Artificial Intelligence (AI) is playing an increasing role in production and manufacturing engineering. Since a great deal of manufacturing knowledge can be put in the form of rules, expert systems have emerged as a promising practical tool of AI for solving engineering problems. Expert systems allow knowledge to be used for constructing human-machine systems that have specialized methods and techniques for solving problems in practical application areas. This book contains the structure and rules for 15 expert systems dealing with various aspects of production and manufacturing engineering. Topics covered range from casting design evaluation through to quality control. All expert systems included are accompanied by description of their structure and the rules are included on floppy disc in ASCII that can be readily accessed. These expert systems are generic in nature and readers should find it possible to modify these expert systems for their own specific applications.

This book outlines the process of sustainable product design and development. It presents design guidelines that help prolong the life of a product and minimize its environmental impact. These guidelines specifically enable product design for end-of-life (EoL) objectives such as reuse, recycling and remanufacturing. Sustainable Product Design and Development also presents mathematical models that will help the designer determine the cost of designing sustainable products. This cost can be computed early during the design stage of a product. Sustainable Product Design and Development presents different ways and means by which a product can address all three pillars of sustainability-environmental conservation, social sustainability, and economic sustainability. Various case studies are incorporated in different chapters. Case studies on designing products for assembly, disassembly and remanufacturing have been presented in their respective chapters. The book also provides an overview of global environmental legislation to help the reader grasp the importance of waste management and sustainable product design. This book is aimed at professionals, engineering students, environmental scientists, and those in the business environment.

This book will provide a quick reference on Work Measurement. While the nature of the work may differ, measuring work is fundamental to any industrial or service activity. It's needed to determine such things as the amount a person should be paid, how much time should it take to perform an activity, what is an acceptable days work, or how any two or more methods or designs compare. This book provides non-industrial engineers with the why and the how work is measured in order to perform their jobs.

This book will provide a quick reference on Work Measurement. While the nature of the work may differ, measuring work is fundamental to any industrial or service activity. It's needed to determine such things as the amount a person should be paid, how much time should it take to perform an activity, what is an acceptable days' work, or how any two or more methods or designs compare. This book provides non-industrial engineers with the why and the how work is measured in order to perform their jobs.

The current global economic downturn and considerable shifting in industrial and manufacturing activities have disturbed the industrial order. However, human work productivity is still one of the most important components of the industrial economy and a determining factor in global competiveness and influence as well as the potential for technological innovation and advancement. Human Work Productivity: A Global Perspective covers how human productivity affects the industrial economy and competitiveness across the industrial and manufacturing sectors. Many approaches that have worked historically must now be reexamined and new approaches must be developed. Integrating recent concepts related to human work productivity for modern production systems/organizations, this book examines how ergonomic improvements for the human operator and/or redesign and rearrangement of the workplace can boost individual productivity. It also covers the impact of the aging workforce, reports on an investigation of total productive maintenance, and considers the efficacy of workplace design from a maintenance perspective. Discussions of work hours and their effect on productivity, the impact of technology, and productivity in a health care organization complete the coverage. In any organization, all components must be considered as an integrated whole for sustained productivity. This book explores these components as independent factors and examines their impact on productivity. It then discusses models integrating these factors, creating a clear understanding of the whole, and details schemes of optimization for putting that understanding into practice.

The current global economic downturn and considerable shifting in industrial and manufacturing activities have disturbed the industrial order. However, human work productivity is still one of the most important components of the industrial economy and a determining factor in global competiveness and influence as well as the potential for technological innovation and advancement. Human Work Productivity: A Global Perspective covers how human productivity affects the industrial economy and competitiveness across the industrial and manufacturing sectors. Many approaches that have worked historically must now be reexamined and new approaches must be developed. Integrating recent concepts related to human work productivity for modern production systems/organizations, this book examines how ergonomic improvements for the human operator and/or redesign and rearrangement of the workplace can boost individual productivity. It also covers the impact of the aging workforce, reports on an investigation of total productive maintenance, and considers the efficacy of workplace design from a maintenance perspective. Discussions of work hours and their effect on productivity, the impact of technology, and productivity in a health care organization complete the coverage. In any organization, all components must be considered as an integrated whole for sustained productivity. This book explores these components as independent factors and examines their impact on productivity. It then discusses models integrating these factors, creating a clear understanding of the whole, and details schemes of optimization for putting that understanding into practice.

Product development teams are composed of an integrated group of professionals working from the nascent stage of new product planning through design creation and design review and then on to manufacturing planning and cost accounting. An increasingly large number of graduate and professional training programs are aimed at meeting that need by creating a better understanding of how to integrate and accelerate the entire product development process. This book is the perfect accompaniment and a comprehensive guide. The second edition of this instructional reference work presents invaluable insight into the concurrent nature of the multidisciplinary product development process. It can be used in the traditional classroom, in professional continuing education courses or for self-study. This book has a ready audience among graduate students in mechanical and industrial engineering, as well as in many MBA programs focused on manufacturing management. This is a global need that will find a receptive readership in the industrialized world particularly in the rapidly developing industrial economies of South Asia and Southeast Asia.

This book offers detailed case studies on how various industries have learned how to best allocate their resources-technical, human, and nancial-for enhancing productivity. It includes efforts to improve resource utilization from around the world. Case studies cover topics ranging from distributed virtual manufacturing enter- prises to integrating green technology in a cost-effective manner to materials and energy savings. Resources Utilization and Productivity Enhancement Case Stud- ies explores how energy-ef cient smart materials and structures hold tremendous potential for realizing cost savings and improving energy use in the modern industrial workplace. It also shows how industrial engineers have developed a variety of analytical and computer-based tools and technologies for planning, forecasting, and schedul- ing resources-including time, labor, and more recently, energy.