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The plastics industry is continuously demanding for plastic parts with higher quality and improved mechanical properties. To meet these demands, companies depending on efficient and reliable flow simulation software. These simulation tools are valuable in optimizing the process parameters to obtain a plastic part with improved surface quality. This work studies the flow behavior on a plastic part with non-trivial model features, such as, holes, ribs, thin walls and zones with different thickness, using various injection point locations and different mold temperatures, under dynamic temperature control. Results have shown significant influence on the final process parameters, such as the injection pressure. A mold temperature increase from 40ºC to 160ºC and then to 200ºC, promoted by an external system heating the mold surface, resulted on reductions of 36% and then another 42% of the injection pressure, respectively. This will have a very positive effect on the surface quality of the part as well as potentially eliminating several aesthetic defects.

In reference to the context of the theme, it is important to refer that the labour market is becoming more demanding, being up to the educational institutions to prepare their students, who in many cases develop projects without appreciating the industry’s true difficulties and challenges.

The aim of this work is to analyze the importance of the selection of materials in the development of products. As such, this work can provide an important contribution to the field of development of product design.

The main goal of this work is to demonstrate, that it is important to reflect on what the future of design research and doctoral programs in design will be, to know if universities are prepared for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) reality. This research work begins by identifying the changes in society, technology and education, which resulted in the increase of many curricular innovations and the creation of new educational institutions. The impacts of the emerging 4IR will require a rethinking of the curriculum in higher education, to prepare students for a technological, economical, personal and social response from a holistic point of view. The main findings are, among others, the recognition of the expansion of the artificial world, and that design plays a relevant role in the management of complex systems. Thus, it was important to survey the doctoral programs in design, recognizing that they have to be restructured and redesigned, focusing mainly on practical solution and on the transferring of knowledge to society, companies and industry.

A presente dissertação surge instigada da vontade de repensar alguns lugares vazios, espaços desocupados ou devolutos, na cidade de Alcobaça. É, por isso, motivada por um progressivo interesse em trabalhar sobre a cidade, tendo como objetivo a realização de uma proposta de intervenção que possa promover a sua regeneração. Partindo de uma análise da morfologia urbana, da sua evolução na relação com as condicionantes não só físicas, do território, mas também sociais, é através de uma leitura atenta das dinâmicas atuais da cidade que se avança para uma reflexão sobre os vazios urbanos. Existem espaços abandonados e devolutos no tecido consolidado que podem ser encarados como oportunidades de revitalização da área histórica, cada vez menos habitada, mas encontram‑se também na sua envolvente terrenos expectantes de considerável dimensão, que poderão ser determinantes e potenciadores de uma intervenção assente numa lógica de consolidação da cidade. Os lugares vazios, apesar de significarem ausência, permitem uma certa liberdade e expectativa, revelando‑se essenciais para criar pólos impulsionadores de novas relações espaciais e sociais e, desse modo, desencadear um processo de revitalização urbana. O propósito deste trabalho, é assim, demonstrar, através de um exercício de projeto, como os vazios representam oportunidades estratégicas de intervenção, que podem originar renovados espaços urbanos e integrar diversas funções que lhes dêem sentido, como resposta a necessidades mais amplas da cidade. A proposta posiciona‑se, por isso, numa abordagem como projeto urbano, potenciando efeitos territoriais para além da área de intervenção, através de um pensamento global sobre a cidade e como reconhecimento da sua evolução como processo continuado no tempo. This dissertation is instigated by an urge to rethink some empty places, unoccupied or vacant spaces, in the city of Alcobaça. It is, therefore, motivated by a progressive interest in working on the city, with the objective of carrying out an intervention proposal that can promote its regeneration. Starting from an analysis of the urban morphology, of its evolution in relation to not only physical, of the territory, but also social constraints, it is through a careful reading of the current dynamics of the city that we move towards a reflection on urban voids. There are abandoned and vacant spaces in the consolidated fabric that can be seen as opportunities for revitalizing the historical area, which is becoming less and less inhabited. There are also in its surroundings expectant lands of considerable dimension, which can be decisive and enhancers of an intervention based on a logic of consolidation for the city. The empty places, although meaning absence, allow a certain freedom and expectation, proving to be essential to create poles that propel new spatial and social relations and, thus, trigger a process of urban revitalization. The purpose of this work is to demonstrate, through a project exercise, how the voids represent strategic opportunities for intervention, which can originate renewed urban spaces and integrate various functions that give them meaning, in response to wider needs of the city. The proposal is therefore positioned in an approach as an urban project, enhancing territorial effects beyond the area of intervention, through a global thought about the city and as recognition of its evolution in a continuous process over time.

