Browsing by Author "Almanei, Mohammed"

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    Environmental impact assessment of different strategies for the remanufacturing of user electronics
    (MDPI, 2022-03-24) Mann, Angad; Saxena, Prateek; Almanei, Mohammed; Okorie, Okechukwu; Salonitis, Konstantinos
    Over the years, the innovation and development of electrical and electronic equipment have been on a steep rise. Millions of electronics are being sold or discarded every year in the form of waste. Sustainable IT (Green IT or Circular Computing) is one of the most environment-friendly methods of reusing discarded or waste user electronics. The remanufacturing of a computer refers to the disassembly, repair, and upgrade of the original computer to give it a new life, along with a warranty that is as good as a new product. The goal of this work includes studying and assessing the total environmental impact of refurbishing a computer using life cycle assessment (LCA) integrated with discrete event simulation (DES), to compare two business models: (1) a case of centralized remanufacturing where the plants are in the Middle East, which is the hub for receiving waste electronics and distributing remanufactured goods; (2) a case of decentralized remanufacturing where the plants are situated in each continent for over a range of computer models. The environmental assessment was conducted using the openLCA software in combination with the WITNESS Horizon software for the DES. The results show that decentralized remanufacturing is a much more environmentally friendly option for the remanufacturing of computers, and the decentralized remanufacturing operation has a better throughput as well as efficiency, as compared to the centralized remanufacturing operation. The centralized remanufacturing scenario has a climate change impact of 1035.19 kg of CO2-Eq, as compared to the decentralized remanufacturing scenario with an impact of 816.12 kg of CO2-Eq. In terms of the impact on the marine life, decentralized remanufacturing was found to have 0.28 kg of N-Eq impact, as compared to centralized remanufacturing (0.22 kg of N-Eq). However, this does not give us a complete picture, as the environmental impact of the computer in its previous life remains unknown. Multi life cycle assessment is the assessment process that can be used to get a clearer picture of the ecological footprint of the computer during its multiple life cycles.
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    Feature reduction and selection for use in machine learning for manufacturing
    (IOS Press, 2022-09-08) Alrufaihi, Duaa; Oleghe, Omogbai; Almanei, Mohammed; Jagtap, Sandeep; Salonitis, Konstantinos
    In a complex manufacturing system such as the multistage manufacturing system, maintaining the quality of the products becomes a challenging task. It is due to the interconnectivity and dependency of factors that can affect the final product. With the increasing availability of data, Machine Learning (ML) approaches are applied to assess and predict quality-related issues. In this paper, several ML algorithms, including feature reduction/selection methods, were applied to a publicly available multistage manufacturing dataset to predict the characteristic of the output measurements in (mm). A total of 24 prediction models were produced. The accuracy of the prediction models and the execution time were the evaluation metrics. The results show that uncontrolled variables are the most common features that have been selected by the selection/reduction methods suggesting their strong relationship to the quality of the product. The performance of the prediction models was heavily dependent on the ML algorithm.
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    Implementing pull manufacturing in make-to-order environments
    (IOS Press, 2022-12-31) Almanei, Mohammed; Oleghe, Omogbai; Afy-Shararah, Mohamed; Salonitis, Konstantinos
    The demand for increasing product variety and customization has forced many companies to adopt a make-to-order (MTO) strategy. Traditional push-type MTO companies suffer from unstable demands, struggling to deliver on time, making them consider the utilization of pull systems to control production. In the present paper, an overview of pull systems in MTO environments is presented. Moreover, a discrete event simulation (DES) model of an MTO company in the printing and packaging industrial sector was developed and validated, in order to identify areas for improvement. DES was also used in order to evaluate the feasibility of implementing three types of pull systems: kanban, CONstant-Work-In-Process (CONWIP) and Paired Overlapping Loops of Cards with Authorizations (POLCA). The main performance indicators measured were the average WIP and the average throughput time of parts. The key findings of this project for the case study were: a) kanban is inapplicable for the current routing of parts; b) a CONWIP strategy improves the shop floor performance, but only when extra capacity is added to the extrusion workstation; c) production based on POLCA leads to the blockage of the system due to the existence of multi-routes and undirected routing.
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    An ISM analysis of the critical success factors in ERP implementation
    (IOS, 2021-09-10) Hankin, Paul; Almanei, Mohammed; Salonitis, Konstantinos
    Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) offers many benefits in aligning business operations. However, these implementations can be problematic and prone to failure. Critical success factors (CSF) which can improve the success rates of implementation have been researched and an interpretive structural modelling (ISM) was conducted to identify the interrelationships between factors. An ISM based model was created and this was achieved by completing the self-interaction matrix (SSIM), reachability matrix and level partitioning. This led to an ISM-based model being created followed by a cross-impact matrix multiplication (MICMAC) analysis to identify the factor’s relative driving power and level of dependence. The project revealed that top management support was the strongest CSF with a high driving power and low dependence. In addition, fourteen other factors displayed strong driving power with high dependence. The findings from the project were summarized into a recommended framework for manufacturing organizations to follow to increase the likelihood of a successful ERP implementation.
