Flexible manufacturing system (FMS) promises a wide range of manufacturing benefits in terms of flexibility and productivity. These benefits are targeted by efficient production planning. Part type selection, machine grouping, deciding production ratio, resource allocation and machine loading are five identified production planning problems. Machine loading is the most identified complex problem solved with aid of computers. System up gradation and newer technology adoption are the primary needs of efficient FMS generating new scopes of research in the field. The literature review is carried and the critical analysis is being executed in the present work. This paper presents the outcomes of the mathematical modelling techniques for loading of machines in FMS’s. It was also analysed that the mathematical modelling is necessary for accurate and reliable analysis for practical applications. However, excessive computations need to be avoided and heuristics have to be used for real-world problems. This paper presents the heuristics-mathematical modelling of loading problem with machine processing time as primary input. The aim of the present work is to solve a real-world machine loading problem with an objective of balancing the workload of the FMS with decreased computational time. A Matlab code is developed for the solution and the results are found most accurate and reliable as presented in the paper.

This paper investigates the effect of cutting parameters on the surface roughness and cutting force of titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V ELI when turning using PVD TiAlN coated tool in dry environment. Taguchi L9 orthogonal array design of experiment was used for the turning experiment 2 factors and 3 levels. Turning parameters studied were cutting speed (50, 65, 80 m/min), feed rate (0.08, 0.15, 0.2 mm/rev) and depth of cut 0.5 mm constant. Linear and second order model of the surface roughness and cutting force has been developed in terms of cutting speed and feed. The results show that the feed rate was the most impact factor controlling the cutting force and surface roughness produced. MINITAB 17software was used to develop a linear and second order model of surface roughness and cutting force. Optimum condition was at 66.97 m/min of cutting speed, 0.08 mm/rev of feed rate. Surface roughness 0.57?m and cutting force 54.02 N were obtained at the optimum condition. A good agreement between the experimental and predicted surface roughness and cutting force were observed.

As the long arm of the grinding, deep financial crisis continues to haunt the global economy, the effects of inflation and time value of money cannot be oblivious to an inventory system. Inflation, defined as a general rise in the prices of goods and services over a period of time, has monetary depreciation as one of its major side effects. And, since inventories correspond to substantial investment in capital for any organization, it would be unethical if the effects of inflation and time value of money are not considered while determining the optimal inventory policy. Moreover, deterioration of items is a phenomenon which cannot be ignored, as it may yield misleading results. Further, under the inflationary conditions, the different cost parameters including the price are bound to vary from cycle to cycle over the planning horizon. Another important factor is shortages which no retailer would prefer, and in practice are partially backlogged and partially lost. In order to convert the lost sales into sales, the retailer offers such customers an incentive, by charging them the price prevailing at the time of placing an order, instead of the current inflated price. Therefore, bearing in mind these facts, the present paper develops an inventory model for a retailer dealing with deteriorating items under inflationary conditions over a fixed planning horizon. The objective is to derive the optimal number of cycles and cycle length that maximizes the net present value of the total profit over a fixed planning horizon. An appropriate algorithm has been proposed to obtain the optimal solution. Finally, a numerical example is provided to illustrate the proposed model. Sensitivity analysis of the optimal solution with respect to major parameters is carried out and some managerial inferences have been presented.

This paper investigates the role played by service quality at supplier-manufacturer dyad in small-medium manufacturing units, and presents a model to establish that contribution of both the supplier and manufacturer towards service quality could lead to satisfaction followed by loyalty. The research design for this study includes a combination of literature survey, exploratory interviews with practitioners, and a questionnaire survey conducted through interview schedule from 120 respondents working in different small-medium manufacturing units of North India. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is used for data analysis. The paper develops dual directional scales to evaluate service quality at supplier-manufacturer dyad and tests a set of four propositions. A model showing linkages of manufacturer (manufacturing unit’s) service quality with supplier service quality leading to satisfaction and loyalty is also developed. The model is empirically tested and is found to be fit. This study would be of interest to SME managers particularly engaged in ‘purchase’ function and researchers working on inter-firm supply chains in such units. This study recommends forming strong collaborative relationships with suppliers to achieve a win-win situation.

Altman Z score is an effective tool for measuring a company's financial strength and the possibility of bankruptcy. In this study, the Z score formula was utilized to measure the Indian automobile industry's financial soundness. The financial data of ten automobile companies listed in the National Stoke Exchange (NSE) was taken to analyze both original and emerging market formulae of the Altman Z score. Results suggest that companies of the industry listed in the NSE are financially sound. The study concluded that the Indian automobile industry is sound and robust, and the automobile companies are not prone to financial distress or bankruptcy in the near future.

