Search

Service-oriented manufacturing has been a prevalent trend in integrating product collaborative development with maintenance service, whereas the final products are frequently trapped into severe quality defects lacking appropriate contracting incentives. This paper establishes a tractable framework investigating the alignment of inspection and warranty strategies to manage product quality throughout the R&D, manufacturing and usage processes. Specifically, the manufacturing effort is motivated by a cost-sharing contract provided by the researcher, who performs quality inspection upon receiving the final product. Subsequent maintenance service is predesignated for warranty period coverage that the cost is partially claimed for compensation from the manufacturer. Under both breakdown and preventive maintenance strategies, we elaborate and compare the optimal incentive intensities solving the equilibrium effort decisions and inspection accuracy. The results suggest that both R&D and manufacturing effort levels under preventive maintenance are slightly higher than that under breakdown maintenance scenario, while inspection accuracy contradicts conversely. The breakdown maintenance strategy is associated with a lower proportion of warranty costs borne by the manufacturer. For a sufficient long warranty period, the researcher is better off to conduct preventive maintenance periodically. Our study contributes to providing explicit implications to manage product development quality with adequate inspection and warranty strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared to the traditional channel, where a retailer bears the inventory risk, the drop-shipping channel operates with a distinct approach: the retailer avoids stocking products while the manufacturer directly handles stocking and shipping to consumers. Due to the different inventory risk allocations, the two channels have different product qualities and profits for the manufacturer and retailer. In this study, we investigate product quality decision of the manufacturer and delve into the impact of product quality on the manufacturer's and retailer's profitability. First, we find that product quality can be weakly higher in the drop-shipping channel than that in the traditional channel. This is because the drop-shipping channel allows the manufacturer who undertakes demand uncertainty to charge a higher wholesale price, resulting in a higher product quality. Second, our study reveals that the traditional channel can concurrently yield higher profits for the manufacturer and retailer when product quality is considered, which is in contrast to the previous works. Third, in the traditional channel, as demand uncertainty rises, the retailer's production quantity increases, while the manufacturer's product quality decreases. Finally, our results indicate that the product quality is more sensitive to the shipping cost when demand uncertainty is low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with a problem of tactical planning of production activities. It considers the case of the world's largest phosphate production site, with several mines, several washing plants, and a drying plant, with transport of merchantable phosphate ores (MOs) by rail or pipeline. The tightening of product quality requirements by customers prevents from continuing to plan its production with the current rules. Currently, the plants are managed quite independently, source ores (SOs) are pre-assigned to the MOs for blending, and the MO production routings in the washing plants are predetermined. We propose a model that ensures flexibility in the production of MOs through the choice of dynamic blends and routings. Our approach goes beyond any pre-allocation of resources and aims at synchronising the flows of the washing plants. This specific problem of blending production and planning has not been addressed in the literature. Still, it is widely encountered in many mining industries and offers perspectives for the application of the approach proposed. Numerous tests show that this model ensures the quality constraints related to the composition of several chemical components, with a generalised use of the most economical routings while ensuring horizontal and vertical alignment of decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by the global budget concept in health care, we propose an innovative subsidy scheme in which governments do not commit the subsidy amount in advance but determine it by the end of the subsidy period. The performance of the traditional and proposed subsidy schemes is evaluated in an oligopoly without competition, where each manufacturer decides its product quality and production quantity under the diseconomies of scale in production. Both types of schemes can take into account product quality or not. Our results show that compared to the traditional scheme, the proposed scheme drives manufacturers to reduce production quantity but improves product quality and brings them higher profits. Furthermore, the scheme results in greater social welfare when the subsidy budget is large. Finally, we conduct robustness checking by considering the market competition and absence of the diseconomies of scale, respectively. The result shows that the main findings in the basic model continue to hold, while there are additional findings. In the first scenario, as the market competition intensity increases, our proposed scheme becomes more preferable to the manufacturers and the government. In the second scenario, subsidy schemes that take product quality into account are never preferable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current research examines how the knowledge that a product is made using a traditional method influences perceptions of its quality. We propose that consumers believe that a brand using traditional methods is beneficial for society because it is concerned about cultural preservation and this belief has a positive effect on perceived quality. Six experimental studies show that consumers evaluate products produced with a method described as traditional to be higher in quality than similar products that are not described as traditionally made and this effect is mediated by the belief that the brand is beneficial for society. Consistent with this theory, the positive effect of traditional production on perceived quality is attenuated when consumers view the brand to be unconcerned about cultural preservation, such as when the use of a traditional method is framed as a follower strategy (i.e. it imitates the actions of other brands) or when the brand is a multinational company. By showing that the mere mention of a traditional method can be another subtle way to position a brand as a moral actor, these findings contribute to the understanding of the link between perceived social responsibility and product evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A maintenance model is specially developed for the work rolls equipped in the hot finishing mill group, with the purpose to decrease the total maintenance cost for the roll group under the constraint of the production batches and the roll thermal character. During the