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The paper presents the need to develop a description of the importance of the technological systems reliability structure elements in terms of security of the system. Basic issues related to the exploration of weak links and important elements in the system as well as a proposal to develop the current approach to assessing the importance of the system components have been presented. Moreover, the differences between the unreliability of suitability and unreliability of safety have been pointed out.

The paper presents the basic conditions, positions and related with them trends in work processes in the information society. Particular attention is given to telework as an innovative form of work, based on modern information and communication technologies, and also it consideres the impact of ICT and globalization on contemporary and future work processes as well as the structure of employment.

Passenger quantity histogram was used to measure the character of passengers’ migration, pick commuter times, equal intensity and minimal commuter numbers. The measurement was done pre and post changes introduced to the train timetable for both working days and weekends (Saturdays and Sundays). The small numbers of passengers made this connection unsustainable without substantial financial support from the government. The changes introduced to the timetable failed to generate increased demand for the service. The Pareto chart clearly illustrates the changes introduced to the timetable over the period of this research. Other disadvantages of the new timetable were also pointed out in this paper.

In the paper the concept of a system structure with particular emphasis on the reliability structure has been presented. Advantages and disadvantages of modeling the reliability structure of a system using reliability block diagrams (RBD) have been shown. RBD models of a marine steam‐water system constructed according to the concept of ‘multi‐component’, ‘one component’ and mixed models have been discussed. Critical remarks on the practical application of models which recognize only the structural surplus have been dealt with. The significant value of the model by professors Smalko and Jaźwiński called by them ‘default reliability structure’ has been pointed out. The necessity of building a new type of models: quality‐quantity, useful in the methodology developed by the author's multi-criteria analysis of importance of elements in the reliability structure of complex technical systems.

The paper characterizes the basic distributions of failure of elements that constitute the technical (mechatronical) systems: exponential, Weibull, normal, log‐normal distribution. The description of two‐element parallel technical systems with reliability characteristics has been made. Specific cases are studied where up time of the technical system elements have exponential, Weibull, normal, log‐normal distributions and where the system consists of two parts with parallel reliability structure and of different types of distributions of elements up times. The order of elements in the analysis does not matter. The relevant characteristics of reliability for a system with two parallel elements are presented: up time distribution function of the system, system reliability, up time probability density of the system, the system failure intensity.

For the calculation of emission of air pollutants generated by ships in port it is needed, besides other things, knowledge of the load factor of marine auxiliary engines. The value of this factor in the reports of global organizations, dealing with air pollutants emission from ships, is determined mainly on interviews with chief engineers on board. The paper presents the method of assessment of this factor based on identification tests of marine electric power systems carried out by the authors. The obtained in this way results are compared with the values given in the global organizations reports.

The paper presents an analysis and evaluation of selected aspects of the enterprise X, there is shown the selection of the method of pro‐quality, which is possible to apply and this method was carried out step by step to follow its course and find out whether the company will bring tangible benefits.

The paper discusses the problem of operation of medical waste management systems in the lubuskie voivodship local government health protection institutions 2007‐2011. Based on the conducted research, 65% of the existing health protection institution subordinated to the Marshal Office of lubuskie voivodship presents endogenic changes of waste management systems mainly affected by the financial standing of the medical services sector.

The paper presents the implementation of Integrated Product Policy in Poland in the light of the European activities. It analyses the EU laws within this scope. It assesses the progress of LCA implementation, ecolabelling, ecotaxes, EMAS and green public procurement in Poland. It explains the reasons of slow IPP implementation in Polish organisations. It mainly refers to the distribution and promotion of ecolabelling, based on empirical research in Germany and Poland.

The paper prepared within the PhD grant (Sub‐Action 8.2.2 „Regional Innovation Strategies”, Activity 8.2 „Know‐How Transfer”, Priority VIII „Regional Business Personnel” of the Human Capital Operational Programme, co‐funded from the EU resources within the European Social Fund as well as the state budget and the Lubuskie Voivodship) undertakes the problem of universal instruments of sustainable development of companies such as environmental management BS7750, ISO 14000 standards, EMAS and CP strategies as well as CSR. It focuses on comprehensive presentation of their genesis, evolution and current situation in the entities operating in Poland.

