Gopi Chattopadhyay

Cost Sharing Warranty Policies for Second‐hand Products

Warranties for second-hand products are becoming more important as consumers have started demanding protection against poor quality second-hand products and the high cost of product failures occurring shortly after purchase. In response to this consumer demand for protection, public policy makers have begun enacting laws requiring dealers to offer warranties and effectively service warranty claims. This is now apparent throughout the market place for cars, consumer durables and electrical and electronic goods. As a result, dealers of second-hand products need to do a proper cost analysis of alternative warranty policies before deciding on a warranty policy to be offered with the sale of a particular item. This paper deals with three new cost sharing warranty policies for second-hand products. Stochastic models have been developed and analysed for the cost of these warranty policies when offered with the sale of second-hand products. International Federation of Operational Research Societies 2001.

Critical factors for enterprise resources planning system selection and implementation projects within small to medium enterprises

The work presents research on enterprise resources planning (ERP) system characteristics particularly relevant for small to medium enterprises (SME). The duration of ERP system selection and implementation are critical for SMEs due to limited resources. Authors investigated the duration of the project phases to establish the human resource requirements through the selection, implementation and support of the ERP project. Preimplementation training costs and ongoing license upgrade costs as a percentage of the implementation cost were also analysed. Common factors that are crucial for an SME in the manufacturing sector embarking on an ERP system are identified in This work for system selection and implementation. User survey was carried out for a target group of SME companies around Brisbane, Australia. The survey captured both qualitative and quantitative data relating to the ERP system in place at a target group of electrical and electronic equipment manufacturing companies located in South East Queensland, Australia. Quantitative analysis was carried out on the cost of the ERP selection and implementation project, both in terms of capital outlay and human resources. The research provided an overall perception of the success level of ERP systems.

Reliability improvement through alternative designs a case study

In todays competitive world, reliability of equipment is extremely important to maintain quality and delivery deadlines. This is achieved by using proper maintenance and design changes for unreliable subsystems and components of a complex system. It is significant to develop a strategy for maintenance, replacement and design changes related to those subsystems and components. An analysis of down time along with causes is essential to identify the unreliable components and subsystems. This paper presents an analysis of failure data of solenoid coils of automatic internal grinding machine used in a bearing manufacturing plant. It analyses various replacement and change of design options such as introduction of pneumatic system in place of electromagnetic solenoids for improvement of reliability of the plunger movement mechanism.

Decision on economical rail grinding interval for controlling rolling contact fatigue

Rail players around the world have been increasing axle loads to improve the productivity of freight and heavy haul operations. This has increased the risk of surface cracks at curves because of rolling contact fatigue. Rail grinding has been considered an effective process for controlling these cracks and reducing risks of rail breaks. The complexity of deciding the optimal rail grinding intervals for improving the reliability and safety of rails is because of insufficient understanding of the various factors involved in the crack initiation and propagation process. This paper focuses on identifying the factors influencing rail degradation, developing models for rail failures and analyzing the costs of various grinding intervals for economic decision making. Various costs involved in rail maintenance, such as rail grinding, downtime, inspection, rail failures and derailment, and replacement of worn-out rails, are incorporated into the total cost model developed in this paper. Field data from the rail industry have been used for illustration.

Evaluation of technical vs economic decisions in rail grinding

Rail is a significant capital asset for railway companies. It contributes more than half of the capital assets of railway infrastructure. Recent rail inspection data using Ultrasonic rail testing has shown increasing number of rail defects, failures and causing disruptions to rail services. This cost can be further increased when the track quality is poor. In recent years, railroads have been purchasing over 500,000 tons of rails per year at an estimated total cost of US

Maintenance Decisions for Inground Decay of Power-Supply Timber Poles

1.25 billion for replacement of worn out and degraded rails. Rail grinding is considered as viable means in reducing the impacts of rail defects and failures. Rail grinding can result in improved curving performance (wheel/rail interaction) and prevents crack initiation and propagation of surface cracks due to RCF. This paper focuses on analysis of rail degradation process and development of mathematical model considering technical and economic decisions in rail grinding to rail infrastructure owners.

Development of Wear-Fatigue-Lubrication-Interaction Model for Cost Effective Rail Maintenance Decisions

Timber poles are widely used for distributing electricity in rural areas, mainly in developing countries. The improved reliability of timber poles is extremely important as the breakdown or failure of any one of these poles can result in millions of dollars in lost revenue and restoration costs. The losses can include production loss, loss of property, or even loss of life. The reliability of such poles depends on a complex combination of age, usage, durability of timber, environmental factors influencing the deterioration process, and most important, maintenance actions carried out through the lifecycle of the poles. This paper focuses on developing an optimal maintenance model that predominantly captures the inground decay of timber poles, and on developing a mechanism for measuring these factors. The developed maintenance model is then illustrated with numerical examples. Analysis of failure data shows that most of the failures of timber poles are due to a decrease in timber strength and peripheral dimensions at or below ground level. The results from this research could be useful for maintenance and replacement decisions regarding inground timber components used in the utility, construction, railway, and transportation sectors.

Techniques in Developing Economic Decision Model Combining Above Rail and Below Rail Assets

Prediction of operational risk and enhancement of reliability and safety for rail network are important to rail infrastructure providers and train operators. Rail defects leading to rail breaks and derailments cost huge amount due to cancelled / delayed traffic, emergency maintenance, loss of assets, loss of revenues and liability compensations due to down times. Wear occurring at the wheel/rail interface as a result of ineffective lubrication costs huge amount to rail infrastructure providers per year. Cost of rail-wheel maintenance and replacements are reduced significantly with effective lubrication. Studies on interaction of factors behind wear, fatigue, lubrication and grinding problems are required to monitor those factors and finding out cost effective technological solutions in predicting and reducing operational risks. This paper focuses on development of wear-fatigue-lubrication-interaction model for cost effective rail maintenance decisions.

Development of a postgraduate engineering management program for the Asia-Pacific region

Many of the rail infrastructure owners take ad-hoc decisions in inspection, lubrication and grinding strategies for controlling rolling contact fatigue (RCF) and wear. Limited research has been conducted in this area for economic effectiveness combining above rail and below rail assets. There is need to focus on damage of rail caused due to wheel and damage of wheel caused due to rail and total cost of rail and wheel for optimal replacements, maintenance and penalty costs to rail or train owners. This paper focuses on techniques in developing integrated economic decision model combining above rail and below rail assets for operational and maintenance strategies. These techniques able to analyse the effectiveness of operational and maintenance related decisions combining rail and wheel considering various scenarios.

Development of a learning package for interactive learning in enterprise resources planning (ERP)

Engineering management (EM) at postgraduate level is a pathway for practicing engineers to fast develop their careers. This work presents the development of a postgraduate engineering management program which looks into the market demand in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region. It addresses the program structure, contents, delivery mode and relevant issues for meeting the needs of job market and students. This work addresses the challenges in developing engineering management program for onshore program in Australia and offshore programs in the Asia-pacific region and focuses on various modes of deliveries.