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Additive manufacturing (AM) introduces a set of technology-specific problems, such as the proper orientation of parts or the placement of several heterogeneous parts in the same build cycle, which are not addressed by traditional approaches to production planning and scheduling. Although these new production subproblems have been implicitly addressed by several works according to generic nesting and scheduling concepts, a literature review revealed that there is no uniformity in identifying and, thus, solving all these subproblems. For this reason, and as a result of an in-depth analysis of the existent literature on AM production planning and an analogy with classic cutting and packing typologies, the present paper offers a framework to formalise the production planning problem in AM at the operational level. This framework can be used as a reference to focus on and address these AM-related problems for efficient production planning. It is designed at the subproblem level and centres on production order processing in AM. A coding strategy is specifically developed for the framework, which is applied to a review of relevant works that propose models for the production planning of AM systems. Finally, the review results are discussed and possible extensions of the framework are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participants in open collaboration communities coproduce knowledge despite minimal explicit communication to coordinate the efforts. Studying how participants coordinate around the knowledge artifact and its impacts are critical for understanding the open knowledge production model. This study builds on the theory of stigmergy, wherein actions performed by a participant leave traces on a knowledge artifact and stimulate succeeding actions. We find that stigmergy involves two intertwined processes: collective modification and collective excitation. We propose a new measure of stigmergy based on the spatial and temporal clustering of contributions. By analyzing thousands of Wikipedia articles, we find that the degree of stigmergy is positively associated with community members' participation and the quality of the knowledge produced. This study contributes to the understanding of open collaboration by characterizing the spatial-temporal clustering of contributions and providing new insights into the relationship between stigmergy and knowledge production outcomes. These findings can help practitioners increase user engagement in knowledge production processes in order to create more sustainable open collaboration communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the increasing competition among manufacturers and the diversification of customer orders, it is important to use the optimal production system. Hybrid manufacturing systems have proven to be a viable solution to achieve a satisfactory level of customization while maintaining adequate production volumes. This article determines the optimal strategy for decision makers in order to choose the appropriate method of supplying customers’ orders. In this article, a hybrid MTS-MTO production system has been studied in two different scenarios. For this purpose, a mixed-integer linear bi-objective model with product substitution and replaceable materials has been developed and solved by a Lagrangian Relaxation algorithm. The findings of this study reveal that enabling product substitution by manufacturers leads to an increase in the number of accepted orders, along with resulting in a higher average level of customer dissatisfaction. The system prioritizes the fulfillment of orders from permissive customers. Also, with the increase of uncertainty in each of the supplying methods, manufacturers are using other sources to supply raw materials to satisfy the accepted orders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the paper, we solved the problems regarding the improvement of the production process of allocating material to the inlet of a production hall using the Plant Simulation software in a selected company. The solved problematics are high costs for the shipping company, elimination of the necessity to transfer the semi-finished product from the external warehouse to the production hall and non-effective layout. We deal with the characteristics of the current state of the production process in the production company and create its model in Plant Simulation. Thereafter we propose solutions that can make that process more efficient. The software enables the comparison of complex production alternatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of enzymatic and electrochemical reactions offers a unique opportunity to optimize production processes. Recently, an increasing number of laboratory‐scale enzymatic electrosyntheses have shown impressive performance indicators, leading to scientific interest in technical implementation. However, important process parameters are missing in most of the relevant literature. On one hand, this is due to the large variety of relevant performance indicators. On the other hand, enzyme technologists and electrochemists use different parameters to describe a process. In this article, we review the most important performance indicators in electroenzymatic processes and suggest that in order to allow quantitative comparison, these indicators should be reported in all respective publications. In addition to quantitative parameters, non‐quantitative assessments often need to be included in a final evaluation. Examples of such parameters are sustainability, contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals or interactions with the overall process. We demonstrate the evaluation of processes using hydrogen peroxide‐dependent peroxygenases. The strength of the proposed evaluation system lies in its ability to identify weaknesses in a process at an early stage of development. Finally, it can be concluded that all evaluated enzymatic electrosynthesis do not yet meet typical industrial requirements for an enzyme‐based process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inventory management plays an important role in production and marketing processes, especially in production facilities and commercial institutions that have warehouses in which they store their equipment and goods. Inventory management is considered one of the most important management functions in terms of determining the ideal volume of inventory and calculating its costs, as this affects the facility’s efficiency and achieves either large profits or it causes huge losses, so warehouse managers in production facilities or institutions must determine the appropriate and ideal volume of inventory, especially when they are presented with price offers from companies seeking to market their products. These offers are directly related to the volume of the order, and in this case, they must make an ideal decision through which determine the volume of the order by taking into account the following matters: 1. Securing the quantities required for production or sale so that there is no deficit. 