Mohammed Khurshid Khan

The present status of quality and manufacturing management techniques and philosophies within the Libyan iron and steel industry

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the present status of the implementation levels of total quality management (TQM), just‐in‐time (JIT) and manufacturing resource planning (MRPII) within the iron and steel industry in Libya and the management implications for this industry.Design/methodology/approach – A survey methodology was applied in this investigation using an extensive questionnaire and one‐to‐one interviews within the correspondent Libyan iron and steel industry.Findings – Based on the analysis of the questionnaire survey and the one‐to‐one interview responses, the results show that the strategies applied by the executive management body towards most of the areas that are considered as being crucial in any successful implementation of the investigated quality and manufacturing management techniques and philosophies are not well planned. The actual implementation levels of the TQM, JIT and MRPII practices were found to be in the modest levels within the surveyed industry. The paper has identi...

Investigation into the implementation stages of manufacturing and quality techniques and philosophies within the Libyan cement industry

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the implementation level of just‐in‐time (JIT), manufacturing resources planning (MRPII) and total quality management (TQM) within the cement industry in Libya.Design/methodology/approach – This paper covers an overview of the investigated manufacturing and quality techniques and philosophies. A survey methodology has been applied in this investigation using an intensive questionnaire to the correspondent organizations.Findings – Based on the analysis of the survey questionnaire responses, the results show that the management body does not have a clear strategy towards most of the areas that are considered as being crucial in any successful implementation of the JIT and MRPII techniques/philosophies, with slightly better results for TQM. The research has identified limitations within the investigated areas and has pointed to areas where the management should take immediate action in order to achieve successful and effective implementation of JIT, MRPII...

A hybrid knowledge‐based performance measurement system

Purpose – This paper aims to present a hybrid knowledge based (KB) – analytic hierarchy process (AHP) – gauging absence of pre‐requisite (GAP) analysis of performance measurement system (PMS) expert system (ES) model.Design/methodology/approach – The KBPMS has been developed using the rule base approach of ESs. Full details are given for the customer perspective (CP). The KBPMS considers five levels of company performance: business perspective, CP, manufacturing competitive priorities perspective, internal process perspective and resource and method availability perspective. CP model of the KBPMS system, and thereafter the complete model is summarised for the different modules. Embedded within the KB is the ability to benchmark the PMS existing in a company to assist in the improvement process.Findings – The validation of the hybrid KBPMS was confirmed through three real applications in the manufacturing industry sector: aircraft component manufacturing, electronics manufacturing and telecommunication pro...

Integrated manufacturing strategy for deployment of CADCAM methodology in a SMME

Purpose – Cost reduction through the use of technology has become the competitive strength of companies. The benefits of technology integration are quite credible and have been effective in business competition. The purpose of this paper is to describe an integrated manufacturing strategy for the deployment of a CAD/CAM system in a small, medium manufacturing enterprise (SMME).Design/methodology/approach – A case study of a SMME is utilised in deploying an integrated CAD/CAM system for practical application of manufacturing technology for achieving sustainable growth through lean systems design (LSD). The paper presents a techno‐economic and technology change management framework, with an application of a holistic set of lean deployment tools that include establishing a strategic and operational plan for implementing CAD/CAM systems as a means to achieving world‐class performance.Findings – The paper shows that the CAD/CAM integration within the case company increased knowledge of CAD/CAM technology, prod...

Knowledge-Based Collaborative Lean Manufacturing Management (KBCLMM) System

Knowledge-Based Collaborative Lean Manufacturing Management (KBCLMM) System The objective of this research paper is to demonstrate the application of hybrid Knowledge-Based System, Gauging Absences of Pre-Requisites (GAP), and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) approaches for selecting the improvement programs for Collaborative Lean Manufacturing Management (CLMM) System. In this research, a generic Knowledge-Based System is developed to measure the level of CLMM adoption in automotive manufacturers compared to the ideal system. Using the embedded GAP and AHP technique, the key lean manufacturing improvement programs can be prioritised by using both qualitative and quantitative criteria. The analysis covers the planning stage of the KBCLMM. The utilisation of the approach is demonstrated with an illustrative example. System Zespołowego Zarządzania Produkcją, Obniżający Nakłady, Oparty na Bazie Wiedzy Celem niniejszej pracy badawczej jest przedstawienie rozmaitych sposobów wyboru programów poprawy wydajności dla systemu Zespołowego Zarządzania Produkcją obniżającego nakłady (CLMM), opartego na Bazach Wiedzy. Omawiane sposoby, to Pomiar Niedostępności Warunków Wstępnych (Gauging Absences of Pre-Requisites - GAP) oraz Analityczne Procesy Hierarchiczne (Analytic Hierarchy Process - AHP). W ramach prezentowanej pracy badawczej opracowano generyczny System Oparty na Bazie Wiedzy pozwalający na pomiar przydatności systemu CLMM w zakładzie produkcyjnym przemysłu samochodowego w porównaniu z systemem idealnym. Dzięki zastosowaniu wbudowanych technik GAP oraz AHP można optymalizować kluczowe programy zarządzania produkcją, określając priorytety za pomocą kryteriów ilościowych, jak i jakościowych. Analiza obejmuje również etap planowania systemu KBCLMM. Wykorzystanie każdego sposobu jest przedstawione za pomocą poglądowego przykładu.

