Polycaprolactone fibres as a potential delivery system for collagen to support bone regeneration

Poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL) is biocompatible, non-immunogenic and non-toxic, and slowly degrades, allowing sufficient time for tissue regeneration. PCL has the potential for application in bone and cartilage repair as it may provide the essential structure required for bone regeneration, however, an ideal scaffold system is still undeveloped. PCL fibres were prepared using the gravity spinning technique, in which collagen was either incorporated into or coated onto the 'as-spun' fibres, in order to develop novel biodegradable polymer fibres which will effectively deliver collagen and support the attachment and proliferation of human osteoblast (HOB) cells for bone regeneration. The physical and mechanical characteristics and cell fibre interactions were analysed. The PCL fibres were found to be highly flexible and inclusion of collagen did not alter the mechanical properties of PCL fibres. Overall, HOB cells were shown to effectively adhere and proliferate on all fibre platforms tested, although proliferation rates were enhanced by surface coating PCL fibres with collagen compared to PCL fibres incorporating collagen and PCL-only fibres. These findings highlight the potential of using gravity spun PCL fibres as a delivery platform for extracellular matrix proteins, such as collagen, in order to enhance cell adherence and proliferation for tissue repair.

Servitization of manufacturing

The servicisation agenda is arguably one of the most important facing western manufacturers. In a world of severe international competition, it can be the basis of distinct competitive advantage, and a means to differentiate a company's products from goods produced in low cost economies. The concept of Product Service Systems (PSS) is, in particular, a special case of servicisation. With PSS, the market proposition is designed as a system that exploits synergies between products and services while, at the same time, seeks to reduce the economic and environmental costs of delivery. Although key to sustaining western manufacturing operations, major issues arise with design and management of engineering, manufacturing and supply chain activities for successful implementation of such a service-led competitive strategy. This session includes presentations which examine the opportunities and challenges associated with servicisation in more detail.

Towards a theoretical framework for human performance modelling within manufacturing systems design

The performance of direct workers has a significant impact on the competitiveness of many manufacturing systems. Unfortunately, system designers are ill equipped to assess this impact during the design process. An opportunity exists to assist designers by expanding the capabilities of popular simulation modelling tools, and using them as a vehicle to better consider human factors during the process of system design manufacture. To support this requirement, this paper reports on an extensive review of literature that develops a theoretical framework, which summarizes the principal factors and relationships that such a modelling tool should incorporate.

Using empirical evidence of variations in worker performance to extend the capabilities of discrete event simulations in manufacturing

Discrete event simulation of manufacturing systems has become widely accepted as an important tool to aid the design of such systems. Often, however, it is applied by practitioners in a manner which largely ignores an important element of industry; namely, the workforce. Workers are usually represented as simple resources, often with deterministic performance values. This approach ignores the potentially large effect that human performance variation can have on a system. A long-term data collection exercise is described with the aim of quantifying the performance variation of workers in a typical automotive assembly plant. The data are presented in a histogram form which is immediately usable in simulations to improve the accuracy of design assessment. The results show levels of skewness and range which are far larger than anticipated by current researchers and practitioners in the field.

Decision support system for spare parts warehousing

Spare parts warehousing decision-making plays an important role in today's manufacturing industry as it derives an optimum inventory policy for the organizations. Previous research on spare parts warehousing decision-making did not deal with the problem holistically considering all the subjective and objective criteria of operational and strategic needs of the manufacturing companies in the process industry. This study reviews current relevant literature and develops a conceptual framework (an integrated group decision support system) for selecting the most effective warehousing option for the process industry using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The framework has been applied to a multinational cement manufacturing company in the UK. Three site visits, eight formal interviews, and several discussions have been undertaken with personnel of the organization, many of which have more than 20 years of experience, in order to apply the proposed decision support system (DSS). Subsequently, the DSS has been validated through a questionnaire survey in order to establish its usefulness, effectiveness for warehousing decision-making, and the possibility of adoption. The proposed DSS is an integrated framework for selecting the best warehousing option for business excellence in any manufacturing organization.

Discriminating contact in lumen with a moving flexible digit using fibre Bragg grating sensing elements

Minimal access procedures in surgery offer benefits of reduced patient recovery time and less pain, yet for the surgeon the task is more complex, as both tactile and visual perception of the working site is reduced. In this paper, experimental evidence of the performance of a novel sensing system embedded in an actuated flexible digit element is presented. The digit represents a steerable tip element of devices such as endoscopes and laparoscopes. This solution is able to discriminate types of contact and tissue interaction, and to feed back this information with the shape of the flexible digit. As an alternative to this information, force level, force distribution, and other quantifiable descriptors can also be evaluated. These can be used to aid perception in processes such as navigation and investigation of tissues through palpation. The solution is pragmatic, and by virtue of its efficient mechanical construction and a polymer construction, it offers opportunities for a disposable element with suitability for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and other scanning environments. By using only four photonics sensing elements, full perception of tissue contact and the shape of the actuated digit can be described in the feedback of this information. The distributive sensory method applied to the sensory signals relies on the coupled values of the sensory data transients of the four deployed sensing elements to discriminate tissue interaction directly in near real time.

