A financial model for environment-friendly changes in designs of electronic products

A hybrid genetic algorithm for integrating virtual cellular manufacturing with supply chain management considering new product development

Suppliers can play an important role in product development. For example, Clark (1989) found that more extensive involvement of suppliers allows Japanese automakers to use 11 percent fewer engineering hours to design a new car than their U.S. and European counterparts.1 Supplier participation in product development can also be a key source of cost reduction. Over the past year, Chrysler says it has reaped $270 million in cost reduction as a result of supplier suggestions, many of which involved product design changes. For example, Trico Products pointed out that Chrysler was the only North American automaker to use plastic shields on the rubber part of the windshield wiper blade. Elimination of the shields saved $139,350. Rockwell International proposed using the same door locks on both passenger cars and 1991 Dodge trucks, for a savings of over $280,000 (Chappell, 1991).

Continuous improvement (Kaizen) has been identified as a crucial factor for strengthening firms’ competitiveness in the automotive industry as well as others, and many scholars view it as detailed below. In the existing literature, from a perspective of innovation, Kaizen has often been conceived of as an accumulation of similarly small, mutually independent, incremental process innovations that are conducted by workers, work-teams, and their leaders. However, few empirical case studies examine the relevance of this conventional notion of Kaizen. Do Kaizen activities contribute only to similarly small, incremental process innovations? Does Kaizen only consist of various mutually independent innovations? Is Kaizen always achieved by workers and work-teams rather than by engineers? This paper attempts to observe those continuous improvements conducted in a certain factory for a certain period. Through longitudinal observations, this paper shows via seven case studies that (1) Kaizen consists of a series of innovations with various scales and that these scales could also be estimated by the “scope of coordination” in addition to existing scale indicators, such as the investment amount, and outcomes, such as the cost reduction effect. Additionally, (2) Kaizen sometimes induces small changes in product design and affects organizational activities of production design as a small-scale product innovation. Furthermore, (3) Kaizen activities sometimes influence other Kaizen activities. With regard to these characteristics of Kaizen, this paper implies that (4) Kaizen management needs organizational design. For example, in Toyota’s case, not only work-teams but also product/process design engineers contribute to Kaizen, and shop-floor engineers play a vital role in coordinating between shop-floors and engineering departments on the basis of the “staff-in-line structure” of organizations.

The aim of this paper is presenting the studies to development of 15 kV spacer design with dimensions and geometry suitable for operation of these in compact overhead distribution lines with high environmental aggression. Computer simulations to evaluate the electric field distribution in different projects of compact overhead distribution networks spacers were made, including conventional models and other with dimensions, geometries, materials and/or product design changes. Additionally, multi stress assays were performed in order to evaluate some of the indications obtained in computer simulations by applying cycles of salt spray under pressure and electric current.

I consider a model of duopoly where firms make sequential product design changes prior to price competition. I show that a socially desirable outcome is possible in this model. In equilibrium, the leader's product is less specific, implying a customer attraction strategy, and the follower's product is more specific, implying a customer retention strategy. This outcome is in contrast with the equilibrium outcome of a similar model, where simultaneous design competition takes place prior to price competition. In this latter model, the product designs are more specific and the prices are higher in equilibrium, leading to a reduction in welfare. I compare the design incentives under price competition with those in models where price collusion or merger is expected and with multi-product monopoly. In models with no price competition, less specific designs may serve to attract more customers, to improve current or future pie of monopoly profits, or to improve the outside option in bargaining game, depending on the model.

Substantial response or impression management? Compliance strategies for sustainable development responsibility in family firms

ABSTRACTLast minute design changes after already completed product validation testing is a common occurrence in the engineering world. It is also common for a redesigned product to be retested to demonstrate compliance with the original reliability requirements. Therefore, there is often a question of how to demonstrate the required reliability metrics without repeating already completed test flow on a redesigned product. This article discusses the application of Bayesian techniques to reduce the sample sizes required for retesting of engineering products/systems after design modification. This method utilizes attribute test data collected on previous version(s) of the product via success-based testing prior to the design change occurrence. The proposed method helps to reduce the test sample size for attribute testing while demonstrating the required reliability and helping to reduce the overall cost of a product development cycle.