maintenance modelling at roll level, the impacts of the surface wear of the work roll on its failure rate state, the production quality and the preventive maintenance cost are deeply discussed. Then, a preventive maintenance grouping method is further proposed at roll group level, with the mutual restriction between the adjustable replacement time of the roll group and the optimal maintenance time of each work roll involved. The case study shows that the proposed maintenance model is practical for the maintenance scheduling of the work rolls in the real rolling production scenario. The total maintenance cost under the proposed maintenance method is always lower that the ones under the individual OM method and the maintenance window-based OM method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under servitization (one paradigm of non-ownership-transfer) business model such as sharing, a manufacturer is responsible not only for product design but also for maintenance. This paper deals with joint decision of product quality and maintenance under servitization. A model minimising total cost is formulated to obtain the optimal product quality, maintenance effort and maintenance times. We find that the total cost first decreases then increases with product quality, maintenance effort and maintenance times. Moderate quality and maintenance effort level are the best for the manufacturer, because too high or too low quality and effort cause too high total cost. However, preventive maintenance should be implemented as many times as possible until the failure cost is reduced to zero as long as each maintenance can save cost. Moreover, in the optimal joint decision, the product quality, maintenance effort and maintenance times are negatively correlated in pairs. In addition, we explore the impact of unit failure cost, product lifecycle, production cost, maintenance cost, and failure intensity on the manufacturer's optimal decisions. In extensions, we further take penalty cost, exponential failure distribution, discount rate, and customer usage into account. This paper provides insight for the manufacturer to jointly consider product design and maintenance under servitization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Machining tools are vital components of intelligent manufacturing systems whose state and remaining useful life (RUL) determine product quality. Specifically, the wearing of tool reduces its capability of production yield and diminishes product quality. Therefore, a capability-based RUL prediction approach is proposed in this paper to thoroughly evaluate the state and RUL of machining tools. First, the connotation of tool capability is discussed, and a framework for quality assurance capability-based RUL prediction is proposed. Product quality, which can be used to assess the capability of tool, is modelled and expanded to consider non-geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (non-GD&T) features based on the classic geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T) system. Second, a physics-based model of process is developed to estimate the non-GD&T features and calculate tool wear. Third, a hybrid data-driven and physics-based model is developed to quantitatively assess the capability of tool based on the comprehensive quality estimation. Finally, a case study of rolling machining tool is carried out to verify the effectiveness and proactiveness of the proposed framework, and the final result highlights its rationality and accuracy in estimating the RUL of machining tools with better interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing research on advertising structures in a supply chain has mainly been conducted with symmetric quality information and the interaction between quality information disclosure and advertising has not been clarified. To identify the optimal advertising structure and disclosure strategy for a manufacturer, we explore manufacturer advertising and cooperative advertising in the context of product quality information asymmetry. We examine the implications of the manufacturer's product quality information disclosure on his advertising strategies and the impact of advertising on quality information disclosure decisions. When cooperative advertising is more effective than manufacturer advertising and the product quality is low, the manufacturer should adopt manufacturer advertising, which leads to higher perceived quality and improves the retailer's economic condition. We find that advertising can inspire the manufacturer to disclose more product quality information regardless of the advertising structure, which occurs when the effectiveness of advertising is large. Furthermore, the manufacturer, the retailer, and consumers can benefit from cooperative advertising when cooperative advertising is more effective than manufacturer advertising and the product quality is high. We also consider an extension where the manufacturer and retailer advertise simultaneously and find that advertising leads to more quality information being disclosed when the disclosure cost is low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research has highlighted a difference in the way consumers approach choice sets. Some consumers focus on products' quality benefits (vertical differentiation): their selections are driven by the level of quality obtained relative to the price paid. Other consumers focus on products' taste benefits (horizontal differentiation): their selections are driven by acquiring personal tastes at favorable prices. This article aims to investigate how consumers' benefit focus, a continuum anchored by quality and taste, drives their preferences between retailers differing in pricing strategies. All else equal, consumers who focus on taste benefits will prefer EDLP stores (infrequent discounters), while consumers who focus on quality benefits will prefer Hi-Lo stores (frequent discounters). Findings from our experiments and an analysis of consumer panel data corroborate this relationship. This work also shows the mediating role of perceived value and the effect of several moderators: the strength of the price–quality relationship, the pattern of discounts, and cherry-picking costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purchase decisions typically involve tradeoffs between attributes associated with desirability (e.g. quality) and feasibility (e.g. price). In this article, we examine how the decision context impacts consumers' preference between a high-desirability (HD) option and a high-feasibility (HF) alternative. Nineteen studies demonstrate a novel context effect, the "upscaling effect," whereby introducing a symmetrically dominated decoy option to a set (i.e. an option that is inferior compared to all alternatives in the set) leads to an increase in the choice share of the HD option. To account for the upscaling effect, we advance a two-stage model of consumer decision-making for decisions that involve tradeoffs between desirability and feasibility. According to our model, when the decision context provides a reason for choosing either option, such as when a decoy option is added to the set, consumers prioritize reasons