In unpredicted industrial environment, being able to adapt quickly and effectively to the changing is key in gaining a competitive advantage in the global market. Agile manufacturing evolves new ways of running factories to react quickly and effectively to changing markets, driven by customized requirement. Agility in manufacturing can be successfully achieved via integration of information system, people, technologies, and business processes. This article presents the conceptual model of agility in three dimensions named: driving factor, enabling technologies and evaluation of agility in manufacturing system. The conceptual model was developed based on a review of the literature. Then, the paper demonstrates the agility evaluation by developing a multi-grade assessment model. This model can be used by decision maker to evaluate their current degree of agility. Lastly, the paper examined the conceptual model of evaluation in the State Company for Vegetable Oils Industry in Iraq. The calculation show that the State Company for Vegetable Oils Industry is very agile.
This paper reports an experimental study of welding of dissimilar materials between transparent Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) and stainless steel 304 sheets using a pulsed mode Nd:YAG laser. The process was carried out for two cases; laser transmission joining (LTJ) and conduction joining (CJ). The former is achieved when the joint is irradiated from the polymer side and the latter when the joint is irradiated from the opposite side (metal side). The light and process parameters represented by the peak power (Pp), pulse duration (τ), pulse repetition rate (PRR), scanning speed (ν) and pulse shape have a significant effect on the joint strength (Fb), joint bead width (b), joint quality and appearance. The optimum parameters were determined
... Show MoreMany studies and researchers have reported significant evidence that some physical properties of water can be changed as it passes through a magnetic field that can improve water use. This can have a promising potential for applications, especially in the fields of irrigation and drainage. In this research, magnetized water was used to leach salt-affected sandy loam soil. A test rig was designed and constructed to investigate the effects of magnetized water on leaching soil. The rig consists of a magnetization device that can provide variable intensity. Water was supplied from a constant head reservoir to the magnetization device then to the soils that were placed in plastic columns. Five different magnetic intensi
... Show MoreHighly Modified Asphalt (HiMA) binders have garnered significant attention due to their superior resistance to rutting, fatigue cracking, and thermal distress under heavy traffic loads and extreme environmental conditions. While elastomeric polymers such as Styrene- Butadiene-Styrene (SBS) have been extensively used in HiMA applications, the potential of plastomeric polymers, including Polyethylene (PE) and Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA), remains largely unexplored. This study aims to evaluate the performance of reference binder (RB) modified with plastomeric HiMA asphalt in comparison to SBS-modified binders and determine the optimal polymer dosage for achieving an optimal balance between rutting resistance and fatigue durability. The experi
... Show MoreThis effort is related to describe and assess the performance of the Iraqi cement sample planned for oil well-cementing jobs in Iraq. In this paper, major cementing properties which are thickening time, compressive strength, and free water in addition to the rheological properties and filtration of cement slurry underneath definite circumstances are experimentally tested. The consequences point to that the Iraqi cement after special additives encounter the requests of the API standards and can consequently is used in cementing jobs for oil wells. At this research, there is a comparative investigation established on experimental work on the effectiveness of some additives that considered as waste materials which are silica fume, bauxite,
... Show MoreIn this study, a genetic algorithm (GA) is used to detect damage in curved beam model, stiffness as well as mass matrices of the curved beam elements is formulated using Hamilton's principle. Each node of the curved beam element possesses seven degrees of freedom including the warping degree of freedom. The curved beam element had been derived based on the Kang and Yoo’s thin-walled curved beam theory. The identification of damage is formulated as an optimization problem, binary and continuous genetic algorithms
(BGA, CGA) are used to detect and locate the damage using two objective functions (change in natural frequencies, Modal Assurance Criterion MAC). The results show the objective function based on change in natural frequency i
The accumulation of sediment in reservoirs poses a major challenge that impacts the storage capacity, quality of water, and efficiency of hydroelectric power generation systems. Geospatial methods, including Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS), were used to assess Dukan Reservoir sediment quantities. Satellite and reservoir water level data from 2010 to 2022 were used for sedimentation assessment. The satellite data was used to analyze the water spread area, employing the Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) and Modified Normalized Difference Water Index (MNDWI) to enhance the water surface in the satellite imagery of Dukan Reservoir. The cone formula was employed to calculate the live storag
... Show MoreThis effort is related to describe and assess the performance of the Iraqi cement sample planned for oil well-cementing jobs in Iraq. In this paper, major cementing properties which are thickening time, compressive strength, and free water in addition to the rheological properties and filtration of cement slurry underneath definite circumstances are experimentally tested. The consequences point to that the Iraqi cement after special additives encounter the requests of the API standards and can consequently is used in cementing jobs for oil wells. At this research, there is a comparative investigation established on experimental work on the effectiveness of some additives that considered as waste materials which are silica fume, baux
... Show MoreBackground: The association between diabetes and inflammatory dental diseases had been studied extensively for more than 50 years. A large evidence base suggests that diabetes is associated with an increased prevalence, extent and severity of gingivitis and periodontitis and loss of teeth. Many patients do not aware that they are diabetic.Objectives:The aim of the current study was to assess a fast, non-invasive, safe procedure to screen for diabetes and its severity in dental clinics and to assess the change in blood glucose level before and after tooth extraction during periodontalResults: there were no significant differences between the blood samples collected before tooth extraction from finger puncture method (FPB) and the gingival
... Show MoreBackground Psoriasis is one of the most prevalent chronic inflammatory skin conditions; its prevalence ranges from 1 to 3%. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), a cytokine that enhances inflammation, is overexpressed in synovium and skin plaques in psoriasis. TNF-α plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. IL-10 is the most crucial cytokine for reducing excessive immune responses and decreasing pro-inflammatory reactions in all autoimmune disorders. Objective To evaluate the effect of Apremilast on ILـ10, TNFـα, and BMI in obese psoriatic patients. Methods Thirty patients included in this investigative study to measure the concentrations of TNFـα, ILـ10 and BMI, before and after receiving Apremilast. TNFـα and
... Show More