In response to the need for cost-effective systems than can be quickly adapted to changes in product design and manufacturing processes, the next generation of machine tools should be reconfigurable and intelligent. Reconfigurability allows for the reduction of machine design lead time, machine set-up and ramp-up time. The principal characteristics of the Reconfigurable and Intelligent Machines are modularity, convertibility, flexibility and cost-effectiveness. This paper applies a concurrent design reference model to Reconfigurable Machine Tool development. A methodology for this purpose is introduced, and the bottlenecks in the process are identified, namely, the procedure to design modules. In response, a technique for the development of modules that are consistent with the product portfolio of the machine tool builder is outlined.KeywordsModularityReconfigurabilityConcurrent DesignMachine Tool

The paper presents the agile approach in industrial engineering and discusses similar ways of agile development in different disciplines. Societal changes and technological innovation brought significant changes in the market, leading to highly demanding users and frequent changes in product design. Agile is implemented in different disciplines as a response to current changes in the market. Industry 4.0 as part of 'High-Tech Strategy 2020 for Germany' involves agile principles and brings latest technological trends in production process. Agile framework was firstly used in manufacturing but along with that it started to develop as a lightweight framework in software development. Agile is interdisciplinary and brings flexibility to organization. For successful implementation of agile principles, experiences and recommendations from all the industries should be used.

The influence of particle size reduction and liberation on the recycling rate of end-of-life vehicles

Chapter 21 - Policy responses to plastic pollution in Asia: summary of a regional gap analysis

The dominant form of metal migration (i.e. Ag) in thick films, is composed of electrodissolution, ion transport and electrodeposition steps. Depending on the product type and its operating environment, some of these mechanisms are dominant and could alone be used to essentially model the metal migration in hybrid circuits. In this study, the dominant root cause for Ag migration was accelerated using coupon tests with dilute NaCl, which simulates the effect of contaminants on the board. It was demonstrated that these tests could be used as a rapid screening procedure for the various pastes. The coupon tests were also substantiated with results from the product test in the temperature, humidity, bias (THB) tests, which demonstrated the effect of Pd on Ag migration. Weibull curves obtained from the coupon and THB data demonstrated the product robustness. This was also determined by using the THB data and acceleration factors using field monitoring programs and those published in literature. The coupon and THB data were used to initiate changes in product design and manufacturing, thereby increasing product reliability.

Rapid developments in the fields of engineering and their applications in manufacturing processes have brought real changes in product designs, evolving more efficient and complex designs. Application of ball end machining for generating complex sculptured surfaces tends to be nonproductive especially in places where large sculptured surfaces and/or large volume of production are involved. Kaplan blades are one of the vital components in hydro turbines which have large sculptured surfaces and involve bulk metal removal while machining from forged blanks. Conventional ball end machining methods are not adequate to achieve the required productivity and quality while manufacturing these components. With the advent of multi-axes CNC machines and powerful CAD/CAM solutions-Sturz milling, an innovative method of sculptured surface machining has become not only feasible but also cost-effective for the production of these components. This paper discusses the Sturz milling method, control parameters, it's performance in comparison with conventional ball end milling and also the customisation of the CAD/CAM CNC programming solutions to evolve efficient machining patterns.

Using a library of machine modules, modular machine tools are being developed by many machine tool manufacturers to reduce design lead time. To accommodate frequent changes in product design in a timely and cost-effective manner, the next generation of machine tools should be reconfigurable to process a family of products. This enables reduction not only in machine design lead time but more significantly a reduction in machine set-up and ramp-up time. The essential characteristics of Reconfigurable Machine Tools (RMTs) include modularity, convertibility, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness. Currently there is no systematic method of designing modular machines, let alone reconfigurable machines. This paper presents a methodology for kinematic synthesis of machine tools using screw theory. The motion characteristics of a set of desired machining tasks as well as stored library of machine modules are captured in a common representation scheme. A simple design example to illustrate the application of this methodology for systematic selection and synthesis of reconfigurable machine tools is presented. The proposed methodology can be extended to include the dynamic characteristics and control schemes to enable integrated design of machines and controllers.

The concepts incremental, modular, architectural and radical innovations introduced by Henderson and Clark (1990) highlights the interdependence between innovation and organizations. Competition forces the established competing firms to create efficient organizations for producing and developing products. Organizations will organize around the product's main components, since they are the key subtask of the design and production problem [H. Mintzberg, 1997]. Architectural and radical innovations representing new and different products are difficult to handle for established organizations because there is a misfit between the new innovation and the established organization. The organization thus works as a strong conserving force for innovations that require changes in product design. And, as a consequence the innovative capability is not nourished.