Title: Infusing functional agility in pump industry by using Bluetooth enabled mobile phone

Authors: V.M.M. Thilak; S.R. Devadasan; M. Vinod; D.T. Sunil

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Nehru Institute of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore-641105, India ' Department of Production Engineering, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore-641004, Tamilnadu, India ' Department of Production Engineering, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore-641004, Tamilnadu, India ' Department of Production Engineering, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore-641004, Tamilnadu, India

Abstract: Infusing functional agility refers to the task of developing products that are incorporated with innovative features and 'state-of-the-art' smart technologies for delighting the customers who would possess and use them. In the research reported in this paper, the nuances of applying mobile phone enabled Bluetooth technology for infusing functional agility characteristics in pump industry was investigated. In this endeavour, a prototype to be connected to a type of pump called shallow well jet pump was designed and fabricated. In the mobile phone unit, an application called 'smart jet pump' was developed. Interactions were developed between the Bluetooth modems installed in both prototype and mobile phone. Using the application installed in the mobile phone, the user can remotely operate the pump and know the liquid levels in both sump and the tank. These functional agility characteristics were found to be practically feasible and economical for adoption in pump industry.

Keywords: agility; agile manufacturing; pump manufacturing; Bluetooth technology; android operating system; mobile phone.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBEX.2018.090315

International Journal of Business Excellence, 2018 Vol.14 No.4, pp.499 - 522

Received: 16 May 2016
Accepted: 17 Dec 2016
Published online: 12 Mar 2018 *

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