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This paper represents a comparative study of five Asian countries, namely, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, China and India, based on the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) 2015-2016 published by the World Economic Forum. The purpose of this study is to assess India’s position vis-a-vis the various comparator Asian economies and to identify areas for improvement so as to enhance India’s competitiveness.

The study is based on the comparisons and analysis of the ranks of each country. These ranks are based on the indicators related to three categories, i.e. “Basic Requirements”, “Efficiency Enhancers” and “Innovation and Sophistication” Factors. The GCI included data from internationally recognised agencies such as the IMF, the WHO and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

On the basis of the aforementioned comparisons among these five Asian economies, it was found that Singapore (Rank-2) has made stupendous economic progress and is amongst the top five successful economies of the world. Taiwan, South Korea and China also have taken significant economic strides and are ranked globally at 15, 26 and 28, respectively. India, on the other hand, is ranked 55 out of 140 nations.

In this paper, the countries were compared on the basis of their rank in the GCI Report 2015-2016. For an in-depth and more holistic study, comparison can be done by taking into consideration other important reports and analysis in this regard.

This is an original study where the developments that have taken place in the five Asian economies have been analysed based on the GCI. Most importantly, this study identifies the area/indicator in which India needs to improve to be placed among the developed nations.

The purpose of this paper is to optimize the process parameters to obtain the best dimensional accuracy, surface finish and hardness of the castings produced by using fused deposition modeling (FDM)-based patterns in investment casting (IC).

In this paper, hip implants have been prepared by using plastic patterns in IC process. Taguchi design of experiments has been used to study the effect of six different input process parameters on the dimensional deviation, surface roughness and hardness of the implants. Analysis of variance has been used to find the effect of each input factor on the output. Multi-objective optimization has been done to find the combined best values of output.

The results proved that the FDM patterns can be used successfully in IC. A wax coating on the FDM patterns improves the surface finish and dimensional accuracy. The improved dimensional accuracy, surface finish and hardness have been achieved simultaneously through multi-objective optimization.

A thin layer of wax is used on the plastic patterns. The effect of thickness of the layer has not been considered. Further research is needed to study the effect of the thickness of the wax layer.

The results obtained by the study would be helpful in making decisions regarding machining and/or coating on the parts produced by this process.

In this paper, multi-objective optimization of dimensional accuracy, surface roughness and hardness of hybrid investment cast components has been performed.