This paper follows some earlier works of the author, who tried to look widely at important questions, concerning the “Production Engineering” as a new discipline, formally established two years ago in the domain of technical sciences in Poland. In the introduced approach, the author proposes some general structural model which could be a base for identifying and describing the actual and perspective areas of scientific activities belonging to this discipline. Additionally, potential benefits of opening the research on multidisciplinary problems and being active in some new challenges are indicated as well.

One of the main parameters of the evaluation of financial position of entity is the level of total comprehensive income reported in financial reports. The study contains an overview of the other comprehensive income as the part of total comprehensive income. The research problem related to the significance of dates about the other comprehensive income ingredients for production entity management. The essence, arise reasons and main principles of the other comprehensive income in relating to the changes in own capital of entity was explained within the scope of law‐regulated accounting. The paper concentrated on the producing tangible fixed assets problems.

The paper presents a new approach to shaping acoustic comfort as a process of managing the acoustic environment in urbanised areas. The research in this area focuses on the psychoacoustic aspect of shaping acoustic comfort in an urban environment. This approach permits, depending on the purpose of land, not only to reduce the noise to the allowable limits but also to evaluate the acoustic quality of sounds originating in different sources. In this context, a review was performed of the research carried out on identifying soundscapes as a way of shaping acoustic comfort in the urban environment. In this paper it is suggested that the entropy method be used for the assessment of auditory sound perception. The research carried out by the author shows that linking the relationship between the quality of perceived sounds with the elements/factors which shape the acoustic environment can be used to valorise soundscapes.

The fundamental goal of modern information technology is to support decision making process in organizations, for both routine and highly complex problems, based on heterogeneous data sources. The main objective of the paper is to present the construction concept of knowledge base for an expert system designed to support the decision making in cardiac surgery. A knowledge‐based medical expert system is designed to support decision‐making process in cardiac surgery where knowledge from medical guidelines, risk scales, and registries is applied to reason the medical procedure in a particular case scenario.

This paper includes a brief overview of the basic motivations and objectives of TA, followed by a description of the three main operating fields of TA: providing scientific advice for decision‐making in the political system, contributing to public debate, and enriching technology development and engineering practice. These issues will then be considered in more detail by referring to various approaches to the relationship between TA and technology development and by presenting a specific case study of an accompanying TA process over various development stages of the bioliq® process for converting dry biomass into fuel (Biomass to Liquid) and chemicals. The accompanying TA work on the bioliq® process can, as a result of more than ten years of experience, be considered a successful technology assessment as it has opened up a new research field with a highly precautionary aspect on the one hand, and helped to win over technology‐oriented research institutes to reorienting their research work, on the other. The results of the TA studies allowed to assess e.g. the competitiveness of the bioliq® process at a very early stage. The mutual trust built up in the course of the historical development between the parties involved has always been essential for this ongoing accompanying TA process. TA has been proven, in this way, a useful tool to uncover new chances for engineering research and development, and to accompany the research process.

Long time in situ measurements carried out on selected lignite (brown coal) heaps in the summer and winter season of 2012 and 2013 are described in this paper. The study was prepared in the frame of the research project TAČR No. TA01020351 “Research of prediction possibilities of infusion occurrence and following brown coal fuel self-ignition” supported in the programme ALFA. The main goal is to inform about the progress in the project focused on the research, development, and verifying of the complex methodology for an early identification of the start of an irreversible infusion state of lignite (brown coal) mass tending to its ignition (fire).

The issue connected with effectiveness of noise barriers has been the subject of numerous considerations among acousticians. On the one hand, noise barriers are still the most popular and the most frequently used protection against traffic noise, on the other hand, however, the excessive number of noise barriers and the results of research focusing on effectiveness of the existing barriers make us reflect whether it is reasonable to use them. Very often low effectiveness of noise barriers is related to a badly conducted designing process. This article presents the basic mistakes made by noise barriers’ designers and the consequences thereof. Next, the paper describes the appropriate approach to the process of the noise barriers’ design which consists in the use of computer methods and conducting of a detailed analysis of the acoustic field’s distribution both behind the barrier and on the facades of the acoustically protected buildings.

