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The purpose of this paper is to compile a comprehensive status report on pipes/piping networks across different industrial sectors, along with specifications of materials and sizes, and showcase welding avenues. It further extends to highlight the promising friction stir welding as a single solid-state pipe welding procedure. This paper will enable all piping, welding and friction stir welding stakeholders to identify scope for their engagement in a single window.

The paper is a review paper, and it is mainly structured around sections on materials, sizes and standards for pipes in different sectors and the current welding practice for joining pipe and pipe connections; on the process and principle of friction stir welding (FSW) for pipes; identification of main welding process parameters for the FSW of pipes; effects of process parameters; and a well-carved-out concluding summary.

A well-carved-out concluding summary of extracts from thoroughly studied research is presented in a structured way in which the avenues for the engagement of FSW are identified.

The implications of the research are far-reaching. The FSW is currently expanding very fast in the welding of flat surfaces and has evolved into a vast number of variants because of its advantages and versatility. The application of FSW is coming up late but catching up fast, and as a late starter, the outcomes of such a review paper may support stake holders to expand the application of this process from pipe welding to pipe manufacturing, cladding and other high-end applications. Because the process is inherently inclined towards automation, its throughput rate is high and it does not need any consumables, the ultimate benefit can be passed on to the industry in terms of financial gains.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the only review exclusively for the friction stir welding of pipes with a well-organized piping specification detailed about industrial sectors. The current pipe welding practice in each sector has been presented, and the avenues for engaging FSW have been highlighted. The FSW pipe process parameters are characteristically distinguished from the conventional FSW, and the effects of the process parameters have been presented. The summary is concise yet comprehensive and organized in a structured manner.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of sensitization on the metallurgical characteristics of weld joints made up of austenitic stainless steel (AISI 316L) and ferritic stainless steel (AISI 430), using the gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) process with ER316L filler wires.

A non-consumable tungsten electrode with a diameter of 1.6 mm was used during the GTAW procedure. The filler wire, ER316L, was selected based on the recommendation provided in literature. To explore the interconnections among the structure and properties of these weldments, the techniques including scanning electron microscopy and optical analysis have been used. In addition, the sensitization behaviour of the weldments was investigated using the double loop electrochemical potentio-kinetic reactivation (DLEPR) test.

Microstructural analyses revealed the occurrences of coarsened grains with equiaxed columnar grains and migrating grain boundaries in the weld zone. The results of the DLEPR test demonstrated that heat affected zone (HAZ) of AISI 430 was more susceptible to sensitization than HAZ of AISI 316L. Microstructure analysis also revealed the precipitation of large amounts of chromium carbide at the grain boundaries region of AISI 430 welded steel, causing more sensitization and, as a result, more failure or breaking at the side of AISI 430 weld in the dissimilar weldment of AISI 316L–AISI 430.

The present work has been carried out to determine the appropriate welding conditions for joining AISI 316L and AISI 430, as well as the metallurgical properties of the dissimilar weldment formed between AISI 316L and AISI 430. Owing to the difficulties in measuring the performance of these types of dissimilar joints given their unique mechanical and microstructural characteristics, research on the subject is limited.

The research study intends to gain a better understanding of members' behaviors in the context of crowdsourcing contests. The authors examined the key factors that can motivate or discourage contributing to a team and within the community.

The authors conducted 21 semi-structured interviews with Kaggle.com members and analyzed the data to capture individual members' contributions and emerging determinants that play a role during this process. The authors adopted a qualitative approach and used standard thematic coding techniques to analyze the data.

The analysis revealed two processes underlying contribution to the team and community and the decision-making involved in each. Accordingly, a set of key factors affecting each process were identified. Using Holbrook's (2006) typology of value creation, these factors were classified into four types, namely extrinsic and self-oriented (economic value), extrinsic and other-oriented (social value), intrinsic and self-oriented (hedonic value), and intrinsic and other-oriented (altruistic value). Three propositions were developed, which can be tested in future research.

The study has a few limitations, which point to areas for future research on this topic. First, the authors only assessed the behaviors of individuals who use the Kaggle platform. Second, the findings of this study may not be generalizable to other crowdsourcing platforms such as Amazon Mechanical Turk, where there is no competition, and participants cannot meaningfully contribute to the community. Third, the authors collected data from a limited (yet knowledgeable) number of interviewees. It would be useful to use bigger sample sizes to assess other possible factors that did not emerge from our analysis. Finally, the authors presented a set of propositions for individuals' contributory behavior in crowdsourcing contest platforms but did not empirically test them. Future research is necessary to validate these hypotheses, for instance, by using quantitative methods (e.g. surveys or experiments).

The authors offer recommendations for implementing appropriate mechanisms for contribution to crowdsourcing contests and platforms. Practitioners should design architectures to minimize the effect of factors that reduce the likelihood of contributions and maximize the factors that increase contribution in order to manage the tension of simultaneously encouraging contribution and competition.

