Abstract: The purpose of this study is to identify and evaluate
the scale of implementation of Just-In-Time (JIT) in the different industrial sectors in the Middle East. This study analyzes the empirical data collected by a questionnaire survey distributed to
companies in three main industrial sectors in the Middle East, which
are: food, chemicals and fabrics. The following main hypotheses is formulated and tested: (The requirements of JIT application differ
according to the type of industrial sector).Descriptive statistics and Box plot analysis were used to examine the hypotheses. This study indicates a reasonable evidence for accepting the main hypotheses. It
reveals that there is no standard way to adopt JIT as a production system. But each industrial sector should concentrate in the
investment on critical requirements that differ according to the nature
and strategy of production followed in that sector.
Abstract: Inconel718 has been widely used as a super alloy in aerospace application due to the high strength at elevated temperatures, satisfactory oxidation resistance and heat corrosion resistance. In this study, the Inconel718 has been fabricated using high technology of Metal Injection Molding (MIM) process due to the cost effective technique for producing small, complex and precision parts in high volume compared with conventional method through machining. Through MIM, the binder system is one of the most important criteria in order to successfully fabricate the Inconel718. Even though, the binder system is a temporary, but failure in the selection and removal of the binder system will affect on the final properties of the sintered parts. Therefore, the binder system based on palm oil derivative which is palm stearin has been formulated and developed to replace the conventional binder system. The rheological studies of the mixture between the powder and binders system have been determined properly in order to be successful during injection into injection molding machine. After molding, the binder holds the particles in place. The binder system has to be removed completely through debinding step. During debinding step, solvent debinding and thermal pyrolysis has been used to remove completely of the binder system. The debound part is then sintered to give the required physical and mechanical properties. The results show that the properties of the final sintered parts fulfill the Standard Metal Powder Industries Federation (MPIF) 35 for MIM parts.
Abstract: The main aim of this study is to identify the most
influential variables that cause defects on the items produced by a
casting company located in Turkey. To this end, one of the items
produced by the company with high defective percentage rates is
selected. Two approaches-the regression analysis and decision treesare
used to model the relationship between process parameters and
defect types. Although logistic regression models failed, decision tree
model gives meaningful results. Based on these results, it can be
claimed that the decision tree approach is a promising technique for
determining the most important process variables.
Abstract: In this research, an anaerobic co-digestion using decanter cake from palm oil mill industry to improve the biogas production from frozen seafood wastewater is studied using Continuously Stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR) process. The experiments were conducted in laboratory-scale. The suitable Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) was observed in CSTR experiments with 24 hours of mixing time using the mechanical mixer. The HRT of CSTR process impacts on the efficiency of biogas production. The best performance for biogas production using CSTR process was the anaerobic codigestion for 20 days of HRT with the maximum methane production rate of 1.86 l/d and the average maximum methane production of 64.6%. The result can be concluded that the decanter cake can improve biogas productivity of frozen seafood wastewater.
Abstract: An evaluation of the PCBs residues in the surface soils from Bacninh, Vietnam was carried out. Sixty representative soil samples were collected from the centre of Bacninh and three surrounding districts. The analyzed results indicated the wide extent of contamination of total PCBs in Bacninh. In industrial and urban zones, total PCBs concentrations ranged from ranged from
Abstract: In developing countries located in monsoon areas like
Thailand where rainwater is currently of no value for urban dwellers
due to easily access to piped water supply at each household, studies
in rainwater harvesting for domestic use are of low interest. However
it is needed to undertake research to find out appropriate rainwater
harvesting systems particularly for small urban communities that are
recently developed from a full rural structure to urban context. As a
matter of fact, in such transitional period, relying on only common
water resources is risky. With some specific economic settings, land
use patterns, and historical and cultural context that dominate
perceptions of water users in the study area, the level of service in
this study may certainly be different from megacities or cities located
in industrial zone. The overviews of some available technologies and
background of rainwater harvesting including alternate resource are
included in this paper. Among other sources of water supply, ground
water use as the water resource of Thailand and also in the study area.
