Terms Of Product Quality Research Articles

A State-of-the-Art Review on Hemming: A Materials Processing Technology for Mechanical Joints

Abstract Hemming is a material processing technology widely used in major sectors such as automotive and aerospace industries. As a mechanical joining process, hemming is applied to sheet metal components to build structural assemblies. In conventional hemming methods, dies and presses are used by designing product-specific tooling. In recent years, robot technologies have been integrated into this specific process to benefit from the advantages of flexible manufacturing systems. In this paper, a state-of-the-art review of the hemming process is presented based on a literature review. Since there is no background of collected works and systematic reviews, this work summarizes all the details and key points about hemming. This review fulfills the need for compiled knowledge at the right time because of two main reasons. First, there is no review currently on this issue to enlighten both industry and academia. Second, hemming technologies have been enhanced by the leading industrial companies without any contributions of written sources to the literature. In this work, the evolution of hemming technology is given from past to present. Deformation mechanisms in different hemming methods are presented. Effects of process parameters are discussed in terms of product quality, mechanics of materials, and manufacturing aspects. Lastly, recent developments in hemming technologies are given. Despite the availability of alternative joining methods, hemming remains at the forefront of metal joining processes due to its unrivaled simplicity.

A modular product design framework for the home appliance industry

Methodologies that optimize product development are becoming increasingly important due to global competition. Additionally, customers have been more demanding in terms of product quality, also requiring more environmentally friendly goods and services. In order to accomplish these goals, this study builds a product modularization framework for developing new products. We developed our protocol based on the Modular Function Deployment (MFD) and the Product Line Commonality Index (PCI). We obtained the modules after applying MFD and compared them with an actual product developed by a home appliance organization, to ensure validity in both theory and practice. We chose the hinge module to apply PCI, finding a significant potential to communize the component. A careful analysis of MFD and PCI outcomes in the product development process may increase modularization efficiency and bring pertinent information for product architecture decisions and strategies. However, it is noteworthy that a market analysis is needed before communizing components. On one hand, companies may reduce development and manufacturing costs through part commonality. On the other hand, there may be market rejection due to product design and architecture changes.

Analysis on the Import Quality of China's Agricultural Products

Since China’s accession to WTO, the agricultural imports have been growing considerably, but China has also met various concerns with the safety of imported agri-food. Therefore, enhancing the quality of imported agricultural products has become an imperative problem in China. Based on the HS6-digit data from 2002 to 2017, this paper uses the nested logit model to construct the comparable quality indicators of imported agricultural products. The paper found that the quality of imported agricultural products has been steadily improving. By 2017, the relative weighted quality of importing countries had mainly settled in the range of 0.6-0.9. It is worth noting that the quality of agricultural products from Brazil and America was greater than 0.9. In terms of product quality, vegetable products have the highest relative weighted quality, followed by live animals, animal products, prepared foodstuffs, beverage and other products.

Comprehensive analysis of industrial-scale heating plants based on different biomass slow pyrolysis technologies: Product property, energy balance, and ecological impact

Slow pyrolysis poly-generation technology for rural heating using agroforest residues has reached the stage of industrial demonstration application in China. Comprehensive assessment of technical characteristics and technical adaptability is essential as further industrialization development requires related plants to be sustainable and replicable. In this study, three typical technical processes and application models are discussed; namely, poly-generation for syngas and char using a rotary kiln (SCRK), poly-generation for syngas and char using a vertical kiln (SCVK), and poly-generation for hot water and char using a chain grate furnace (HCCF). The technical characteristics, adaptability to raw materials, product property, energy balance, and ecological impact were systematically analyzed by an empirical analysis based on industrial-scale project data. The SCRK was advantageous in terms of product quality and yield of char; the low heating value (LHV) of syngas exceeded 17.3 MJ/m 3 , which was approximately thrice that of the other two technical processes. The energy conversion efficiency of the SCVK was 76.8%, that is, approximately 4.0–5.7 percentage points higher than that of the HCCF and SCRK. The emergy sustainability indices of SCRK, SCVK, and HCCF, as ecological indicators, were 31.2, 21.4, and 24.5, respectively. The above results indicate that the heating plants based on biomass slow pyrolysis have promising application prospects. The technology promotion path was discussed by matching production situations, market demands, and technical characteristics based on a technical evaluation radar chart. Some targeted suggestions were proposed for the industrial application of different biomass slow pyrolysis poly-generation technologies. This study provides a reference for industrialization development of biomass slow pyrolysis technologies for rural heating. • Agroforest residues were used for slow pyrolysis poly-generation for rural heating. • Product property, energy balance, and ecological impact were analyzed. • All three technologies had sustainable development capabilities. • Rotary kiln had higher product quality and char yield rate than the others.

