Observations of uncertainty in measured data with time improves forecasting capability in a wide range of fields in engineering. This book provides an introduction to uncertainty forecasting based on fuzzy time series. It details descriptive, modeling, and forecasting methods for fuzzy time series. Coverage places emphasis on forecasting based on fuzzy random processes as well as forecasting involving fuzzy neuronal networks.

This book provides a Management Science approach to quality management in food production. Aspects of food quality, product conformance and reliability/food safety are examined, starting with wheat and ending with its value chain transformation into bread. Protein qualities that influence glycemic index levels in bread are used to compare the value chains of France and the US. With Kaizen models the book shows how changes in these characteristics are the result of management decisions made by the wheat growers in response to government policy and industry strategy. Lately, it provides step-by-step instructions on how to apply kaizen methodology and Deming's work on quality improvement to make the HACCPs (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) in food safety systems more robust.

The author is one of the prominent researchers in the field of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), a powerful data analysis tool that can be used in performance evaluation and benchmarking. This book is based upon the author's years of research and teaching experiences. It is difficult to evaluate an organization's performance when multiple performance metrics are present. The difficulties are further enhanced when the relationships among the performance metrics are complex and involve unknown tradeoffs. This book introduces Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) as a multiple-measure performance evaluation and benchmarking tool. The focus of performance evaluation and benchmarking is shifted from characterizing performance in terms of single measures to evaluating performance as a multidimensional systems perspective. Conventional and new DEA approaches are presented and discussed using Excel spreadsheets - one of the most effective ways to analyze and evaluate decision alternatives. The user can easily develop and customize new DEA models based upon these spreadsheets. DEA models and approaches are presented to deal with performance evaluation problems in a variety of contexts. For example, a context-dependent DEA measures the relative attractiveness of similar operations/processes/products. Sensitivity analysis techniques can be easily applied, and used to identify critical performance measures. Two-stage network efficiency models can be utilized to study performance of supply chain. DEA benchmarking models extend DEA's ability in performance evaluation. Various cross efficiency approaches are presented to provide peer evaluation scores. This book also provides an easy-to-use DEA software - DEAFrontier. This DEAFrontier is an Add-In for Microsoft (R) Excel and provides a custom menu of DEA approaches. This version of DEAFrontier is for use with Excel 97-2013 under Windows and can solve up to 50 DMUs, subject to the capacity of Excel Solver. It is an extremely powerful tool that can assist decision-makers in benchmarking and analyzing complex operational performance issues in manufacturing organizations as well as evaluating processes in banking, retail, franchising, health care, public services and many other industries.

Industrial production is one of the most basic human activities indispensable to the economic activity. Due to its complexity, production is not very well understood and modeled as opposed to traditional fields of inquiry such as physics. This book aims at enhancing rigorous understanding of a particular area of production, that of analysis and optimization of production lines and networks using discrete event models and simulation. To our knowledge, this is the first book treating this subject from the point of view mentioned above. We have arrived at the realization that discrete event models and simulation provide perhaps the best tools to model production lines and networks for a number of reasons. Analysis is precise but demands enormous computational resources, usually unavailable in practical situations. Brute force simulation is also precise but slow when quick decisions are to be made. Approximate analytical models are fast but often unreliable as far as accuracy is concerned. The approach of the book, on the other hand, combines speed and accuracy to an exceptional degree in most practical applications.

Defects generate a great economic problem for suppliers who are faced with increased duties. Customers expect increased efficiency and dependability of technical product of - also growing - complexity. The authors give an introduction to a theory of dependability for engineers. The book may serve as a reference book as well, enhancing the knowledge of the specialists and giving a lot of theoretical background and practical information, especially on the dependability analysis of whole systems.

The theory, concepts and approaches are well explained by examples and solutions. The topics include: Mathematical basis, Life span distributions, System dependability theory, Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA), Fault tree analysis, Dependability test planning, Test evaluation, Calculation of repairable systems, Dependability protection programs.

