In this paper, a supply chain inventory model is developed in inflationary environment by incorporating some realistic features such as ramp type demand, deterioration, partial backlogging, inflation, and trade credit. Here, rate of deterioration is linear and partial backlogging rate is variable and dependent on the waiting time for the next replenishment. Depending on the trade credit period, three different situations arise. For each model the optimal replenishment policy is determined. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the proposed inventory model and sensitivity analyses of optimal solutions are given for each case of trapezoidal demand function.

In real world multi criteria decision making (MCDM) problem, it is tough to solve a decision matrix with vague and imprecise data. The degree of impreciseness depends on the kind of data avail-able. For interval valued data this impreciseness is less and interval-valued MCDM methods can be effectively used to solve the problem. A flexible manufacturing system (FMS) selection prob-lem was taken into consideration to find the best FMS among available alternatives. An interval extension of CODAS method is proposed in this paper which was used to solve the problem along with two other interval-valued decision-making methods i.e. interval-valued TOPSIS, interval-valued EDAS. All the three methods are distance-based approaches and it was found that the interval-valued CODAS method gave the exact same ranking with that of interval-valued TOPSIS and interval-valued EDAS.

Green supply chain is a new concept in recent literature. The purpose of the study is to identify the importance of different factors related to green practice, performance and pressure during manufacturing in Indian manufacturing industries. The approach of this research includes in depth literature review, experts interviews and questionnaire surveys. The questionnaires are developed and data are collected through mail and two rounds of data collection were carried out to obtain more reliable responses. The major activities of the green supply chain; namely internal environmental management system, green packaging, green purchasing, eco designing, cooperation with customers, internal recovery, environmental, positive economic, negative economic, regulatory, competition are covered throughout the research. Factor analysis is performed using IBM SPSS 21 statistical software to understand the importance of green supply chain. Factor analysis is used to obtain the relative importance of various factors of green practice, green performance, and pressure. The collected data are analyzed by applying “mean score” method and the graphs are designed in SPSS software to compare the different factors.

In this paper, a deterministic inventory model with depletion rate dependent holding cost is developed. The demand rate is a power function of the on-hand inventory behind to a certain stock level, at which the demand rate becomes a constant. Shortages are allowed and partially backlogged with the function of waiting time of next replenishment. It is also proved in this model that the optimal replenishment policy not only exists but also is unique. Furthermore, it is provided a simple solution procedure for finding the maximum total profit per unit time. Numerical examples have also been given to illustrate the model and real managerial fact in inventory holding for stock dependent demand.

Non-traditional machining (NTM) refers to a variety of thermal, chemical, electrical and mechanical material removal processes, developed to generate complex and intricate shapes in advanced engineering materials with high strength-to-weight ratio. Selection of the optimal NTM process for generating a desired feature on a given material requires the consideration of several factors among which the type of the work material and shape to be machined are the most significant ones. Presence of a large number of NTM processes along with their complex characteristics and capabilities, and lack of experts in NTM process selection domain compel for development of a structured approach for NTM process selection for a given machining application. Thus, the objective of this paper is set to develop a decision-making model in Visual BASIC 6.0 to automate the NTM process selection procedure with the help of graphical user interface and visual decision aids. It is also integrated with quality function deployment technique to correlate the customers’ requirements (product characteristics) with technical requirements (process characteristics). Four illustrative examples are also provided to demonstrate the potentiality of the developed model in solving NTM process selection problems.

In this paper, a comparison is presented between two prime methods of producing prosthetic sockets by using the fuzzy linguistic hedges approach on the qualitative feedback of Indian prosthetic users. Recent trends indicate that the Indian manufacturers have tried to adopt the newer technologies like reverse engineering (RE) approach to achieve the desired goals. However, the satisfaction of the user is of utmost importance for the unique and customized products for rehabilitation. In order to analyze the effectiveness of the manufacturing approaches, user case studies are taken, based on the linguistic feedbacks, and a comparative study is conducted. Thirteen users from four different manufacturing units are taken for study and sockets made by conventional as well as RE are experimented. Fuzzy membership functions are constructed using the linguistic hedges based on the user feedbacks. An analytical hierarchy process (AHP) is applied to arrive at a decision to select the manufacturing process for user satisfaction and manufacturing excellence.

Nature inspired population based algorithms is a research field which simulates different natural phenomena to solve a wide range of problems. Researchers have proposed several algorithms considering different natural phenomena. Teaching-Learning-based optimization (TLBO) is one of the recently proposed population based algorithm which simulates the teaching-learning process of the class room. This algorithm does not require any algorithm-specific control parameters. In this paper, elitism concept is introduced in the TLBO algorithm and its effect on the performance of the algorithm is investigated. The effects of common controlling parameters such as the population size and the number of generations on the performance of the algorithm are also investigated. The proposed algorithm is tested on 35 constrained benchmark functions with different characteristics and the performance of the algorithm is compared with that of other well known optimization algorithms. The proposed algorithm can be applied to various optimization problems of the industrial environment.

Due to increasing penetration of internet connectivity, on-line retail is growing from the pioneer phase to increasing integration within people & apos; s lives and companies & apos; normal business practices. In the increasingly competitive environment, on-line retail service providers require systematic and structured approach to have cutting edge over the rival. Thus, the use of benchmarking has become indispensable to accomplish superior performance to support the on-line retail service providers. This paper uses the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) approach to support a generic on-line retail benchmarking process. Critical success factors for on-line retail service have been identified from a structured questionnaire and literature and prioritized using fuzzy AHP. Using these critical success factors, performance levels of the ORENET an on-line retail service provider is benchmarked along with four other on-line service providers using TOPSIS method. Based on the benchmark, their relative ranking has also been illustrated.

In this work, Taguchi method is applied to determine the optimum process parameters for turning of AISI 304 austenitic stainless steel on CNC lathe. A Chemical vapour deposition (CVD) coated cemented carbide cutting insert is used which is produced by DuratomicTM technology of 0.4 and 0.8 mm nose radii. The tests are conducted at four levels of Cutting speed, feed and depth of cut. The influence of these parameters are investigated on the surface roughness and material removal rate (MRR). The Analysis Of Variance (ANOVA) is also used to analyze the influence of cutting parameters during machining. The results revealed that cutting speed significantly (46.05%) affected the machined surface roughness values followed by nose radius (23.7%). The influence of the depth of cut (61.31%) in affecting material removal rate (MRR) is significantly large. The cutting speed (20.40%) is the next significant factor. Optimal range and optimal level of parameters are also predicted for responses.

Globalization has put fierce competition for manufacturing managers in terms of flexibility, smaller lead times, competitive costs, etc. To attain these capabilities, manufacturing managers are taking heedless decisions for investing in advanced manufacturing technologies, without measuring their actual effectiveness for their organisations. There is a need to measure the effectiveness of manufacturing systems to make better future policies and investment planning. This paper provides a comprehensive bibliography on the techniques and their rationale in the effectiveness measurement of advanced manufacturing systems. The paper cites 265 articles from a variety of published sources. The list contains published research mainly from 1990 to 2012 and a selected published work prior to 1990.