Abhinav Kumar Sharma and Indrajit Mukherjee
The purpose of this paper is to address three key objectives. The first is the proposal of an enhanced multiobjective optimisation (MOO) solution approach for the mean and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address three key objectives. The first is the proposal of an enhanced multiobjective optimisation (MOO) solution approach for the mean and mean-variance optimisation of multiple “quality characteristics” (or “responses”), considering predictive uncertainties. The second objective is comparing the solution qualities of the proposed approach with those of existing approaches. The third objective is the proposal of a modified non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II (NSGA-II), which improves the solution quality for multiple response optimisation (MRO) problems.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed solution approach integrates empirical response surface (RS) models, a simultaneous prediction interval-based MOO iterative search, and the multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) technique to select the best implementable efficient solutions.
Findings
Implementation of the proposed approach in varied MRO problems demonstrates a significant improvement in the solution quality in worst-case scenarios. Moreover, the results indicate that the solution quality of the modified NSGA-II largely outperforms those of two existing MOO solution strategies.
Research limitations/implications
The enhanced MOO solution approach is limited to parametric RS prediction models and continuous search spaces.
Practical implications
The best-ranked solutions according to the proposed approach are derived considering the model predictive uncertainties and MCDM technique. These solutions (or process setting conditions) are expected to be more reliable for satisfying customer specification compared to point estimate-based MOO solutions in real-life implementation.
Originality/value
No evidence exists of earlier research that has demonstrated the suitability and superiority of an MOO solution approach for both mean and mean-variance MRO problems, considering RS uncertainties. Furthermore, this work illustrates the step-by-step implementation results of the proposed approach for the six selected MRO problems.
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A design is robust if the design values for selected performance characteristics (i.e. responses) are chosen to be invariant to the variations the product will experience. For a…
Abstract
A design is robust if the design values for selected performance characteristics (i.e. responses) are chosen to be invariant to the variations the product will experience. For a design to be acceptable, it must conform to the design specifications. However, due to the existence of variation, this conformance is satisfied probabilistically, i.e. yield. Optimal manufacturing yield design is defined as a design that maximises the probability of satisfying the design specifications. Methods to achieve robust design for a single response and to achieve yield maximization are well established. A new method of achieving high yield and robust design for multiple responses is presented using the Cp and Cpk capability indices used in on‐line quality control techniques. The proposed method is applied to a single response problem and two multiple response problems. The results showed that the proposed method is capable of producing good manufacturing yield and robust design simultaneously.
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Posits that methods to achieve robustness for single response are well established. For multiple response problems, however, very few methods have been developed successfully…
Abstract
Posits that methods to achieve robustness for single response are well established. For multiple response problems, however, very few methods have been developed successfully. Presents a new method of achieving robustness for multiple response problems using Taguchi’s loss model. Develops loss models for all the responses involved and identifies a design solution that minimizes the total cost loss. This formulation leads to a solution with minimal variance and also has an inherent property of optimizing the manufacturing yield of the design. Compares the proposed method with another formulation. Shows that the proposed method gave better results.
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The aim of this paper is to examine product formulation screening at the industrial level in terms of multi‐trait improvement by considering several pertinent controlling factors.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to examine product formulation screening at the industrial level in terms of multi‐trait improvement by considering several pertinent controlling factors.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts Taguchi's orthogonal arrays (OAs) for sufficient and economical sampling in a mixture problem. Robustness of testing data is instilled in this method by employing a two‐stage analysis where controlling components are investigated together while the slack variable is tested independently. Multi‐responses collapse to a single master response has been incurred according to the Super Ranking concept. Order statistics are employed to provide statistical significance. The slack variable influence is tested by regression and nonparametric correlation.
Findings
Synergy among Taguchi methodology, super ranking and nonparametric testing was seamless to offer practical resolution to product component activeness. The concurrent modulation of two key product traits due to five constituents in the industrial production of muffin‐cake is invoked. The slack variable, rich cream, is strongly active while the influence of added amount of water is barely evident.
Research limitations/implications
The method presented is suitable only for situations where industrial mixtures are investigated. The case study demonstrates prediction capabilities up to quadratic effects for five nominated effects. However, the statistical processor selected here may be adapted to any number of factor settings dictated by the OA sampling plan.
Practical implications
By using a case study from food engineering, the industrial production of a muffin‐cake is examined focusing on a total of five controlling mixture components and two responses. This demonstration emphasizes the dramatic savings in time and effort that are gained by the proposed method due to reduction of experimental effort while gaining on analysis robustness.