2. The storage cost should be as low as possible. 3. Benefit as much as possible from the discounts offered by companies. In this research, we present a complementary study to what we did in researching the neutrosophic treatment of static inventory models without deficit, through which we arrived at mathematical relationships through which we can calculate the ideal volume of the order at the lowest possible cost. We will use these relationships to determine the ideal volume of the order so that we achieve the greatest benefit from price offers and discounts. Provided by companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Variational auto-encoders (VAE) have been widely used in process modeling due to the ability of deep feature extraction and noise robustness. However, the construction of a supervised VAE model still faces huge challenges. The data generated by the existing supervised VAE models are unstable and uncontrollable due to random resampling in the latent subspace, meaning the performance of prediction is greatly weakened. In this paper, a new multi-layer conditional variational auto-encoder (M-CVAE) is constructed by injecting label information into the latent subspace to control the output data generated towards the direction of the actual value. Furthermore, the label information is also used as the input with process variables in order to strengthen the correlation between input and output. Finally, a neural network layer is embedded in the encoder of the model to achieve online quality prediction. The superiority and effectiveness of the proposed method are demonstrated by two real industrial process cases that are compared with other methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reading numbers aloud involves visual processes that analyze the digit string and verbal processes that produce the number words. Cognitive models of number reading assume that information flows from the visual input to the verbal production processes—a feed‐forward processing mode in which the verbal production depends on the visual input but not vice versa. Here, I show that information flows also in the opposite direction, from verbal production to the visual input processes. Participants read aloud briefly presented multi‐digit strings in Hebrew, in which the order of words is congruent with the order of digits (21 = twenty‐and‐one), and in Arabic, in which the ones word precedes the tens word (one‐and‐twenty). The error‐by‐digit‐position curve was affected by language: relative to Hebrew, in Arabic the error rate was slightly lower for the unit digit and slightly higher for the decade digit, indicating that in Arabic the unit digit was processed earlier and the decade digit later, in accord with the Arabic word order. This language‐dependent processing order originated in the visual level and was not a verbal confound, because it persisted even when I controlled for the serial position of the decade/unit word in the verbal number by using numbers with 0 (two hundred three/two hundred thirty). I conclude that the visual analyzer's digit scanning order, decade‐first or unit‐first, is not fixed but affected by the language in which the number is produced—a top‐down, verbal‐to‐visual information flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Ilex paraguariensis is a species native to Brazil, Paraguay and Argentine, valued by its positive effects on human health. Mate processing consists of the following stages: pre-drying (rapid drying at high temperature, known as sapeco operation), drying, and milling. In order to verify the current process and to propose future improvements to the mate processing, thermal and mass balance analysis were applied to industrial mate processing units. Results showed that the consumption of energy in sapeco and drying operations exceeds the calorific input necessary for these operations. These results verify the need for a change in the management of temperatures in the sapeco and drying stages of mate processing in order to optimize the consumption of energy, resulting in lower costs, with positive effects on the quality of the mate products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyze applications of biform games to linear production (LP) and sequencing processes. Biform games apply to problems in which strategic decisions are followed by some cooperative game, where the specific environment of the cooperative game is in turn determined by these strategic decisions. In biform LP-processes, we allow firms to compete for resources, rather than assuming the resource bundles are simply given. With strategy dependent resource bundles that can be obtained from two locations, we show that the induced strategic game has a (pure) Nash equilibrium, using the Owen set or any game-theoretic solution concept that satisfies anonymity to solve the cooperative LP-game. In biform sequencing processes, we no longer assume an initial processing order is given. Instead, this initial order is strategically determined. Solving the second-stage cooperative sequencing game using a gain splitting rule, we fully determine the set of Nash equilibria of the induced strategic game. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the increasingly pressing problem for any commercial company is that of being flexible in order to respond to market demands. One of the places where continuous adaptation to market requirements is needed are warehouses. Depending on the needs, the warehouse must be able to redefine its routes for storing and delivering products. FlexSim software can be used for modelling, simulation, and improvement systems such as manufacturing, warehousing, health, material handling, logistics, etc. The aim of this paper is to improve the existing flow in a warehouse. For this, in the first stage, the warehouse is simulated in its existing state in order to be able to see the reception times, the storage mode, the package preparation times as well as the transport times. Based on the data obtained, in the second part, a simulation will be carried out in which the flow in the warehouse will be improved, starting from the different aspects identified in the initial simulation. FlexSim software is used to define the model, simulate and improve the warehouse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to maintain