This monograph provides a comparative study between failure probabilities and collapse frequencies in structural bridge engineering. The author presents techniques to resolve and extend the limitations of both parameters, taking also into account the time dependency of both parameters. The book includes available data and case studies and thus presents patterns to identify potential weaknesses and challenges in bridge maintenance. The target audience primarily comprises practicing engineers in the field of bridge engineering, but the book may also be beneficial for academic researchers alike.

This book provides an introduction to the most important optical measurement techniques that are applied to engineering problems. It will also serve as a guideline to selecting and applying the appropriate technique to a particular problem. The text of the first edition has been completely revised and new chapters added to describe the latest developments in Phase-Doppler Velocimetry and Particle Image Velocimetry.The editors and authors have made a special effort not only to describe and to explain the fundamentals of measuring techniques, but also to provide guidelines for their application and to demonstrate the capabilities of the various methods.The book comes with a CD-ROM containing high-speed movies visualizing the methods described in the book.

Fault-tolerant control aims at a gradual shutdown response in automated systems when faults occur. It satisfies the industrial demand for enhanced availability and safety, in contrast to traditional reactions to faults, which bring about sudden shutdowns and loss of availability. The book presents effective model-based analysis and design methods for fault diagnosis and fault-tolerant control. Architectural and structural models are used to analyse the propagation of the fault through the process, to test the fault detectability and to find the redundancies in the process that can be used to ensure fault tolerance. It also introduces design methods suitable for diagnostic systems and fault-tolerant controllers for continuous processes that are described by analytical models of discrete-event systems represented by automata. The book is suitable for engineering students, engineers in industry and researchers who wish to get an overview of the variety of approaches to process diagnosis and fault-tolerant control. The authors have extensive teaching experience with graduate and PhD students, as well as with industrial experts. Parts of this book have been used in courses for this audience. The authors give a comprehensive introduction to the main ideas of diagnosis and fault-tolerant control and present some of their most recent research achievements obtained together with their research groups in a close cooperation with European research projects. The third edition resulted from a major re-structuring and re-writing of the former edition, which has been used for a decade by numerous research groups. New material includes distributed diagnosis of continuous and discrete-event systems, methods for reconfigurability analysis, and extensions of the structural methods towards fault-tolerant control. The bibliographical notes at the end of all chapters have been up-dated. The chapters end with exercises to be used in lectures.

In order to satisfy the needs of their customers, network utilities require specially developed maintenance management capabilities. Maintenance Management information systems are essential to ensure control, gain knowledge and improve-decision making in companies dealing with network infrastructure, such as distribution of gas, water, electricity and telecommunications. Maintenance Management in Network Utilities studies specified characteristics of maintenance management in this sector to offer a practical approach to defining and implementing the best management practices and suitable frameworks.
Divided into three major sections, Maintenance Management in Network Utilities defines a series of stages which can be followed to manage maintenance frameworks properly. Different case studies provide detailed descriptions which illustrate the experience in real company situations. An introduction to the concepts is followed by main sections including:

A Literature Review: covering the basic concepts and models needed for framework design, development and implementation.
Framework Design and Definition: developing the basic pillars of network utilities maintenance management framework.
Performance Evaluation & Maturity: focusing on the reliability concept and maturity models from different viewpoints.

