Furniture Manufacturing Company Research Articles

Solving realistic industrial scheduling problems using a multi-objective improved hybrid particle swarm optimisation algorithm

In this paper, the real–world multistage hybrid flow shop scheduling problem (HFSSP) is contemplated. The HFSSP is strongly an NP–hard (non–deterministic polynomial time hard) problem. Due to their theoretical and practical significance, several researchers have tackled the HFSSPs with a single objective function (makespan). However, many industrial scheduling problems involve multiple conflicting objectives and hence such problems are more complex to solve. But, multi–objective optimisation algorithms are relatively scarce in the HFSSP literature. This paper proposes a hybrid algorithm based on particle swarm optimisation (PSO) for the multi–objective HFSSPs. The proposed multi–objective improved hybrid particle swarm optimisation (MOIHPSO) algorithm searches the Pareto optimal solution for makespan and total flow time objectives. In the proposed MOIHPSO algorithm, two different sub–populations for the two objectives are generated and different dispatching rules are used to improve the solution quality. Moreover, the mutation operator is incorporated in this MOIHPSO to avoid the solution to be trapped in local optima. Data from a steel furniture manufacturing company is used to illustrate the proposed methodology. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.

A Fuzzy TODIM Approach for the Supplier Selection Problem

AbstractSupplier evaluation and selection is a kind of problem which includes multiple criteria of qualitative and quantitative properties. From different alternatives it requires to find the best option using different criteria and opinions of the decision makers. Because of the judgments or the bias of the decision makers, sometimes classical methods cannot be precise. In this paper, a relatively new decision method called TODIM (an acronym in Portuguese for iterative multi-criteria decision-making -Tomada de Decisao Iterativa Multicriterio) is improved with fuzziness to prevent the above mentioned problems of the classical methods. A real life case study for a furniture manufacturing company is also be solved.

Qualitative Indicators of Company Employee Satisfaction and Their Development in a Particular Period of Time

One of the most challenging and, at the same time, the most important skills of experienced managers of these days is the ability to motivate their employees to meet the required job performance in the workplace. At the present time, employee motivation is an atmosphere that meets the interests and needs of employees in the company, stimulates and infl uences their work performance in order to meet the needs of the organisation as well as their personal needs. This paper deals with the changes in employee motivation in the Slovak furniture manufacturing company and determines which changes in motivation programme should be made in the company in future.

Representation of personality traits of managers in an innovative production company

Innovative manufacturing companies may serve as a model for other Lithuanian manufacturing companies striving to implement or develop innovative technologies, products or services. However, there is no sufficient contemporary research on representation of personality traits of different level managers in successful innovative manufacturing companies. The present research aimed at identifying of the ways of representation of managers’ personality traits in innovative furniture manufacturing company in Klaipėda. “The Big Five” quantitative method was chosen for empirical research. The research has revealed the following representation of personality traits of different level managers: top-level managers are initiators of innovations; middle-level managers are cautious about the major changes in the company; first-level managers have confidence in themselves and in their work.

Improved cuckoo search algorithm for hybrid flow shop scheduling problems to minimize makespan

The multistage hybrid flow shop (HFS) scheduling problems are considered in this paper. Hybrid flowshop scheduling problems were proved to be NP-hard. A recently developed cuckoo search (CS) metaheuristic algorithm is presented in this paper to minimize the makespan for the HFS scheduling problems. A constructive heuristic called NEH heuristic is incorporated with the initial solutions to obtain the optimal or near optimal solutions rapidly in the improved cuckoo search (ICS) algorithm. The proposed algorithm is validated with the data from a leading furniture manufacturing company. Computational results show that the ICS algorithm outperforms many other metaheuristics.