competitiveness, it is essential for modern industrial companies to record as much data as possible, by processing which they can obtain valuable information for the development and optimization of production and logistics processes. The RTLS system provides an opportunity to perform this task. RTLS, or Real Time Location System, is a Real-Time Local Positioning System used to identify people and moving objects and to determine and continuously track their current position in a configurable space. Real-time positioning can help us to locate the position of objects and people inside the building. The paper presents and compares the relevant RTLS systems used in practice. In addition, the implementation process of an RTLS system created at the Institute of Logistics is described, as well as its application potential in relation to a case study developed. The abstract contains a short, general description of the topic and the research shown in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Product assembly is often one of the last steps in the production process. Product assembly is often carried out by workers (assemblers) rather than robots, as it is generally challenging to adapt automation to any product. When assembling complex products, it can take a long time before the assembler masters all the steps and can assemble the product independently. Training time has no added value; therefore, it should be reduced as much as possible. This paper presents a custom-developed system that enables the guided assembly of complex and diverse products using modern technologies. The system is based on pick-to-light (PTL) modules, used primarily in logistics as an additional aid in the order picking process, and Computer Vision technology. The designed system includes a personal computer (PC), several custom-developed PTL modules and a USB camera. The PC with a touchscreen visualizes the assembly process and allows the assembler to interact with the system. The developed PC application guides the operator through the assembly process by showing all the necessary assembly steps and parts. Two-step verification is used to ensure that the correct part is picked out of the bin, first by checking that the correct pushbutton on the PTL module has been pressed and second by using a camera with a Computer Vision algorithm. The paper is supported by a use case demonstrating that the proposed system reduces the assembly time of the used product. The presented solution is scalable and flexible as it can be easily adapted to show the assembly steps of another product. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a limited understanding of automation in construction materials-handling processes utilised by manufacturing firms in Nigeria. This article evaluates the level of utilisation of automation in construction materials-handling operations by manufacturing firms in North-Central Nigeria, to improve operational efficiency and reduce operating costs. Using a case study research design, quantitative data (observation guide with measurements) were collected from 32 purposively selected constructionmaterial manufacturers. A total of 72 customers' orders were observed and recorded to be representative of deliveries from the sampled (n=32) manufacturers' warehouses to other terminals. The descriptive method of data analysis was employed using percentages and results presented in a form of bar charts. The study reveals low-level utilisation of automation in the combined processes of order picking, storage, loading, and offloading of material. These imply increasing material costs and causing a delay in delivery. The article concludes by providing construction-material manufacturers with areas that require automation to optimise material-handling operations. A recommendation is made for further study to explore why automation is not utilised despite its advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-productive auxiliary processes affect the single part and small badge production of milling tools. The key production process grinding is inevitably linked to the auxiliary conditioning process. The time demand of those process steps decreases the overall productivity of the manufacturing process. However, today the machine operator decides on conditioning cycles individually by the use of experience. Until today, there is no objective data based approach available that supports the initiation of these conditioning processes or the adaption of the grinding process itself in order to improve its process efficiency. For this purpose, a process-related topography evaluation method of the grinding wheel surface is developed within this study. For the measurement, an optical method based on laser triangulation is used. The measurement system is implemented into a common tool grinding machine tool. In addition, characteristic topography values are defined that show the wear conditions of the grinding tool. Moreover, the data is summarized in a database of wear conditions. The developed measurement method can save grinding and dressing tool resources, process times and minimizes scrap parts. In addition, an adaptation of the process and a targeted launch of auxiliary processes can be enabled. The novel characteristic-based topography measurement creates the opportunity to enhance the tool life of the grinding wheels up to 30% without losing productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In semiconductor manufacturing processes, yield analysis aims to increase the yield by determining and managing the causes of low yield. The variable data collected from semiconductor manufacturing processes, in which hundreds of unit processes are implemented according to specific conditions and sequences, are interdependent, and the variables related to previous processes influence the variables in subsequent processes. Therefore, the order of processes should be considered when building a model that searches for the causes of low yield. However, there have been few studies in this area. This paper proposes a low-yield root cause search method considering the order of processes using a long short-term memory with attention mechanism (LSTM-AM) model. Specifically, the LSTM-AM model is applied to data classified according to the process structure of semiconductor products, and the causes of low yield are determined considering the order of processes by extracting attention weights. Experiments are conducted to verify the suitability of the proposed method using real yield data from a semiconductor company. The experimental results confirm that the proposed method outperforms the existing low yield root cause search methods in terms of low yield prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Order picking (OP) is one of the most labour- and time-intensive processes in internal logistics. Over the last decades, researchers have developed various mathematical planning models that help to increase the efficiency of OP systems, for example, by optimising storage assignments or by specifying routes for the order pickers that minimise travel distance in the warehouse. Human characteristics that are often a major determinant of OP system performance have, however, widely been ignored in this stream of research. This paper systematically evaluates the literature on manual OP systems and conducts a content analysis to gain insights into how human factors (HF) have been considered and discussed in the scientific literature. The results of the analysis indicate that management-oriented efficiency criteria dominated prior research on OP, and that there is a clear lack of attention to HF in the design and management of OP systems. This poses an opportunity for research and design of manual OP systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the improvement of the procurement process for raw materials in a real manufacturing company supported by the Lean Sig Sigma as structured approach to deliver the improvement. The manufacturing company that is a subject of this paper have received a significant amount of complains regarding the internal purchase orders approval process and the overall procurement process of the company from both internal employees and external vendors and contractors. Considering that the company is procuring the raw goods from selected vendors, therefore the entire manufacturing plan depends on these materials, the company decided to improve this process trough Lean Six Sigma. The Lean Six Sigma approach was selected in order to obtain the improvement in a short time, based on indicators that were previously analyzed and prioritized. The paper focuses on simplifying of the process trough decreasing the number of mandatory steps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the term of Industry 4.0 becomes more and more relevant with each passing day, it is up to researchers and companies to find solutions to integrating all the technologies it covers. One of those technologies, even though not highly developed, is simulation and building Cyber-Physical Systems for gathering data and improving the production processes. In the research described in this paper, we focused on integrating production data with simulation models in order to make the process of understanding and learning about complex production systems as simple and as quick as possible. This paper contains three sections. The first one introduces the theoretical fundamentals of our research. The second one focuses on the methods used to create a digital model of production system. The final one discusses the results of the conducted experiments, and their impact on further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In a supply chain’s order fulfilment process, it is often the warehouse that plays a central role in making the right product available to the right customer at the right time. This paper aims to improve warehouse performance by deriving an effective design method for the simultaneous determination of warehouse layout and the warehouse’s control policies. The authors consider layout variables for the warehouse such as the number of primary aisles utilised, the number of cross-aisles and the aisle length under several different design philosophies. Concurrently, control policies such as storage policies and routing are considered. Simulation is utilised to determine the performance of the various resulting scenarios. A screening and selection procedure is employed to reduce the required number of replications while achieving a predetermined precision in identifying the best configuration. The approach is applied for an industrial partner in this research and the results of experimentation are compared to a baseline scenario which describes a proposed new facility in the Netherlands. The results reveal a large potential for performance improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: The microbial evolution of the J'ben Elgafs prepared with raw milk from local cows, was studied during the manufacturing and maturating process in order to characterize this variety of cheese from the Algerian terroir. Methods: The microbial activity and physical-chemical parameters were tested during the three dairy seasons of the year. Total, lactics and alteration floras were counted on their selective environments. Result: Lactic germs multiply considerably during the first days and only stabilize towards the end of maturation. The low presence of alteration floras is the result of the continuous modification of the physico-chemical parameters of Aw and pH from one stage to the other of the j'ben production and the respect of good processing practices. These different proportions of variation are induced by the biochemical reactions and microbial interactions that take place responsible for the sequential growth of one microbial group compared to another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the garment industry, upgrading from mass production to mass customization is imperative, due to ever-changing fashion trends and customers' increasing personal demands. Based on pattern variations, several practical mass customization methods in terms of custom-fit and co-design are developed in this study for cutting-related processes (i.e. the sizing process and the cutting process). The increment of size number by generating additional sizes and the expansion of size capacity by setting multi-sized darts are two custom-fit methods, while material (fabric) variation by spreading "rainbow plies" and module variation by making a stepwise cutting are two co-design methods. Compared with existing mass customization methods mainly related to the garment design processes, the proposed methods emphasize the garment manufacturing processes in order to resolve the conflict between personalization and cost. A case study on the women's basic straight skirt is conducted for the performance evaluation (about personalization and cost) of the proposed methods. The experimental results demonstrate the ability of these methods to significantly raise the personalization level with an acceptable price in garment customization. This study provides a reference for garment manufacturers to make proper production strategies, enabling garment mass customization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Production of bulky raw silk is preferred for weaving sarees in Indian context. It was thought to increase the speed of movement