Transferring knowledge of manufacturing techniques within a subsidiary of a multi-national corporation

With the growth of the multi-national corporation (MNCs) has come the need to understand how parent companies transfer knowledge to, and manage the operations of, their subsidiaries. This is of particular interest to manufacturing companies transferring their operations overseas. Japanese companies in particular have been pioneering in the development of techniques such as Kaizen, and elements of the Toyota Production System (TPS) such as Kanban, which can be useful tools for transferring the ethos of Japanese manufacturing and maintaining quality and control in overseas subsidiaries. Much has been written about the process of transferring Japanese manufacturing techniques but much less is understood about how the subsidiaries themselves – which are required to make use of such techniques – actually acquire and incorporate them into their operations. This research therefore takes the perspective of the subsidiary in examining how knowledge of manufacturing techniques is transferred from the parent company within its surrounding (subsidiary). There is clearly a need to take a practice-based view to understanding how the local managers and operatives incorporate this knowledge into their working practices. A particularly relevant theme is how subsidiaries both replicate and adapt knowledge from parents and the circumstances in which replication or adaptation occurs. However, it is shown that there is a lack of research which takes an in-depth look at these processes from the perspective of the participants themselves. This is particularly important as much knowledge literature argues that knowledge is best viewed as enacted and learned in practice – and therefore transferred in person – rather than by the transfer of abstract and de-contextualised information. What is needed, therefore, is further research which makes an in-depth examination of what happens at the subsidiary level for this transfer process to occur. There is clearly a need to take a practice-based view to understanding how the local managers and operatives incorporate knowledge about manufacturing techniques into their working practices. In depth qualitative research was, therefore, conducted in the subsidiary of a Japanese multinational, Gambatte Corporation, involving three main manufacturing initiatives (or philosophies), namely 'TPS‘, 'TPM‘ and 'TS‘. The case data were derived from 52 in-depth interviews with project members, moderate-participant observations, and documentations and presented and analysed in episodes format. This study contributes to our understanding of knowledge transfer in relation to the approaches and circumstances of adaptation and replication of knowledge within the subsidiary, how the whole process is developed, and also how 'innovation‘ takes place. This study further understood that the process of knowledge transfer could be explained as a process of Reciprocal Provider-Learner Exchange that can be linked to the Experiential Learning Theory.

A review of research in manufacturing prognostics

With the fast changing global business landscape, manufacturing companies are facing increasing challenge to reduce cost of production, increase equipment utilization and provide innovative products in order to compete with countries with low labour cost and production cost. On of the methods is zero down time. Unfortunately, the current research and industrial solution does not provide user friendly development environment to create “Adaptive microprocessor size with supercomputer performance” solution to reduce downtime. Most of the solutions are PC based computer with off the shelf research software tools which is inadequate for the space constraint manufacturing environment in developed countries. On the other hand, to develop solution for various manufacturing domain will take too much time, there is lacking tools available for rapid or adaptive way of create the solution. Therefore, this research is to understand the needs, trends, gaps of manufacturing prognostics and defines the research potential related to rapid embedded system framework for prognostic.

Does the Chinese banking system promote the growth of firms?

Using a large panel dataset of Chinese manufacturing enterprises during 1999-2005, which accounts for over 90% of China’s industrial output, and robust econometric procedures we show that the Chinese banking system has helped to support the growth of both firm value added and TFP. We find that access to bank loans is positively correlated with future value added and TFP growth. We also find that firms with access to bank loans tend to grow faster in regions with greater banking sector development. While the effects of bank loans on firm growth are more pronounced in the case of purely private-owned and foreign firms, they are positive and statistically significant even in the case of state-owned and collectively-owned firms. We show that excluding loss-making firms from the sample does not change the qualitative nature of our results.

Pattern integration in the normal and abnormal human visual system

The processing conducted by the visual system requires the combination of signals that are detected at different locations in the visual field. The processes by which these signals are combined are explored here using psychophysical experiments and computer modelling. Most of the work presented in this thesis is concerned with the summation of contrast over space at detection threshold. Previous investigations of this sort have been confounded by the inhomogeneity in contrast sensitivity across the visual field. Experiments performed in this thesis find that the decline in log contrast sensitivity with eccentricity is bilinear, with an initial steep fall-off followed by a shallower decline. This decline is scale-invariant for spatial frequencies of 0.7 to 4 c/deg. A detailed map of the inhomogeneity is developed, and applied to area summation experiments both by incorporating it into models of the visual system and by using it to compensate stimuli in order to factor out the effects of the inhomogeneity. The results of these area summation experiments show that the summation of contrast over area is spatially extensive (occurring over 33 stimulus carrier cycles), and that summation behaviour is the same in the fovea, parafovea, and periphery. Summation occurs according to a fourth-root summation rule, consistent with a “noisy energy” model. This work is extended to investigate the visual deficit in amblyopia, finding that area summation is normal in amblyopic observers. Finally, the methods used to study the summation of threshold contrast over area are adapted to investigate the integration of coherent orientation signals in a texture. The results of this study are described by a two-stage model, with a mandatory local combination stage followed by flexible global pooling of these local outputs. In each study, the results suggest a more extensive combination of signals in vision than has been previously understood.

