Multimedia in manufacturing

Multimedia is promoted as the technology for the future from the perspective of applications and its role in improving enterprise integration and management effectiveness. As yet few useful applications are found in business and manufacturing. Nevertheless, a growing number of businesses are looking to multimedia for real-life business solutions. Computerized production management systems have enjoyed the same growth and popularity as the personal computers and workstations on which they run. The application of multimedia in various functional areas of manufacturing such as marketing, design and engineering, production and distribution has tremendous potential, taking into account its capacity to integrate text, drawings, full-vector graphics, and full-motion video. Multimedia can also be used as an open development framework for manufacturing applications, especially in CAD, CAE and CAM, by providing users with tools to re-engineer and integrate product and process information. Advances in telecommunications and associated technological developments. Like the personal communicator and the video phone will increasingly add to the importance of multimedia in modern manufacturing. In addition, the future of manufacturing depends crucially on a well-trained employee base. Consequently, interactive video-based training programs appear ideal for jobs that have a high level of human error. In factories, computers and interactive video have been widely used. Realizing the importance of multimedia in manufacturing, especially in the process of enterprise integration and integrating the functional areas of manufacturing, an attempt has been made to investigate the applications of multimedia and identify some future research directions.     

A modification of the test of Shapiro and Wilk for normality

The W statistic of Shapiro and Wilk provides the best omnibus test of normality, but its application is limited up to n= 50. This study modifies W, such that it can be extended for all sample sizes. The critical values of W, i.e. the modification of W, is given for n up to 5000. The empirical moments show that the null distribution of W is skewed to the left and is consistant for all sample sizes. Empirical powers of W are also comparable with those of W.     

TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS AND TECHNOLOGY ACQUISITION: STRATEGIC DECISION UNDER UNCERTAINTY

We develop a stochastic programming model to aid manufacturing firms in making strategic decisions in technology acquisition. The proposed model maximizes the firm's expected profit under the condition of the uncertainty in technological progress and development. To solve this large‐scale problem, we decompose future uncertainties through scenarios and then develop an algorithm to solve the resulting non‐linear subproblems efficiently. Finally, we develop a heuristic to eliminate the infeasibility in the master problem and obtain best solutions. Numerical results show that our heuristic solutions are very close to the optimal solutions and meaningful insights are derived.     

Family matters: The impact of kin on the mortality of the elderly in rural Bangladesh

This study uses high quality longitudinal data on kin availability, proximity, and marital status from the Matlab surveillance area in rural Bangladesh to explore the impact of kin members on the survival of the elderly over a six year period. The results - from discrete time hazard models- suggest that the presence of a spouse, sons, and brothers substantially improves survivorship, but with differing effects by the sex of the elderly and the number of sons and brothers. This study offers little support of any of the following as mechanisms by which kin affect the survival of the elderly: changes in the economic status of the elderly as proxied by land holdings; improved access to instrumental support as proxied by the marital status of sons; decreases in social isolation as proxied by proximity of kin.