Expert systems can be defined as computer programs, whose main task is to simulate a human expert, usually in a narrow field of expertise. Possible applications of modern information technology are very extensive, ranging from medicine, geology and technology to applications in the field of economic and financial decision support. The purpose of this paper is to present the practical application of an expert system that supports the process of managing the production of yachts and has a high suitability for use in this application. Using the expert system described in the paper reduces the time during the design and production preparation process.

Projects and grants are unique for development of science and research. For many people it is only source of money for their research. Particularly on universities the projects expanded. From this reason the participation of Ph.D. students in the Student Grant Competition is the best start in this field. Paper discusses in its first part how the Student Grant Competition takes its place on Technical University of Ostrava. Focuses on difficulties with submission of the application, explain process of whole project evaluation and states total amounts acquired from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports for Student Grand Competitions since 2010. Second part of this paper directly shows concrete project for “Research of utilization of mining waste in chosen localities.” In the paper is described subject of the research, concrete goals of project, timetable. It is stated the preliminary budget of project and actual progress in the project.

Complex measurements of characteristic parameters realised on a long distance model belt conveyor are described. The main objective was to complete and combine the regular measurements of electric power on drives of belt conveyors operated in Czech opencast mines with measurements of other physical quantities and to gain by this way an image of their mutual relations and relations of quantities derived from them. The paper includes a short description and results of the measurements on an experimental model conveyor with a closed material transport way.

The paper presents the characteristics of adult learning environment and models of working with adult learners. Definitions of lifelong adult education, with an emphasis on social sciences are given. Functions that lifelong adult education can perform are presented and described. Forms and methods of lifelong education are characterized. Taking into account different criteria, the major differences in the models of adult education – technological, humanistic and critical are described. The importance of lifelong adult education is stressed, and some of the positive characteristics of teaching adults are highlighted.

Temperature is a basic climatic parameter deciding about the quality change of fishing products. Time, after which qualitative changes of caught fish don’t exceed established, acceptable range, is above all the temperature function. Temperature reduction by refrigeration system of the cargo hold is a basic technical method, which allows extend transport time. Failures of refrigeration systems in fishing vessels have a negative impact on the environment in relation to harmful refrigerants emission. The paper presents the statistical analysis of failures occurred in the refrigeration systems of Polish fishing vessels in 2007‐2011 years. Analysis results described in the paper can be a base to draw up guidelines, both for designers as well as operators of the marine refrigeration systems.

The basic meaning for the security of persons working in underground mining heading heir ventilation of headings. Providing the fresh air into the active mining heading is a fundamental task of ventilation service in the mine. Very significant impact on the efficiency of the ventilation process has the physical parameters of supplied airflow, such as its amount, speed and pressure. These parameters can be determined based on the "in situ" tests or modeling tests. Carrying out the tests in underground conditions is very expensive and not always available due to exploitation. As an alternative, in such cases the modeling tests can be used, which give more possibilities of analysis the impact of differentials factors on the studied parameters. In the paper there is presented results of modeling of airflow in mining heading, obtained basing on the numerical simulations with use of finite volume method in ANSYS Fluent software. The physical models of headings were prepared basing on the real cross sections of the dog headings. To find the solution of the mathematical model, the k‐ε turbulence model was used.

The paper focuses on the presentation of the reverse supply chain, of which the role in the modern business grows along with the increasing number of environmental regulations and possibilities of reducing an operating cost. The paper also describes main problems in developing the profitable chain and possibilities to take an action in order to overcome them.

This paper presents the overview of the costs incurred by the traditional record‐keeping. This was followed by characteristics of document management systems. It also presents the current state of implementation of such systems and presents the benefits of their implementation. Presented tool seems to be a good alternative that meets the expectations of both – clerks and applicants. The paper describes essential characteristics of such systems. There are also important aspects, that have to be considered before the implementation of this type of system.

The paper presents the implementation of the Environmental Management and Audit Scheme System (EMAS) in Poland and the European Union. It analyzes the existing rules on the implementation and the process of its implementation. It also defines the benefits and costs arising from the registration of organizations in the system. The paper presents the current status of implementation of EMAS in the European Union.

