Value stream mapping has the reputation of uncovering waste in manufacturing, production and business process. This helps in identifying and removing or streaming value added steps and eliminating non value added steps. In this study the process was analyzed to find an opportunity to drastically reduce the number of actions and to simplify the same. By reducing waste the proportion of value adding time increases in the whole process and the process throughput speed could also be increased. This makes the redesigned process more effective and more efficient. The reengineered process was flow charted in its future state with process steps and information flows re-engineering, simplified and economized. The current layout was analysed to identify and eliminate the non value added activities through lean tools like 5S, VSM and line balancing in a manufacturing industry. From the observed results, it was concluded that the non value added time could be reduced by about 13% while the process cycle efficiency could be increased by about 10%. Virtual simulation was conducted to verify and validate the existing situation as well as to propose the results and the effectiveness of lean principles in a systematic manner with the help of ARENA.

In the current scenario nanotechnology and nanomaterials are emerging as key role in engineering and medical industries. The objective of this research is to increase the usage of fly ash in concrete to enhance the strength properties of concrete mixed with nano silica and to reduce the emission control caused by CO₂discharged from cement manufacturing industries. The strength properties of concrete mixture is enhanced with nano size particles filled the voids amoung micron size cement particle, and hence a denser concrete mixture was being attained. Fly ash is used for partial replacement of cement to enhance the environmental sustainability and to reduce the cost. This research work focussed on preparation of nano silica mixed concrete with replacement of fly ash in concrete mixture. Nano silica was added in addition to the above by 1% and 2% to improve the overall strength properties. Different experimental analysis were carried out to obtained the results such as compression strength, ultimate divide tensile strength and elastic modulus of the enriched concrete mixture. From the observed results it was found that, compression strength was increased by adding 1% nano silica and 25% of fly ash and also increased the ultimate tensile strength by 28%. Scanning Electrom Microscope (SEM) results reveal that, the incorporation of the nano silica in concrete increases the mechanical properties and porosity was successfully minimized with enhancement of pore size distribution.

The aim of this research is to analyse the thermal conductivity of copper oxide (CuO) nanofluids. In the present study CuO nanofluids were prepared using a new method of wet chemical method and the testing was carried out by various techniques. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) pattern was used to determine the crystal structure and the average crystallite size of the CuO nanofluids. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) were used to study the morphology and the particle size. Similarly Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) was used to estimate the size of the CuO nanofluids. Finally UV-Visible absorption spectrum was used to measure the optical property of the CuO nanofluids. The thermal conductivity of CuO nanofluids was analyzed using KD₂ Pro thermal property analyzer and concludes that the thermal conductivity is increased with the increase of particle loading.

Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) of a machine plays a significant role in the present scenario, where right quality and right delivery at the right time are the major factors influencing a customer. The aim of this article is to study the effectiveness and implementing of an independent maintenance system in a machine shop for enhancing OEE with the help of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) and 5S techniques using a systematic approach. This has been focused to minimize the breakdowns, increase the performance and quality rate of machines so as to improve the effectiveness. During this research discussion, reviewing of documentation and sequential records and direct observations were used as data collection methods. In this case study, increase in efficiency and productivity of machines in terms of OEE by implementing TPM in a machine shop are discussed. This research work deals with the aspects of availability, performance and quality which are used to calculate the OEE of a machine. The TPM techniques such as 5S, preventive maintenance and cleaning were effectively applied on the machine. The final result showed that the OEE improved by 5% in horizontal machining center and by 7% in vertical machining center.

In the present scenario, it is necessary to follow lean manufacturing techniques more effectively and efficiently in order to meet the challenges of the global competitive market. Hence it is inevitable to introduce lean techniques which increase the productivity and reduce the lead time that ultimately results in customer satisfaction. Lean manufacturing has widely been executed in large scale industries over the past three decades. Lean means nothing but the creation of more value for customers with fewer resources and is the current trend for management of products and services. Companies are able to respond to changing customer desires with high variety, high quality, and fast throughput times with low cost. Also information management has become much simpler and more accurate. The main aim of this paper is to study the existing system in a small scale automotive component manufacturing industry and use lean tools to reduce lead time without greatly affecting the current working systems in the industry. Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is used to standardize the production and Kanban is also introduced by indicating the part number and part description to all work stations. Ranked position weight method in line balancing is used to reduce the transportation time of products from one station to another. Cycle time and setup time were reduced by about 350 seconds and 1500 seconds by work standardization and hence the productivity also increased. After implementing SOP the overall lead time reduced from 5780 seconds to 3946 seconds.