Search results

The aim of this study is to develop a 3D model of decision- making grid (DMG) considering failure detection rate.

In a comparison between DMG and failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA), severity has been assumed as time to repair and occurrence as the frequency of failure. Detection rate has been added as the third dimension of DMG. Nine months data of 21 equipment of casting unit of Mobarakeh Steel Company (MSC) has been analyzed. Then, appropriate condition monitoring (CM) techniques and maintenance tactics have been suggested. While in 2D DMG, CM is used when downtime is high and frequency is low; its application has been developed for other maintenance tactics in a 3D DMG.

Findings indicate that the results obtained from the developed DMG are different from conventional grid results, and it is more capable in suggesting maintenance tactics according to the operating conditions of equipment.

In failure detection, the influence of CM techniques is different. In this paper, CM techniques have been suggested based on their maximum influence on failure detection.

In conventional DMG, failure detection rate is not included. The developed 3D DMG provides this advantage by considering a new axis of detection rate in addition to mean time to repair (MTTR) and failure frequency, and it enhances maintenance decision-making by simultaneous selection of suitable maintenance tactics and condition-monitoring techniques.

Decision-Making Grid (DMG) is used for determining maintenance tactics and is associated with the reliability and risk management of assets. In this grid, decision making is performed based on two indicators of Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) and frequency of failures. The purpose of this paper is to improve DMG by recognizing interdependence among failures.

Fault Tree Analysis and Reliability Block Diagram have been applied for improving DMG. The proposed approach has been examined on eight equipment of the steel making and continuous casting plant of Mobarakeh Steel Company.

Findings indicate different positions of equipment in the cells of the new grid compared to the basic grid.

DMG is limited to two criteria of frequency of failures and MTTR values. In both basic and new DMGs, cost analysis has not been performed. The application of the proposed approach will help the reliability/maintenance engineers/analysts/managers to allocate more suitable maintenance tactics to equipment. This, in turn, will enhance the equipment life cycle and availability as the main objectives of physical asset management.

A major limitation of basic DMG is that the determined tactic based on these two indicators might not be an appropriate solution in all conditions, particularly when failures are interdependent. This has been resolved in this paper.

This paper aims to analyze the abrasive damage of iron ore pellets (IOP) during charge inside day-bins in iron making plants. The rock-ladder structure of day-bin is the spotlight of this study. A numerical-analytical method is used to investigate the main geometrical features of the mentioned structure. Practical results of this study are expected to result in optimization of rock-ladder structure to reduce fine generation and lump formation during pellets downfall on the floors of rock-ladder.

One effective stage of pellets downfall on the floor of rock-ladder was simulated using discrete element method. A special post-process code is used to calculate parameters of pellets collisions for an analytical model which estimates fine generation during collisions. The main damaging mechanism during pellets storage inside day-bin is determined based on the comparison of the numerical-analytical results and industrial reports. Different rock-ladder designs are simulated to find optimal geometry of the rock-ladder structure.

According to the results, 85.4% of fines generation takes place during downfall of IOPs on the floors of rock ladder, and the rest of the fine debris is expected to be generated due to flow down under compressive load and vibratory discharge. The present study suggests an increase in the rock ladder floors distance from 1.63 to 2 m, but this suggestion should be confirmed by another study focusing on the breakage damage of IOPs. The idea of chamfering the floors corners not only removes lump-formation zones but also results in an approximately 5.7% reduction in the fines generation rate.

According to the results, introduced modification ideas for rock-ladder structure can result in lower fine generation, lower lump removal cost and lower manufacturing cost of rock-ladder structure.

The purpose of the present research is to investigate the impact of environmental knowledge and awareness on green behavior with respect to behavioral intentions, environmental attitude and green commitment as mediator variables.

The statistical population included the managers of Esfahan Mobarakeh Steel Company in Iran. In total, 135 questionnaires were distributed among relevant managers, out of which 120 questionnaires were returned and analyzed using structural equation modeling method.

The findings of the study showed that environmental knowledge and awareness has a significant direct effect on managers’ green behavior (β = 0.42). Also, environmental knowledge and awareness has a significant indirect effect on managers’ green behavior through behavioral intentions (β = 0.34), environmental attitude (β = 0.19) and green commitment (β = 0.33).

This study is among the first to simultaneously investigate the multiple pathways from environmental knowledge and awareness to green behavior. The second contribution of the present study is considering green behavior of personnel in the iron and steel industry in a developing country.

This paper aims to propose an integrated use of balanced scorecard (BSC), data envelopment analysis (DEA) and game theory approach as an enhanced performance measurement technique to determine and rank the importance of manufacturing indicators of a steel company as a real case study.

An efficiency change ratio is defined to examine the characteristic function of each coalition which is super-additive. Then, the Shapley value index is used as the solution of the cooperative game to determine the importance of the BSC indicators of the company and rank order them.

The results reveal that “profitability rate” is the most important BSC indicator, whereas “customer satisfaction” is the least significant one. The ranking order of the importance of all BSC indicators makes it possible for the senior managers of the organization to realize the importance of each index separately and to improve the profitability and the number of customers by presenting programs according to the budget and time constraints.

The main contribution of this paper lies in the adoption of a game theory approach to performance measurement in the industrial sector that determines and ranks the importance of manufacturing indicators.

This study aims to determine the extent to which information security management (ISM) practices impact the organisational agility by examining the relationship between both concepts.

A quantitative method research design has been used in this study. This study was conducted throughout Malaysia with a total of 250 valid questionnaires obtained from managers and executives from the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC)-status companies. Structural equation modelling (SEM) using partial least square was used to analyse the data and to test all nine hypotheses developed in this study.

Findings from this study indicate that operational agility (OA) is significantly related to ISM practices in MSC-status companies. The validation of the structural model of nine hypotheses developed for this study has demonstrated satisfactory results, exhibited six significant direct relationships and three insignificant relationships.

This study has addressed the needs for a comprehensive, coherent and empirically tested ISM practices and organisational agility framework. The current theoretical framework used in this study emphasised on the ISM–organisational agility dimensions that are predominantly important to ascertain high level of ISM practices and perceived agility level among the information technology (IT) business companies in Malaysia. With the application of SEM for powerful analysis, the empirical-based framework established in this study was validated by the empirical findings, thus contributing significantly to the field of information security (InfoSec).

This study has filled the research gap between different constructs of ISM practices and OA. The model put forth in this study contributes in several ways to the InfoSec research community. The recognition of InfoSec practices that could facilitate organisational agility in the IT industry in Malaysia is vital and contributes to more value creation for the organisations.