The research study makes key theoretical contributions to research. First, the results of this study help explain the individuals' contributory behavior in crowdsourcing contests from two aspects: joining and selecting a team and content contribution to the community. Second, the findings of this study suggest a revised and extended model of value co-creation, one that integrates this study’s findings with those of Nov et al. (2009), Lakhani and Wolf (2005), Wasko and Faraj (2000), Chen et al. (2018), Hahn et al. (2008), Dholakia et al. (2004) and Teichmann et al. (2015). Third, using direct accounts collected through first-hand interviews with crowdsourcing contest members, this study provides an in-depth understanding of individuals' contributory behavior. Methodologically, this authors’ approach was distinct from common approaches used in this research domain that used secondary datasets (e.g. the content of forum discussions, survey data) (e.g. see Lakhani and Wolf, 2005; Nov et al., 2009) and quantitative techniques for analyzing collaboration and contribution behavior.

The authors advance the broad field of crowdsourcing by extending the literature on value creation in the online community, particularly as it relates to the individual participants. The study advances the theoretical understanding of contribution in crowdsourcing contests by focusing on the members' point of view, which reveals both the determinants and the process for joining teams during crowdsourcing contests as well as the determinants of contribution to the content distributed in the community.

Material extrusion (MEX) 3D printers suffer from an intrinsic limitation of small size of the prints due to its restricted bed dimension. On the other hand, friction stir spot welding (FSSW) is gaining wide interest from automobile, airplane, off-road equipment manufacturers and even consumer electronics. This paper aims to explore the possibility of FSSW on Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene/Polylactic acid 3D-printed components to overcome the bed size limitation of MEX 3D printers.

Four different tool geometries (tapered cylindrical pin with/without concavity, pinless with/without concavity) were used to produce the joints. Three critical process parameters related to FSSW (tool rotational speed, plunge depth and dwell time) and two related to 3D printing (material combination and infill percentages) were investigated and optimized using the Taguchi L27 design of experiments. The influence of each welding parameter on the shear strength was evaluated by analysis of variance.

Results revealed that the infill percentage, a 3D printing parameter, had the maximum effect on the joint strength. The joints displayed pull nugget, cross nugget and substrate failure morphologies. The outcome resulted in the joint efficiency reaching up to 100.3%, better than that obtained by other competitive processes for 3D-printed thermoplastics. The results, when applied to weld a UAV wing, showed good strength and integrity. Further, grafting the joints with nylon micro-particles was also investigated, resulting in a detrimental effect on the strength.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate that the welding of dissimilar 3D-printed thermoplastics with/without microparticles is possible by FSSW, whilst the process parameters have a considerable consequence on the bond strength.

Aster Retail (AR) is the retail pharmacy division of the Aster Dr Moopen's Healthcare (ADMH) Group. The group delivers healthcare services across the Middle East, India and the Far East, with a portfolio of hospitals, clinics, diagnostic centres and retail pharmacies. AR, under the leadership of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jobilal Vavachan, is well known for its people-centric approach, unique culture and innovative human resource (HR) practices. AR has won multiple awards for HR practices, service quality and business performance. In a recent corporate restructuring (2018), “Aster Primary Care” was carved out by combining the group's Clinics and Retail businesses. This case discusses the evolution of AR's HR journey and the challenges associated with integrating culturally diverse businesses without compromising the values of ADMH and its promise, “We'll Treat You Well.”

This study explores the impact of Industry Revolution 4.0 (IR4.0) on learning factory implementation in Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP). A learning factory is an action-oriented approach to teaching with participants acquiring competencies through structured self-learning processes in a production–technological learning environment. It integrates different teaching methods with the main objective of moving traditional teaching methods to become closer to real industrial problems. However, there is still limited information that can be used to evaluate the impact of IR4.0 on its implementation in UMP. Therefore, this study focuses on exploring the challenges faced by UMP in developing their learning factory and examines the effectiveness of UMP Learning Factory as a new teaching and learning process to support Industry 4.0.

First of all, identifying a problem was done, and information regarding the topic was obtained via research from various sources. Example of sources is online journals, books, the Internet and others. It is essential to understand the rationale behind why the research should be carried out as well as the objectives of the study in relation to the topic of interest. After that, a survey of the relevant literature was carried out to compile more pertinent material and run it through the lens of the selected subject. It makes the process of establishing a theoretical framework easier, and it also improves one's knowledge of the research being done. The next step in the process involves selecting responders based on the research. In order to calculate the appropriate sample size for this study, we must identify the entire population so that we can ensure that the findings we obtain are reliable. The entire population are first filtered based on the purpose of the research, and only then is it possible to establish the size of the needed sample of respondents. This research study's data gathering techniques consisted of five steps; however, in this particular study, the researcher only employed two approaches, which focused on individual interviews and semi-structured interviews, respectively. In order to address both the study purpose and the research questions, the interview questions that were developed were meant to relate to one another. During this interview procedure, the interviewees will have the option to elaborate or supply an increasing amount of pertinent data and information. Participants in the interview who have accumulated a significant amount of experience in the relevant sector are better positioned to provide both their personal and professional perspectives. The researcher will utilize audio to gather the script from the responder so that they may collect the data for analysis. The researcher is able to find the precise data analysis from the responses with the assistance of this programme. As a result, the researcher's question to the responders can be considered credible and genuine. Each respondent may read a particular question in the questionnaire in the same manner. As a result, although the question may be trusted, this fact is mostly irrelevant given that it lacks internal validity and hence does not make it possible to answer the research topic. In conclusion, the findings of this study are analysed, and conclusions are drawn from them.

