Optimization of product line considering compatibility and reliability via discrete imperialist competitive algorithm

In the era of mass customization, designing optimal products is one of the most critical decision-making for a company to stay competitive. More and more customers like customized products, which will bring challenges to the product line design and the production. If a company adopts consumers' favorite levels, this may lead to lower product reliability, or incompatibility among the components that make up the product. Moreover, it is worth outsourcing certain attribute levels so as to reduce production cost, but customers may dislike these levels because of their delivery delay. If managers consider the compatibility issue, the quality issue, outsource determination, and the delivery due date in the product design and production stages, it will avoid unreasonable product configuration and many unnecessary expenses, thereby bringing benefits to the company. To solve this complicated problem, we establish a nonlinear programming model to maximize a metric about profit, termed as Per-capita-contribution Margin considering Reliability Penalty (PMRP). Since the integrated product line design and production problem is NP-hard, we propose an improved Discrete Imperialist Competitive Algorithm (DICA) that can find a most powerful imperialist (i.e., solution) by the competition among all countries in the world. The proposed DICA is compared with genetic algorithm (GA) and simulated annealing (SA) through extensive numerical experiment, and the results show that DICA has more attractive performance than GA and SA.

Diagnostics to support elimination of lymphatic filariasis—Development of two target product profiles

As lymphatic filariasis (LF) programs move closer to established targets for validation elimination of LF as a public health problem, diagnostic tools capable of supporting the needs of the programs are critical for success. Known limitations of existing diagnostic tools make it challenging to have confidence that program endpoints have been achieved. In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) established a Diagnostic Technical Advisory Group (DTAG) for Neglected Tropical Diseases tasked with prioritizing diagnostic needs including defining use-cases and target product profiles (TPPs) for needed tools. Subsequently, disease-specific DTAG subgroups, including one focused on LF, were established to develop TPPs and use-case analyses to be used by product developers. Here, we describe the development of two priority TPPs for LF diagnostics needed for making decisions for stopping mass drug administration (MDA) of a triple drug regimen and surveillance. Utilizing the WHO core TPP development process as the framework, the LF subgroup convened to discuss and determine attributes required for each use case. TPPs considered the following parameters: product use, design, performance, product configuration and cost, and access and equity. Version 1.0 TPPs for two use cases were published by WHO on 12 March 2021 within the WHO Global Observatory on Health Research and Development. A common TPP characteristic that emerged in both use cases was the need to identify new biomarkers that would allow for greater precision in program delivery. As LF diagnostic tests are rarely used for individual clinical diagnosis, it became apparent that reliance on population-based surveys for decision making requires consideration of test performance in the context of such surveys. In low prevalence settings, the number of false positive test results may lead to unnecessary continuation or resumption of MDA, thus wasting valuable resources and time. Therefore, highly specific diagnostic tools are paramount when used to measure low thresholds. The TPP process brought to the forefront the importance of linking use case, program platform and diagnostic performance characteristics when defining required criteria for diagnostic tools.

PRODUCT CONFIGURATION CAPABILITY FOR IMPROVING MARKETING PERFORMANCE OF SMALL AND MEDIUM METAL INDUSTRY IN CENTRAL JAVA - INDONESIA

This study explored and examined the role of product configuration capabilities to improve marketing performance. Product configuration capability represented the company's capability to configure products with visibility/clarity of product origin, products that were different from competitors and products that were difficult to imitate. This capability indicated that the products produced by the company were more efficient and quality than that of others. The results found that product configuration capabilities could improve product success, growth in product marketing reach and market share product. This study was expected to provided a contri­bution to both theoretical and practical knowledge of strategic management. Business players had focussed on developing dynamic capabilities to address the constantly changing business environment.

Optimal Modular Remanufactured Product Configuration and Harvesting Planning for End-of-Life Products

Remanufacturing is a representative product recovery strategy that can improve economic profitability and sustainability by restoring discarded or traded-in used products to a like-new condition. Unlike the production process of new products, remanufacturing requires unique production processes, such as collecting used products and dis(re)assembly. Therefore, several factors need to be considered for the design of remanufactured products. First, when designing a remanufactured product, it is crucial to ensure that the specifications of components meet the customer's requirements because the remanufacturing uses relatively outdated components or modules. In addition, it is necessary to consider the disassembly level and order to facilitate the disassembly process to obtain the desired parts. This study proposes an integrated model to (i) find configuration design suitable for remanufactured products that can maximize customer utility based on End-of-life products, and (ii) establish a harvest plan that determines the optimal disassembly operations and levels. This proposed model can be used as a decisionmaking tool that helps product designers find the appropriate design of remanufactured products while increasing the efficiency of the remanufacturing process.

Optimal Modular Remanufactured Product Configuration and Harvesting Planning for End-of-Life Products

Since remanufacturing requires additional processes compared to the production process of new products, various factors need to be considered. First, it is necessary to decide which end-of-life (EoL) product parts/modules to use among the EoL products available for the remanufactured product. At this stage, it is crucial to understand the future customer demand and requirements for each part. Next, it is also necessary to figure out whether selective disassembly is possible to disassemble a specific target component without completely disassembling the product. With the increasing number of product designs that are difficult to disassemble, the disassembly sequence and level should be considered for the efficiency of the overall remanufacturing process. This study proposes an integrated model to (i) find configuration design suitable for remanufactured products that can maximize customer utility based on current EoL products, and (ii) establish a harvest plan that determines the optimal operations and levels. This proposed model can be used as a tool that helps product designers find the appropriate design of remanufactured products while increasing the efficiency of the remanufacturing process.