It is a commonly visible scenario in todays’ market, especially in small and medium sized enterpris-es (SMEs), where the focus is on quantity rather than quality. This paper explains the common high rejection problem of a SME and how the productivity levels were enhanced after the successful implementation of Six-Sigma DMAIC methodology. Once the project completion industry was able to acquire many tangible and intangible benefits, this paper offers a systematic step by step illustration of DMAIC methodology to help the other firms start similar productivity improvement initiatives.

The objective of the present study is to bring out a multidimensional metric to measure service quality delivered by employees serving in Indian small & medium manufacturing enterprises. 144 executives working at top/middle level in different small-medium manufacturing units of north India responded to a questionnaire survey. The respondents were asked to assess service quality being delivered by the shop-floor workers serving their respective units on the 1-5 perception scale. Application of exploratory factor analysis resulted in an interpretable latent structure comprising of 5 determinants and 22 indicator items. Confirmatory factor analysis condensed this scale to bring out the final scale 4 determinants viz., Dependability, Agility, Professionalism and Understanding with 13 indicator statements. This scale thus emerged is tested for validity and reliability using established tools. The study provides a framework to SME managers to assess services of their workforce. It also contributes to researchers to build up more such metrics for similar situations in other sectors so that more concrete generalizations can be made.

A series of novel 5-Bromo-3-iodo-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridine linked various sulfonamide derivatives 8a-8j poly functionalized were designed and synthesized in moderate to good yield. A starting with iodination of 5-Bromo-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridine 5 with iodine produced intermediate 5-Bromo-3-iodo-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridine 6 with the reaction of various sulfonamide derivatives 7a-7j via copper catalyzed coupling reaction produced targeted compounds8a-8j. The isolated compounds were accepted by spectral and elemental analysis. The compounds 8a,8c,8d, and 8i were excellent active against Gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial strain compare to streptomycin standard drug. All synthesized compounds showed moderate to good antioxidant properties with used DPPH and Superoxide radical scavenging assay, Compounds 8c, 8g, and 8i exerted significant antioxidant scavenging activity for the DPPH radical.

This paper compares and evaluates the performance of five different conventional job selection dis-patching rules for scheduling of multi-load automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) serving for material handling operations in variable sized flexible manufacturing system (FMS) layout. Four sizes of FMS layout are considered for the performance evaluation of the five types of conventional job se-lection dispatching rules. The FMS layouts under consideration are served by the two multi-load AGVs. The multi-load AGVs cruises under machine initiated the nearest vehicle (NV) dispatching rule for the material handling activities at all work centers (WCs) for all four sizes of FMS layout. Four sizes of FMS layout produce five different types of parts and consist of three, six, nine and twelve work centers and loading-unloading centers, respectively. In the simulation test, it is found that the identical destination first (IDF) job selection rule having selection criterion based on the destination similarity of two picked up jobs outperforms all other job selection dispatching rules for an overall production rate of the FMS (parts/hr) in all four FMS layouts.

Variation exists in all processes. There is not even a single process that is completely true. Measuring the trueness of the process is itself a process which can also imitate the process variation. Therefore, measurement system should be strong enough to wager on the trueness of the process. This paper is an attempt to indicate the true method and substantiate the use of measurement system analysis (MSA) by using it in two different environments i.e. in manufacturing as well as process industry. Also, a comparison among various analyzing techniques has been drawn for authenticating the candid method followed by an evaluation using fuzzy TOPSIS for authenticating the results of comparison. The organization’s type, also, strongly influences the performance of MSA as revealed in the conclusion of the article. The results calculated by various methods and in both environments were discussed and as a result ANOVA comes out to be the best method. The application of correct MSA is highly required which ultimately results in increased organizations’ performance. The study is one of its type and will motivate the researchers and industrialists to use and explore the new and efficient ways of MSA.

An environmentally benign aqueous protocol for the synthesis of novel 2-((5-(4-methoxybenzylidene)-4-oxo-4,5-dihydrothiazol-2-yl)amino)substituted acid by using potassium carbonate as a base has been achieved. These ultrasound irradiation and conventional technique reaction proceed efficiently in water in the absence of organic solvent. In comparison with conventional methods, our protocol is convenient and offers several advantages, such as shorter reaction time, higher yields, milder conditions and environmental friendliness.

The derivatives of 2,6-dihydroxyacetophenone[4]arene were synthesized via one-step in the presence of base catalyzed cyclocondensation reaction of equimolar volumes of different aliphatic aldehydes and 2,6-dihydroxyacetophenone. All the compounds were purified by column chromatography and characterized by ¹H-NMR Spectroscopy, ¹³C-NMR Spectroscopy, IR Spectroscopy, and Mass spectrometry techniques. The compounds were provided with good yield and can be successfully useful for various amino acid detection because of the four ketone groups in 2,6-Dihydroxyaceto-phenone[4]arene were able to react with the amino group of amino acid to give a stable product formation. It was caused by the intermolecular hydrogen bonded between the two groups, ketone and carboxylic group of amino acid. This recognition of amino acid was carried out in UV-vis spectroscopic technique.

India has turned out to be one of the most favorite destinations for the patients who want to undertake cost effective medical care for various medical problems and who have infuriated from the long waiting lists for medical and diagnostic procedures in their home countries. This research aims to analyze different factors along with their intensity affecting medical tourism industry in a developing country like India so that managers and policymakers can take better decisions which will help in growth & promotion of Indian health tourism market. The study has been done by performing a cross-sectional survey within major hospitals in India and exploratory factor analysis and graph theory and matrix approach have been used to evaluate the intensity of variables affecting Indian medical tourism sector. Nineteen variables have been identified through review of literature, and four factors have been extracted including cost, quality of treatment and care, availability of experts, competitive advantage and political, legal and visa related factors. With the understanding of the intensity of different variables suitable precautions can be taken by the healthcare managers so that these variables can be handled very carefully.

Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) is widely used to perform cladding so as to enhance corrosion resistance and several other properties of substrate material. However, the success of cladding us-ing GMAW depends on the optimal selection of its critical parameters. Therefore, in this study, the cladding of stainless steel over mild steel substrate using GMAW process is investigated with an aim to optimize the GMAW process parameters. Three GMAW process parameters i.e. current, voltage, and torch angle were selected and their effect on the time required to complete the cladding and arc power was investigated and optimized. Multiple objective optimization based on ratio anal-ysis (MOORA) method was employed to evaluate and optimize the effect of the selected process parameters. It was found that the current and voltage have significant effect in reducing the time and power required for the cladding process.

Composites prepared by Single Wall Carbon Nano-tube (SWCNT) as well as Nylon assume a vital part in practical applications as in ultrastrong lightweight materials, vehicle and flying machine parts. In the present work, the influence of aspect proportion (l/d) on the longitudinal Young's modulus (E11) as well as transverse modulus (E22) for the SWCNT/Nylon 66 composite have been critically analyzed through utilizing tools of Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations. Materials Studio 8.0 simulation software utilized in the current study for finding Young modulus. Aspect proportion (l/d) of used CNT in the composite was ranged from l/d = 5 up to l/d = 30 while the fraction of volume (Vf) of the CNT had been kept constant at 8%. Results demonstrated however that the lengthwise Young's modulus for the current composite increment essentially by expanding the aspect ratio (l/d) of Nano-tube while the change in transverse modulus with fluctuating perspective proportion was not exceptionally noteworthy. The results of the simulation have been consequently matched with the Mori-Tanaka model as well as the Finegan model.