of cocoons by incorporating suitable device so that entanglement in filaments will take place resulting in different structure of bulky silk yarn. CSTRI has developed a mechanism to rotate the inner vessel keeping the outer vessel constant; thus, the water would not be spilled during the rotation of the vessel in the reeling process. In order to standardize the process parameters viz., basin (rotation of vessel) speed, reel speed, and the number of cocoons reeled for the production of bulky raw silk by cocoon entanglement using Box and Behnken design of experiment. The studies conducted reveal that the average denier, size uniformity, and size deviation are significantly influenced at 1% level on the above process variables. Further, it was observed that the basin speed and reel speed should be in the ratio of 2:1. The basin speed of 150 rpm with reel speed of 75 rpm and 30 cocoons has imparted required bulkiness in the yarn and having characteristics suitable for production of bulky silk fabric which can be used for exclusive end uses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Purple non-sulfur bacteria (PNSB) can produce either hydrogen or accumulate PHB. • PHB production depends on the pH, high C/N ratios, and N, S, P, limitation. • An excess of carbon from acetate or butyrate favors PHB production. • R. sphaeroides and R. capsulatus accumulate more PHB than other PNSB. • Wastewater and consortia are recommended to reduce economic costs. Purple non-sulfur bacteria (PNSB), most commonly called photobacteria, are a group of photoheterotrophic bacteria well known for their ability to produce hydrogen while degrading several carbon substrates, such as organic acids and carbohydrates, as well as organic matter in wastewater and effluents from other processes, such as dark fermentation. Given that this group of photobacteria is also capable of accumulating polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) as a storage compound, this review paper aims to present and discuss the different operational and nutritional conditions reported in the literature that favor PHB production by PNSB in order to guide the process conditions that should be used. A comparison of the accumulated PHB content among different PNSB strains on several carbon and nitrogen sources and concentrations is also outlined. This paper also addresses some future perspectives for PHB production, such as the use of wastewater as a substrate and mixed cultures to reduce economic costs and the environmental impact and make the PHB production process more profitable, sustainable and attractive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For production companies, the identification and elimination of logistics losses have a great importance, as it mostly determines their competitiveness. Reducing the turnaround time of logistics processes has so far been mainly in the production areas, however, in order to serve the production processes smoothly and efficiently, the proper selection of raw material warehousing strategies has become extremely important. The paper presents the currently used warehouse material handling strategies and the concept of their appropriate selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Critical defects are of great significance when evaluating the production process effectiveness, especially in the automotive branch. It is important to analyse these defects and distinguish the crucial ones. In this article, the authors have identified critical defects in the process of brake master cylinders production using quality management tools, and proposed improvement actions. Design/methodology/approach: The aim of the article was to analyse defects and the reasons for their occurrence, and improve the production process of master cylinder with special attention to critical defects. In order to improve this process, critical flaws had to be identified and eliminated from the entire set, which was the engineering problem to be solved. Then the causes of their occurrence as well as the factors causing process disturbances affecting the final occurrence of the defect were identified, and actions eliminating or limiting their occurrence were proposed. In the project, they were used to analyse the tools and principles, i.e. process diagram, Pareto-Lorenz diagram, cause-effect diagram, and to improve the Poka-Yoke process. Findings: Based on the examined causes of defects, improvements were proposed, i.e. guides for applying the body, a program stopping the piston assembly station to control the oil level, purchase of caps from sealed material and the need to work in long-sleeved work clothing, moving the body type verification camera from the final to first station, pallet spacers to protect against piston damage, change of supplier, especially of body castings. Research limitations/implications: The major limitation of the paper is that it is based on one case of an organization. In the future, it will be necessary to conduct studies in more organizations so as to find out if the same result can be achieved. Originality/value: Until now, no quality management tools have been used to analyse and organize the formation of defects in production processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a method of extracting Main Sub process rules for process design of manufacturing company in 4th industry. In order to extract process design rules, we construct the model as an instance representation model, transform it into data that can utilize the instance data through the dimension reduction algorithm and clustering algorithm, and extract the process information based on the association rule mining algorithm. The process information extracted by the association rule mining algorithm can be used as the main process design rule through vectorization and the part that is difficult to extract can be set as the sub process design rule to design the integrated process rule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep neural networks (DNNs) have proliferated in most of the application domains that involve data processing, predictive analysis and knowledge inference. Alongside the need for developing highly performance-efficient DNN accelerators, there is an utmost need to improve the yield of the manufacturing process in order to reduce the per unit cost of the DNN accelerators. To this end, we present 'SalvageDNN', a methodology to enable reliable execution of DNNs on the hardware accelerators with permanent faults (typically due to imperfect manufacturing processes). It employs a fault-aware mapping of different parts of a given DNN on the hardware accelerator (subjected to faults) by leveraging the saliency of the DNN parameters and the