Journal of Industrial Engineering International: 2 (2)

Open Access Article

1 - A reliability-based maintenance technicians’ workloads optimisation model with stochastic consideration
D. E. Ighravwe S. A. Oke K. A. Adebiyi

The growing interest in technicians’ workloads research is probably associated with the recent surge in competition. This was prompted by unprecedented technological development that triggers changes in customer tastes and preferences for industrial goods. In a qu More

The growing interest in technicians’ workloads research is probably associated with the recent surge in competition. This was prompted by unprecedented technological development that triggers changes in customer tastes and preferences for industrial goods. In a quest for business improvement, this worldwide intense competition in industries has stimulated theories and practical frameworks that seek to optimise performance in workplaces. In line with this drive, the present paper proposes an optimisation model which considers technicians’ reliability that complements factory information obtained. The information used emerged from technicians’ productivity and earned-values using the concept of multi-objective modelling approach. Since technicians are expected to carry out routine and stochastic maintenance work, we consider these workloads as constraints. The influence of training, fatigue and experiential knowledge of technicians on workload management was considered. These workloads were combined with maintenance policy in optimising reliability, productivity and earned-values using the goal programming approach. Practical datasets were utilised in studying the applicability of the proposed model in practice. It was observed that our model was able to generate information that practicing maintenance engineers can apply in making more informed decisions on technicians’ management. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

2 - Application of orthogonal array technique and particle swarm optimization approach in surface roughness modification when face milling AISI1045 steel parts
Masoud Azadi Moghaddam Farhad Kolahan

Face milling is an important and common machining operation because of its versatility and capability to produce various surfaces. Face milling is a machining process of removing material by the relative motion between a work piece and rotating cutter with multiple cutt More

Face milling is an important and common machining operation because of its versatility and capability to produce various surfaces. Face milling is a machining process of removing material by the relative motion between a work piece and rotating cutter with multiple cutting edges. It is an interrupted cutting operation in which the teeth of the milling cutter enter and exit the work piece during each revolution. This paper is concerned with the experimental and numerical study of face milling of AISI1045. The proposed approach is based on statistical analysis on the experimental data gathered using Taguchi design matrix. Surface roughness is the most important performance characteristics of the face milling process. In this study the effect of input face milling process parameters on surface roughness of AISI1045 steel milled parts have been studied. The input parameters are cutting speed (v), feed rate (fz) and depth of cut (ap ). The experimental data are gathered using Taguchi L9design matrix. In order to establish the relations between the input and the output parameters, various regression functions have been fitted on the data based on output characteristics. The significance of the process parameters on the quality characteristics of the process was also evaluated quantitatively using the analysis of variance method. Then, statistical analysis and validation experiments have been carried out to compare and select the best and most fitted models. In the last section of this research, mathematical model has been developed for surface roughness prediction using particle swarm optimization (PSO) on the basis of experimental results. The model developed for optimization has been validated by confirmation experiments. It has been found that the predicted roughness using PSO is in good agreement with the actual surface roughness. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

3 - Ranking efficient DMUs using minimizing distance in DEA
Shokrollah Ziari Sadigh Raissi

In many applications, ranking of decision making units (DMUs) is a problematic technical task procedure to decision makers in data envelopment analysis (DEA), especially when there are extremely efficient DMUs. In such cases, many DEA models may usually get the same eff More

In many applications, ranking of decision making units (DMUs) is a problematic technical task procedure to decision makers in data envelopment analysis (DEA), especially when there are extremely efficient DMUs. In such cases, many DEA models may usually get the same efficiency score for different DMUs. Hence, there is a growing interest in ranking techniques yet. The main purpose of this paper is to overcome the lack of infeasibility and unboundedness in some DEA ranking methods. The proposed method is for ranking extreme efficient DMUs in DEA based on exploiting the leave-one out and minimizing distance between DMU under evaluation and virtual DMU. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

4 - A time-shared machine repair problem with mixed spares under N-policy
Madhu Jain Chandra Shekhar Shalini Shukla