A Framework of Knowledge Based System for Integrated Maintenance Strategy and Operation

The dependency of maintenance as a manufacturing logistic function has made the considerations and constrains of maintenance decisions complex in nature. The rapid growth of automation in manufacturing process has also increased the role of maintenance as an inseparable business partner. As consequence, maintenance strategy and operations should always be aligned with business and manufacturing perspectives within a holistic and integrated manner to achieve competitive advantage. This paper presents a framework of Knowledge Based System for Integrated Maintenance Strategy and Operation (KBIMSO) linked to business and manufacturing perspectives. The KBIMSO framework has novelty of simultaneously highlighting the elements of business, manufacturing and maintenance perspectives which contribute to direct maintenance performance and can be used by the companies to evaluate their existing maintenance system in relation to business competitive priorities and manufacturing process requirements in order to gain optimal maintenance performance as the competitive driver.

The development of a hybrid knowledge-based system for the design of a Low Volume Automotive Manufacturing (LVAM) system

A conceptual design approach is an important stage for the development of a hybrid Knowledge-Based System (KBS) for Low Volume Automotive Manufacturing (LVAM). The development of a hybrid KBS, which is a blend of KBS and Gauging Absences of Pre-requisites (GAP), is proposed for LVAM research. The hybrid KB/GAP system identifies all potential elements of LVAM issues throughout the development of this system. The KBS used in the system design stage of the LVAM system analyses the gap between the existing and the benchmark organisations for an effective implementation through the GAP analysis technique. The proposed KBLVAM model at the design stage explores three major components, namely LVAM car body parts manufacturing perspective, LVAM competitive priorities perspective and LVAM lean environment perspective. Initial results reveal that the KBLVAM system has identified, for each perspective modules and sub-modules, the Problem Categories (PC) in a prioritised manner.

Knowledge-based Lean Six Sigma maintenance system for sustainable buildings

This paper aims to develop a knowledge-based (KB) system for Lean Six Sigma (LSS) maintenance in environmentally sustainable buildings (Lean6-SBM).,The Lean6-SBM conceptual framework has been developed using the rule base approach of KB system and joint integration with gauge absence prerequisites (GAP) technique. A comprehensive literature review is given for the main pillars of the framework with a typical output of GAP analysis.,Implementation of LSS in the sustainable building maintenance context requires a pre-assessment of the organisation’s capabilities. A conceptual framework with a design structure is proposed to tackle this issue with the provision of an enhancing strategic and operational decision-making hierarchy.,Future research work might consider validating this framework in other type of industries.,Maintenance activities in environmentally sustainable buildings must take prodigious standards into consideration, and, therefore, a robust quality assurance measure has to be integrated.,The significance of this research is to present a novel use of hybrid KB/GAP methodologies to develop a Lean6-SBM system. The originality and novelty of this approach will assist in identifying quality perspectives while implementing different maintenance strategies in the sustainable building context.

A Hybrid Knowledge-Based Lean Six Sigma Maintenance System for Sustainable Buildings

The complexity of sustainable building maintenance environment enforces organizations to develop a standardized maintenance quality management system that can be applied in all concerned departments. This Chapter presents a novel conceptual model of a hybrid Knowledge-Based Lean Six Sigma Sustainable Building Maintenance System (Lean6-SBM). The KB model seeks to apply the Lean Six Sigma philosophy to support implementation of an ideal building maintenance system. The conceptual KB model also integrates GAP technique to support benchmarking and decision making. The proposed conceptual model is presented to show the fundamental components of the Lean6-SBM.

A framework for complex product architecture analysis using an integrated approach

Contemporary design decomposition and synthesis analytical tasks at the conceptual design stage rely on functional and structural modelling approaches. There is a wide diversity of elements used by various modelling approaches for information and representation of product architecture, which incurs difficulties for multidisciplinary engineers working across different phases of design in capturing, visualising, sharing and tracing consistent yet common knowledge and elements across the function and structure domains. This prompts for fixation of detail and common modelling knowledge across both functional and structural analytical approaches which are also critical from automatised software perspective. A limitation of the existing approaches is that they tend to focus more on ‘what’ and less on ‘how’ (and vice versa). This article proposes an integrated conceptual product architecting approach that combines and expands the functional and structural modelling approaches, enabling capturing and tracing knowledge coherently through a common binding domain. This is underpinned by the view that most interaction requirements among the physical components during structural modelling can be derived from functional modelling. The proposed integrated approach is underpinned by the critical analysis and synthesis of the existing approaches in the literature dealing with functional and structural architecture analyses, integrated within a multiple domain matrix to fuse the knowledge of both solution-independent (functional) and solution-dependent (structural) analyses. The proposed framework is illustrated with a case study of solar robot toy, followed by discussion and suggestions for future work.