Differential evolution (DE) is an effective and powerful approach and it has been widely used in different environments. However, the performance of DE is sensitive to the choice of control parameters. Thus, to obtain optimal performance, time-consuming parameter tuning is necessary. Backtracking Search Optimization Algorithm (BSA) is a new evolutionary algorithm (EA) for solving real-valued numerical optimization problems. An ensemble algorithm called E-BSADE is proposed which incorporates concepts from DE and BSA. The performance of E-BSADE is evaluated on several benchmark functions and is compared with basic DE, BSA and conventional DE mutation strategy. Also the performance results are compared with state of the art PSO variant.

The Indian cement industry has adopted various environmental protection technologies, but adoption of these new environmental technologies and development of working model could not resolve many issues related to environmental concern among Stakeholders. This paper examined the current technologies used by the cement companies and the challenges they are facing in adoption of these technologies. This research describes the effects of cement manufacturing on global warming, water, coal and other pollution emissions during cement production process and involves environmental manufacturing technologies. The study measures the challenges of introducing environmental technologies by creating a model of challenges. including challenges in perceived usability of technology, challenges in perceived utility, challenges in user engagement, and challenges in intent to use behaviour. The study examines the challenges of introducing environmental technologies into the Indian cement industry to mitigate air, water, and energy pollution and to highlight the new environmental technologies and development of the model. The data from 1540 professionals responsible for using the environmental technology were gathered and analysed with t test and regression analysis. The final outcome of the research is the model expressing the challenges in adoption of environmental technologies in India.

Permutation flow shop scheduling problems have been an interesting area of research for over six decades. Out of the several parameters, minimization of makespan has been studied much over the years. The problems are widely regarded as NP-Complete if the number of machines is more than three. As the computation time grows exponentially with respect to the problem size, heuristics and meta-heuristics have been proposed by many authors that give reasonably accurate and acceptable results. The NEH algorithm proposed in 1983 is still considered as one of the best simple, constructive heuristics for the minimization of makespan. This paper analyses the powerful job insertion technique used by NEH algorithm and proposes seven new variants, the complexity level remains same. 120 numbers of problem instances proposed by Taillard have been used for the purpose of validating the algorithms. Out of the seven, three produce better results than the original NEH algorithm.

This paper endeavors to investigate whether the Islamic financial system can tackle the issue of financial exclusion in India or not. The present study has made an earnest attempt to explore the discriminating factors behind choosing of the institutes (conventional or Islamic), in decreasing order of their importance. Data for the study are collected from 635 respondents, who are customers of Islamic and traditional financial institutes. The area selected for the survey is the state of Kerala, which is considered as the Islamic finance hub in India. The data collected are analyzed by employing the discriminant analysis along with drawing inferences from descriptive statistics. The study finds various factors in descending order of their importance. The factors are type of employment, religion (Muslim/Non-Muslim), income and gender. These are discriminating factors for choosing particular institutes (conventional or Islamic). The study shows that Islamic finance system was chosen by those, particularly Muslims, who did not have good employment and sufficient income. Hence, it is recommended that extensive formal beginning of Islamic finance in India, will lead to higher financial inclusion, since generally the financially excluded individuals belong to the said segments of the society, furthermore, Islamic finance is highly fascinated by the mentioned groups, the planners should think accordingly. The study is novel in its’ approach as it evidently illustrates that Islamic financial system is chosen by those, who do not have good employment, Muslims and those who earn less. Thus, there should be extensive formal commencement of Islamic finance in India to kick off higher financial inclusion.

A simple yet powerful optimization algorithm is proposed in this paper for solving the constrained and unconstrained optimization problems. This algorithm is based on the concept that the solution obtained for a given problem should move towards the best solution and should avoid the worst solution. This algorithm requires only the common control parameters and does not require any algorithm-specific control parameters. The performance of the proposed algorithm is investigated by implementing it on 24 constrained benchmark functions having different characteristics given in Congress on Evolutionary Computation (CEC 2006) and the performance is compared with that of other well-known optimization algorithms. The results have proved the better effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. Furthermore, the statistical analysis of the experimental work has been carried out by conducting the Friedman’s rank test and Holm-Sidak test. The proposed algorithm is found to secure first rank for the ‘best’ and ‘mean’ solutions in the Friedman’s rank test for all the 24 constrained benchmark problems. In addition to solving the constrained benchmark problems, the algorithm is also investigated on 30 unconstrained benchmark problems taken from the literature and the performance of the algorithm is found better.