The present investigation deals with a machine repair problem consisting of cold and warm standby machines. The machines are subject to breakdown and are repaired by the permanent repairman operating under N-policy. There is provision of one additional removable repairm More

The present investigation deals with a machine repair problem consisting of cold and warm standby machines. The machines are subject to breakdown and are repaired by the permanent repairman operating under N-policy. There is provision of one additional removable repairman who is called upon when the work load of failed machines crosses a certain threshold level and is removed as soon as the work load again ceases to that level. Both repairmen recover the failed machines by following the time sharing concept which means that the repairmen share their repair job simultaneously among all the failed machines that have joined the system for repair. Markovian model has been developed by considering the queue dependent rates and solved analytically using the recursive technique. Various performance indices are derived which are further used to obtain the cost function. By taking illustration, numerical simulation and sensitivity analysis have been provided. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

5 - Analysis of implementation of Tradable Green Certificates system in a competitive electricity market: a game theory approach
Meysam Ghaffari Ashkan Hafezalkotob Ahmad Makui

This paper investigates three models to implement Tradable Green Certificates (TGC) system with aid of game theory approach. In particular, the competition between thermal and renewable power plants is formulated in three models: namely cooperative, Nash and Stackelberg More

This paper investigates three models to implement Tradable Green Certificates (TGC) system with aid of game theory approach. In particular, the competition between thermal and renewable power plants is formulated in three models: namely cooperative, Nash and Stackelberg game models. The price of TGC is assumed to be determined by the legislative body (government) which is fixed. Numerical examples presented in this paper include sensitivity analysis of some key parameters and comparison of the results of different models. In all three game models, the parameters that influence pricing of the TGC based on the optimal amounts are obtained. The numerical examples demonstrate that in all models: there is a reverse relation between the price of electricity and the TGC price, as well as a direct relation between the price of electricity and the share of green electricity in total electricity generation. It is found that Stackelberg model is an appropriate structure to implement the TGC system. In this model, the supply of electricity and the production of green electricity are at the highest level, while the price of electricity is at the lowest levels. In addition, payoff of the thermal power plant is at the highest levels in the Nash model. Hence this model can be an applicatory structure for implementation of the TGC system in developing countries, where the number of thermal power plants is significantly greater than the number of renewable power plants. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

6 - Process-based tolerance assessment of connecting rod machining process
G. V. S. S. Sharma P. Srinivasa Rao B. Surendra Babu

Process tolerancing based on the process capability studies is the optimistic and pragmatic approach of determining the manufacturing process tolerances. On adopting the define–measure–analyze–improve–control approach, the process potential capab More

Process tolerancing based on the process capability studies is the optimistic and pragmatic approach of determining the manufacturing process tolerances. On adopting the define–measure–analyze–improve–control approach, the process potential capability index (Cp) and the process performance capability index (Cpk) values of identified process characteristics of connecting rod machining process are achieved to be greater than the industry benchmark of 1.33, i.e., four sigma level. The tolerance chain diagram methodology is applied to the connecting rod in order to verify the manufacturing process tolerances at various operations of the connecting rod manufacturing process. This paper bridges the gap between the existing dimensional tolerances obtained via tolerance charting and process capability studies of the connecting rod component. Finally, the process tolerancing comparison has been done by adopting a tolerance capability expert software. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

7 - Biofuel supply chain considering depreciation cost of installed plants
Masoud Rabbani Farshad Ramezankhani Ramin Giahi Amir Farshbaf-Geranmayeh

Due to the depletion of the fossil fuels and major concerns about the security of energy in the future to produce fuels, the importance of utilizing the renewable energies is distinguished. Nowadays there has been a growing interest for biofuels. Thus, this paper reveal More

Due to the depletion of the fossil fuels and major concerns about the security of energy in the future to produce fuels, the importance of utilizing the renewable energies is distinguished. Nowadays there has been a growing interest for biofuels. Thus, this paper reveals a general optimization model which enables the selection of preprocessing centers for the biomass, biofuel plants, and warehouses to store the biofuels. The objective of this model is to maximize the total benefits. Costs of the model consist of setup cost of preprocessing centers, plants and warehouses, transportation costs, production costs, emission cost and the depreciation cost. At first, the deprecation cost of the centers is calculated by means of three methods. The model chooses the best depreciation method in each period by switching between them. A numerical example is presented and solved by CPLEX solver in GAMS software and finally, sensitivity analyses are accomplished. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

