Chandrasekharan Rajendran

Bio: Chandrasekharan Rajendran is an academic researcher from Indian Institute of Technology Madras. The author has contributed to research in topics: Job shop scheduling & Flow shop scheduling. The author has an hindex of 52, co-authored 192 publications receiving 9404 citations. Previous affiliations of Chandrasekharan Rajendran include Indian Institutes of Technology & VIT University.

TQM is a must for success, but not sufficient for survival: A conceptual framework as contemplated in ancient Tamil lit

Abstract: Adoption of total quality management (TQM) is an essential element for the success of business. In spite of many industries implementing TQM, quite a few organizations have eventually lost control of their business. Therefore, something more than TQM adoption is required to face the demanding business world. This work proposes a conceptual framework mainly based on Tamil classical literature, for sustaining business with success, in a highly competitive world.

Determination of the number of containers, production kanbans and withdrawal kanbans; and scheduling in kanban flowshops - Part 2

Abstract: We consider the problem of determination of the number of containers or container size, production kanbans and withdrawal kanbans, and scheduling of containers in presence of material handling between workstations, and dual blocking mechanisms operative on both workstations and material handling. A heuristic is proposed to address the problem of determining the number of containers, and production and withdrawal kanbans, and also determining the sequence of containers to minimize the sum of weighted flowtime, weighted earliness and weighted tardiness of containers. Recursive equations, developed in part 1 of this paper, are used for time-tabling of the sequence of containers. An extensive performance evaluation of the heuristic and a benchmark procedure, based on random search, has been carried out by generating a number of problems of various sizes.

Strategic action grids: a study on supply chain risk management in manufacturing industries in India

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to provide strategic recommendations to supply chain managers of Indian manufacturing industries for a robust supply chain related to risk management by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and suppliers in manufacturing industries to ensure a robust supply chain risk management (SCRM).,Importance-performance analysis (IPA) is utilized to identify and provide strategic recommendations to manufacturing industries for improving their supply chain performance by attaching due importance to risk constructs and appropriately choosing mitigation strategies.,The investigation using the strategic action grids reveals that most of the means of risks are near the point of intersection of the grand means of the risk constructs and their impact on the supply chain, indicating that all the risks have the equal likelihood of occurrence. The mean importance of risk monitoring, risk avoidance (RA) and risk sharing surpass the mean performance for both OEMs and suppliers.,The study is executed with following limitations: the study assumes that the manufacturing industries across different sectors perceive similar risk. The sectors considered are automotive, heavy engineering, general engineering and home appliances. The Southern States of India are considered because of the dominant presence of many industries, especially automotive industries. However, it should be noted that these States form the manufacturing hubs where the lead organizations are functioning along with their major suppliers.,By understanding the importance of SCRM dimensions and utilization of these dimensions, firms can mitigate the impact of risk on the supply chain. The detailed study of SCRM strategies highlights the importance attached to risk factors, mitigation strategies, and top management commitment. By the implementation of SCRM strategies, supply chain managers can improve the firm’s performance.,The study involves empirically validated data on SCRM dimensions. The IPA is performed on the SCRM dimensions to investigate the importance attached to the factors of the dimensions and their performance.

Determination of base-stock levels in a serial supply chain: a simulation-based simulated annealing heuristic

Abstract: This paper presents simulation-based heuristic methodologies to compute installation base-stock levels in a serial supply chain so as to minimise the total supply chain cost. A simulated annealing heuristic is proposed to compute the installation base-stock levels for different installations in a serial supply chain. In addition, a simple heuristic to determine the installation base-stock levels is also presented. Simulation is used to evaluate the installation base-stock levels yielded by the proposed simulated annealing heuristic and the simple heuristic. A best-move local search is also used as a benchmark procedure. The solution constructed by the simple heuristic is initialised as the seed solution to both simulated annealing heuristic and the best-move local search, and their performances are studied. All the solution methodologies are extensively evaluated with different supply chain test problems. The solutions yielded by the proposed solution methodologies is compared against the optimal installation base-stock level which is obtained through a complete enumeration of the solution space for each of the supply chain test problems. A comparison of the performance of all the solution methodologies shows that the proposed simulated annealing heuristic initialised with the heuristic solution as the initial seed solution performs the best by consistently producing good-quality solutions with little computational effort.

An ant colony algorithm for cell-formation in cellular manufacturing systems

Abstract: In this paper, we consider the problem of cell-formation in cellular manufacturing systems with the objective of maximising the grouping efficacy. We propose an Ant-Colony Optimisation (ACO) algorithm to obtain machine-cells and part-families. The Proposed ACO (PACO) algorithm is tested by using many benchmark data sets. The grouping efficacy obtained by the PACO algorithm for a given benchmark problem instance is compared with the grouping efficacies obtained by the existing approaches. The comparison shows that the PACO performs very well in maximising the grouping efficacy. [Received: 2 May 2007; Revised: 1 November 2007; Accepted: 3 December 2007]

The Design and Analysis of Experiments

Abstract: THE DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF EXPERIMENTS. By Oscar Kempthorne. New York, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1952. 631 pp. $8.50. This book by a teacher of statistics (as well as a consultant for \"experimenters\") is a comprehensive study of the philosophical background for the statistical design of experiment. It is necessary to have some facility with algebraic notation and manipulation to be able to use the volume intelligently. The problems are presented from the theoretical point of view, without such practical examples as would be helpful for those not acquainted with mathematics. The mathematical justification for the techniques is given. As a somewhat advanced treatment of the design and analysis of experiments, this volume will be interesting and helpful for many who approach statistics theoretically as well as practically. With emphasis on the \"why,\" and with description given broadly, the author relates the subject matter to the general theory of statistics and to the general problem of experimental inference. MARGARET J. ROBERTSON

Out of the Crisis

Abstract: According to W. Edwards Deming, American companies require nothing less than a transformation of management style and of governmental relations with industry. In Out of the Crisis, originally published in 1982, Deming offers a theory of management based on his famous 14 Points for Management. Management's failure to plan for the future, he claims, brings about loss of market, which brings about loss of jobs. Management must be judged not only by the quarterly dividend, but by innovative plans to stay in business, protect investment, ensure future dividends, and provide more jobs through improved product and service. In simple, direct language, he explains the principles of management transformation and how to apply them.

Evolutionary algorithms for solving multi-objective problems

Abstract: List of Figures. List of Tables. Preface. Foreword. 1. Basic Concepts. 2. Evolutionary Algorithm MOP Approaches. 3. MOEA Test Suites. 4. MOEA Testing and Analysis. 5. MOEA Theory and Issues. 3. MOEA Theoretical Issues. 6. Applications. 7. MOEA Parallelization. 8. Multi-Criteria Decision Making. 9. Special Topics. 10. Epilog. Appendix A: MOEA Classification and Technique Analysis. Appendix B: MOPs in the Literature. Appendix C: Ptrue & PFtrue for Selected Numeric MOPs. Appendix D: Ptrue & PFtrue for Side-Constrained MOPs. Appendix E: MOEA Software Availability. Appendix F: MOEA-Related Information. Index. References.