAC (Cross-Impact Matrix Multiplication Applied to Classification) methodology to further examine by classifying and ranking the relationships. Analysing the relationships between barriers leads to effective decisions towards the successful adoption of repurposing of manufacturing plant. A contextual relationship based structural table called interpretive table and structural model is made to pinpoint influential barriers. Thus, the research explains and explores significant barriers to the adoption of repurposing in manufacturing plant and not only provides a strong methodological and contextual contribution with the help of TISM and MICMAC but also gives research a sense of links of the barriers across various levels. On a practical level, the study is immensely useful to help manufacturing plants overcome repercussions due to disruptions by modifying existing practice and business model to a new model which synchronizes with the new normal to increase the efficiency and survivability of the plant. The result of the research points out that strategical, cultural, technological, and innovation barriers are the most influential barrier in repurposing of manufacturing plant

Blockchain technology for enhancing traceability and efficiency in automobile supply chain: a case study

A robust traceability system would help organizations in inventory optimization reduce lead time and improve customer service and quality which further enables the organizations to be a leader in their industry sector. This research study analyzes the challenges faced by the automotive industry in its supply chain operations. Further, the traceability issues and waiting time at different nodes of the supply chain are considered to be priority issues that affect the overall supply chain efficiency in the automotive supply chain. After studying the existing blockchain architectures and their implementation methodology, this study proposes a new blockchain-based architecture to improve traceability and reduce waiting time for the automotive supply chain. A hyper ledger fabric-based blockchain architecture is developed to track the ownership transfers in inbound and outbound logistics. The simulation results of the proposed hyper ledger fabric-based blockchain architecture show that there is an improvement in the traceability of items at different nodes of the supply chain that enhances the Inventory Quality Ratio (IQR) and the mean waiting time is reduced at the factory, wholesaler, and retailer, which thereby improves the overall supply chain efficiency. The blockchain embedded supply chain is more capable to eliminate the risks and uncertainties associated with the automotive supply chain. The benefits of adopting blockchain technology in the automotive supply chain are also described. The developed blockchain-based framework is capable to get more visibility into goods movement and inventory status in automotive supply chains

Developing a strategic sustainable facility plan for a hospital layout using ELECTRE and Apples procedure

Today healthcare globally is growing at a rapid pace and despite the huge technological advancement, healthcare still faces primitive challenges and hence results in the poor service and facility to the needy. Layout planning acts as one major reason which requires improvements for the effective and efficient working of the healthcare facilities. This research aims at optimizing several quantitative criteria related to economic, technology and society which are taken into consideration for the decision-making during the evaluation, analysing and selection of the best layout for an existing healthcare facility. Critical areas for the improvement were found out using statistical analysis based on a survey questionnaire and Apple’s layout procedure is utilised to design the different possible layouts for an efficient facility. The seven criteria namely inter-departmental satisfactory level, the average distance travelled and the average time required for staff flow, the average distance travelled and the average time required for patient flow, the average distance travelled and the average time required for material flow were taken into consideration. The ELECTRE methodology was used as multi-criteria decision making based on decided seven criteria for comparing the different layout by methodical and orderly thinking.N/

Mechanical, Chemical and Morphological Analysis of Crab shell/Sisal Natural Fiber Hybrid Composites

Natural fiber-reinforced hybrid composites find wide applications in recent decades owing to its biodegradability, low density, and low-cost benefits. The work reported investigates, the effect of adding crab shell particles over sisal-reinforced epoxy hybrid composites in different weight percentages such as 0 wt.%, 2 wt.%, 4 wt.%, and 6 wt.%. Mechanical properties, morphological characters, X-ray diffraction analysis, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were carried out for prepared hybrid composites. The inclusion of up to four weight percentage of crab shell particles exhibited considerable improvements in tensile (50%) and flexural strength (38%) in contrast to other combinations. Addition of more than 4 wt. % of crab shell particles in the polymer composites showed decreasing properties, due to the agglomeration effect between fiber and matrix. This clearly showed that the inclusion of crab shell particles into the polymer matrix considerably improves the flexural and tensile strength of hybrid composites. Morphological behavior of fractured surface confirmed the existence of better bonding between the fiber and matrix. Functional groups of sisal fiber and crab shell particles were identified using FTIR. The crystallinity index (CI) and crystallinity percentage of sisal fiber and crab shell particles are 0.43, 0.44 and 63.76%, 63.95%, respectively

Sensitization of Sustainable Manufacturing Strategies to Benefit Indian SMEs

In recent times, globalization policy eliminates the restriction of market boundaries, enabling all manufacturers to exploit the markets of developing countries, due to which, the environmental regulations in the developing countries are evolving to secure their nature with stringent regulation. In this view, this article is written to impart knowledge on sustainable manufacturing to all manufacturers. However, for successful implementation of sustainable manufacturing practices, formulation of strategies is found to be essential. In this view, critical insights have been presented by reviewing existing practices of sustainable manufacturing, how to deploy them and their correlation with the environmental benefits are mapped to support practicing managers. The practices discussed in the chapter include process optimization in view of the environment energy modeling, waste minimization options, better end-of-life policies, material efficiency and need to employee training. </jats:p