that support choice of HD options over HF alternatives. Our model can explain the upscaling effect, as well as other findings reported in the literature, such as asymmetric attraction effects (Heath and Chatterjee 1995) and asymmetric sales promotion effects (Blattberg and Wisniewski 1989). Furthermore, the upscaling effect holds important managerial implications because it provides an effective way to increase sales of high-end products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Greater consumer demand for sustainable, nutrient-dense grains has inreased research emphasis on underutilized wheat species, such as ancient grains. However, these wheat species have different physicochemical qualities, in comparison to conventional hexaploid bread wheat. Consequently, the end-product quality of baked products developed using ancient wheat species is inferior to those that use common hexaploid bread wheat. In this review, approaches that can be used to enhance the functionality of ancient grains are explored as resolving these limitations is essential for expanding the use of these underutilized grains in bakery applications. An evaluation of the current literature suggests a need to examine existing ingredient technology-related solutions and processing techniques, as well as their anticipated impacts on the functionalities of these underutilized wheat species, for development of value-added bakery products. Furthermore, the findings indicate that an in-depth understanding of the physicochemical properties of ancient grains and the impact of different functionality enhancement techniques on the chemistry of these grains is essential to successfully utilize different ingredient technologies and processing techniques. Therefore, this is an area of research that needs further investigations, especially from an underutilized grains standpoint, to fully unravel the potential of these grains in different bakery applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study tackles the long-term problem of continuous variable crown (CVC) rolling mills' inadequate hot-rolled strip edge drop control capability, which is a major barrier to raising product quality. This work thoroughly examines the mechanism of edge drop using a coupled model of the roll system and rolling piece to obtain a deeper understanding of the factors causing edge drop in hot-rolled strips. Then, a universal design approach for the Symmetrical Variable Taper Plus (SVT +) roll contour is proposed. This advanced roll contour technology is capable of enhancing edge drop control across strips of varying widths by making precise corrections to the CVC curve at specific locations. In order to further refine the process, a multi-objective roll contour parameter optimization strategy is introduced. This strategy is designed to decouple strip crown control from edge drop control, thereby enabling more precise adjustments. In addition, this study presents an in-depth examination of the edge drop control characteristics of the proposed SVT + through simulation experiments under both no-load and on-load conditions. The results confirm the effectiveness of SVT + in reducing strip edge drop under a variety of conditions. Results from industrial experiments further highlight the potential of SVT + , demonstrating a relative decrease in strip edge drop of 46.44% and an enhancement of 22.72% in the strip crown qualification rate. These improvements are particularly beneficial for the qualification rate of strip products with a small target crown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The assembly process is generally considered one of the primary factors influencing the quality of complex products. Currently, most existing quality-integrated diagnostic methods for products tend to deteriorate over different processes and degrade over time. To address this issue, this paper introduces a systematic quality-integrated diagnostic method for complex product assembly processes. First, the influence factors and error sources in the complex assembly process are analyzed using the 5M1E and FAHP methodologies. Next, similarity-based multi-task clustering and dismantling using RGMM is applied to divide the assembly tasks. Finally, MMD-MSE is employed to develop a quality prediction model for the complex assembly process using a spatial–temporal transfer learning approach. Experiments were conducted on an array antenna assembly task, comparing the proposed method with conventional methods. The results show that the accuracy and PrUP of the proposed model are 97.6% and 95.2%, respectively, for the quality-integrated diagnostic of complex assembly processes, with a fluctuation in accuracy of less than 6%. The diagnostic results effectively meet expert evaluations and provide a stable, reliable, and practical solution for addressing quality fluctuations in complex production assembly processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cellulose nitrate, commonly known as nitrocellulose (NC), is an energetic polymer with a broad function in industrial and military applications. The use of biomass waste for nitrocellulose production offers a promising solution to the growing demand for renewable and sustainable raw materials, addressing one of the most critical issues of recent decades. However, the product quality remains suboptimal, presenting one of the biggest challenges in developing NC production from biomass. Enhancing NC performance through the modification of cellulose crystal structures and allomorph is considered an excellent approach. Herein, the transformation of cellulose-I into cellulose-II was explored during the hydrolysis step to produce high-performance NC. The present study demonstrated that cellulose-II precursors effectively produced the highest-performance NC from the solid byproducts of avocado seed extraction (EAS), highlighting its promising potential for high-energy applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Irreversible deformation of paper is a challenge for both printer operation and product quality, particularly in inkjet printing with water-based inks. Here we are investigating permanent paper curl, which is the residual curl of paper after drying of the ink (i.e., it is not the immediate paper curl due to wetting). The key aim of this work was to test the hypothesis that permanent paper curl is created by partial opening and rearrangement of the fibre–fibre bonds in the wetted paper layer. In order to test this hypothesis, we produced paper with crosslinked fibre–fibre bonds that do not open in the presence of water. Polyamideamine epichlorohydrin (PAE) and 1,2,3,4-butanetetracarboxylic acid were used as crosslinking agents and properties of the treated paper samples were analysed. Both agents led to significantly improved wet strength of the papers, furthermore we indeed found that the permanent curl of crosslinked papers was strongly reduced. Other curl related mechanisms like differences in fibre swelling, paper hydroexpansion and liquid penetration were not able to explain the reduction in curl. The finding that the creation of fibre–fibre bonds unaffected by water prevents permanent curl of paper after