Advanced manufacturing technology and work design:towards a theoretical framework

This paper introduces a theoretical framework to guide research into the psychological effects of advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) on shopfloor operators. The framework has two main aspects. First, based on the emerging literature on the job content implications of AMT, it identifies four key constructs, namely: control, cognitive demand, production responsibility and social interaction. Second, by drawing on the more established job design, stress and related literatures, it predicts how these independent variables differentially affect system performance, job-related strain and job satisfaction. The wider implications and limitations of the theoretical framework are discussed.

A goal-based modeling approach to develop requirements of an adaptive system with environmental uncertainty

Dynamically adaptive systems (DASs) are intended to monitor the execution environment and then dynamically adapt their behavior in response to changing environmental conditions. The uncertainty of the execution environment is a major motivation for dynamic adaptation; it is impossible to know at development time all of the possible combinations of environmental conditions that will be encountered. To date, the work performed in requirements engineering for a DAS includes requirements monitoring and reasoning about the correctness of adaptations, where the DAS requirements are assumed to exist. This paper introduces a goal-based modeling approach to develop the requirements for a DAS, while explicitly factoring uncertainty into the process and resulting requirements. We introduce a variation of threat modeling to identify sources of uncertainty and demonstrate how the RELAX specification language can be used to specify more flexible requirements within a goal model to handle the uncertainty. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Strategic sourcing:a combined QFD and AHP approach in manufacturing

Purpose – This paper aims to develop an integrated analytical approach, combining quality function deployment (QFD) and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) approach, to enhance the effectiveness of sourcing decisions. Design/methodology/approach – In the approach, QFD is used to translate the company stakeholder requirements into multiple evaluating factors for supplier selection, which are used to benchmark the suppliers. AHP is used to determine the importance of evaluating factors and preference of each supplier with respect to each selection criterion. Findings – The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated by applying it to a UK-based automobile manufacturing company. With QFD, the evaluating factors are related to the strategic intent of the company through the involvement of concerned stakeholders. This ensures successful strategic sourcing. The application of AHP ensures consistent supplier performance measurement using benchmarking approach. Research limitations/implications – The proposed integrated approach can be principally adopted in other decision-making scenarios for effective management of the supply chain. Practical implications – The proposed integrated approach can be used as a group-based decision support system for supplier selection, in which all relevant stakeholders are involved to identify various quantitative and qualitative evaluating criteria, and their importance. Originality/value – Various approaches that can deal with multiple and conflicting criteria have been adopted for the supplier selection. However, they fail to consider the impact of business objectives and the requirements of company stakeholders in the identification of evaluating criteria for strategic supplier selection. The proposed integrated approach outranks the conventional approaches to supplier selection and supplier performance measurement because the sourcing strategy and supplier selection are derived from the corporate/business strategy.

Exploring value-added benefits to enhance wider adoption of chipless RFID system

Radio-frequency identification technology (RFID) is a popular modern technology proven to deliver a range of value-added benefits to achieve system and operational efficiency, as well as cost-effectiveness. The operational characteristics of RFID outperform barcodes in many aspects. Despite its well-perceived benefits, a definite rationale for larger scale adoption is still not so promising. One of the key reasons is high implementation cost, especially the cost of tags for applications involving item-level tagging. This has resulted in the development of chipless RFID tags which cost much less than conventional chip-based tags. Despite the much lower tag cost, the uptake of chipless RFID system in the market is still not as widespread as predicted by RFID experts. This chapter explores the value-added applications of chipless RFID system to promote wider adoption. The chipless technology's technical and operational characteristics, benefits, limitations and current uses will also be examined. The merit of this chapter is to contribute fresh propositions to the promising applications of chipless RFID to increase its adoption in the industries that are currently not (or less popular in) utilising it, such as retail, logistics, manufacturing, healthcare, and service sectors. © 2013, IGI Global.

A compact, portable and low cost generic interrogation strain sensor system using an embedded VCSEL, detector and fibre Bragg grating

We present a compact, portable and low cost generic interrogation strain sensor system using a fibre Bragg grating configured in transmission mode with a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) light source and a GaAs photodetector embedded in a polymer skin. The photocurrent value is read and stored by a microcontroller. In addition, the photocurrent data is sent via Bluetooth to a computer or tablet device that can present the live data in a real time graph. With a matched grating and VCSEL, the system is able to automatically scan and lock the VCSEL to the most sensitive edge of the grating. Commercially available VCSEL and photodetector chips are thinned down to 20 µm and integrated in an ultra-thin flexible optical foil using several thin film deposition steps. A dedicated micro mirror plug is fabricated to couple the driving optoelectronics to the fibre sensors. The resulting optoelectronic package can be embedded in a thin, planar sensing sheet and the host material for this sheet is a flexible and stretchable polymer. The result is a fully embedded fibre sensing system - a photonic skin. Further investigations are currently being carried out to determine the stability and robustness of the embedded optoelectronic components. © 2012 Copyright Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE).