“Changeable and Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems” discusses key strategies for success in the changing manufacturing environment. Changes can often be anticipated but some go beyond the design range, requiring innovative change enablers and adaptation mechanisms. The book presents the new concept of Changeability as an umbrella framework that encompasses paradigms such as agility, adaptability, flexibility and reconfigurability. It provides the definitions and classification of key terms in this new field, and emphasizes the required physical/hard and logical/soft change enablers. The book presents cutting edge technologies and the latest research, as well as future directions to help manufacturers stay competitive. It contains original contributions and results from senior international experts, together with industrial applications. The book serves as a comprehensive reference for professional engineers, managers, and academics in manufacturing, industrial and mechanical engineering.

A bold new way to help anyone change Why is it so hard to change problem behavior—in our kids, our colleagues, and even ourselves? Conventional methods often backfire, creating a downward spiral of resentment and frustration, and a missed opportunity for growth. What if the thinking behind these old methods is wrong? What if people don’t misbehave because they want to, but because they lack the skills to do better? Or as renowned psychologist J. Stuart Ablon asks, what if changing problem behavior is a matter of skill, not will? Based on more than twenty-five years of clinical work with juvenile offenders as well training parents, teachers, counselors and law enforcement, and supported by research in neuroscience, Changeable presents a radical new way of thinking about challenging and unwanted behavior -- Collaborative Problem Solving -- that builds empathy, helps others reach their full potential, and most of all really works. With illuminating scientific evidence, remarkable success stories, and actionable insights, Changeable gives parents, teachers, CEOs and anyone interested in learning about why we behave the way we do a roadmap for helping people grow. *Includes a Bonus PDF with charts and graphs.

This book presents a novel framework, known as Active Robust Optimization, which provides the tools for evaluating, comparing and optimizing changeable products. Since any product that can change its configuration during normal operation may be considered a “changeable product,” the framework is widely applicable. Further, the methodology enables designers to use adaptability to deal with uncertainties and so avoid over-conservative designs. Offering a comprehensive overview of the framework, including its unique features, such as its ability to optimally respond to uncertain situations, the book also defines a new class of optimization problem and examines the effects of changes in various parameters on their solution. Lastly, it discusses innovative approaches for solving the problem and demonstrates these ‎with two examples from different fields in engineering design: optimization of an optical table and optimization of a gearbox.

This book introduces a new paradigm called ‘Optimization in Changeable Spaces’ (OCS) as a useful tool for decision making and problem solving. It illustrates how OCS incorporates, searches, and constructively restructures the parameters, tangible and intangible, involved in the process of decision making. The book elaborates on OCS problems that can be modeled and solved effectively by using the concepts of competence set analysis, Habitual Domain (HD) and the mental operators called the 7-8-9 principles of deep knowledge of HD. In addition, new concepts of covering and discovering processes are proposed and formulated as mathematical tools to solve OCS problems. The book also includes reformulations of a number of illustrative real-life challenging problems that cannot be solved by traditional optimization techniques into OCS problems, and details how they can be addressed. Beyond that, it also includes perspectives related to innovation dynamics, management, artificial intelligence, artificial and e-economics, scientific discovery and knowledge extraction. This book will be of interest to managers of businesses and institutions, policy makers, and educators and students of decision making and behavior in DBA and/or MBA.

A bold new way to help anyone change Why is it so hard to change problem behavior—in our kids, our colleagues, and even ourselves? Conventional methods often backfire, creating a downward spiral of resentment and frustration, and a missed opportunity for growth. What if the thinking behind these old methods is wrong? What if people don’t misbehave because they want to, but because they lack the skills to do better? Or as renowned psychologist J. Stuart Ablon asks, what if changing problem behavior is a matter of skill, not will? Based on more than twenty-five years of clinical work with juvenile offenders as well training parents, teachers, counselors and law enforcement, and supported by research in neuroscience, Changeable presents a radical new way of thinking about challenging and unwanted behavior -- Collaborative Problem Solving -- that builds empathy, helps others reach their full potential, and most of all really works. With illuminating scientific evidence, remarkable success stories, and actionable insights, Changeable gives parents, teachers, CEOs and anyone interested in learning about why we behave the way we do a roadmap for helping people grow. *Includes a Bonus PDF with charts and graphs.

Intro -- Contents -- One -- Benton's Clouds -- Pulp Fiction -- Forced Bloom -- Romanticism -- Trees beside Water -- Preparatory Meditation -- The Rainbow -- After Rain -- Cold Water -- Two -- Postmodernism -- Début de Siècle -- Dejection -- Separation -- "Fade-Out": A Lover's Discourse -- Simonides' Stone -- To Winter -- The City of God -- The Puritan Way of Death -- Three -- Unconditional Election -- Midwest: Ode -- That Moon -- Midwest: Georgics -- Works and Days -- Mr. Whitman's Book -- Humble House -- Ohio Fields after Rain -- Two Clouds -- Notes