fault map of the underlying processing hardware. We also present novel modifications in a systolic array design to further improve the yield of the accelerators while ensuring reliable DNN execution using 'SalvageDNN' and negligible overheads in terms of area, power/energy and performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design of optimal structures and the planning of (additive manufacturing) fabrication sequences have been considered typically as two separate tasks that are performed consecutively. In the light of recent advances in robot-assisted (wire-arc) additive manufacturing which enable addition of material along curved surfaces, we present a novel topology optimization formulation which concurrently optimizes the structure and the fabrication sequence. For this, two sets of design variables, i.e., a density field for defining the structural layout, and a time field which determines the fabrication process order, are simultaneously optimized. These two fields allow to generate a sequence of intermediate structures, upon which manufacturing constraints (e.g., fabrication continuity and speed) are imposed. The proposed space-time formulation is general, and is demonstrated on three fabrication settings, considering self-weight of the intermediate structures, process-dependent critical loads, and time-dependent material properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automated warehouse is an important part of intelligent manufacturing warehousing process. In the automated warehouse scheduling management system, location allocation and optimization is a key problem. In order to improve the efficiency of automated warehousing as well as use the shelves more reasonably, this paper introduces the multi-objective genetic algorithm to optimize the location allocation algorithm. A multi-objective algorithm model for location optimization is proposed and established. The simulation software is used to test the algorithm model and the simulation results before and after optimization is compared. The results show that the multi-objective genetic algorithm improves the storage and retrieval efficiency after optimizing the storage location of automated warehouse. It complies with the optimization criteria of shelf balance and efficiency first, which is in line with the actual needs of the automated warehouse in practical application, and has important research and application value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple studies have analyzed the importance of preventive maintenance. Similarly, they have developed and/or evaluated various spare part inventory management policies that help companies reduce the duration of production disruptions resulting from sudden mechanical failures. All of these studies assess the impact of mechanical failures on local aspects, such as idle times or management policies. However, they do not holistically evaluate how machine failures affect key performance indicators. To address this gap, we proposed a System Dynamics (SD) model to systemically analyze the impact of machine part failures on order shipping, a key performance indicator. Similarly, we assessed the impact of machine part failures on the levels of the company's finished goods inventory. The research was conducted in a glass bottle manufacturing company. To increase order shipping as a performance indicator, we identified the key variables of the production process and conducted a sensitivity analysis of the variables. Our results indicate that it is possible to reach the company's 98–100% complete delivery policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An overview of the elements of continuous flow processes. • Synopsis of recent advancements in green continuous manufacturing strategies. • Synopsis of recent advancements in green reaction screening, process development, and optimization strategies. • Synopsis of future opportunities in green continuous flow processes. Recently, focus has turned towards increasing chemical process safety and sustainability for fundamental and applied research as well as manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and specialty chemicals. Flow chemistry techniques have attracted significant interest as a way to implement and improve chemical processes in order to satisfy the growing demand for chemical sustainability. In this article, we discuss emerging flow chemistry technologies with applications in green manufacturing of high-value chemicals and efficient screening of chemical reaction space. Continuous manufacturing techniques are increasingly being utilized to reduce the amount of material and energy utilized in a process while incorporating real-time analysis, control, and enhanced process safety. Beyond continuous production, flow screening techniques can rapidly search a multi-dimensional reaction space to improve process design, performance, and efficiency. Furthermore, time-efficient and material-efficient (green) flow screening platforms can be utilized to develop the next generation of process development technologies including predictive reaction models and process scale-up strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ICT-intensive firms are often found to have a better performance than their non-ICT-intensive counterparts. Along with investing in ICT capital they have to adapt their production and business processes in order to reap the potentials implied by the use of ICT. Are these firms also more resilient in times of crisis? We study this question by exploiting a novel and unique data set from the Micro Moments Database. Covering 12 countries, 7 industries and the period from 2001 to 2010, the data allow us to distinguish between ICT-intensive and non-ICT-intensive firms within industries. We find evidence that indeed during the crisis in 2008 and 2009, ICT-intensive firms were hit less hard with respect to their productivity. This holds in particular for firms from service industries. Moreover, ICT-intensive firms were also more successful in introducing process innovations during that period which could explain their better productivity performance compared to non-ICT intensive firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generally, order punctuality has received plenty of attention by manufacturers in order fulfillment. In order fabrication, jobs from a customer are often separately processed in dispersed manufacturing resources, such as different machines, facilities, or factories. This leads to the difficulties of processing customer orders in a simultaneous manner. This paper proposes a concept of manufacturing synchronization (MfgSync) and measures it from the perspective of simultaneity and punctuality. We study MfgSync