Abstract: Process control and energy conservation are the two
primary reasons for using an adjustable speed drive. However,
voltage sags are the most important power quality problems facing
many commercial and industrial customers. The development of
boost converters has raised much excitement and speculation
throughout the electric industry. Now utilities are looking to these
devices for performance improvement and reliability in a variety of
areas. Examples of these include sags, spikes, or transients in supply
voltage as well as unbalanced voltages, poor electrical system
grounding, and harmonics. In this paper, simulations results are
presented for the verification of the proposed boost converter
topology. Boost converter provides ride through capability during
sag and swell. Further, input currents are near sinusoidal. This
eliminates the need of braking resistor also.
Abstract: To distinguish small retinal hemorrhages in early
diabetic retinopathy from dust artifacts, we analyzed hue, lightness,
and saturation (HLS) color spaces. The fundus of 5 patients with
diabetic retinopathy was photographed. For the initial experiment, we
placed 4 different colored papers on the ceiling of a darkroom. Using
each color, 10 fragments of house dust particles on a magnifier were
photographed. The colored papers were removed, and 3 different
colored light bulbs were suspended from the ceiling. Ten fragments of
house dust particles on the camera-s object lens were photographed.
We then constructed an experimental device that can photograph
artificial eyes. Five fragments of house dust particles under the ocher
fundus of the artificial eye were photographed. On analyzing HLS
color space of the dust artifact, lightness and saturation were found to
be highly sensitive. However, hue was not highly sensitive.
Abstract: Tourism industry is an important sector in Malaysia economy and this motivates the examination of long-run relationships between tourist arrivals from three selected European countries in Malaysia and four possible determinants; relative prices, exchange rates, transportation cost and relative prices of substitute destination. The study utilizes data from January 1999 to September 2008 and employs standard econometric techniques that include unit root test and cointegration test. The estimated demand model indicates that depreciation of local currency and increases in prices at substitute destination have positive impact on tourist arrivals while increase in transportation cost has negative impact on tourist arrivals. In addition, the model suggests that higher rate of increase in local prices relative to prices at tourist country of origin may not deter tourists from coming to Malaysia
Abstract: The main purpose of this study is to analyze the
feelings of tourists for the service quality of the bikeway. In addition,
this study also analyzed the causal relationship between service
quality and satisfaction to visitor-s lane loyalty. In this study, the Ya
Tam San bikeway visitor-s subjects, using the designated convenience
sampling carried out the survey, a total of 651 questionnaires were
validly. Valid questionnaires after statistical analysis, the following
findings: 1. Visitor-s lane highest quality of service project: the routes
through the region weather pleasant. Lane "with health and sports," the
highest satisfaction various factors of service quality and satisfaction,
loyal between correlations exist. 4. Guided tours of bikeways, the
quality of the environment, and modeling imagery can effectively
predict visitor satisfaction. 5. Quality of bikeway, public facilities,
guided tours, and modeling imagery can effectively predict visitor
loyalty. According to the above results, the study not only makes
recommendations to the government units and the bicycle industry,
also asked the research direction for future researchers.
Abstract: Campus sustainability is the goal of a university striving for sustainable development. This study found that of 17 popular approaches, two comprehensive campus sustainability assessment frameworks were developed in the context of Sustainability in Higher Education (SHE), and used by many university campuses around the world. Sustainability Tracking Assessment and Rating Systems (STARS) and the Campus Sustainability Assessment Framework (CSAF) approaches are more comprehensive than others. Therefore, the researchers examined aspects and elements used by CSAF and STARS in the approach to develop a campus sustainability assessment framework for Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). Documents analysis found that CSAF and STARS do not focus on physical development, especially the construction industry, as key elements of campus sustainability assessment. This finding is in accordance with the Sustainable UKM Programme which consists of three main components of sustainable community, ecosystem and physical development.