Expert systems can be defined as computer programs, whose main task is to simulate a human expert, usually in a narrow field of expertise. Possible applications of modern information technology are very extensive, ranging from medicine, geology and technology to applications in the field of economic and financial decision support. The purpose of this paper is to present the practical application of an expert system that supports the process of managing the production of yachts and has a high suitability for use in this application. Using the expert system described in the paper reduces the time during the design and production preparation process.

Big changes observed on the market nowadays are forcing companies to choose to innovative solutions aimed at reducing the time of delivery, efficiency and quality. This is essential for the survival of these companies. For this reason, there is a need for continuous assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the company as well as improve its capability to innovate at the operational level. In this paper we discussed an example of the use of a method called Complex Solutions Operations (Total Operations Solutions), [2] the ability to self‐assessment in selected Libyan companies using the experience of Polish enterprises.

The paper presents a new solution for continuous measurement of deformations of the beam of travelling crane based on optical fibre Bragg gratings system. A verification of obtained results was done using resistive strain gauge method and magnetic metal memory method was used. Usage of the results of continuous measurements of deformation of the structure of the crane as actual boundary conditions in FEM numerical simulations was proposed in order to enable the analysis of the behaviour of whole structure.

The paper discusses the problem of creation and development of business, technology clusters, aimed at developing knowledge base for cross‐border environment. The discussed example concerns Polish‐Slovak cluster, focused on research of innovative methods for monitoring the safety of structure using fiber Bragg grating sensors.

The paper presents the assumptions and method of significance evaluation of the second Toyota’s management principle in the production process of chosen company manufacturing flexible packaging for the food industry. Opinions about examined topic were obtained from the company's production workers with the use of innovative BOST questionnaire survey. An analysis of responses using basic statistical parameters, Pareto‐Lorenz diagram and ABC method, correlation coefficients were conducted and the results of using different graphical forms were presented. As the results of the analysis it was identified the series of validity of factors of the second Toyota’s management principle, which is in the examined company as follows: continuous system of disclousuring problems (CP) > stop production when it detects a problem of quality (PE) > the use of visual control (SW) > standard tasks, processes, documents (SZ) > the use only reliable technology (ST) > delagate authority down (EU).

Flow of ventilation air stream through the dog heading with a fire centre is the flow with complex character, during which as a result of emission of fire gases into the mining atmosphere, there occur to disturbances of its flow. In the paper there is presented a numerical analysis of an influence of exogenous fire in a dog heading, on the parameters of the ventilation air stream flowing through this heading. Modeling tests were carried out with a use of ANSYS software, basing on the Finite Volume Method. For the made assumptions, there were determined physical parameters of air stream flowing through the heading with a fire centre, and also changes in mass fraction of gases in this stream during its flow through the analyzed heading: oxygen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. As a result of performed analysis over the fire centre, the local increase of velocity and temperature and violent decrease of static pressure were recorded. Model of heading presented in the paper gives possibilities for development, and then the analysis of more complicated problems in a range of ventilation of mining headings.

All assets necessarily suffer wear and tear during operation. Prognostics can assess the current health of a system and predict its remaining life based on features capturing the gradual degradation of its operational capabilities. Prognostics are critical to improve safety, plan successful work, schedule maintenance, and reduce maintenance costs and down time. Prognosis is a relatively new area but has become an important part of Condition‐based Maintenance (CBM) of systems. As there are many prognostic techniques, usage must be attuned to particular applications. Broadly stated, prognostic methods are either data‐driven, rule based, or model‐based. Each approach has advantages and disadvantages; consequently, they are often combined in hybrid applications. A hybrid model can combine some or all model types; thus, more complete information can be gathered, leading to more accurate recognition of the fault state. This approach is especially relevant in systems where the maintainer and operator know some of the failure mechanisms, but the sheer complexity of the assets precludes the development of a complete model‐based approach. The paper addresses the process of data aggregation into a contextual awareness hybrid model to get RUL values within logical confidence intervals so that the life cycle of assets can be managed and optimised.

Manufacturing technology of steel products, including ribbed wire, is a very important factor influencing the final result of production and hence the cost of production. The product competition decides about the existence of the manufacturer on the market. Therefore, it was decided to use the 3x3 matrix to evaluation manufacturing technology of ribbed wire. This matrix can be easily used to evaluate the technology of all steel products. In the paper the 3x3 matrix was used to in the Polish steelworks.

