This study shows a common lack of knowledge about teething among parents. Parents should be better educated about the teething process and the proper management of teething troubles by the dental health care providers.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to improve production effectiveness of equipment by facilitating the implementation of the key principles of total productive maintenance (TPM). Design/methodology/approach A sequential TPM-based scheme consisting of 13 procedural steps is proposed. The steps cover the basic aspects of a generic improvement system, i.e. planning, implementation, checking, corrective action and control. Findings The proposed scheme was effective in increasing the overall equipment effectiveness by 62.6 percent over a nine-month period only. This was a direct reflection of improvements in equipment availability, efficiency and product quality. A positive feedback regarding the smooth implementation of the scheme was also received from the responsible maintenance staff. Research limitations/implications The proposed scheme is intended mainly to the manufacturing industrial sector, which utilizes failure-prone equipment in running operations. Originality/value This study presents an original scheme that tries to avoid the many barriers of success frequently encountered during the implementation of TPM schemes, as reported in the literature. This scheme is unique in integrating between 5S and safety, health and environment initiatives, by capitalizing on the close relation between the two initiatives, and simplifying procedures for measuring how well the two initiatives are implemented in an organization in one score card. Different from previous studies, the scheme treats both “education and training” and 6S as a foundation to the core TPM principles.

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A numerical simulation system was developed to predict local part-mold forces and local and total ejection forces in injection molding. Local reaction forces between the part and mold surfaces are calculated first using numerical molding process and structural simulations. Using experimentally obtained coefficients of friction the friction force and ejection force are calculated. Ring moldings were used to measure the coefficient of friction. Box moldings were used to validate predictions of local and total ejection forces and to demonstrate the use of the system in mold design. Calculated ejection force was maximum at the beginning of ejection and differed by 10%–16% from experimental values, with the difference being much less over the main part of the ejection process. The maximum number of ejector pins for failed ejection was predicted. The difference between the predicted and observed number of ejector pins was at most four pins for a twenty ejector pin system.