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    Lean implementation frameworks: The challenges for SMEs
    (Elsevier, 2017-07-11) Almanei, Mohammed; Salonitis, Konstantinos; Xu, Yuchun
    Implementation of lean manufacturing in any type of organizations can bring many benefits, such as reducing waste and improving operating efficiency. However, lean implementation is not a straightforward process. Although a number of frameworks have been presented, still many companies find it difficult to implement lean. Furthermore, most of these roadmaps are for large manufacturing companies, and not for small and medium enterprises. Unfortunately, there is not a recipe that if used can guarantee a successful implementation. Furthermore, unsuccessful implementation can have a great impact on organization's resources, but even more importantly, affect employees and their confidence in lean philosophy. In the present paper, the most prominent lean implementation frameworks will be discussed, under the prism of the needs of SMEs. The challenges for the SMEs in their lean journey are discussed. Paper originally presented at Manufacturing Systems 4.0 – Proceedings of the 50th CIRP Conference on Manufacturing Systems, held 3 – 5 May, 2017, Taichung City, Taiwan.
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    Lean manufacturing, leadership and employees: the case of UAE SME manufacturing companies
    (Taylor & Francis, 2020-06-21) Alefari, Mudhafar; Almanei, Mohammed; Salonitis, Konstantinos
    Successful lean implementation to SMEs poses great challenges. Although lean principles, tools and strategies for implementation are widely known and well documented, companies still struggle. In the present paper, the challenges for the SMEs in their lean journey are discussed, focusing on leadership styles and their impact on how employees perform during the lean transition. The aim of the paper is to determine the extent to which the main principles of lean manufacturing are understood and adopted in manufacturing companies in a developing country such as the United Arabic Emirates (UAE) through a structured questionnaire. The degree of implementing lean manufacturing is assessed and discussed against literature review findings. Furthermore, the impact of various leadership styles during the lean transition is investigated. A second survey is used for capturing the current state with regards the employee performance and the role of leadership in manufacturing SMEs in the UAE.
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    Lean thinking and resource efficiency in the design of public services
    (Elsevier, 2024-10-15) Aljuwaied, Maha; Almanei, Mohammed; Litos, Lampros; Salonitis, Konstantinos
    Efficiency in public service organisations is often driven by the need to reduce costs and increase productivity due to the economic and government pressure to make the best use of reduced resources. However, efficiency in public services can go beyond cost cutting, thinking about how organisations design and deliver their service offerings to achieve better outcomes while using the government fund more efficiently to turn public money into positive outcomes for both individuals and society. Through a combined method of literature review and interviews, the authors aim to systematically collect and analyse existing contributions on the current public services design and how Lean Thinking can promote resource efficiency in public service organisations, followed by validating the results through interviews in different public organisations focusing on the role of human resources in the services design. The findings suggest that implementing Lean Thinking allows public service organisations to streamline their resource allocation, eliminate waste, and improve productivity, resulting in more efficient service delivery, user satisfaction, and improved organisational performance. The authors took a panoramic view across different public organisation types, which can be extended through future research on specific organisation types or different regions to explore unique dimensions and find relevant conclusions.
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    Machine learning algorithms comparison for manufacturing applications
    (IOS Press, 2021-09-07) Almanei, Mohammed; Oleghe, Omogbai; Jagtap, Sandeep; Salonitis, Konstantinos
    With the vast amount of data available, and its increasing complexity in manufacturing processes, traditional statistical approaches have started to fall short. This is where machine learning plays a key role, addressing the challenges by bringing the ability to analyse large and complex datasets from multiple sources, finding non-linear and intricate patterns on data, relationships between several factors and their influence on the manufacturing process outputs. This paper demonstrates the advantages and applications of using supervised machine learning techniques in the manufacturing industry. It focuses on binary classification and compares the performance of three different machine learning algorithms: logistic regression, support vector machine, and neural networks. A case study has been conducted on a manufacturing company, using the techniques and algorithms mentioned. The case study focuses on analysing the relationship between different manufacturing process variables and their impact on one key output variable of a product, which in this case is the result of a quality test that measures product performance. The modelling problem has been oriented towards a Boolean goal to predict whether the parts will pass this test.
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    Prioritized solutions for overcoming barriers when implementing lean in the healthcare supply chain: a Saudi perspective
    (MDPI, 2021-02-03) Almutairi, Abdulaziz M.; Almanei, Mohammed; Al-Ashaab, Ahmed; Salonitis, Konstantinos
    The main purpose of this paper is to propose solutions for overcoming the obstacles that healthcare organizations might face when implementing lean. An in-depth review of existing barriers for lean implementation in healthcare supply chain is presented and validated by experts. Although there is a widespread use of lean concepts in developed countries, little attention has been paid to implementing a lean approach by healthcare providers in developing countries. The present study’s key novelty and contribution is related to this research gap. The study is thus focused in proposing solutions for healthcare organisations in developing countries, especially in Saudi Arabia. The efficacy of these solutions is assessed through experts’ opinion. The paper enhances the body of knowledge for the successful implementation of lean in a hospital setting
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    A system dynamics model of employees’ performance
    (MDPI, 2020-08-12) Alefari, Mudhafar; Almanei, Mohammed; Salonitis, Konstantinos
    Employee performance is dynamic and can have great impact on the overall performance of any company and its sustainability. A number of factors that can be controlled by the company can affect the employees’ performance. The present paper starts with a thorough literature review for identifying these key driving in order to develop a system dynamics models that will be able to assess different improvement scenarios and initiatives. Based on causal loop diagrams, stock and flow diagrams are developed and solved using system dynamics theory. The model developed can be used for organizations to assess the impact of different improvement initiatives.