International Journal of Industrial Engineering & Production Research

In this research, the life expectancy of ball bearings in industrial applications is estimated based on known parameters. The overall mathematical calculation of such behavior is based on the theory of Lundberg and Palmgren. The proposed life estimation equation however lacks certain points to make it qualified as universal. A firm conclusion therefore could not be obtained on the basis of this equation alone, particularly when different operating conditions are involved. One such example is the life of ball bearings while operating in clean lubricant environment, which is approximately up to 20 times longer than the calculated life based on the previously prescribed equations. On the other hand, active life under contaminated lubricants is nearly close to one-tenth of the calculated life originally thought to be correct .

  The importance of reliable supply is increasing with supply chain network extension and just-in-time (JIT) production. Just in time implications motivate manufacturers towards single sourcing, which often involves problems with unreliable suppliers. If a single and reliable vendor is not available, manufacturer can split the order among the vendors in order to simultaneously decrease the supply chain uncertainty and increase supply reliability. In this paper we discuss with the aim of minimizing the shortage cost how we can split orders among suppliers with different lead times. The (s,S) policy is the basis of our inventory control system and for analyzing the system performance we use the fuzzy queuing methodology. After applying the model for the case study (SAPCO), the result of the developed model will be compared in the single and multiple cases and finally we will find that order splitting in optimized condition will conclude in the least supply risk and minimized shortage cost in comparison to other cases .