Performance evaluation of an improved hybrid genetic scatter search (IHGSS) algorithm for multistage hybrid flow shop scheduling problems with missing operations

Multistage hybrid flow shop scheduling problems are considered in this paper. Each stage consists of several identical machines. The jobs are to be processed on any one of the machines at each stage. In most of the scheduling research works it is assumed that all jobs are to be processed at all stages. But in real-life industries some of the jobs may not be processed at some stages. Hence hybrid flow shop scheduling problems with missing operations are considered in this paper with the objective of determining a schedule that minimises makespan. The hybrid flow shop scheduling problems are non-deterministic polynomial time hard (NP-hard) problems. We propose a hybrid meta-heuristic algorithm, namely improved hybrid genetic scatter search (IHGSS) algorithm, based on genetic algorithm and scatter search algorithms. A case study problem of a leading steel furniture manufacturing company in India is presented to illustrate the proposed algorithm. Computational experiments show that the proposed IHGSS algorithm outperforms other heuristic and meta-heuristic algorithms.

Relationship between Occupational Stress and Turnover Intention among Employees in a Furniture Manufacturing Company in Selangor

This study aims to investigate the relationship between occupational stress and turnover intention among employees in a furniture manufacturing company in Selangor state. A total of 95 respondents were randomly chosen by the researchers at a furniture manufacturing company in Selangor. The descriptive statistical analysis was used to analyse the demographic data of respondents, level of occupational stress, and level of turnover intention among employees in the selected furniture manufacturing company. Menawhile, Pearson (r) correlation was used to examine the relationship between occupational stress and turnover intention among the employees. Result revealed that majority of the respondents experienced moderate level of occupational stress whereas more than half of the respondents were found to have moderate level of turnover intention. Result showed that occupational stress was significantly positively correlated with turnover intention. Further analysis also indicated that the dimensions of occupational stress such as organisational structure, social support, work overload, role conflict, and working environment were significantly correlated with turnover intention. In conclusion, there was a statistically significant positive relationship between occupational stress and turnover intention among the employees.

Application of Risk Analysis in Business Investment Decision-Making

Investment decision-makings should be regarded in each business entity as the crucial factor for its long-term prosperity. An acquired decision affects the performance of the company as well as its competitiveness in long time. If a competent investor has an interest to make a qualified investment decision, it means that he must primarily determine the time and risk factor. In the capital-intensive investment projects, attention must be paid to the risks that the preparation, realization and use of investment bring. The aim of this paper is to identify critical factors that affect the expected profit and cash flow in the implementation of investment projects by applying the most advanced models used to quantify the risks of investing. Research was conducted in a wood processing and furniture manufacturing company. The results given by cash flow indicatiors show that the investment project is feasible and effective. By changing some parameters, sensitivity analysis shows that the main risk factors for the project in question are the selling price, volume of production, material costs and labor costs.

Customizing Products through Application of Group Technology: A Case Study of Furniture Manufacturing

Satisfying customer needs becomes increasingly complex when a product customization element is included. This paper presents a case of transforming manufacturing system, as a part of implementing mass customization strategy in the panel furniture manufacturing company. The need for the effective implementation of customization strategy shows that shop-floor reconfiguration is necessary, in order to produce what customer wants at low costs and on a timely manner. One way for achieving this is to implement group technology approach, by creating product and machine groups and simplifying material flows. The aim of the presented study is to show an application of production flow analysis in the process of converting the mass production company to the mass customization system. The paper presents benefits of synergy created by using group technology and production flow analysis in enabling mass customized production.

An analysis of correlation between organizational justice and job satisfaction

This study was an attempt to explore the relationship between organizational justice, encompassed by three components: (distributive justice, procedural justice and interactional justice) job satisfaction, that is employees’ perceptions of workplace justice. This study, indeed, investigated the relationship among these justice measures in the Iranian environment. The data were collected through the distribution of questionnaires among 229 employees of Furniture Manufacturing Company through a stratified random sampling. The study findings showed that only one significant relationship existed between the age of respondents and their perceptions of organizational justice. The findings also suggested that this was a positive association organizational justice and job satisfaction. Employee job satisfaction depended upon the organizational justice of managers. Nevertheless, in measuring the three dimensions of organizational justice, the current study used survey items asking employees whether something is generally fair or not. Finally, although, this study was conducted in Iran, it was expected that the findings might have the relevance on a broader scale. The results could be very helpful for developing a new model of organizational justice with new implementation techniques by replicating this study in different countries and contexts.