In order to explore and answer research questions that are tailored to research objectives, the purpose of this study is to investigate such questions. The primary purpose of this study is to evaluate the influence that Industry 4.0 will have on the instructional methodology that will be utilized at UMP. Regarding the second aim, the purpose is to investigate the difficulties that the Universiti Malaysia Pahang encounters in the process of creating the Learning Factory. The final goal is to investigate how well UMP Learning Factory performs as a novel approach to education and training that is intended to assist Industry 4.0. The University of Malaya in Penang (UMP), which is widely regarded as one of the premier educational institutions of its kind in Malaysia, has recently implemented a learning factory as one of its pedagogical approaches. The university's deployment of the learning factory is very recent, and as such, there is room for improvement to make the most of the potential offered by this instructional approach. However, the findings of this research indicate that there is a favourable influence on both learning and teaching. The influence of the implementation of Learning Factory, which is becoming one technique of educational reform, is one of the most important factors to consider. According to the study's findings, UMP has successfully developed a learning factory that has a major influence on the learning process and is extremely good at what it does. The student benefits from an enhanced teaching and learning experience as a direct result of the contribution made by the learning factory. When it comes to generating a learning component based on the result, several obstacles have been identified. If UMP or other institutions intend to create a new learning factory, the problems might be considered factors to consider. In the teaching and learning process context, it has been demonstrated that a learning factory is particularly successful. The learning factory approach is one of the teaching techniques that makes the students understand better and have the experience of handling and controlling the equipment. Because this method introduces the hands-on approach, it is one of the teaching methods. The learning factory method is one that, in its most fundamental form, may be particularly beneficial for students to prepare themselves for the arduous process of joining the workforce. The classroom setting will be quite similar to that of a factory, and the student will improve their general collaboration. In addition to this, they will be able to operate machines and have knowledge regarding the machines that are found in the learning factory. The learning factory makes a significant contribution to the knowledge transfer process in UMP by facilitating the development of a deeper comprehension of certain bodies of information. When compared to more traditional methods of transferring information, the student will have a much easier time comprehending the material that is taught to them through the use of the hands-on learning technique.

This study gained some information about the impact of IR4.0 towards educational transformation, which is expected to give positive results. Basically, this research will provide further explanation about IR4.0 and educational transformation in UMP focus on learning factory. Generally, the implementation of IR4.0 in education will produce a positive result and help the students in the future. The result from this case study will hopefully be beneficial to society. The finding from this research will be used as references to all, especially top management and technical staff of UMP, for further understanding of the impact of the implementation of the learning factory. While conducting this research, seven respondents were selected from the two faculty with their own learning factories, Faculty of Industrial Management (FIM) and Faculty of Technology (FTEK). The researcher targeted lecturers and technical staff as their respondents. The overall result from the interview session was analysed. All the result is based on the interview answer to the researcher's question

The aim of this chapter is to examine the nominal and real convergence of Czechia. The importance of the convergence of Czechia with the euro area is linked to the future intention of joining the Economic and Monetary Union after the Maastricht criteria are met. This chapter covers the period from 2004 to 2021. We argue that nominal convergence is relative to the Maastricht criteria, when real convergence focuses on different areas: the Maastricht criteria, gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in purchasing power standards and real GDP growth rate, labour market (minimum labour costs and unemployment rates. Findings suggest that Czechia has reported the strongest real convergence in the area of relative economic level, moderate convergence of labour costs and divergence of unemployment. The nominal convergence analysis suggests that Czechia will not meet the Maastricht benchmarks in the near future and is not ready to join the euro area given its high inflation rate and the state of public finances.

Ultrasonic welding is an emerging apparel manufacturing technique. However, the applications are widely explored in the field of technical textiles, with less exploration in the apparel endues. The purpose of this study is to explore the application of ultrasonic welding in apparel by analyzing the impacts of different parameters.

This study analyzed the influence of ultrasonic welding parameters, including pressure, welding speed and ultrasonic power on the seam performances (seam strength, seam bursting strength, seam thickness and seam stiffness). The parameters are optimized using Box–Behnken experimental design to achieve better seam performances.

The properties of ultrasonic seams are influenced by welding and fabric properties. Ultrasonically welded seams showed better performances in the case of comfort properties of seams, whereas the functional properties are lesser compared to conventional seams.

The findings of the research clearly outline the level of influence of different parameters on the performance of the ultrasonically welded seams in knitted fabrics, which can greatly help in applying ultrasonic welding manufacturing methods in apparel manufacturing.