By establishing basic foundations for creating and maintaining maintenance managements strategies, Maintenance Management in Network Utilities acts a practical handbook for all professionals in these companies and across areas such as network development, operations management and marketing.
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This book covers recent advances in efficiency evaluations, most notably Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) methods. It introduces the underlying theories, shows how to make the relevant calculations and discusses applications. The aim is to make the reader aware of the pros and cons of the different methods and to show how to use these methods in both standard and non-standard cases. Several software packages have been developed to solve some of the most common DEA and SFA models. This book relies on R, a free, open source software environment for statistical computing and graphics. This enables the reader to solve not only standard problems, but also many other problem variants. Using R, one can focus on understanding the context and developing a good model. One is not restricted to predefined model variants and to a one-size-fits-all approach. To facilitate the use of R, the authors have developed an R package called Benchmarking, which implements the main methods within both DEA and SFA. The book uses mathematical formulations of models and assumptions, but it de-emphasizes the formal proofs - in part by placing them in appendices -- or by referring to the original sources. Moreover, the book emphasizes the usage of the theories and the interpretations of the mathematical formulations. It includes a series of small examples, graphical illustrations, simple extensions and questions to think about. Also, it combines the formal models with less formal economic and organizational thinking. Last but not least it discusses some larger applications with significant practical impacts, including the design of benchmarking-based regulations of energy companies in different European countries, and the development of merger control programs for competition authorities.

Micromanufacturing and Nanotechnology is an emerging technological infrastructure and process that involves manufacturing of products and systems at the micro and nano scale levels. Development of micro and nano scale products and systems are underway due to the reason that they are faster, accurate and less expensive. Moreover, the basic functional units of such systems possesses remarkable mechanical, electronic and chemical properties compared to the macro-scale counterparts. Since this infrastructure has already become the prefered choice for the design and development of next generation products and systems it is now necessary to disseminate the conceptual and practical phenomenological know-how in a broader context. This book incorporates a selection of research and development papers. Its scope is the history and background, underlynig design methodology, application domains and recent developments.

This volume gathers selected peer-reviewed papers presented at the XXVI International Joint Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IJCIEOM), held on July 8-11, 2020 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The respective chapters address a range of timely topics in industrial engineering, including operations and process management, global operations, managerial economics, data science and stochastic optimization, logistics and supply chain management, quality management, product development, strategy and organizational engineering, knowledge and information management, work and human factors, sustainability, production engineering education, healthcare operations management, disaster management, and more. These topics broadly involve fields like operations, manufacturing, industrial and production engineering, and management. Given its scope, the book offers a valuable resource for those engaged in optimization research, operations research, and practitioners alike.

Machining dynamics play an essential role in the performance of the machine tools and machining processes which directly affect the removal rate, workpiece surface quality and dimensional and form accuracy. Machining Dynamics: Fundamentals and Applications will be bought by advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students studying manufacturing engineering and machining technology in addition to manufacturing engineers, production supervisors, planning and application engineers, and designers.

Here, expert authors delineate approaches that can support both decision makers as well as their concerned populations in overcoming unwarranted fears and in elaborating policies based on scientific evidence. Four exemplary focus areas were chosen for in-depth review, namely:- The scientific basis of risk management- Risk management in the area of environmental and ecological policy- Risk management in radiation medicine- Risk management in context with digitalization and roboticsGeneral as well as specific recommendations are summarized in a memorandum. Fundamental thoughts on the topic are presented in the introductory part of the book. The idea for and contents of the book were developed at a workshop on "Sustainable Risk Management: How to manage risks in a sensible and responsible manner?" held in Feldafing at Lake Starnberg (Germany) on April 14 to 16, 2016. The book offers important information and advice for scientists, entrepreneurs, administrators and politicians.

The book covers four research domains representing a trend for modern manufacturing control: Holonic and Multi-agent technologies for industrial systems; Intelligent Product and Product-driven Automation; Service Orientation of Enterprise s strategic and technical processes; and Distributed Intelligent Automation Systems. These evolution lines have in common concepts related to "service orientation" derived from the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) paradigm.

The service-oriented multi-agent systems approach discussed in the book is characterized by the use of a set of distributed autonomous and cooperative agents, embedded in smart components that use the SOA principles, being oriented by offer and request of services, in order to fulfil production systems and value chain goals.

A new integrated vision combining emergent technologies is offered, to create control structures with distributed intelligence supporting the vertical and horizontal enterprise integration and running in truly distributed and global working environments.

The service value creation model at enterprise level consists into using Service Component Architectures for business process applications, based on entities which handle services. In this componentization view, a service is a piece of software encapsulating the business/control logic or resource functionality of an entity that exhibits an individual competence and responds to a specific request to fulfil a local (product) or global (batch) objective.