wetting and redrying leads to the conclusion that the mechanism for creating permanent paper curl after wetting is related to the partial opening and rearrangement of fibre–fibre bonds in the wetted paper. Possible pathways to apply these findings to paper production are discussed, for example switchable or temporary wet strength agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to rising health concerns, consumers are increasingly inclined toward reduced‐fat products, which have driven the need for nutritious alternatives through modifications in recipes and production processes. Despite the growing popularity of coconut‐based products, there is limited research on baked coconut chips, particularly regarding the effects of baking temperatures and product thicknesses. This study addresses this gap by developing baked coconut chips samples (BCSs) as a healthier alternative to traditional fried chips. Baking experiments were conducted at temperatures of 140°C, 160°C, and 180°C, with 160°C identified as optimal for balancing processing time and product quality. The study also compared baked coconut chips with those that were dried and then baked (dried baked coconut chips samples [DBCS]). Among the trials, the 0.5‐mm‐thick coconut chips baked at 160°C exhibited favorable sensory attributes and notable biochemical properties, including 3.13% moisture content, 1.13% ash, 40.49% fat, and significant antioxidant activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aquatic products are a high‐quality source of protein for humans, and the changes in protein during aquatic product processing are crucial for nutritional value, product performance, and consumer health. With the advancement of science and technology, aquatic product processing methods have become increasingly diverse. In addition to traditional methods such as thermal processing (steaming, roasting, and frying) and pickling, emerging non‐thermal processing technologies, such as high pressure, ultrasound, and irradiation, are also being applied. During (ultra‐)processing, aquatic products undergo complex biochemical reactions, among which protein oxidation significantly affects the quality of aquatic products. Protein oxidation can alter the molecular structure of proteins, thereby changing their functional properties and ultimately impacting product quality. This paper primarily explored the effects of protein changes under different processing methods on aquatic product quality and human health, as well as techniques for controlling protein oxidation. It aims to provide a theoretical basis for selecting appropriate processing methods, improving aquatic product quality, and controlling protein oxidation in aquatic products, and to offer scientific guidance for practical production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The surface defect has a direct impact on the performance and quality of the final product, so it is crucial to identify the key factors causing the defect. To achieve accurate key factor identification, an eXplainable AI‐based Pipeline (XAIP) is proposed herein. The proposed XAIP combines data mode clustering and local model construction to meet practical application requirements. Meanwhile, after analyzing the characteristics of practical data, a strategy for defect rate calculation is designed to provide more fine‐grained defect‐related information to supervise model training. The final identification results are presented by a two‐stage explainable method, which is designed to reveal the information of data modes and key variables and can give engineers more specific defect‐related information. The experiment results based on two practical manufacturing datasets show the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production of home and personal care products demands stringent contamination control to ensure safety and quality. Microbial contamination poses significant risks to both product integrity and consumer safety, leading to potential recalls and brand damage. This article explores the critical role of environmental monitoring (EM) programs in identifying, tracking, and trending sources of microbial contamination. A robust contamination control strategy includes species-level microbial identifications, early warning systems, and adherence to regulatory standards such as the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act (MoCRA) and USP chapters <60>, <61>, and <62>. These regulations emphasize the importance of tracking and trending microorganisms to increase visibility and improve the state of control of your processes and facility. Drawing on the analogy of a railway system, we illustrate how undetected microbial contamination can spread across production lines. By implementing proactive contamination controls, utilizing advanced identification techniques like MALDI-TOF and DNA sequencing, and managing microbial risks through accurate data analysis, manufacturers can stay ahead of potential threats. The article underscores the value of harmonized EM programs, which shift manufacturers from reactive to proactive responses, minimizing contamination risks and ensuring product safety. Investing in such programs ultimately protects consumers, ensures regulatory compliance, and preserves the brand's reputation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe compositions of natural products are diverse and complex, which makes accurate analysis a challenging task. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) provides a means for the analysis of natural products. This review thoroughly examines the applications of SERS in the field of natural products, ranging from component identification and quality control to the clarification of mechanisms of action. It emphasizes SERS’ capability to identify active ingredients in complex mixtures and monitor production for quality assurance. SERS can also elucidate the mechanisms of action. Nevertheless, challenges such as substrate standardization and the complexity of data processing exist. Future development will focus on innovative design, automation, and integration. Through continuous innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration, SERS is expected to play a crucial role in natural product research and development, further promoting the growth of the natural product industry. This review aims to provide a comprehensive perspective and support for natural product quality control and new drug development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate prediction of moisture content is significantly crucial for ensuring process stability and product quality in the cylinder drying process. However, the drying process exhibits complex spatio-temporal characteristics and strong interference, which make accurate prediction challenging for the deep learning approach. To address this issue, this article proposes a new spatio-temporal attention-based bidirectional long-short temporal memory network (STA-BiLSTM) model for accurate moisture content prediction. First, Maximum Relevance Minimum Redundancy (mRMR) is adopted to identify optimal features highly related to moisture content. Secondly, bidirectional long-short temporal