Originality/value
This work interconnects Taguchi methodology with powerful nonparametric tests of Kruskal‐Wallis for the difficult problem of non‐linear analysis of mixtures for saturated, unreplicated fractional factorial designs in search of multi‐factor activeness in multi‐response cases employing simple and practical tools.
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The aim of this paper is to circumvent the multi‐distribution effects and small sample constraints that may arise in unreplicated‐saturated fractional factorial designs during…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to circumvent the multi‐distribution effects and small sample constraints that may arise in unreplicated‐saturated fractional factorial designs during construction blueprint screening.
Design/methodology/approach
A simple additive ranking scheme is devised based on converting the responses of interest to rank variables regardless of the nature of each response and the optimization direction that may be issued for each of them. Collapsing all ranked responses to a single rank response, appropriately referred to as “Super‐Ranking”, allows simultaneous optimization for all factor settings considered.
Research limitations/implications
The Super‐Rank response is treated by Wilcoxon's rank sum test or Mann‐Whitney's test, aiming to establish possible factor‐setting differences by exploring their statistical significance. An optimal value for each response is predicted.
Practical implications
It is stressed, by example, that the model may handle simultaneously any number of quality characteristics. A case study based on a real geotechnical engineering project is used to illustrate how this method may be applied for optimizing simultaneously three quality characteristics that belong to each of the three possible cases, i.e. “nominal‐is‐best”, “larger‐is‐better”, and “smaller‐is‐better” respectively. For this reason, a screening set of experiments is performed on a professional CAD/CAE software package making use of an L8(27) orthogonal array where all seven factor columns are saturated by group excavation controls.
Originality/value
The statistical nature of this method is discussed in comparison with results produced by the desirability method for the case of exhausted degrees of freedom for the error. The case study itself is a unique paradigm from the area of construction operations management.
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Vinayak Kalluri and Rambabu Kodali
The purpose of this paper is to present a systematic review and analysis of existing research articles on new product development (NPD) published in the 12-year period starting…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a systematic review and analysis of existing research articles on new product development (NPD) published in the 12-year period starting from 1998 to 2009.
Design/methodology/approach
To explore the articles related to NPD, four key words namely new product, product design, product development and product innovation were used in combination of title or abstract or keyword of the articles through several knowledge databases. The abstracts of journal papers were read and a decision as to whether article belongs to any NPD research issue or not was made. In total, 1,127 research articles were categorized systematically and then analyzed on various principal NPD information groups.
Findings
Analysis of selected articles led to a certain level of dispersion in the publication of NPD research in different journals. It is found that more attention needs to be on knowledge and creativity management, communication and information transfer in any NPD process.
Originality/value
By observing extended literature from authors reviewing articles from various journals, growth in research, and variety of topics covered in NPD, a broad systematic multi journal review of NPD literature is clearly overdue. The authors have developed a comprehensive listing of publications on NPD where they have classified the surveyed papers according to various principal NPD information groups like: published year, NPD research stream, type of organization studied (industrial/consumer/service), level of innovation (high/moderate/low), NPD focus on frameworks, performance perspective (success, failure or both), NPD research design (conceptual/empirical and qualitative/quantitative) and NPD relevant best practice element. Based on the classification scheme, the issues were analyzed from the system's perspective and their implications to NPD research.
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Zhen He, Xu-tao Zhang, Gui-qing Xie and Min Zhang
– The purpose of this paper is to improve the key quality performance of the terminal of earphone in an electronic company.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to improve the key quality performance of the terminal of earphone in an electronic company.
Design/methodology/approach
Sequential experimental designs are employed. Significant input variables are found through a full factorial design. Then a response surface model is constructed considering curvature in the linear model.
Findings
Optimized key input variables’ parameters are found using the response surface model. The key quality performance, coplanarity of the terminal of earphone has been improved.
Research limitations/implications
Instead of running a full factorial design in the first stage, a fractional factorial may be used to reduce experimental runs.
Practical implications
The paper presents a good solution for reducing defects caused by large coplanarity of a kind of earphone terminal.
Originality/value
The methodology used in this case can be easily extended to similar cases.
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Marc Wouters, Susana Morales, Sven Grollmuss and Michael Scheer
The paper provides an overview of research published in the innovation and operations management (IOM) literature on 15 methods for cost management in new product development, and…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper provides an overview of research published in the innovation and operations management (IOM) literature on 15 methods for cost management in new product development, and it provides a comparison to an earlier review of the management accounting (MA) literature (Wouters & Morales, 2014).