The service value creation model at enterprise level consists into using Service Component Architectures for business process applications, based on entities which handle services. In this componentization view, a service is a piece of software encapsulating the business/control logic or resource functionality of an entity that exhibits an individual competence and responds to a specific request to fulfil a local (product) or global (batch) objective.

This book will help readers gain a solid understanding of non-functional requirements inherent in systems design endeavors. It contains essential information for those who design, use and maintain complex engineered systems, including experienced designers, teachers of design, system stakeholders and practicing engineers. Coverage approaches non-functional requirements in a novel way by presenting a framework of four systems concerns into which the 27 major non-functional requirements fall: sustainment, design, adaptation and viability. Within this model, the text proceeds to define each non-functional requirement, to specify how each is treated as an element of the system design process and to develop an associated metric for their evaluation. Systems are designed to meet specific functional needs. Because non-functional requirements are not directly related to tasks that satisfy these proposed needs, designers and stakeholders often fail to recognize the importance of such attributes as availability, survivability, and robustness. This book gives readers the tools and knowledge they need to both recognize the importance of these non-functional requirements and incorporate them in the design process.

Change, in products and systems, has become a constant in manufacturing. Changeable and Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems discusses many key strategies for success in this environment. Changes can most often be anticipated but some go beyond the design range. This requires providing innovative change enablers and adaptation mechanisms.

Changeable and Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems presents the new concept of Changeability as an umbrella framework that encompasses many paradigms such as agility, adaptability, flexibility and reconfigurability. The book provides the definitions and classification of key terms in this new field, and emphasizes the required physical/hard and logical/soft change enablers.

Over 22 chapters, the book presents cutting edge technologies, the latest thinking and research results, as well as future directions to help manufacturers stay competitive. It contains original contributions and results from senior international experts, experienced practitioners and accomplished researchers in the field of manufacturing, together with industrial applications. Changeable and Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems serves as a comprehensive reference and textbook for industrial professionals, managers, engineers, specialists, researchers and academics in manufacturing, industrial and mechanical engineering; and general readers who are interested to learn about the new and emerging manufacturing paradigms and their potential impact on the workplace and future jobs.

Reliability theory is a multidisciplinary science aimed at developing complex systems that are resistant to failures. Reliability engineering has emerged as a main field not only for scientists and researchers, but also for engineers and industrial managers. This book covers the recent developments in reliability engineering. It presents new theoretical issues that were not previously published, as well as the solutions of practical problems and case studies illustrating the applications methodology. This book is written by a number of leading scientists, analysts, mathematicians, statisticians, and engineers who have been working on the front end of reliability science and engineering. Reliability Engineering: Theory and Applications covers the recent developments in reliability engineering. It presents new theoretical issues that were not previously presented in the literature, as well as the solutions of important practical problems and case studies illustrating the applications methodology. Features Covers applications to reliability engineering practice Discusses current advances and developments Introduces current achievements in the field Considers and analyses case studies along with real world examples Presents numerous examples to illustrate the theoretical results

Though the game-theoretic approach has been vastly studied and utilized in relation to economics of industrial organizations, it has hardly been used to tackle safety management in multi-plant chemical industrial settings. Using Game Theory for Improving Safety within Chemical Industrial Parks presents an in-depth discussion of game-theoretic modeling which may be applied to improve cross-company prevention and -safety management in a chemical industrial park. By systematically analyzing game-theoretic models and approaches in relation to managing safety in chemical industrial parks, Using Game Theory for Improving Safety within Chemical Industrial Parks explores the ways game theory can predict the outcome of complex strategic investment decision making processes involving several adjacent chemical plants. A number of game-theoretic decision models are discussed to provide strategic tools for decision-making situations. Offering clear and straightforward explanations of methodologies, Using Game Theory for Improving Safety within Chemical Industrial Parks provides managers and management teams with approaches to asses situations and to improve strategic safety- and prevention arrangements.