memory (Bi-LSTM) network is utilized to extract temporal dependencies from the sequential data. Subsequently, spatio-temporal attention mechanisms are designed to adaptively focus on the most relevant features and timesteps, enhancing the model's generalization ability. Finally, due to the harsh industrial environment, eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) is adapted to improve generalizability and robustness. Extensive experiments on a real industrial dataset of the drying process demonstrate that the proposed STA-BiLSTM approach significantly outperforms alternative approaches for predicting moisture content, validating its effectiveness and superiority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dryers are designed once but then operate for many years, and it is important to have systematic methods to solve problems when they arise. Kemp and Gardiner proposed a systematic methodology in 2001, based on categorization of problems into five main types and a divergent-convergent algorithm to identify both root causes and potential solutions. This approach to troubleshooting has proved successful for dryers in a range of industries. This article reviews the experience gained, some resulting improvements, and overlap and synergy with other investigation methods such as Lean Six Sigma techniques. An extensive range of case studies is given, illustrating the successful application of the methodology to many different situations and dryer types. The broad approach has remained the same but various points of detail have been added. Appropriate theoretical models can give useful insights, often using quite simple methods such as heat and mass balances and drying times estimated with first-order kinetics. The insights can solve other drying-related problems such as caking in storage. The methods can also be used for process improvement, debottlenecking, and enhanced product quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spray drying of emulsions is a widespread encapsulation technique to produce a large variety of powdered formulations. The oil droplet size (ODS) in the powder is critical for product quality, influencing key product parameters such as the encapsulation efficiency (EE) of the oil. To expand the understanding of changes in ODS and structure formation during the drying step. For this purpose, model oil-in-water emulsions were spray-dried at varying air inlet and outlet temperatures. The powders were characterized regarding ODS and EE. Smaller ODS were observed for parameter combinations where higher drying rates are expected due to decreased coalescence. The results for the EE revealed no clear trend. An increase of air outlet temperature first led to a small decrease in EE followed by a distinct increase of EE. The first decrease may indicate a collapse of the particle morphology but more detailed investigations are necessary to explore these phenomena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractTime-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF-MS) was used to unravel the composition of commercial polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR) samples, by identifying the various molecular species present. To cover the broad range of molecular weights for the present species, a combination of three ionisation conditions was used. Species exceeding the molecular weight of pentaglycerol hexaricinoleate were difficult to detect. Over 100 molecular species were observed and identified in the analysed samples, including free polyglycerols, ricinoleates, and PGPR-esters. Commercial PGPR samples were shown to be mainly composed of esterification products of di-, tri-, and tetraglycerol, while the esterification degree mainly varied from 1 to 5. The TOF-MS analysis was proven to be reproducible with a relative standard deviation (RSD) below 2.86% for three independent measurements on different days. The method proved to be very suitable to evaluate batch-to-batch variations and to compare the composition of different types of commercial PGPR’s. Moreover, this method can be applied to monitor the quality of PGPR products during the synthesis process. Furthermore, it can also provide fundamental knowledge for optimizing PGPR composition to improve its functionality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality by design (QbD) is a systematic method for the development of product and process design to ensure quality and efficacy. In the fragrance and flavour industry, the design of delivery systems plays a crucial role in the overall product quality and consumer acceptance. This article analyses the current state‐of‐the‐art and future explorations from QbD perspective for designing appropriate delivery systems for flavour and fragrance applications. The QbD approach for delivery system design involves classifying critical quality attributes of the product and process, defining the critical process parameters and developing a design space to ensure product quality within the specified range. In addition, risk assessment and mitigation strategies are also a component of the QbD techniques, which ensure the robustness of the delivery system. Various delivery systems such as microencapsulation, nanoencapsulation, solid lipid nanoparticles and liposomes have been explored in the flavour and fragrance industry. These delivery systems provide controlled release, protection, and enhanced stability of the active ingredients. However, challenges such as scale‐up, reproducibility, and cost‐effectiveness need to be addressed to ensure their commercial viability. In conclusion, the QbD outlook provides a comprehensive framework for the design of carrier system for fragrance and flavour applications. The incorporation of risk assessment and mitigation strategies ensures the robustness of the delivery system, and the future exploration of advanced technologies may further enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the QbD approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The aim of this study was to characterise gluten‐free breads formulated with alternative flours through technological and sensory (ultra flash profiling, hedonic tests) properties, and to correlate both methodologies for holistically understanding how these variables affect the consumer preference and product quality. Gluten‐free breads formulated by replacing 20% with brown rice, lupine, millet, quinoa, sorghum, teff, buckwheat, rice bran and carob flours were evaluated. The dough hydration and fermentation times were optimised. The formulations presented differences in centesimal composition, specific volume, texture and colour. Significant correlations were established between fermentation time, specific volume, centesimal composition, texture (hardness, gumminess), alveolar structure (porosity, uniformity, cell density), colour (L*), sensory descriptors and overall acceptability. The ultra flash profiling test confirmed different sensory profiles, showing that some descriptors have a high impact in overall acceptability. Multiple factor analysis contributed to understand the interrelationships between technological and sensory properties, identifying the