Two-stage fuzzy production planning expected value model and its approximation method

This work develops a novel two-stage fuzzy optimization method for solving the multi-product multi-period (MPMP) production planning problem, in which the market demands and some of the inventory costs are assumed to be uncertainty and characterized by fuzzy variables with known possibility distributions. Some basic properties about the MPMP production planning problem are discussed. Since the fuzzy market demands and inventory costs usually have infinite supports, the proposed two-stage fuzzy MPMP production planning problem is an infinite-dimensional optimization problem that cannot be solved directly by conventional numerical solution methods. To overcome this difficulty, this paper adopts an approximation method (AM) to turn the original two-stage fuzzy MPMP production planning problem into a finite-dimensional optimization problem. The convergence about the AM is discussed to ensure the solution quality. After that, we design a heuristic algorithm, which combines the AM and simulated annealing (SA) algorithm, to solve the proposed two-stage fuzzy MPMP production planning problem. Finally, one real case study about a furniture manufacturing company is presented to illustrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed modeling idea and designed algorithm.

Systems approach to modelling cost and value dynamics in manufacturing enterprises

Operations and activities in manufacturing enterprises (MEs) are undergoing frequent changes as a result of external and internal factors which actively impact on the structures, processes and work patterns of most MEs. These changes induce complexities and dynamics in the survival of most MEs. As a result of the changes, cost and value generation are also affected. To remain competitive, MEs have to continuously and flexibly adjust through the redesign and organisation of their processes and resource elements with the aim to improve key performance indicators including cost and values. This is however not simple to achieve because of the inherent and ongoing dynamics experienced by MEs. This paper shows how system dynamics modelling techniques, in the form of causal loop and iThink simulation, can be coherently used to capture salient factors which induce dynamics in MEs. The integrated modelling technique was further used to show how dynamic impacts of MEs on cost and value generation can be conveniently modelled and analysed to support decision making related to competitiveness and profitability of a case study furniture manufacturing company.

Innowacyjna strategia zarządzania zapasami materiałów jako narzędzie podnoszenia konkurencyjności jednostki gospodarczej

In the paper the design of the probabilistic model of reserves is discussed. The objective is the elaboration of the innovation optimal strategy of the management of reserves of the based materials in a manufacturing company. The author discusses the kind of a probabilistic model of reserves aiming at the elaboration of the best management of primary material in the manufacturing company. The probabilistic model of reserves allows to form the innovation optimal strategy of the (R, Z) type of the primary materials management due to the profits coming from low cost components in working and furniture manufacturing company

Innowacyjna strategia zarządzania zapasami materiałów jako narzędzie podnoszenia konkurencyjności jednostki gospodarczej

In the paper the design of the probabilistic model of reserves is discussed. The objective is the elaboration of the innovation optimal strategy of the management of reserves of the based materials in a manufacturing company. The author discusses the kind of a probabilistic model of reserves aiming at the elaboration of the best management of primary material in the manufacturing company. The probabilistic model of reserves allows to form the innovation optimal strategy of the (R, Z) type of the primary materials management due to the profits coming from low cost components in working and furniture manufacturing company

Noa Industrias S. A.: un caso de éxito en el Parque Industrial de Villa El Salvador

The success story about the growth of a small home furniture manufacturing company located in the Industrial Park of Villa El Salvador is shown in this work. In order to ensure customer satisfaction and loyalty, models and designs are in continuous innovation.

Case study: reconfiguring a manufacturing system for strategic advantage ‐ a real‐world application

Over the last ten years scores of methodologies have emerged in management science/operations research/statistics that employ techniques such as mathematical programming, simulation, artificial intelligence, and clustering to convert a flexible manufacturing system into a cellular one. Based on a real‐life case that involved over 1,000 components and 3,000 operations, related to a world‐class furniture manufacturing company, finds that the somewhat outdated King’s algorithm, after partial linearization, works as well as the other sophisticated techniques in terms of speed and problem size. Drives home the point that a shift to cellular configuration from functional layout results in across the board savings in material movement, setup times, hilo moves, WIP, work area and in manufacturing leadtime. The company under study benefited to the tune of $164,000 per year from switch to single cell. The projected savings are expected to exceed $700,000 per year when the reconfiguration is completed.