Methodology/approach
This structured literature search covers papers published in 23 journals in IOM in the period 1990–2014.
Findings
The search yielded a sample of 208 unique papers with 275 results (one paper could refer to multiple cost management methods). The top 3 methods are modular design, component commonality, and product platforms, with 115 results (42%) together. In the MA literature, these three methods accounted for 29%, but target costing was the most researched cost management method by far (26%). Simulation is the most frequently used research method in the IOM literature, whereas this was averagely used in the MA literature; qualitative studies were the most frequently used research method in the MA literature, whereas this was averagely used in the IOM literature. We found a lot of papers presenting practical approaches or decision models as a further development of a particular cost management method, which is a clear difference from the MA literature.
Research limitations/implications
This review focused on the same cost management methods, and future research could also consider other cost management methods which are likely to be more important in the IOM literature compared to the MA literature. Future research could also investigate innovative cost management practices in more detail through longitudinal case studies.
Originality/value
This review of research on methods for cost management published outside the MA literature provides an overview for MA researchers. It highlights key differences between both literatures in their research of the same cost management methods.
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The main purpose of this study is to understand how collective operational practices are adapted or stimulated by a firm's competitive strategy.
Abstract
Purpose
The main purpose of this study is to understand how collective operational practices are adapted or stimulated by a firm's competitive strategy.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employed a data set drawn from 124 plant managers and directors of Indian manufacturing firms. Multiple regression was used to examine the impact of operational practices of lean, total quality management (TQM) and supply chain management (SCM) within competitive clusters of cost leadership, differentiation and focus strategy.
Findings
Results of the study show that the pattern of impact of operational practices on firm's performance varies according to type of the competitive strategy employed. All the three competitive strategy clusters have reported that TQM is the most important trigger for Indian manufacturing firms with relative effect of TQM practices on firm's performance being higher than that of lean and SCM practices.
Research limitations/implications
Cross-sectional data from Indian manufacturing firms were used, and it would be interesting to test the analytical framework of the study for more sectors and countries. Future studies can take a longitudinal research approach to strengthen the findings of the study.
Practical implications
The findings explain how operational practices are aligned with competitive strategies for practitioners so that they can assign limited resources to build diverse operational capabilities based on their strategic choices.
Originality/value
Although very few classical studies are reported in various contexts involving competitive strategy, operational practices and firm's performance, no existing study focuses on how these three domains are linked together in the context of Indian manufacturing sector.
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Jayaram Boga and Dhilip Kumar V.
For achieving the profitable human activity recognition (HAR) method, this paper solves the HAR problem under wireless body area network (WBAN) using a developed ensemble learning…
Abstract
Purpose
For achieving the profitable human activity recognition (HAR) method, this paper solves the HAR problem under wireless body area network (WBAN) using a developed ensemble learning approach. The purpose of this study is,to solve the HAR problem under WBAN using a developed ensemble learning approach for achieving the profitable HAR method. There are three data sets used for this HAR in WBAN, namely, human activity recognition using smartphones, wireless sensor data mining and Kaggle. The proposed model undergoes four phases, namely, “pre-processing, feature extraction, feature selection and classification.” Here, the data can be preprocessed by artifacts removal and median filtering techniques. Then, the features are extracted by techniques such as “t-Distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding”, “Short-time Fourier transform” and statistical approaches. The weighted optimal feature selection is considered as the next step for selecting the important features based on computing the data variance of each class. This new feature selection is achieved by the hybrid coyote Jaya optimization (HCJO). Finally, the meta-heuristic-based ensemble learning approach is used as a new recognition approach with three classifiers, namely, “support vector machine (SVM), deep neural network (DNN) and fuzzy classifiers.” Experimental analysis is performed.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed HCJO algorithm was developed for optimizing the membership function of fuzzy, iteration limit of SVM and hidden neuron count of DNN for getting superior classified outcomes and to enhance the performance of ensemble classification.
Findings
The accuracy for enhanced HAR model was pretty high in comparison to conventional models, i.e. higher than 6.66% to fuzzy, 4.34% to DNN, 4.34% to SVM, 7.86% to ensemble and 6.66% to Improved Sealion optimization algorithm-Attention Pyramid-Convolutional Neural Network-AP-CNN, respectively.
Originality/value
The suggested HAR model with WBAN using HCJO algorithm is accurate and improves the effectiveness of the recognition.