In this paper we focus on the integration of strategic objectives and process knowledge that a manufacturing factory collects from its external interfaces. Using data from a variety of manufacturing industries, this study examines four different types of strategic integration at the manufacturing plant level. We use a path analytic approach to simultaneously assess the contributions of the vari...

Inspection qualification is the term currently used to describe the process of independent assessment of a specific non-destructive test to ensure that it is capable of meeting its objectives. Such activities carried out on the Sizewell B reactor inspections were referred to as validation. In the USA, the term performance demonstration is used, though this is increasingly being reserved for the...

It was decided at SLAC to use removable liners mechanically mounted to the chamber walls and the piston. This would allow faster replacement of the pre-fabricated units, should the Scotchlite be damaged, without the need to chisel the remains of the material from chamber walls. The problems of eddy current heating of the piston further required that the piston liner be an insulator. It seemed n...

We study a heavy piston that separates finitely many ideal gas particles moving inside a one-dimensional gas chamber. Using averaging techniques, we prove precise rates of convergence of the actual motions of the piston to its averaged behavior. The convergence is uniform over all initial conditions in a compact set. The results extend earlier work by Sinai and Neishtadt, who determined that th...

An opposed hydraulic free piston engine is under design at the Tianjin University in China because of the advantages of this engine compared to the conventional engine. The main challenges presented by such engines are the control of the piston motion and synchronization. This study investigates the fundamental control context and control method of the opposed hydraulic free piston engine using...

In this paper, a fault management system for a hydraulic servo axis is described. This system is capable of sustaining faults in the piston displacement sensor of the position-controlled hydraulic servo axis. By means of a parity equation based fault detection stage, faults in the displacement sensor as well as other sensors and components of the servo axis can be detected and subsequently be d...

The piston performance affects the performance of the Motorcycle. In order to forecast the piston performance effectively, the performance forecast model based on BP neural network is presented. According to the characteristics of piston performance, the training samples are made up of the orthogonal experimental data, which are utilized to ensure higher generalization of BP neural network. And...

This thesis considers the problem of detecting occlusions in automobile parts on a moving assembly line in an automotive manufacturing plant. This work builds on the existing “Visual Inspector” (VI) system developed as a joint research project between Clemson University and the BMW Spartanburg manufacturing plant. The goal is to develop a method that can successfully detect occlusions in real-t...

An important issue for suppliers, producers, and retailers who want to compete in a competitive environment is continuous performance improvement in a dynamic supply chain. Literature review on supply chain puts more emphasis on quantitative factors than other factors. In this research, we focus on quantitative factors which affect competitive advantages creation and investigation. Our goal is ...