A fuzzy due-date bargainer for the make-to-order manufacturing systems

For a make-to-order manufacturing system, the uncertainty and flexibility of the due dates required by customers and the production capacity owned by the manufacturer can be modeled in a fuzzy environment. A combined due-date assignment and production planning methodology for the make-to-order manufacturing systems is developed. The fuzzy approach determines the optimal due dates for the manufacturer based upon a rough-cut resource balance, while a customer can request earlier due dates by paying a higher price to cover the extra manufacturing cost incurred. The resulting fuzzy due-date bargainer is exercised using manufacturing resource planning (MRP-II) data from a furniture manufacturing company. Experimental results indicate its potential as a useful tool for real applications.

An intelligent order entry and dynamic bill of materials system for manufacturing customized furniture

This paper presents a system that integrates order entry, product configuration and dynamic generation of bills of materials functions in a customized office furniture manufacturing company. The system (SmartBoM) has been developed using object-oriented techniques and has been implemented in Concept Modeller. Customer requirements are captured by the order entry module and the validity of the product configuration is verified by constraints incorporated in the system. The system dynamically generates the bill of materials for the order. The object-oriented architecture makes the system modular and flexible.

RELATIVE STATUS OF EMPLOYEES AND STYLES OF HANDLING INTERPERSONAL CONFLICT: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY WITH KOREAN MANAGERS

An onsite experimental study was conducted in order to observe conflict management styles of 90 middle‐level managers from a large Korean furniture manufacturing company. By using accomplices, conflict conditions were introduced in a controlled setting which simulated the features of a work environment. The experiment manipulated the relative status among the subjects and observed the influence of this treatment on the subjects' choices among different conflict management styles. Both structured observations and self‐report questionnaires converged to show that conflict management styles differed significantly when the managers interacted with superiors, peers, or subordinates: the managers were mainly avoiding with superiors, compromising with peers, and competing with subordinates. The current research suggests that the relative status among the parties in conflict determines the choice of conflict management styles.

Session with Gerhard Richter, Former Bauhaus Student, Spring 1985 - School of Design

Our guest today is Gerhard Richter. I'd like to give you a little bit of background not what he did at the Bauhaus which is what he is going to tell you about but what he has done since then. To begin with, he was nine years old when World War I started and when the Bauhaus started in 1918 in the German city of Weimar. He attended the Bauhaus in 1928 after its move to Dessau. He started in the spring that year and stayed for two semesters. He was a commuter from the city of Leipzig which is about an hour away by train. Not all of the students lived at the school. After he left the Bauhaus he studied music in Leipzig and in 1933 he had to leave Germany because he had a Jewish wife. He went to Basel, Switzerland and played the cello there, which he had been studying along with woodworking. He played in the Kunsthalle. In 1934, he immigrated to Israel and there he joined some of his friends from the Bauhaus in a small furniture manufacturing company and after that went out on his own and manufactured furniture. He was quite successful with some new designs which were light weight, reasonable in price, and used plywood. He also played cello in the Palestine orchestra and for the opera. In 1945 at the end of World War II, he again tried to come to the United States he had been trying all along but he still was not able to come in because of the immigration quotas. Then he tried again in 1951 and was successful. He came to the New York area and worked in cabinet and furniture work for several years with a variety of firms. He also tried chicken farming in New Jersey which was not successful. During the Korean War he applied to the United States Army to teach woodworking, he took a test, and was accepted as a teacher and taught for 15-1/2 years. It was part of a kind of therapy program for army personnel to study woodworking. He retired in 1980 and that is when he came to Durham. Since that time he has taught woodworking at Duke University and also plays the cello in community orchestras. I thought we might start by asking Mr. Richter if he would talk about his early training and how he ended up at the Bauhaus.