Continuous Isolation of Particles with Varying Aspect Ratios up to Thin Needles Achieving Free-Flowing Products

The continuous vacuum screw filter (CVSF) for small-scale continuous product isolation of suspensions was operated for the first time with cuboid-shaped and needle-shaped particles. These high aspect ratio particles are very common in pharmaceutical manufacturing processes and provide challenges in filtration, washing, and drying processes. Moreover, the flowability decreases and undesired secondary processes of attrition, breakage, and agglomeration may occur intensively. Nevertheless, in this study, it is shown that even cuboid and needle-shaped particles (l-alanine) can be processed within the CVSF preserving the product quality in terms of particle size distribution (PSD) and preventing breakage or attrition effects. A dynamic image analysis-based approach combining axis length distributions (ALDs) with a kernel-density estimator was used for evaluation. This approach was extended with a quantification of the center of mass of the density-weighted ALDs, providing a measure to analyze the preservation of the inlet PSD statistically. Moreover, a targeted residual moisture below 1% could be achieved by adding a drying module (Tdry = 60 °C) to the modular setup of the CVSF.

Antisolvent crystallization of battery grade nickel sulphate hydrate in the processing of lateritic ores

Lithium-ion batteries are a crucial part in the rapid, on-going electrification of the global vehicle fleet, which is essential in enabling a transition to a society based on renewable energy. By combining metals including lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese in different proportions, cathode active materials with different properties can be obtained. Nickel sulphate hexahydrate, which is of great importance to the battery industry, can be produced by hydrometallurgical processing of lateritic and sulphide ores. Antisolvent crystallization is examined as an alternative to conventional crystallization methods for the production of high-grade nickel sulphate hexahydrate in the processing of lateritic nickel ores from Turkey. The ore has been leached under atmospheric pressure followed by purification by ion exchange resulting in a solution enriched with respect to nickel together with a range of impurity metals from which NiSO4·6H2O can be obtained by antisolvent crystallization. Separate antisolvent crystallization experiments have been carried out for nickel, cobalt and iron sulphate systems, which are the main metals present in the solution, and solubility data has been determined for key conditions. Acetone and isopropanol have been evaluated as antisolvents. Antisolvent crystallization experiments have also been carried out using synthetic solutions and the effect of addition rate of antisolvent, addition of diluted antisolvent and seeding on the purity of the crystals has been investigated. Acetone gives the best product quality in terms of purity and shape. Seeding and a slow rate of addition of dilute antisolvent gives the highest purity of the NiSO4·6H2O crystals. Under optimised conditions, crystals containing 22.3% Ni with a purity of 99.8% by mass have been obtained with a crystallization yield of 63.5%.

Probiotics: relevant during the coronavirus (COVID-19) infection pandemic?