Abstract: Inconel 718, a nickel based super-alloy is an
extensively used alloy, accounting for about 50% by weight of
materials used in an aerospace engine, mainly in the gas turbine
compartment. This is owing to their outstanding strength and
oxidation resistance at elevated temperatures in excess of 5500 C.
Machining is a requisite operation in the aircraft industries for the
manufacture of the components especially for gas turbines. This
paper is concerned with optimization of the surface roughness when
turning Inconel 718 with cermet inserts. Optimization of turning
operation is very useful to reduce cost and time for machining. The
approach is based on Response Surface Method (RSM). In this work,
second-order quadratic models are developed for surface roughness,
considering the cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut as the cutting
parameters, using central composite design. The developed models
are used to determine the optimum machining parameters. These
optimized machining parameters are validated experimentally, and it
is observed that the response values are in reasonable agreement with
the predicted values.
Abstract: Nonlinear propagation of ion-acoustic waves in a selfgravitating
dusty plasma consisting of warm positive ions,
isothermal two-temperature electrons and negatively charged dust
particles having charge fluctuations is studied using the reductive
perturbation method. It is shown that the nonlinear propagation of
ion-acoustic waves in such plasma can be described by an uncoupled
third order partial differential equation which is a modified form of
the usual Korteweg-deVries (KdV) equation. From this nonlinear
equation, a new type of solution for the ion-acoustic wave is
obtained. The effects of two-temperature electrons, gravity and dust
charge fluctuations on the ion-acoustic solitary waves are discussed
with possible applications.
Abstract: The main objective developed in this paper is to find a
graphic technique for modeling, simulation and diagnosis of the
industrial systems. This importance is much apparent when it is about
a complex system such as the nuclear reactor with pressurized water
of several form with various several non-linearity and time scales. In
this case the analytical approach is heavy and does not give a fast
idea on the evolution of the system. The tool Bond Graph enabled us
to transform the analytical model into graphic model and the
software of simulation SYMBOLS 2000 specific to the Bond Graphs
made it possible to validate and have the results given by the
technical specifications. We introduce the analysis of the problem
involved in the faults localization and identification in the complex
industrial processes. We propose a method of fault detection applied
to the diagnosis and to determine the gravity of a detected fault. We
show the possibilities of application of the new diagnosis approaches
to the complex system control. The industrial systems became
increasingly complex with the faults diagnosis procedures in the
physical systems prove to become very complex as soon as the
systems considered are not elementary any more. Indeed, in front of
this complexity, we chose to make recourse to Fault Detection and
Isolation method (FDI) by the analysis of the problem of its control
and to conceive a reliable system of diagnosis making it possible to
apprehend the complex dynamic systems spatially distributed applied
to the standard pressurized water nuclear reactor.
Abstract: With China's urbanization continuing to accelerate, a amount of rural people flood into China's cities in recent years, and the issue of agriculture, rural areas and farmers is getting more and more serious. In 2005, the Chinese government put forward a plan for “the construction of new rural village", in order to coordinate the development of both urban and rural areas. The planning method of rural region differs sharply from that of urban areas, as same as village social structure and habits of farmer-s life, so the studies which can consider the special needs of village construction in China are absolutely essential. This paper expresses explore current situation and problems existing in the construction of China-s new rural village, such as bigger gap between urban and rural areas, excessive new construction projects, extinct traditional village style and so on. It tries to analyze the deep reason of the present situation of the village from law system, industrial structure, financial sources and planning method. Then it also provides a guide for developing policies and procedures promoting the development of china-s rural areas.
Abstract: As product life cycle becomes less and less every day,
having flexible manufacturing processes for any companies seems more demanding. In the assembling of closures, i.e. opening parts in
car body, hemming process is the one which needs more attention. This paper focused on the robot roller hemming process and how to
reduce its cycle time by introducing a fast roller hemming process. A
robot roller hemming process of a tailgate of Saab 93 SportCombi
model is investigated as a case study in this paper. By applying task
separation, robot coordination, and robot cell configuration principles in the roller hemming process, three alternatives are
proposed, developed, and remarkable reduction in cycle times achieved [1].