This book includes details on the environmental implications of recycling, modeling of recycling, processing of recycled materials, recycling potential of materials, characterisation of recycled materials, reverse logistics, case studies of recycling various materials etc.

Based on the results of the study carried out in 1996 to investigate the state of the art of workflow and process technology, MCC initiated the Collaboration Management Infrastructure (CMI) research project to develop innovative agent-based process technology that can support the process requirements of dynamically changing organizations and the requirements of nomadic computing. With a research focus on the flow of interaction among people and software agents representing people, the project deliverables will include a scalable, heterogeneous, ubiquitous and nomadic infrastructure for business processes. The resulting technology is being tested in applications that stress an intensive mobile collaboration among people as part of large, evolving business processes. Workflow and Process Automation: Concepts and Technology provides an overview of the problems and issues related to process and workflow technology, and in particular to definition and analysis of processes and workflows, and execution of their instances. The need for a transactional workflow model is discussed and a spectrum of related transaction models is covered in detail. A plethora of influential projects in workflow and process automation is summarized. The projects are drawn from both academia and industry. The monograph also provides a short overview of the most popular workflow management products, and the state of the workflow industry in general. Workflow and Process Automation: Concepts and Technology offers a road map through the shortcomings of existing solutions of process improvement by people with daily first-hand experience, and is suitable as a secondary text for graduate-level courses on workflow and process automation, and as a reference for practitioners in industry.

This book focuses on the emerging additive manufacturing technology and its applications beyond state-of-the-art, fibre-reinforced thermoplastics. It also discusses the development of a hybrid, integrated process that combines additive and subtractive operations in a single-step platform, allowing CAD-to-Part production with freeform shapes using long or continuous fibre-reinforced thermoplastics. The book covers the entire value chain of this next-generation technology, from part design and materials composition to transformation stages, product evaluation, and end-of-life studies. Moreover, it addresses the following engineering issues: * Design rules for hybrid additive manufacturing; * Thermoplastic compounds for high-temperature and -strength applications; * Advanced extrusion heads and process concepts; * Hybridisation strategies; * Software ecosystems for hAM design, pre-processing, process planning, emulating and multi-axis processing; * 3D path generators for hAM based on a multi-objective optimisation algorithm that matches the recent curved adaptive slicing method with a new transversal scheme; * hAM parameters, real-time monitoring and closed-loop control; * Multiparametric nondestructive testing (NDT) tools customised for FRTP AM parts; * Sustainable manufacturing processes validated by advanced LCA/LCC models.

This new edition recognizes that the technical demands on ingredients continue to grow rapidly as food manufacturers strive for greater safety, reliability and profitability. Technical information is provided on the application of thickening and gelling agents, and extended coverage is provided on modifications demanded by customers, such as improved freeze-thaw and chill-stability. Compiled by development managers and technologists from major ingredient suppliers in the USA and Europe, this book is of particular value to food technologists and production managers who need to choose the best ingredient for a specific application, and process and chemical engineers requiring information on how products behave under manufacturing conditions.

This book systematically discusses the modeling and application of transfer manipulation for flexible electronics packaging, presenting multiple processes according to the geometric sizes of the chips and devices as well as the detailed modeling and computation steps for each process. It also illustrates the experimental design of the equipment to help readers easily learn how to use it. This book is a valuable resource for scholars and graduate students in the research field of microelectronics.

The aim of this book is to present qualitative and qualitative aspects of logistics operations and supply chain management which help to implement the sustainable policy principles in the companies and public sector sinstitutions. Authors in individual chaptersaddress the issues related to reverse network configuration, forward and reverse supply chain integration, CO2 reduction in transportation, improvement of the production operations and management of the recovery activities. Some best practices from different countries and industries are presented. This book will be valuable to both academics and practitioners wishing to deepen their knowledge in the field of logistics operations and management with regard to sustainability issues."