The review presents modern views on the role of probiotics in the treatment and prevention of complications of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 infection. This infection can be complicated, for example, by the development of diarrhea after the use of antibacterial drugs in case of secondary bacterial infection, extrapulmonary viral infections, viremia, and the so-called «cytokine storm». The emphasis has been placed on such potentially beneficial effects of probiotics as а prevention of antibioticassociated diarrhea, prevention of intestinal damage induced directly by viral replication, prevention of leaky gut syndrome and immunomodulation in case of coronavirus COVID-19 infection. It has been shown that the use of probiotics alongside antibiotic therapy significantly reduces the risk of developing antibiotic-associated diarrhea, including such a severe variant as pseudomembranous colitis. The use of a probiotic during a viral respiratory disease reduces the risk of a severe disease course due to the positive modulation of inflammation and direct antiviral effects. Selected data showed the positive effect of probiotics on the tight junction stability of the intestine, which potentially protects against viremia and the penetration of immunogenic molecules into the internal environment of the body. In order to address the challenges adequately, a probiotic should meet certain requirements in terms of product quality, safety, evidence of efficacy, composition and understanding of the strains. The article presents data on the successful use of a multi-strain immuno-probiotic as an example demonstrating the therapeutic potential of modern multi-strain probiotics as a nonspecific immunomodulatory agent for the prevention of acute respiratory diseases.

THE METHODS OF PERSUASION USED IN EMARKETING ADVERTISEMENTS AND THEIR REFLECTION ON THE PURCHASING BEHAVIOUR OF IRAQI YOUTH: A FIELD STUDY

Scientists consider that the appeal to the mind is the mental criterion for persuasion, which is the strongest and most influential, followed by the appeal to the heart, which represents the symbol of emotion, in the persuasive process. The Iraqi (field study) with several sub-questions, to achieve several research goals, based on the theory oriented to the research, which is (the theory of media persuasion), which we see as the most appropriate theory for the problem of this research, its questions and objectives, based on the intellectual heritage represented by the methods of persuasion in electronic advertisements and their reflection on young consumers. The method used is the survey method, as it is one of the most appropriate approaches to media studies, and is consistent with the topic, problem and objectives of the research based on the analytical descriptive approach, as well as the questionnaire tool for all data and information related to the field study of the research sample represented by the Iraqi youth in the Iraqi governorates (Baghdad, Nineveh and Basra) and the adult Their number is (668) researched. The study reached several results, including the following: Determining goals was one of the most important methods of persuasion used in electronic advertisements in Iraqi commercial sites. The polarization model occupied the forefront of the persuasion models used in electronic advertisements, because this model plays a positive role in persuading young consumers and urging them to make a purchase decision. Among the most important principles of persuasive design in electronic advertising is simplicity and clarity The most important recommendations that came out of this study are as follows: Highlighting the characteristics and advantages of the product in terms of quality and efficiency, as well as focusing on the commercial relationship, facility, price and warranty in order to urge young people to make a purchase decision. The electronic advertisements in the Iraqi commercial sites focused on advertising communication, but they neglected electronic sales, and the delivery service, which is among the pillars of delivery. The necessity of paying attention to persuasive methods in electronic

Development of DNA markers associated with sunburn resistance in pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) using bulk segregant analysis

Production and consumption of pomegranate have been increasing in the world in recent years due to its health benefits to humans. Sunburn is an important physiological disorder caused by high temperature, light, and radiation. With the changes in climatic conditions that have occurred in recent years, the effect of sunburn is increasing and limiting the production and quality of pomegranate. Therefore, development of pomegranate cultivars resistance to sunburn is one of the main objectives of pomegranate breeding program. However, the development of a new variety takes a very long time. In order to shorten this time, molecular markers have been used in plant breeding in recent years. In this study, molecular markers associated with sunburn resistance in pomegranate fruit were developed using bulked segregant analysis technique (BSA) in a pomegranate progeny population whose morphological, pomological, and phenological evaluations were completed. Two RAPD fragments (OPAI-08-650 and OPPP-14-900) associated with sunburn resistance or sensitivity were determined and used as markers. One of these RAPD fragments was purified, cloned and sequenced to produce a more specific sequence characterized amplified regions (SCAR) marker, designated as PgSCARGYH1. The markers developed in this study will shorten the breeding process of sunburn-resistant pomegranate cultivars. In addition, it will also contribute to the increase in pomegranate production in terms of quality and quantity.