Abstract: Ground-level tropospheric ozone is one of the air
pollutants of most concern. It is mainly produced by photochemical
processes involving nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds
in the lower parts of the atmosphere. Ozone levels become
particularly high in regions close to high ozone precursor emissions
and during summer, when stagnant meteorological conditions with
high insolation and high temperatures are common.
In this work, some results of a study about urban ozone
distribution patterns in the city of Badajoz, which is the largest and
most industrialized city in Extremadura region (southwest Spain) are
shown. Fourteen sampling campaigns, at least one per month, were
carried out to measure ambient air ozone concentrations, during
periods that were selected according to favourable conditions to
ozone production, using an automatic portable analyzer.
Later, to evaluate the ozone distribution at the city, the measured
ozone data were analyzed using geostatistical techniques. Thus, first,
during the exploratory analysis of data, it was revealed that they were
distributed normally, which is a desirable property for the subsequent
stages of the geostatistical study. Secondly, during the structural
analysis of data, theoretical spherical models provided the best fit for
all monthly experimental variograms. The parameters of these
variograms (sill, range and nugget) revealed that the maximum
distance of spatial dependence is between 302-790 m and the
variable, air ozone concentration, is not evenly distributed in reduced
distances. Finally, predictive ozone maps were derived for all points
of the experimental study area, by use of geostatistical algorithms
(kriging). High prediction accuracy was obtained in all cases as
cross-validation showed. Useful information for hazard assessment
was also provided when probability maps, based on kriging
interpolation and kriging standard deviation, were produced.
Abstract: In this paper, some common gearboxes vibration analysis methods and condition monitoring systems are explained. In addition, an experimental gearbox vibration analysis is discussed through a critical case history for a mixer gearbox related to Iran oil industry. The case history also consists of gear manufacturing (machining) recommendations, lubrication condition of gearbox and machinery maintenance activities that caused reduction in noise and vibration of the gearbox. Besides some of the recent patents and innovations in gearboxes, lubrication and vibration monitoring systems explained. Finally micro pitting and surface fatigue in pinion and bevel of mentioned horizontal to vertical gearbox discussed in details.
Abstract: Tourism industries are rapidly increased for the last
few years especially in Malaysia. In order to attract more tourists,
Malaysian Governance encourages any effort to increase Malaysian
tourism industry. One of the efforts in attracting more tourists in
Malacca, Malaysia is a duck tour. Duck tour is an amphibious
sightseeing tour that works in two types of engines, hence, it required
a huge cost to operate and maintain the vehicle. To other country, it is
not so new but in Malaysia, it is just introduced, thus it does not have
any systematic routing yet. Therefore, this paper proposed an
optimization technique to formulate and schedule this tour to
minimize the operating costs by considering it into Travelling
Salesman Problem (TSP). The problem is then can be solved by one
of the optimization technique especially meta-heuristics approach
such as Tabu Search (TS) and Reactive Tabu Search (RTS).
Abstract: Importance of environmental efficiency of electric power industry stems from high demand for energy combined with global warming concerns. It is especially essential for the world largest economies like that of the United States. The paper introduces a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model of environmental efficiency using indicators of fossil fuels utilization, emissions rate, and electric power losses. Using DEA is advantageous in this situation over other approaches due to its nonparametric nature. The paper analyzes data for the period of 1990 - 2006 by comparing actual yearly levels in each dimension with the best values of partial indicators for the period. As positive factors of efficiency, tendency to the decline in emissions rates starting 2000, and in electric power losses starting 2004 may be mentioned together with increasing trend of fuel utilization starting 1999. As a result, dynamics of environmental efficiency is positive starting 2002. The main concern is the decline in fossil fuels utilization in 2006. This negative change should be reversed to comply with ecological and economic requirements.