relevant technological parameters that affect the consumer preferences and the final product quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Chinese consumers' brand preferences are shifting from foreign sportswear brands to domestic ones. This indicates an increasingly strong relationship between Chinese consumers and domestic sportswear brands. The purpose of this study is to explore the spillover effect of Chinese domestic sportswear brands' relationship quality to uncover the psychological mechanisms driving this preference shift. Design/methodology/approach: The study used a brand relationship quality scale based on Chinese Confucian yuanfen culture, considering it as a second-order reflective-formative construct. The survey generated 326 valid responses online. Due to the presence of second-order reflective-formative construct in the variables, SmartPLS 4.0 was used for hypothesis testing. Findings: Interaction belief, intimate interaction and happiness as formative dimensions of Confucian yuanfen brand relationship quality are validated, while emotional expression and tolerance are not. The Confucian yuanfen brand relationship quality has a spillover effect on product origin image and domestic sportswear brand preference. Product origin image has a mediating role between Confucian yuanfen brand relationship quality and domestic sportswear brand preference. However, consumer xenocentrism does not moderate the spillover effect of Confucian yuanfen brand relationship quality on domestic sportswear brand preference. Originality/value: This study tests brand relationship quality from Confucian yuanfen perspective as a second-order reflective-formative construct. It contributes to understanding how Chinese consumers perceive their relationships with domestic sportswear brands. The results advance the current body of knowledge on brand relationship quality and spillover effect in sports marketing, indicating that Chinese sportswear brands can explore the possibility of co-opetition to achieve mutual benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compact food bars have become consumers' first choice as an alternative to unhealthy snacks, meal replacements or quick energy sources before exercise. Considering the increasing need of society for such products, the aim of this research is to investigate the effect of using quinoa flour in raw and processed form (flaked and roasted) and different levels of rice flour (zero, 15 and 30%) on the physicochemical (moisture, fat, protein, ash, carbohydrates, calories, specific volume, color, water activity and texture) and sensory characteristics of compact food bars. The results showed that the processing applied on quinoa, while improving the quality of the product, led to a decrease in moisture, fat and water activity, and an increase in ash and texture hardness, and the samples containing quinoa flour showed the highest amount of protein. In addition, the flaking process decreased carbohydrate and specific volume and roasting increased them and had a significant effect on the color changes of the samples. The results of the sensory analysis of the samples also showed that the processing done on quinoa and increasing the amount of rice flour in the formulation increased the overall acceptance of the product. Finally, the sample produced with quinoa flaked flour and containing 30% of rice flour (8.10% moisture, 5.90% fat, 5.74% protein, 0.78% ash, 79.47% carbohydrates and 393.97 Kcal/100g calories) was chosen as the optimal formula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of China Textile Leader is the property of China Textile Information Center and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Uranium Mining & Metallurgy is the property of Uranium Mining & Metallurgy Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In a modern supply chain, the quality of the final product is not determined by a single firm but depends on the joint efforts of multiple firms. When a quality defect happens, it is usually cost‐inefficient to trace the source of quality problems and all firms in the supply chain might incur a loss. New technologies such as blockchain can enable supply chain traceability at an affordable cost. In this paper, we develop a two‐echelon supply chain model including one supplier and one buyer in a competitive market. The quality of the final product depends on the two firms' quality efforts. The buyer as a leader can set a wholesale price to stimulate the supplier's effort. In the absence (presence) of traceability, the payment of wholesale price is based on the realization of the final product's quality (the supplier's individual quality). Interestingly, we find that supply chain traceability may cause a decrease of the supplier's quality effort, thereby reducing the quality of the final product when market competition is sufficiently intensive. Furthermore, traceability weakly increases the supplier's profit but weakly decreases the buyer's profit. However, the total profit of the supply chain can be increased in the presence of traceability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The product quality is the key index to measure the process of the industrial manufacture. Thanks to the ever-expanding scale of time-series data, the deep learning technology can be regarded as the effective approach to predict the future product quality accurately. In this article, the product quality with time series data is considered and an attention-based convolutional recurrent neural network (ACRNN) is proposed for the prediction of the product quality. Firstly, by reconstructing the time series data into the two dimensions the convolutional layers are built to compress the information of the product quality data, and the more comprehensive features can be extracted. Furthermore, to ensure the prediction accuracy of the time series data process and extract the 2-dimmension feature of the data, the long short-term memory (LSTM) based on recurrent neural network (RNN) layers are constructed. After that, the fully connection layers with attention mechanism is applied to improve the calculation efficiency and accuracy of the models. Finally, the test experiments on the time series data of the industrial product are given and the comparisons show that the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Shipin Kexue/ Food Science is the property of Food Science Editorial Department and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The measurement and inspection of products and their dimensions in industry plays an important role in determining the quality of a product. Correct measurement is a key factor in production. Many companies are subject to stringent safety standards and specific product requirements. Accurate measurement ensures compliance with these guidelines, avoiding fines, penalties and legal complications. Effective measurement processes can identify inefficiencies, defects and areas for improvement, leading to cost savings. By detecting defects early in the production cycle, manufacturers can reduce waste and optimize resource utilization thereby reducing overall production costs. A fundamental principle of good measurement is to ensure that the measuring instruments are suitable for the specific application and that they meet the measurement requirements for the measurement parameter. The objective of the experiment is to verify and compare the measurement capability of a confocal chromatic sensor against a measurement probe used in production. The parameter to be measured is the diameter, since the correct diameter plays an essential role in the production of shafts or other cylindrical products. The results contained in the thesis highlight the importance and differences between the different measuring devices and the qualification to use the measurement of a given parameter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Despite the prevalence of luxury brand extension in the service industry, customers tend to be skeptical of the value of the extended brand. This study aims to investigate whether a parent luxury service brand significantly alters customers' predicted quality, identity and attitude toward the extended brand. