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Build‐in reliability (BIR) is becoming an essential requirement for product development today. However, the task of BIR can be resource‐intensive since root causes identification is necessary. If a product is complex, the number of possible failure modes can be great, rendering BIR too large to be practical. In this work, an objective methodology for BIR is developed so that the task of BIR is customer focus, thus reducing the scope of BIR and maximizing its effectiveness. This is achieved through combining the failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) with quality function deployment (QFD). The method is applied to an actual product in an actual industry, and with this method the FMEA becomes customer‐focused, and hence the prioritization of the corrective actions to all failure modes can be done objectively with customer focus. Therefore, limited resources can be effectively used to maximize customers’ satisfaction.

The paper seeks to ease the implementation of predictive maintenance policy in industry using the root cause analysis technique, and to compare the reliability and cost effectiveness of root cause based maintenance (RCBM) relative to conventional corrective maintenance (CM).

The system is modularized into its components and maintenance schedules are developed based on each component's individual degradation trends. The effectiveness of RCBM over CM is studied by analyzing system reliability patterns and total maintenance cost functions obtained through empirical cost models, accounting for yield and production loss, maintenance, replacement and catastrophic failure costs. Cost variations for various possible failure distribution parameter values (β, η) under the CM and RCBM policies are also obtained. The proposed methodology is tested in a real aircraft failures case study.

RCBM is generally more effective over CM in achieving timely maintenance at optimal cost (savings up to 65 percent) while keeping high system reliability, for a wide range of (β, η) values. However, CM could still be beneficial for a restricted range of large (β, η).

Industry should consider shifting from CM to adopt the proposed RCBM policy, which is proved to be more efficient in most cases. The implementation is not necessarily complex.

The effectiveness of RCBM over CM in terms of reliability and cost considerations is clearly illustrated. This paper justifies the need to shift from CM to RCBM, which brings us closer to a practical implementation of predictive maintenance. This work also serves as a simple and valuable guide to implementation for maintenance and operational managers in production industries.

This paper aims to develop flame-retardant (FR) polyamide 12 (PA12) nanocomposite from regenerated powder via selective laser sintering (SLS), an additive manufacturing technique.

First, the morphology, processibility, thermal and mechanical properties of PA12 regenerated powder, consisting of 50 wt% new and 50 wt% recycled powder, as well as corresponding printed specimens, were evaluated to characterize the effects of previous SLS processing. Second, flame-retardant PA12 was developed by incorporating both single and binary halogen-free flame retardants into the regenerated powder.

It was found that the printed specimens from regenerated powder had much higher tensile and impact properties compared to specimens made from new powder, which is attributed to better particulate fusion and coalescence realized in higher temperature SLS printing. The effect of FRs on thermal, mechanical and flame retardant properties of the PA12 composites/nanocomposites was investigated systematically. It was found that the nanoclay, as a synergist, improved both flame-retardant and mechanical properties of PA12. UL94 standard rating of V-0 was achieved for the printed nanocomposite by incorporating 1 wt% nanoclay into 15 wt% phosphinates FR. Moreover, on average, the tensile and impact strength of the nanocomposite were increased by 26.13% and 17.09%, respectively, in XY, YZ and Z printing orientations as compared to the equivalent flame retardant composite with 20 wt% of the phosphinates FR.

This paper fulfills the need to develop flame retardant parts via SLS technology with waste feedstock. It also addresses the challenge of developing flame retardant materials without obviously compromising the mechanical properties by making use of the synergistic effect of nanoclay and organic phosphinates.

Presents over sixty abstracts summarising the 1999 Employment Research Unit annual conference held at the University of Cardiff. Explores the multiple impacts of globalization on work and employment in contemporary organizations. Covers the human resource management implications of organizational responses to globalization. Examines the theoretical, methodological, empirical and comparative issues pertaining to competitiveness and the management of human resources, the impact of organisational strategies and international production on the workplace, the organization of labour markets, human resource development, cultural change in organisations, trade union responses, and trans‐national corporations. Cites many case studies showing how globalization has brought a lot of opportunities together with much change both to the employee and the employer. Considers the threats to existing cultures, structures and systems.

Gives an in depth view of the strategies pursued by the world’s leading chief executive officers in an attempt to provide guidance to new chief executives of today. Considers the marketing strategies employed, together with the organizational structures used and looks at the universal concepts that can be applied to any product. Uses anecdotal evidence to formulate a number of theories which can be used to compare your company with the best in the world. Presents initial survival strategies and then looks at ways companies can broaden their boundaries through manipulation and choice. Covers a huge variety of case studies and examples together with a substantial question and answer section.

Presents a special issue, enlisting the help of the author’s students and colleagues, focusing on age, sex, colour and disability discrimination in America. Breaks the evidence down into manageable chunks, covering: age discrimination in the workplace; discrimination against African‐Americans; sex discrimination in the workplace; same sex sexual harassment; how to investigate and prove disability discrimination; sexual harassment in the military; when the main US job‐discrimination law applies to small companies; how to investigate and prove racial discrimination; developments concerning race discrimination in the workplace; developments concerning the Equal Pay Act; developments concerning discrimination against workers with HIV or AIDS; developments concerning discrimination based on refusal of family care leave; developments concerning discrimination against gay or lesbian employees; developments concerning discrimination based on colour; how to investigate and prove discrimination concerning based on colour; developments concerning the Equal Pay Act; using statistics in employment discrimination cases; race discrimination in the workplace; developments concerning gender discrimination in the workplace; discrimination in Japanese organizations in America; discrimination in the entertainment industry; discrimination in the utility industry; understanding and effectively managing national origin discrimination; how to investigate and prove hiring discrimination based on colour; and, finally, how to investigate sexual harassment in the workplace.

An employee who is eligible to make a complaint for unfair dismissal has to prove that he has been dismissed by the employer if the employer contests that the employee has in fact been dismissed. If the dismissal is not contested, all the employee has to do is to show that he has been dismissed. This constitutes the first stage of the proceedings in an industrial tribunal.

In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of material poses problems for the researcher in management studies — and, of course, for the librarian: uncovering what has been written in any one area is not an easy task. This volume aims to help the librarian and the researcher overcome some of the immediate problems of identification of material. It is an annotated bibliography of management, drawing on the wide variety of literature produced by MCB University Press. Over the last four years, MCB University Press has produced an extensive range of books and serial publications covering most of the established and many of the developing areas of management. This volume, in conjunction with Volume I, provides a guide to all the material published so far.

The purpose of this article is to outline possibilities for the integration of text mining and other digital humanities computing techniques into library catalogs and “discovery systems”.

The approach has been to survey existing text mining apparatus and apply this to traditional library systems.

Through this process it is found that there are many ways library interfaces can be augmented to go beyond the processes of find and get and evolve to include processes of use and understand.

To the best of the author's knowledge, this type of augmentation has yet to be suggested or implemented across libraries.