of scheduling dynamic arrival orders in a hybrid flowshop. To deal with the dynamic order arrival environment, we schedule the coming orders in a periodic manner so that the dynamic scheduling problem is decomposed into a series of continuous static sub-problems. A base model for each sub-problem is mathematically formulated to minimize the simultaneity of order fabrication measured by mean longest waiting duration considering the order punctuality constraint. We then present a solution algorithm consisting of a periodic scheduling policy and a modified genetic algorithm. Numerical studies demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The results also show that bottleneck position has a considerable impact on MfgSync, and we can obtain better MfgSync for the systems with entrance bottlenecks compared to middle and exist bottlenecks. And it is suggested to choose a larger decision interval in off season compared to peak season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this work was to investigate the mean fill weight control of a continuous capsule-filling process, whether it is possible to derive controller settings from an appendant process model. To that end, a system composed out of fully automated capsule filler and an online gravimetric scale was used to control the filled weight. This setup allows to examine challenges associated with continuous manufacturing processes, such as variations in the amount of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) in the mixture due to fluctuations of the feeders or due to altered excipient batch qualities. Two types of controllers were investigated: a feedback control and a combination of feedback and feedforward control. Although both of those are common in the industry, determining the optimal parameter settings remains an issue. In this study, we developed a method to derive the control parameters based on process models in order to obtain optimal control for each filled product. Determined via rapid automated process development (RAPD), this method is an effective and fast way of determining control parameters. The method allowed us to optimize the weight control for three pharmaceutical excipients. By conducting experiments, we verified the feasibility of the proposed method and studied the dynamics of the controlled system. Our work provides important basic data on how capsule filler can be implemented into continuous manufacturing systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ensuring the effective development of manufacturing enterprises requires a number of activities that are concerned with the planning and systematic organization of its activities, making and implementing management decisions, conducting production and innovation processes and evaluating the results achieved on the basis of the involvement of internal and external strategic impulses. The article analyzes the concept of strategy, its structure and its functions. It has been revealed that the task of strategic planning of activity and development of the enterprise is one of the important in the conditions of competition. Many real enterprises were not prepared for its decision. In order to understand this process, it is necessary to disclose the content of the strategic approach in enterprise theory and in the practice of enterprise management. The main objective of this article is to determine the requirements for the development and implementation of strategies arising from the theoretical analysis of the internal and external environment of the enterprise. In formulating the strategy of the enterprise it is important not to get lost in the infinity of incomparable possibilities of strategic choice, to reduce the variety of these opportunities in each line of activity of the enterprise to a discrete set of options. Developing and presenting recommendations for conducting this necessary part of strategy development and implementation is the second objective of this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes an Augmented Reality system for the improvement of the manufacturing process in the packaging sector. It presents a successful use case of how to integrate the Augmented Reality technology in a factory shop floor by providing a tool that helps operators in their daily work. Given a product reference, the proposed system digitizes the setting of the die cutter automatically from an image and stores it in a database to subsequently consult and analyze. Furthermore, the content display is not carried out as a conventional Augmented Reality system (wearable devices such as glasses or mobile), but projecting directly on the workspace to facilitate its interpretation. Compared to the current workflow, where the data is recorded on sheets of paper and stored physically in warehouses, the proposed system offers several advantages such as preventing data loss, reducing costs, or the possibility of increasing knowledge from the post-processing of digitized data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tapered gas-solid risers have been used in some industrial processes in order to adapt to the requirements of various reactions, but little attention was paid to these reactors in previous investigation. In this work, three-dimensional gas-solid flow in tapered-out and tapered-in risers was simulated by the two-fluid model using an improved structure-dependent drag based on the EMMS model. The EMMS model was solved at different axial levels to determine different correlations of heterogeneity index with voidage, which were then interpolated between these levels to improve the prediction of varying interphase drag in the tapered risers. Considering the axial variation of the EMMS drag, the simulation predicts much more reasonable flow dynamics in the tapered risers than those coupled with an average EMMS drag or homogeneous drag laws. The axial and radial heterogeneities as well as the parametric effects on the flow dynamics in the tapered risers were discussed in detail, so as to provide reference for the proper design of tapered gas-solid riser reactors. Unlabelled Image • Tapered gas-solid risers are studied by three-dimensional numerical simulation. • An improved EMMS drag is calculated and incorporated into the simulation. • Axial variation of drag is determined by interpolating between various heights. • EMMS-based simulation predicts reasonable flow dynamics in the tapered risers. • Parametric effects on flow dynamics in the tapered risers are discussed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a method of extracting Main Sub process rules for process design of manufacturing company in 4th industry. In order to extract process design rules, we construct the model