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses partial least squares structural equation modeling to examine the proposed hypotheses in a developing country. Findings: The results show that the parent brand's brand distinctiveness positively and significantly signals the identity and quality of the extended brand. The model also identifies the mediating effects of quality as it signals the relationship between customers' perception of the parent brand and attitude toward the extended service brand. As expected, as the quality of the extended brand improves, so does attitude toward the extended hotel brand. By contrast, the perceived identity of the extended brand does not significantly increase support for a positive attitude toward the extended brand. Originality/value: This study contributes to the existing consumer marketing literature by suggesting future research directions and brand extension strategies for luxury hotel brand companies in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the petrochemical industry, effective maintenance management is critical to operational efficiency and safety. Key indicators such as overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), reliability, safety incidents, and maintenance costs are commonly used by management to evaluate maintenance system performance. Increasing equipment availability and product quality can boost OEE and lead to fewer safety incidents and improved overall performance. Studies in Iran's petrochemical sector have shown that investing in maintenance and training can bring significant benefits. For example, data from 42 petrochemical complexes in Iran, covering 2015 to 2021, show an increase in equipment effectiveness and reliability over time. However, there was a slight slowdown in 2021 due to the impact of the Covid19 pandemic. Improvements in maintenance performance, the use of excellence models along with the necessary training have been associated with increased product realization and productivity growth. Research also shows that increased reliability can positively impact the reduction of safety incidents, environmental issues, and overall operating costs. By prioritizing maintenance excellence and adopting best practices, organizations can strengthen their competitiveness and sustainability in a dynamic business landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the production of strip steel, surface defect identification is crucial for improving product quality and ensuring smooth subsequent processes. Existing technologies face challenges such as low detection efficiency and susceptibility to environmental noise. This article employs an automated deep learning method without requiring consideration of complex environmental changes and proposes an improved RepVGG (ViT‐RepVGG) model for surface defect identification. The model is based on the RepVGG architecture, and the study explores the impact of incorporating the self‐attention mechanism of ViT under various addition strategies on model performance. A comparison is made between the optimized model and classic network models, as well as recently published models, in terms of identification performance. The research also examines the performance variations of the model under different hyperparameter settings and its identification performance for six types of defects. The results indicate that adding the ViT module to stage 3 of the A1‐type RepVGG, with a learning rate, optimizer, and activation function set to 0.0001, Adam, and Gelu, respectively, yields the optimal ViT‐RepVGG model performance. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of enhancing classification performance by incorporating the self‐attention mechanism into neural networks, providing an effective foundation for the online identification of strip steel surface defects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vegetable oils are extracted from oilseeds, fruits and other parts of plants. The method used in oil extraction is of great importance, as it affects both the quality of the final product and the environment. It is desirable that the extraction method be minimally costly, fast, environmentally friendly, and produce oil of high quality and quantity. Common oil extraction methods are mechanical pressing and solvent extraction, and these methods have advantages and disadvantages over each other. Mechanical extraction and solvent extraction are controversial due to poor product quality and high environmental impacts. This review presents applications where conventional oil extraction processes are assisted by microwave or ultrasound. It is necessary to evaluate the impact of ultrasound and microwave-assisted extraction on the quality of the extracted oil and also to compare the results with those of conventional extraction methods. For this purpose, this review discusses the effects of microwave and ultrasound-assisted extraction on the physicochemical, oxidation indices, bioactive compounds, and antioxidant properties of oil extracted from oil seeds and fruits. Furthermore, this review provides readers with in-depth information on the mechanisms involved, their use, and the impact of operating conditions. The yield and quality of the oil obtained by these processes can vary depending on parameters such as microwave power, ultrasound power, processing time, and temperature. Finally, the review also discusses the challenges and advantages of the industrial application of these technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the impact of corporate financialization on export product quality using data from Chinese A-share listed companies from 2000 to 2015. Our findings indicate that corporate financialization inhibits the upgrading of export product quality through ‘innovation crowding out’ and ‘factor substitution’ effects. Heterogeneity tests reveal that this negative effect is pronounced for firms with strong motivations for market arbitrage, precautionary savings, tunneling, as well as higher managerial overconfidence. Additionally, firms exporting to high-income countries, engaging in general trade in less digitally developed regions, and adopting compensation incentives are more susceptible to the disincentive effects of corporate financialization on export product quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