All recent experiences confirm the fact that the main tasks of quality management are guaranteed only with the high skilled employees. Employees are responsible for the production plan and development, services and processes. The series of standards called ISO 9000 [8, 9] help to establish quality management in organization. Usage of the quality management with statistical process control is also very important for the company. Companies are spending all human, material and financial resources to improve quality management [7]. The objective of the paper is to outline the statistical process control in production company Finalcast Ltd. Žiar nad Hronom.

The reliability analysis for industrial maintenance is now increasingly demanded by the industrialists in the world. Indeed, the modern manufacturing facilities are equipped by data acquisition and monitoring system, these systems generates a large volume of data. These data can be used to infer future decisions affecting the health facilities. These data can be used to infer future decisions affecting the state of the exploited equipment. However, in most practical cases the data used in reliability modelling are incomplete or not reliable. In this context, to analyze the reliability of an oil pump, this work proposes to examine and treat the incomplete, incorrect or aberrant data to the reliability modeling of an oil pump. The objective of this paper is to propose a suitable methodology for replacing the incomplete data using a regression method.

The article presents the problem of the usage of post‐processing services of the ASG‐EUPOS system on the example of GNSS network established for geodetic service of building of the inclined drift, to make coal deposit accessible, and also building associated objects. For the purpose of geodetic service of construction realization network was established outside the planned objects. The network consists of six new ground points and four control points belonging to ASG‐EUPOS network. Simultaneous, static measurements of the network were performed in three‐hour observation session, using multi‐frequency and multi‐system satellite receivers – Trimble R8. The paper presents three variants of post‐processing of the observation results. Calculations were performed using POZGEO‐D service and geodetic software package GEONET. The results of the calculation process revealed, that homogeneous vector networks should be adjusted on the ellipsoid or in the geocentric system. Model of adjustment of the vector network on the plane adopted in the GEONET software package should not be applied for elaboration of this type of network (long reference vectors more than 50km).

Capability assessment of the measurement device is one of the methods of process quality control. Only in case the measurement device is capable, the capability of the measurement and consequently production process can be assessed. This paper deals with assessment of the capability of the measuring device using indices Cg and Cgk.

This paper documents a basic quality measurement in an automotive light industry. The experiment is based on a verification of reflective aluminium layer resistance against 100% humidity and higher temperature. This simulates the lifetime of a headlight on vehicle. The goal of this test is to prove that the reflective aluminium layer is able to resist to this environment without any changes in its structure. If any change occurs, the modification of production process will be needed.

This paper describes the problems associated with determining deadlines for handling production orders during the orders combination process in order to optimize nesting. The analyzed problems relate to an automated nesting system in which production orders come in via the Internet and are processed automatically, and with minimum operator intervention. The article describes the issues of cutting optimization in the manufacturing system based on a water cutter. The optimization process is closely associated with the generation of production schedules for current orders base. Particular attention is focused on the analysis of problems arising from the omission of the human role in the processing of orders, scheduling and decision-making processes.

The paper presents a designing scheme based on the main criterion of optimisation, which is to minimize the vibrations and noise generated by machinery. This concept takes into account the deterioration of the strength and operational properties of constructions, which should be brought to a satisfactory level by applying additional measures. The consid-ered design approach was examined on the example of the gearboxes, for which it is extremely difficult to achieve a noise reduction due to their highly advanced technology.

The purpose of the article is to emphasis that activity based costing is a proper tool for engineers to enhance their deci-sion-making process while developing new product. The theoretical analysis shows that variety of factors shall be en-compassed into new product decision-making process and therefore engineers and management should pay great attention to proper cost allocation. The paper suggests the usage of Activity Based Costing methodology for new product development decision-making process. Author states that application ABC in the process of rational decision-making referring to new product development enables managers and engineers to prioritize possible solutions, and reallocate resources used in production process in order to meet wider organizational goals. It would also contribute in coopera-tion of managers and engineers for the sake of organizational goal.