The Influence of Service and Product Quality on Customer Satisfaction: A Study of UBa-Ventures PLC Bambili, Cameroon

Purpose: Service quality and customer satisfaction are very important concepts that companies must understand if they are to grow and remain competitive in the business environment. Service and product quality is considered to be very critical to any modern business because it contributes to higher customer’s satisfaction. The purpose of this study was to find out the implication of service and product quality on consumers’ satisfaction, Particular focus was placed on variables like responsiveness, reliability, empathy and how they affect consumers’ satisfaction. Methodology: To accomplish this task both quantitative and qualitative research approaches were applied. A sample of 150 respondents was selected from the customers of UBa ventures PLC Bambili using a simple random sampling technique. Questionnaire was the main instrument for data collection for the study. The data collected was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The ordinary least square (OLS) was use to verify the Findings: We observed that, responsiveness, reliability has a positive effect and empathy has a negative effect in predicting customer satisfaction. From the finding, the results also reveal an interesting relationship between service and product quality on customer satisfaction. We observe that all the indicators of service and product quality have significant effect on customer satisfaction, thus this findings can help organization gain competitive advantage by improving their service and product quality in terms of reliability, responsiveness and empathy Unique Contribution: It was recommended that, hospitality industries should create a complaint desk where customers can register their complaints and a systematic procedure to handle customer’s complaints. Also, proper explanation and use of a well understood language is vital for effective communication of employees. Management should put in place strict guidelines to be followed while dealing with customer’s complaints to be satisfactorily handled and thus increase the level of customer satisfaction.

Evaluation of Vacuum Assistance in Oven-Drying of Kurut in Terms of Product Quality and Drying Kinetics

Evaluation of Vacuum Assistance in Oven-Drying of Kurut in Terms of Product Quality and Drying Kinetics

Kualitas Produk Ditinjau Dari Persepsi Konsumen Pentol Kluwung: Si Pentol Sehat Pelangi

The culinary business has an important role in the country's economy due to minimized unemployment and reduce poverty. Pentol Kluwung business is presented to fulfill the consumer’s wishes to consume healthy and safe meatball. As is known, many meatballs sold in the market whose no safety healthy. Inside Pentol Kluwung, consisting many nutritional content. Namely beef protein, flour carbohydrates and fiber, vitamins and minerals obtained from natural dyes derived from dragon fruit, spinach and turmeric. Free from harmful chemicals such as formalin and borax. Along the way, the researcher realized that products quality needed to be improved by looking at the consumer's perception. This study aims to determine the product quality in terms of consumer perceptions. Qualitative research methods used in this study, the surrounding environmental phenomena can be examined directly, data collected through dissemination and interviews after data analysis and conclusion drawing. Purposive sampling used in this research. The results showed that the order of the first factors that determine the quality of Pentol Kluwung products is the taste of the product, the second is price and the third is promotion. Whatsapp application is consumers' first choice regarding easy-to-reach promotional media

Understanding the effects of ultrasound processng on texture and rheological properties of food.

The demand for the production of high quality and safe food products has been ever increasing. Consequently, the industry is looking for novel technologies in food processing operations that are cost-effective, rapid and have a better efficiency over traditional methods. Ultrasound is well-known technology to enhance the rate of heat and mass transfer providing a high end-product quality, at just a fraction of time and energy normally required for conventional methods. The irradiation of foods with ultrasound creates acoustic cavitation that has been used to cause desirable changes in the treated products. The technology is being successfully used in various unit operations such as sterilization, pasteurization, extraction, drying, emulsification, degassing, enhancing oxidation, thawing, freezing and crystallization, brining, pickling, foaming and rehydration, and so forth. However, the high pressure and temperature associated with the cavitation process is expected to induce some changes in the textural and rheological properties of foods which form an important aspect of product quality in terms of consumer acceptability. The present review is aimed to focus on the effects of ultrasound processing on the textural and rheological properties of food products and how these properties are influenced by the process variables.