E-commerce platforms generally provide consumers with the function of virtual shopping carts to help them store interested products. Although about 80% of online consumers intends to purchase after adding products to their shopping cart, the abandonment rate of cart products has been up to 70%. It is important to understand how to improve consumer attitude toward product both before and after cart use. Building on the relevant literature and the consumer shopping goal stages theory, this study aims to examine the effects of product price, as one of the most indispensable and important information in online shopping, on consumer attitudes toward product at different decision-making stages in online shopping (i.e., add-to-cart stage and place-an-order stage), and the mediating roles of perceived product quality and monetary sacrifice. The findings from behavioral experiment suggest that high price leads to a more positive attitude toward product at add-to-cart stage by strengthened perception of high product quality, while results in a less positive product attitude at place-an-order stage because of the enhanced perception of monetary sacrifice. Both theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demand for clean-label products continues to rise, as consumers increasingly prioritize natural and transparent ingredient lists. Natural substances are generally deemed safe for consumption by consumers. This study was focused on the development of clean-label ostrich meat patties with Chenopodium album extract and their storage stability. To prepare C. album extract, microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) and ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) were employed. Ostrich meat patties were prepared using diverse combinations of extract, including 1% UAE, 2% UAE, 1% MAE, 2% MAE, 0.5% UAE+0.5% MAE, and 1% UAE + 1% MAE. The highest pH was observed for MAE in T3 on the 14th day (6.19 ± 0.03). The L* value was observed between 39.12 ± 1.09 and 44.00 ± 1.1. As storage intervals passed, the a* and b* values of ostrich meat patties decreased. After the 14th day of storage, the best results were obtained from 2% UAE (T2), with the lowest TBRAS, Peroxide value (POV), and Total of volatile basic nitrogen (TVBN) readings recorded for T2 (0.74 ± 0.02 MDA/kg, 0.56 ± 0.01 meq peroxide/kg, and 6.28 ± 0.40 mg/100 mL, respectively). At the end of the storage study, the lowest Total Microbial Count (TMC) and coliform count were recorded for T2 (8.08 ± 0.03 and 4.97 ± 0.05 cfu/mL, respectively). At the end of the storage study, T2 exhibited the highest values for total phenolic content (TPC), diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), and azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) assay, namely of T2 122 ± 0.28 mg GAE/100 g, 73 ± 0.27%, 5.9 ± 0.01 mmol FSE/100 g, and 83 ± 0.08 mmol/L, respectively. The current study concludes that the UAE extract of C. album incorporated into ostrich meat patties manifests improved safety, quality, and storage stability. The implementation of clean label strategies can facilitate food manufacturers to align with consumer preferences for product transparency and sustainability while ensuring product safety and quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern consumers demand the replacement of synthetic colorants with natural alternatives. Microalgae can serve as an alternative source for these colorants since they hold significant amounts of pigments. This study aimed to evaluate the potential of using microalgae biomass and extracts as natural colorants for pastry and confectionary products. The application of different biomass and levels of Chlorella vulgaris (White, Honey, and a mixture of both) was evaluated in brioche‐type breads as egg substitute to confer the typical yellow coloration to the product. A mixture of 1% Chlorella vulgaris (White: Honey [1:1]) showed potential as egg substitute, having minimal impact on the physical–chemical, microbiological, nutritional, and sensory characteristics of the products. Hydroalcoholic Tetraselmis chuii extracts were applied in fondant at a concentration of 0.05%, providing a green coloration with minimal impact on the quality of the product. This study supported the potential of using microalgae, biomass, and extracts, as alternative natural colorants in pastry and confectionary products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated circuits (ICs) are critical components in the semiconductor industry, and precise wafer defect inspection is essential for maintaining product quality and yield. This study addresses the challenge of insufficient sample patterns in wafer defect datasets by using the denoising diffusion probabilistic model (DDPM) to produce generated defects that elevate the performance of wafer defect inspection. The quality of the generated defects was evaluated using the Fréchet Inception Distance (FID) score, which was then synthesized with real defect-free backgrounds to create an augmented defect dataset. Experimental results demonstrated that the augmented defect dataset significantly boosted performance, achieving 98.7% accuracy for YOLOv8-cls, 95.8% box mAP for YOLOv8-det, and 95.7% mask mAP for YOLOv8-seg. These results indicate that the generated defects produced by the DDPM can effectively enrich wafer defect datasets and enhance wafer defect inspection performance in real-world applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Potential disruptions in the biocompatibility of hyaluronic acid (HA) fillers can arise with mono-linked 1,4-butanediol diglycidyl ether (BDDE) or unreacted (pendant) 1,4-butanediol di-(propan-2,3-diolyl) ether. Assessing the filler's degree of modification involves evaluating improperly cross-linked BDDE. This study analyzed commercially available HA fillers using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), focusing on key parameters, such as the degree of modification (MoD), the cross-linker ratio (CrR), and the degree of cross-linking. We assessed thirteen commercially available HA fillers using NMR. The samples were placed in an NMR instrument, and each sample was analyzed for 26 h, including MoD and CrR assessments. MoD 1H ranged from 17.065% to 2.239%, MoD 13C ranged from 12.567% to 1.947%, and CrR 13C ranged from 0.394 to 0.014. Significant distinctions were observed in the CrR 13C values when the MoD values of the products were similar. This study underscores the importance of considering the MoD and the CrR together to ensure optimal cross-linking and minimize the risks associated with residual BDDE impurities. Utilizing NMR for HA gel characterization provides valuable insights regarding product quality control, safety assessments, and clinical performance evaluations for esthetic interventions, contributing to filler product improvements. Further studies correlating NMR findings with real-world outcomes are essential for ensuring safety and efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]