When analyzing time series we can often observe that they have periodic oscillations (cyclic, seasonal). One of the met-hods which can be applied to investigate such a phenomenon and which belongs to the group of periodic components models is the method of harmonic analysis. The method consists in analyzing the oscillations around the medium level a0 and building a model as the sum of so called harmonics. The paper presents the applicability potential of harmonic ana-lysis in the forecasting process of radiation hazard on post-mining grounds (mine waters with raised content of radium Ra226 and Ra-228 drained off to the surface), using for that purpose the measurement results of radium concentration from the area of mine water catchment from the years 2004-2013.

The article includes the analysis of current legal acts in Poland and European Union, which concerns the management of coal fly ash in organizational and technical aspects. The main aim of this paper is to identify the responsibilities and the legal obligations of entities dealing with the coal fly ash management, and to create the model of the flow of documents and information between these entities. Moreover the paper shows technical conditions of management of coal fly ash and describes the role and tasks of the authorities that supervise the observance the environmental laws.

The paper presents Tool Lifecycle Management (TLM) as an enhancement of traditional approach to the tool manage-ment. The most important assumptions and main research areas of modern tool management are introduced. The au-thor describes functional areas and expectations of TLM. The components and design principles of Industie 4.0 are pre-sented. The main part shows TDM System, developed on the basis of TLM, and an example of its implementation in in-dustrial practice.

The paper characterizes hazards resulting from the use of power networks in underground workings of mines, with particular emphasis placed on electric shock and explosion hazards. Protection measures that mitigate hazards caused by network failures are presented. These measures are related to the proper design of equipment and cable lines, network arrangement and principles of selecting adequate protection equipment. The vast majority of electrical accidents are caused by the incorrect behaviour of people, mostly intentional (resulting from not respecting the rules). For this reason, particular attention should be paid to the level of skills and awareness of the risks of electrical personnel, especially for junior employees. The article presents selected safety rules when working on electrical equipment.

The study presents the implementation of projects in organisations that achieve business objectives through the imple-mentation of repetitive actions. Projects in these organisations are, on the one hand, treated as marginal activities, while the results of these projects have significant impact on the delivery of main processes, e.g. through the introduction of new products. Human capital and solutions in this field bear impact on the success of projects in these organisations, which is not always conducive to smooth implementation of projects. Conflict results from the nature of a project, which is a one-time and temporary process, so organisational solutions are also temporary. It influences on attitudes and com-mitment of the project contractors. The paper identifies and analyses factors which affect the success of the projects.

Ventilation is one of the most common presented problems during the driving of dog headings. During driving such heading has only one connection with air stream routes, which significantly make difficult the process of its ventilation. In a case of its driving in coal in the methane seam, this heading is endangered also to methane emission. In such case process of its ventilation is much more difficult. In the paper there are presented results of numerical analysis of ventila-tion of blind dog headings using air-duct forcing the air into its mine face. The analysis was performed for four different velocities of the air at the outlet from air-duct. The calculations were made for the excavation of heading with heading machine and conveyor belt.

Problem solving methods – are an indispensable part of the management and improvement of production. At the turn of decades, with the development of industry, specific techniques have been implemented and refined by the leaders in this field, such as Toyota, GE and Motorola. The foundation of problem solving is to find real root cause of the problem as soon as possible, its understanding and implementation of appropriate solutions that will ensure that the problem does not occur again. This paper provides an overview of methods and techniques to solve problems in the manufactur-ing plant Trelleborg Wheel Systems Sri Lanka, producing pneumatic tires for light agricultural machinery. These tech-niques are implemented as part of the Lean Six Sigma program.

The success of certain industrial activities bring both benefits and negative effects such as pollution, occupational diseas-es, exposure of workers and residents of neighboring areas and high risk in case of technological failure. An undesirable effect of industrial activity which may be considered a threat to workers and residents in the immediate vicinity of industrial sites is the noise. Due to the presence of technology in all activities, is a major problem considering its nature and harmful repercussions on health. Hearing loss and deafness caused by occupational exposure to noise at work are the most common occupational diseases that occur in the European Union. The development of modern technology by increasing the power and speed of the technical equipment, contributed to diversify and increase the number of sources of noise and vibration, and thus to increase the number of people exposed. This paper analyzes the effect of noise from industrial equipment and health risks.