In this work, a variety of highly substituted quinolines were readily synthesized via Friedlander annulation using Br?nsted acid silica-based sulfonic acid as a modified catalyst under solvent-free conditions at room temperature. This efficient procedure has the advantages of giving the target compounds in high yields, short reaction times, simple workup procedure, reusability of the catalyst, and environmentally benign conditions.

The purpose of conducting this research is to establish a conceptual model to improve the performance of new product development in organizations regarding variables of disruptive innovation, team vision, knowledge management, and fuzzy-front end. In this research, the structural equation modelling (SEM) is used to study the model. Also, the explanatory and confirmatory factor analysis are used to extract dimensions of fuzzy-front end and disruptive innovation variables. Research data have been gathered from 109 experts of development and research department of Iran Khodro manufacturing company. The results of research show that disruptive innovation may have very impressive effects on new product development performance. Also, team approach has direct effect on fuzzy-front end. On the other hand, knowledge management has a key role in new product development and organizations can increase the efficiency of new product development by managing their knowledge and sharing them and guarantee the organization success.

In the present paper, the differential transformation method is employed to develop a semi-analytical solution for free transverse vibration of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) with arbitrary boundary conditions. The small scale effect is taken into consideration via Eringen’s nonlocal elasticity theory while the transverse shear deformation effects and rotary inertia are taken into account in presented Timoshenko beam theory. Through variational formulation and the Hamilton & apos; s principle the governing differential equations and the boundary conditions are derived and then solved by a semi-analytical method called differential transformation method (DTM) for various frequency modes of beams and different edge conditions. Comparisons made between the present results and results reported by well-known references for special cases treated before, have confirmed accuracy and efficiency of the presented approach. The effects of several parameters such as transverse shear deformation effects, slenderness ratios, boundary conditions and small scale on vibration characteristics of SWCNT are examined. The present study illustrates that the vibration characteristics of an SWCNT are strongly dependent on the small scale parameters.

This paper investigates the role of quality of supply chain components on brand promise. The dimensions of supply chain relationships include: communication, cooperation, commitment, independence, adaptability and reliability. The study uses the questionnaire developed by Fynes et al. (2005) [Fynes, B., Voss, C., & de B?rca, S. (2005). The impact of supply chain relationship quality on quality performance. International Journal of Production Economics, 96(3), 339-354.]. The population of the study includes all auto part makers and the study chooses a sample of 384 people for the study. Using structural equation modeling, the study has confirmed that all six components influence positively on brand promise.

In today’s climate of fierce competition, there is a necessity to pay especial attention on customer demands either in manufacturing or service sector. Managers in service sector are under pressure in terms of environmental factors, they focus on customers’ satisfaction and this has led to the continuous improvement in the performance of service organizations. Meanwhile, customers’ expectations should be properly understood and measured. There have been various efforts to measure the quality of services using the SERVQUAL model. In this study, we try to investigate the concepts and factors influencing the quality of services according to modified SERVQUAL model and then utilize the proposed model of Grey Analytic Hierarchy Process (G-AHP) and Multilevel Grey Evaluation in order to evaluate the quality of services in the framework of Grey Systems Theory (GST). In order to propose our method, we will conduct a case study of the performance of service quality in higher education institutions of Isfahan-Iran.

Flexible job shop scheduling problem is a key factor of using efficiently in production systems. This paper attempts to simultaneously optimize three objectives including minimization of the make span, total workload and maximum workload of jobs. Since the multi objective flexible job shop scheduling problem is strongly NP-Hard, an integrated heuristic approach has been used to solve it. The proposed approach was based on a floating search procedure that has used some heuristic algorithms. Within floating search procedure utilize local heuristic algorithms; it makes the considered problem into two sections including assigning and sequencing sub problem. First of all search is done upon assignment space achieving an acceptable solution and then search would continue on sequencing space based on a heuristic algorithm. This paper has used a multi-objective approach for producing Pareto solution. Thus proposed approach was adapted on NSGA II algorithm and evaluated Pareto-archives. The elements and parameters of the proposed algorithms were adjusted upon preliminary experiments. Finally, computational results were used to analyze efficiency of the proposed algorithm and this results showed that the proposed algorithm capable to produce efficient solutions.

Today, supply chains have been widely welcomed by industry researchers and the results of applying it may increase throughput, reduce cost, increase speed to meet customers’ needs and create competitive opportunities. This paper identifies a scientific method, which operates efficiently and effectively manages supply chain operations. In this paper, a computer simulation model is analyzed for analyzing the supply chain and the results are examined, accordingly. Using Taguchi design of experiment and running the proposed model under L27 scenarios, a two-objective optimization was performed on the estimated response surfaces, leading to a 60% increase in productivity and 40% reduction in waiting time.

Demand uncertainty obliges all participants through a supply chain to make decisions under uncertainty. These decisions extend across price, investment, production, and inventory quantities. We take account of competition between two supply chains under demand uncertainty. These chains internally are involved in vertical pricing competition; however, they externally participate in horizontal pricing and service level competitions by offering a single-type product to the market. Since firms may have various attitudes against demand uncertainty and its related risks, different risk structures for competitive supply chains are considered. We assume that risk-averse firms are able to decrease demand uncertainty by information gathered from market research. For risk-averse participants in a chain, market research investment is an appropriate ground for vertical coordination, which diminishes risk through a supply chain. Optimal strategies based on game theory are obtained for different risk structures; furthermore, for each structure the effects of risk sensitivity as well as market research efficiency on these optimal strategies are investigated. Finally, we propose two scenarios for information sharing between risk-averse participants.

This paper presents an empirical investigation for line balancing in aluminum industry. Assembly line problems (ALB) are divided into three types, single-model assembly lines to handle (easy) problems to build a product that is designed to build one kind of product, multiple and mixed model to design for different kinds of products. This paper is an effort to describe comprehensively the solution to the problem for single-model assembly lines using some practical software package named FLB. The primary objective of aluminum assembly line balancing is optimal deployment activities subject to various limitations. The preliminary results of this paper indicate that the implementation of line balancing could reduce make span, significantly.

Research in the field of export marketing suggests that resources play an important role in providing necessary investments for development of businesses for exporting goods and services. The present study examines the factors influencing brand advantage for export ventures in small and medium firms (SMEs) located in city of Tehran, Iran. In this survey, we choose a sample of 256 managers of the SMEs randomly and distribute a questionnaire among them in Likert scale. Cronbach alpha has been calculated as 0.770, which is well above the minimum desirable level. Using principal component analysis, the study has detected six factors including organizational advantages, future studies, position of the firm in the market, product capability, the consumer & apos; s image and development tools influencing the most on export development. The implementation of structural equation modeling has also determined positive as well as negative impact of the factors on export ventures.