Single minute exchange of dies (SMED) is one of the most important tools to achieve lean production system. The main idea of this system is to provide methods and to use creative and innovative solutions for continuous improvement. Due to the importance of this issue and its effect on reducing waste during the production process, this study presents a method to identify and to weight factors in the establishment of a single minute exchange of dies in 14 plastic injection factories. In this study, fourteen factories in injection industry were chosen and the factors influencing the implementation of single minute exchange of dies were identified. Following data collection, decision matrix was formed and the weight of each factor was determined by using Shannon Entropy. Then, in order to determine the readiness of factories, VIKOR method was used to rank companies. The results indicate priorities of the following factors in establishing SMED that include: Senior management support, technical capabilities, technical knowledge of staff and consultants, knowledge of mold design, manufacturing infrastructure, team work, combination of the project team work, benchmarking, training, clear understanding of project objectives, rewards and motivation, proper management expectation, project management, teamwork and organizational culture. Practical implications: Due to the factors, Top manager can make the best decision for implementing of SMED technique. This study develops factors influencing on SMED implementation based on Shannon and VIKOR methods for ranking parameters and plants.

This paper presents an empirical investigation to detect major barriers on developing nano technology in Islamic Azad University. The proposed study selects south Tehran branch as a pilot study, designs a questionnaire and distributes it among all 80 employees who work for this university. Cronbach alpha is calculated as 0.93, which is well above the minimum acceptable level. The study has executed the study in five different areas including financial resources, physical equipment, training and empowering human resources, organizational culture and outside organizational factors. The study has determined that physical equipment is number one priority followed by financial resources and training as well as empowering employees.