Electronics industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. In India also, there are high turnovers and growing demand of electronics product especially after post liberalization in early nineties. These products generate e-waste which has become big environmental issue. Industries can handle these e-waste and product returns efficiently by developing reverse logistics (RL) system. A thorough study of critical success factors (CSFs) and their ordered implementation is essential for successful RL implementation. The aim of the study is to review the CSFs, and to prioritize them for RL implementation in Indian electronics industry. Twelve CSFs were identified through literature review, and discussion with the experts from the Indian electronics industry. Fuzzy-Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) approach is proposed for prioritizing these CSFs. Perusal of literature indicates that fuzzy-TOPSIS has not been applied earlier for prioritization of CSFs in Indian electronics industry. Five Indian electronics companies were selected for evaluation of this methodology. Results indicate that most of the identified factors are crucial for the RL implementation. Top management awareness, resource management, economic factors, and contracts terms and conditions are top four prioritized factor, and process capabilities and skilled workers is the least prioritized factor. The findings will be useful for successful RL implementation in Indian electronics industry.

In the present research work, AA7075 composite reinforced with silicon carbide particles has been fabricated using Friction stir processing (FSP). The silicon carbide particles having a size of 40 μm were placed in grooves of length 160 mm, width 2 mm, depth 3.5 mm, that were generated on the AA7075 plate. The square pin tool is utilized for fabricating the composite at two different rotational speed i.e. 700 and 1000 rpm. Effect of processing, particle addition and tool rotational speed is analyzed on mechanical and wear properties of the material. On friction stir processing the microhardness value and elongation of the material increased. Reinforcement addition contributed to decrease in ductility and tensile strength while on the contrary microhardness and wear resistance of the material improved. Tool rotational speed showed a direct relation with the tested mechanical and wear properties. Adhesive wear was the prominent wear mechanism and Fe layer formation was observed on the worn surface, contributing to increased wear resistance. These fabricated composites can find vast application in industries like automotive, defence and aerospace.

In the present research, work is carried out for the parametric effects like tool rotation speed, tool profile and reinforcement in friction stir processing (FSP) of AA7075 on the microhardness and microstructural properties. The experiment design was carried out using Taguchi L ₉ orthogonal array with three factors at three levels. Three different tool pin profiles viz. circular, triangular and square were used to experiment. The AA7075 matrix material was reinforced with SiC, RHA, and B ₄ C. The tool rotational speed was chosen as 700, 1000 and 1300 rpm. Using the Taguchi method, the optimum level of each of these parameters was obtained. It was found that rotational speed is the most influential parameter followed by the type of reinforcement and tool profile respectively. The average microhardness of AA7075/B ₄ C composite was found to be increased by 1.5–1.6 times of the base indicating that B ₄ C is better compared to SiC and RHA in improving the microhardness value of the composites.

The electronics industry is growing fast with the advent of new technologies and product innovation across the globe. Short product life cycle coupled with the huge demand for electronics products, generating a pile of discarded products results in e-waste generation. The industry is also facing the higher product returns due to the increase in online business and liberal policies offered to the consumers. Effective and efficient reverse supply chain implementation may help in managing these returns along with the end of life product returns. Despite a growing body of research in the area of reverse supply chain, industries are reluctant to adopt best practices of the reverse supply chain. The proposed study aims at exploring the key strategic issues and challenges faced by the electronics industry by using case study method. A case of Indian Electronics Organization is analyzed to identify key strategic issues and challenges in the managing reverse supply chain. The study will help the managers in understanding the complexities of reverse supply chain management in the electronics industry such as critical success factors, outsourcing decisions, disposition decisions, performance evaluation, and forecasting product returns.

Research efforts seek to develop aluminium alloy composites to enhance the poor tribological performance of aluminium alloy base matrix. In this research, a hybrid metal matrix composite (HMMC) was developed by reinforcing an aluminium alloy (AA8011) with SiC and rice husk ash (RHA) using a stir casting technique. RHA was prepared by the cracking of rice husk, which is abundantly available in the Indian subcontinent. The samples were cast by keeping the amount of RHA constant at 2.5 wt.% and varying the amount of SiC from 0.0 wt.% to 8 wt.%. The samples were machined to manufacture pins for wear tests (at ambient temperature, 100 °C, and 200 °C) and hardness measurement. The microstructures of the cast samples were analysed using an X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and a scanning electron microscope (SEM), along with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). It was observed that the composites with greater reinforcement of SiC exhibited improved hardness and wear resistance, but the coefficient of friction increased with the addition of RHA and SiC, and the wear performance deteriorated with an increase in the operating temperature. The contribution of RHA alone to the improvement in wear performance was marginal compared to the pure alloy. It was also confirmed that the reinforced composites could be a better option for automotive applications to replace aluminium alloys.