as an instance representation model, transform it into data that can utilize the instance data through the dimension reduction algorithm and clustering algorithm, and extract the process information based on the association rule mining algorithm. The process information extracted by the association rule mining algorithm can be used as the main process design rule through vectorization and the part that is difficult to extract can be set as the sub process design rule to design the integrated process rule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Order picking- the selection of items from storage areas to fill customer orders--- is the most costly activity in warehouse operations. Among the underlying factors that affect the picking operation is batching customer orders to form picking tours. We compare various heuristics for order batching. An important component of our study is comparing various metrics that approximate the relative 'closeness' of a pair of orders and provide a quantifiable basis for assigning order to batches. We show, empirically, that one of the proposed solution approaches outperforms the existing incumbent method [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How a supply chain (SC) is configured can have a significant impact on the performance of global firms. More specifically, disturbance factors (i.e. those factors associated with uncertainty and risk) are increasingly important considerations. This paper focuses on endogenous, exogenous and environment-related SC disturbance factors and their relative importance when configuring global SCs. Three alternative scenarios of SC configurations for European-based pharmaceutical firms are identified – insource nearshore, outsource nearshore and outsource offshore. Through a multi-phase, mixed-methods approach we find that the top five disturbance factors managers should be aware of while configuring their SCs are quality defects, unforeseen and random interruptions in manufacturing processes, order processing difficulties, untimely delivery of products and a mismatch between market demand and supplier responsiveness. This study is able to provide insights into the impact of disturbance factors on the SC configuration strategy for Big Pharmas (BPs). We show that SC disturbances influenced the decision to bring production back home (reshoring) or to a closer location (nearshoring). To mitigate the effects of disturbances many BPs recalibrated their SC configurations by insourcing core products, outsourcing non-core products offshore and developing offshore insourcing capabilities through 'captives'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the continuous penetration of renewable energies, the control requirements for conventional thermal power unit superheated steam temperature (SST) systems are gradually increasing, to cope with more frequent and large-scale load changes. As a key parameter in the thermal power generation process, SST directly affects the safe and economic operation of the unit. However, the SST system is a typical high-order, large inertia industrial process, which poses severe difficulties to improve the control performance in practice, especially the disturbance rejection performance. To this end, this paper proposes a phase compensation (PC) based low-order active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) strategy for a class of high-order, large-inertia processes. Firstly, the working principles and control problems of SST system are illustrated, and the SST model is identified based on the open-loop step experiment data. Then, the phase compensation network model is derived in detail by low-frequency approximation. A design shift is presented, PC is adopted to compensate process dynamics and obtain reduced-order plant equivalently, which makes it also accessible to other error-based controllers. For engineering practice, its simple implementation and equivalent plant analysis for PC-ADRC control system are also given. At last, the stability and robustness of the PC-ADRC control system are carefully studied. The PC-ADRC controller parameters are determined according to the ideal dynamics and the trade-off between the performance and robustness. Both analysis and simulations show that the PC can effectively improve the robustness and fast response ability of high-order process control system. The efficacy of the proposed method is verified by simulation results based on the identified model, and a laboratory experiment shows the promise in practical applications. • A phase compensation based ADRC controller for high order large inertia processes is proposed. • A practical phase compensation network for a class of high order processes is obtained by low frequency approximation. • The PC-ADRC controller parameters are determined according to the ideal dynamics and the trade-off between the robustness and performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to design a correlated storage assignment system by storing items with demand dependences together to minimize zone visits when picking materials/parts in production line. The demand dependences can be obtained from the products' bill of materials (BOMs) and production rates. Due to the large number of materials in a BOM, picking capacity constraint is explicitly considered. A mathematical model is formulated and heuristic algorithms are proposed, including two direct heuristics and two hybrid genetic algorithms with different crossover mechanisms. Numerical experimentation shows that the hybrid genetic algorithm with 2-point crossover outperforms others and can be practical in warehouse design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we study optimal production and admission control policies in manufacturing systems that produce two types of products: one type consists of identical items that are produced to stock, while the other has varying features and is produced to order. The model is motivated by applications from various industries, in particular, the automobile industry, where a part supplier receives orders from both an original equipment manufacturer and the aftermarket. The product for the original equipment manufacturer is produced to stock, it has higher priority, and its demands are fully accepted. The aftermarket product is produced to order, and its demands can be either accepted or rejected. We characterize the optimal production and admission policies with a partial-linear structure, and using computational analysis, we provide insights into the benefits of the new policies. We also investigate the impact of production capacity, cost structure, and demand structure on system performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]