We compare two approaches for a Markovian model in flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs) using Monte Carlo simulation. The model which is a development of Fazlollahtabar and Saidi-Mehrabad (2013), considers two features of automated flexible manufacturing systems equipped with automated guided vehicle (AGV) namely, the reliability of machines and the reliability of AGVs in a multiple AGV jobsho...

One of the most important effective factors in the economic growth is the increased efficiency of manufacturing sectors. Thus, it is necessary to review and measure the efficiency of business units from a variety of dimensions to plan the increase of efficiency in future courses. One of these dimensions is the economics to scale (ES) referring to the concept of enhanced earnings due to the incr...

In this paper, an approach to the development of distributed intelligent total quality management systems (DITQMS) for a computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) environment is presented. A comparison study of possible architectures of DITQMS in the CIM environment has been made from the viewpoints of technical and economic reality for different kind of manufacturing industries. To represent the...

T his paper investigates the gain of bilateral trade between China and U.S. in manufacturing sectors when both countries play a role in asymmetric (biased) growth of  international trade. Our model includes a special case of Biased Growth Theory in international trade. We collected labor productivity, export and import data by using classification of manufacturing industries, for U.S...

This paper investigates the spatial concentration of Chinese manufacturing using data collected in both the second and third national industrial censuses. It is found that many of China’s manufacturing industries were highly geographically concentrated in several coastal regions in 1995. A historical comparison of the concentration levels between 1980, 1985 and 1995 suggests that manufacturing ...

The contradiction between economic development and environmental deterioration makes people begin to have a further understanding of the ecology and environment. To promote effective development of reverse logistics and implementation, according to general activity process of manufacturing enterprises, this paper builds the manufacturing system model of reverse logistics. On the basis of activi...

It is widely agreed that small scale enterprises (SSEs) used to play a crucial role in achieving the industrial and economic development. Though SSEs play indispensable economic role, studies are limited to analyze the external factors that affect the growth of SSEs independently. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to examine the effect of external firm factors influencing small scale ma...

Process drift is a common occurrence in many manufacturing processes where machines become dirty (leading to more contamination) or processing parameters degrade, negatively affecting system performance. Statistical process control tracks process quality to determine when the process has gone out of control (has drifted beyond its specifications). This paper considers the case where parts exami...

In this research we study the multi-product economic lot scheduling problem (ELSP) with manufacturing and remanufacturing opportunities. Manufacturing and remanufacturing operations are performed on the same production line. Both manufactured and remanufactured products have the same quality thus fulfil the same demand stream. Tang and Teunter (2006) firstly studied this type of economic lot sc...

Manufacturing -the procurement, transformation, and commitment to customers of physical goods -accounted for 18.5% of US GDP, employed 18.6 million people, and shipped $3.7 trillion worth of goods in 1996, the most recent year for which data are available. While manufacturing is large, however, it has often not been perceived as exciting or full of promise by communities, such as investors and ...