A robust approach for industrial small-object detection using an improved faster regional convolutional neural network

With the increasing pace in the industrial sector, the need for a smart environment is also increasing and the production of industrial products in terms of quality always matters. There is a strong burden on the industrial environment to continue to reduce impulsive downtime, concert deprivation, and safety risks, which needs an efficient solution to detect and improve potential obligations as soon as possible. The systems working in industrial environments for generating industrial products are very fast and generate products rapidly, sometimes leading to faulty products. Therefore, this problem needs to be solved efficiently. Considering this problem in terms of faulty small-object detection, this study proposed an improved faster regional convolutional neural network-based model to detect the faults in the product images. We introduced a novel data-augmentation method along with a bi-cubic interpolation-based feature amplification method. A center loss is also introduced in the loss function to decrease the inter-class similarity issue. The experimental results show that the proposed improved model achieved better classification accuracy for detecting our small faulty objects. The proposed model performs better than the state-of-the-art methods.

Overview of the Russian market of herbal products

Introduction. In the Russian pharmaceutical market, there is the following situation: herbal medicinal products (HMP) and dietary supplements based on plant raw materials (DS) have similar compositions, dosage forms and scope of application. They’re often considered analogues by consumers and specialists, which indicates the existence of common market for these products.Research aim is to investigate the state and development trends of the Russian HMP and DS market, assessing positions of foreign and domestic companies and general prospects for this market as well.Methodology. The study was conducted using IQVIA retail audit database, official sources of information on HMP and DS registration. In the market analysis the products were classified depending on the scope of application, composition and preparation methods, and dosage forms as well.Results. In 2020 pharmacy of HMP and DS sales amounted to 435.4 million units valued at 51.3 billion rubles in wholesale prices. Beginning with 2016, the average annual growth rate corresponded to 4.2%, in value terms. However, in volume terms, the sales were reduced in the average by 3.4% per year (due to cheap domestic medicines). The main part of the entire market comprises HMP (80% in units and 74% in value terms in 2020). The products, affecting respiratory system, genitourinary sphere, and digestion, provide more than three-quarters of all sales in value terms. More than half of the market is occupied by total extractive drugs. Solid dosage forms (tablets and capsules) account for half of the sales, plant raw materials and fees constitute more than one third. In 2020, Russian companies provided 28% of the sales of HMP and 67% of DS in value terms. In the context of the main segments, the market structure in 2016-2020 remained fairly stable.Conclusion. In the future, the market dynamics in value terms will be determined considering by household income and the epidemiological situation. In units, HMP sales will continue to decline through the unprofitable positions of the traditional domestic drug assortment. The increasing strictness of legislation requirements for the market of dietary supplements may contribute to investment in the development of HMP that are competitive to foreign products in terms of quality and consumer characteristics.

Development of a cleaner route for Aluminum–Vanadium alloy production

Aluminum–Vanadium (AlV) alloy is essential for high-performance titanium material. Calcium fluoride (CaF2) is currently used in AlV production and has inevitable drawbacks in terms of product quality and environmental impact. In order to avoid its potential hazards, lime (CaO) as an alternative flux material in producing AlV alloy has been investigated in laboratory and by industrial trials in the present study. The samples were analyzed by Electron Probe X-ray Micro-analyzer (EPMA) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD), regarding the phases formed and corresponding compositions. A slag with good fluidity can protect inner alloy from being oxidized and also promotes the separation between slag and alloy, with a goal to reduce alloy inclusions in slag to enhance the yield. The results showed that using CaO as flux with appropriate amount greatly improved the yield and quality of the AlV alloy and avoided environmental pollution caused by fluoride evaporations.

