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Manufacturing industries struggle to devise precise planning and scheduling solutions due to unpredictable business situations. Additionally, uncertainties in production such as machine breakdowns, labour absenteeism, cycle time deviations, etc., would further deteriorate production plans and lead to uncertainty in decision-making processes. Flow shops with bottlenecks are particularly susceptible to these disturbances. Moreover, the random variations in cycle time variations can cause the bottleneck to shift between different stages. Literature indicates that conventional job release methods are ineffective in addressing these difficulties. In contrast, workload control methods would provide better solutions. Hence, a flow shop model has been developed and simulated using the variables like process time variations and bottleneck shifting on the discrete-event simulation software. The flow shop model incorporates realistic shop characteristics which are subjected to random process time variations, so as to assess the performance. The outcomes of the experimentation demonstrate that order release methods play a pivotal role in improving the performance of flow shops in more volatile situations.

The re-entrant flow with an unpredictable nature of arrival would apparently harm production plans and schedules in flow type of shops. The re-entrant flow with varied arrival frequencies in rotor blade manufacturing is quite complicated and results in disproportionate workloads. Hence, an attempt has been made to study the significant influence of disproportionate workloads and research on an innovative order release method to enhance performance. The manufacturing process was observed thoroughly to incorporate the uncertain events that cause disturbance in the production. A simulation model was developed on a discrete event simulation platform by analysing problem phenomena right from the conceptualization phase. The model has been verified and validated to ensure the accuracy. The model was subjected to 288 experiments representing different scenarios that a flow shop undergoes in reality. The factors considered in the experimentation were re-entrant frequency, re-entrant proportions, order release methods and priority dispatching rules. A refined load release policy for disproportionate loads has been proposed to judge its effectiveness in terms of profit computation by comparing it with other relevant policies. Results of the experiment revealed that the order release methods contribute 95.93% to throughput performance, in addition, the use of the new re-entrant method policy in the above scenario was productive in improving the overall shop performance.

Advances in information technology and increased social networking have increased health awareness among people in this era. The increased health awareness has prompted people to eat healthy and stay fit. In this regard, the food sector has seen tremendous demand in terms of good quality vegetables/fruits, cereals, with hygiene, nutrition, proteins etc. With the consumer willing to pay an extra premium for the quality expected, it has been observed that the producers are still offered low prices for a good quality produce whereas the intermediaries grab a huge share of the price paid by the consumer. This research tried to understand the supply chain with the farmers in focus and explored the influence of farmer demographics and the supply chain issues on the performance of the organized retail. Linear regression analysis was used to test the linear relationship of supply chain issues with organized retailer performance. The outcome of the study implies that independent variables like demographic characteristics and supply chain issues had no control over the retailer’s performance.

The workload control (WLC) is a popular concept in manufacturing planning and control, which plays a significant role in enhancing the efficiency of manufacturing firms that have uncertainty in meeting customer orders. Owing to changes in several set of factors, such as processing time variations, fluctuation in orders, and rise in quality issues etc., would disrupt production schedules and adversely affect the shop performance. Improvements are certainly possible by integrating WLC policies in distinct stages of production that in turn help to keep a steady workflow and balanced shop floor activities. In this study, we have considered the production of a part of a windmill that poses difficulties in production due to changes in processing times. A production shop simulation model was developed by considering real-time data. The model is simulated to analyze the performance under different order release methods at process time changes. In addition, we consider the influence of downtime and capacity cushion at bottleneck station. The objective of this research is to investigate the influence of the processing time variation, downtime, and capacity cushion on the performance of the shop floor and to evaluate the best release method suitable in different situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peritoneal Surface Oncology Group International(PSOGI)proposed a novel treatment, named comprehensive treatment for peritoneal metastasis(PM)from colorectal cancer(CRC). The present study demonstrated the efficacies of the treatment regarding the peritoneal sectors and organs involved with PM from CRC., Materials and Methods: Among 365 patients received laparotomy, 278 CRC patients with PM underwent complete cytoreductive surgery(CC-0)., Results: After CC-0 resection Grade 3, Grade 4, and Grade 5 postoperative complication were found in 20(7.2%), 26(9.3%), and 6(2.2%). Five- and 10-year survival rate(YSR)of CC-0 resection were 24.5%, and 11.6% with median survival time(MST)of 42.0 months. Regarding the peritoneal cancer index(PCI)of small bowel(SB-PCI), all patients of PCI B3 died of the disease. In contrast, 10-YSR of patients with SB-PCI of 0, 1, and 2 were 26.1%, 19.5%, and 6.2%, respectively. Ten-YSR of patients with the number of involved peritoneal sectors C9 ranged from 6.9% to 29.8%. MST of patients with PM in each peritoneal sector(sector 0 to sector 8)ranged from 26.4 months to 49.2 months, and 10-YSR ranged from 4.2%to 17.2%. Ten-YSR of patients with involvement of rectum, stomach, liver capsule, seminal vesicle, ureter, uterus, or ovary ranged from 0% to 16.9%., Conclusions: From the present data, PM should be removed aggressively to achieve complete cytoreduction, when the patients with PCIC26, involved peritoneal sectorsC9 and SB-PCIC2 are supposed to receive complete cytoreduction of PM.

A 58 year old male, chronic smoker, with diabetes mellitus (Type II), residing in Madhya Pradesh presented with dysphagia, hoarseness, odynophagia and significant weight loss. Microlaryngoscopy showed reddish ulcerated area involving valleculae, and pharyngo-epiglottic fold. Histopathological examination showed foamy macrophages containing Histoplasma capsulatum. Patient initially responded to Azoles, relapsed three months after stopping the treatment and presented with oral lesions. Biopsy showed H. capsulatum, histologically as well as on culture. The mycelial phase converted to yeast phase on B.H.I.A. at 37 degrees C confirming the isolate as H. capsulatum. The patient responded well to amphotericin B.