8 - An integrated data envelopment analysis–artificial neural network approach for benchmarking of bank branches
Elsa Shokrollahpour Farhad Hosseinzadeh Lotfi Mostafa Zandieh

Efficiency and quality of services are crucial to today’s banking industries. The competition in this section has become increasingly intense, as a result of fast improvements in Technology. Therefore, performance analysis of the banking sectors attracts more atte More

Efficiency and quality of services are crucial to today’s banking industries. The competition in this section has become increasingly intense, as a result of fast improvements in Technology. Therefore, performance analysis of the banking sectors attracts more attention these days. Even though data envelopment analysis (DEA) is a pioneer approach in the literature as of an efficiency measurement tool and finding benchmarks, it is on the other hand unable to demonstrate the possible future benchmarks. The drawback to it could be that the benchmarks it provides us with, may still be less efficient compared to the more advanced future benchmarks. To cover for this weakness, artificial neural network is integrated with DEA in this paper to calculate the relative efficiency and more reliable benchmarks of one of the Iranian commercial bank branches. Therefore, each branch could have a strategy to improve the efficiency and eliminate the cause of inefficiencies based on a 5-year time forecast. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

9 - Two models of inventory control with supplier selection in case of multiple sourcing: a case of Isfahan Steel Company
Masood Rabieh Mohammad Ali Soukhakian Ali Naghi Mosleh Shirazi

Selecting the best suppliers is crucial for a company’s success. Since competition is a determining factor nowadays, reducing cost and increasing quality of products are two key criteria for appropriate supplier selection. In the study, first the inventories of ag More

Selecting the best suppliers is crucial for a company’s success. Since competition is a determining factor nowadays, reducing cost and increasing quality of products are two key criteria for appropriate supplier selection. In the study, first the inventories of agglomeration plant of Isfahan Steel Company were categorized through VED and ABC methods. Then the models to supply two important kinds of raw materials (inventories) were developed, considering the following items: (1) the optimal consumption composite of the materials, (2) the total cost of logistics, (3) each supplier’s terms and conditions, (4) the buyer’s limitations and (5) the consumption behavior of the buyers. Among diverse developed and tested models—using the company’s actual data within three pervious years—the two new innovative models of mixed-integer non-linear programming type were found to be most suitable. The results of solving two models by lingo software (based on company’s data in this particular case) were equaled. Comparing the results of the new models to the actual performance of the company revealed 10.9 and 7.1% reduction in total procurement costs of the company in two consecutive years. Manuscript profile

Open Access Article

10 - Multi-objective optimization of discrete time–cost tradeoff problem in project networks using non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm
Mohammadreza Shahriari

The time–cost tradeoff problem is one of the most important and applicable problems in project scheduling area. There are many factors that force the mangers to crash the time. This factor could be early utilization, early commissioning and operation, improving th More

The time–cost tradeoff problem is one of the most important and applicable problems in project scheduling area. There are many factors that force the mangers to crash the time. This factor could be early utilization, early commissioning and operation, improving the project cash flow, avoiding unfavorable weather conditions, compensating the delays, and so on. Since there is a need to allocate extra resources to short the finishing time of project and the project managers are intended to spend the lowest possible amount of money and achieve the maximum crashing time, as a result, both direct and indirect costs will be influenced in the project, and here, we are facing into the time value of money. It means that when we crash the starting activities in a project, the extra investment will be tied in until the end date of the project; however, when we crash the final activities, the extra investment will be tied in for a much shorter period. This study is presenting a two-objective mathematical model for balancing compressing the project time with activities delay to prepare a suitable tool for decision makers caught in available facilities and due to the time of projects. Also drawing the scheduling problem to real world conditions by considering nonlinear objective function and the time value of money are considered. The presented problem was solved using NSGA-II, and the effect of time compressing reports on the non-dominant set. Manuscript profile

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