Consumer Perceptions of Online Produce Purchases

In the Spring of 2021, a survey of college students’ perceptions and behaviors regarding grocery shopping methods, including online purchases of fresh produce, in the post-response to COVID-19 was conducted. The purpose of this research was to analyze the perceptions of online grocery shopping and identify specific factors that significantly influenced the grocery shopping experience. A sample of 203 responses was collected from undergraduate and graduate students within the College of Agricultural & Life Sciences (CALS) at the University of Florida. Participants perceived in-store grocery shopping as superior in terms of product quality, shopping experience, store loyalty, and hygiene while convenience was perceived as an advantage with online grocery shopping. Participants identified product quality and greater transparency regarding food handling as important concerns and factors when purchasing fresh produce online. Although COVID-19 pandemic caused students to explore various online grocery services, it had limited effect on their purchasing of fresh produce. The implications for this study are far reaching, applicable to industry retailers interested in consumer willingness to pay for online grocery options and in identifying value-adding services that would increase consumer participation. This study also provides baseline data useful to researchers interested in consumer behavior, acceptance, and food marketing.

EFFECTS OF MICROWAVE ROASTING TIME ON PHYSICO-CHEMICAL PROPERTIES AND SENSORY EVALUATION OF GERMINATED RED BROWN RICE MILK

The study was aimed to investigate the effects of different microwave heating times (1, 2, and 3 min at output microwave of 800 W) in comparison with the traditional heating (3 min, 110oC) on some physico-chemical properties and sensory evaluation. The consumer survey for the final product use was also conducted to determine whether there is a significant difference in general liking of the product with gender. The results indicated that the product with the shorter microwave heating time contained higher protein and reducing sugar compared to traditional heating. The microwave heating time significantly affected the viscosity of milk, whereas insignificantly influenced color, pH, and TSS values of milk. Among samples, microwave roasted at 3 min provided the comparable total acceptance score in sensory evaluation of the traditional heating. The milk contains protein (0.18g/100ml), total lipid (0.87g/100ml), and carbohydrate (7.56g/100ml). No significant association between gender and opinion was found expressing the liking of the product in which there were 61.35% females and 45.58% males liking the product. This study revealed that microwave heating could be used for roasting step to replace the traditional roasting in terms of product quality and nutrient retention. The study also provided a basic formula of the main components of the rice milk and demonstrated that the using the germinated red-brown rice to produce the rice milk could provide the product, ensuring all main compositions of rice such as protein, lipid, and carbohydrate.

Design of a machine to rectify ceramic tiles for laboratory tests

The tile rectification process, also called squaring, consists of machining the edges of the tile to make them straight, parallel two by two and perpendicular to the other two in addition to controlling the size of the tile (calibrating). The current industrial lines are based on multiple heads (abrasive wheels) where the characterization of the process in terms of product quality and power consumption is hard to be conducted. In this work we present a laboratory machine equipped with a single grinding wheel to be used for testing and simulating the working conditions of a conventional rectification tile. The specifications of the machine that are required and the analysis of the different functional systems designed (clamping and motion, cutting, cooling, structure/enclosure, and electrical/control system) is reported. This machine may lead researchers to characterize the rectification process and propose actions for improving the efficiency and the sustainability of the industrial process.

Recent Advances on Machine Learning Applications in Machining Processes

This study aims to present an overall review of the recent research status regarding Machine Learning (ML) applications in machining processes. In the current industrial systems, processes require the capacity to adapt to manufacturing conditions continuously, guaranteeing high performance in terms of production quality and equipment availability. Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers new opportunities to develop and integrate innovative solutions in conventional machine tools to reduce undesirable effects during operational activities. In particular, the significant increase of the computational capacity may permit the application of complex algorithms to big data volumes in a short time, expanding the potentialities of ML techniques. ML applications are present in several contexts of machining processes, from roughness quality prediction to tool condition monitoring. This review focuses on recent applications and implications, classifying the main problems that may be solved using ML related to the machining quality, energy consumption and conditional monitoring. Finally, a discussion on the advantages and limits of ML algorithms is summarized for future investigations.