In a more and more competitive and industrialized market, it is essential that companies realize that the way forward must go through the optimization of their production processes, reducing the costs and increasing product quality. Nowadays it’s necessary to adopt innovative management models that can provide increased productivity at minimal costs, such as the Lean thinking. The metalworking industry is integrated into one of the most competitive existing markets in Portugal. Given this, it’s fundamental to reduce the waste in all sectors of the production process, using the good Lean principles and practices, such as the Single Minute Exchange of Die, also known as SMED methodology. This paper presents a project of implementing the SMED methodology in the cold profiling process, in a population of five different profiling machines. The results of the SMED implementation show an average OEE improvement of 10,8%.

In this chapter an approach to the concept of value creation is done, placing some working companies in Portugal and comparing them from the received gains point of view. A goal of this work is to contribute to the new perspective of modernization of Portuguese manufacturing SMEs, evaluating innovation through technology and design and its contribution to the improvement of integrated development of products and manufacturing processes, as well as to demonstrate how design thinking is a useful tool in manufacturing engineering. Many examples of products that used technology and design “made in Portugal” are given, as well as of the way the Portuguese economy is growing in that way, resolving simultaneously the problem of the external deficit and the budget deficit. With these results, it was possible to understand where the Portuguese SMEs, which are mostly manufacturing SMEs, stand towards innovation through technology and design.

This chapter will present a first phase of a contextual study, which will initially focus on a systematic study of internationally produced thinking about the most pertinent contours, challenges, methods and results of design research. This study will make it possible to establish a reference framework, both for the collection and classification of data related to the Portuguese reality and for its subsequent analysis. Design research has a recognized trajectory, but the discourse built so far is not visible to the academic community. Researchers, creators, and theorists began documenting design when it was recognized as something that could be taught. Despite the isolated attempts of theoretical depth by some researchers, the degree of relevance between research and the different areas of design has been quite diverse, such as engineering, architecture and product design, still touching on territories such as arts and crafts. To summarize the available information on the evolution of research in the area of Design and the problematization that the international scientific community has generated around the establishment of its outlines and methods, namely on practice-based research, it will serve as a contribution to the clarification of aspects that are very relevant to a rapidly expanding area.

Digitalization is rushing throughout the world, namely, in industrial and societal infrastructures. Hence, digital transformation becomes a pillar of industrial policy, known in Europe as “Industry 4.0,” in China as “made in China 2025,” in Asia as “Smart Cities,” in Japan as “Society 5.0,” and in North America as “Industrial Internet.” These transformations will change the industrial landscape, toward Quality 4.0 and therefore, our lives. The presented research was conducted on quality management employees in Portugal and it aims to analyze if such employees have the perception of the impact of Industry 4.0 in the quality management profession and the required and needed skills. After analyzing the answered questionnaires, 90 results were considered valid. This is the sample of our study. Simultaneously, the goal of this research is also to review and analyze the main topics in progress related to quality management for the fourth industrial revolution and how quality emerges of this change. The professionals that work on quality management must have creative thinking, be leaders, know how to communicate and work as a team, as well as, to have knowledge and understanding of ICT (Information and Communications Technology), and main pillars of Industry 4.0. These are the main findings. Besides that, they must know how to motivate their work teams, be open to change, know how to use Big Data to make decisions and above all, they must know how to manage conflicts. In addition, quality professionals must promote the design and production of first class products, be the defenders of their customers within the organization, and finally, they must create value for the stakeholders.

The management of solid waste and its impact on the environment has been a subject of study and revision in different aspects, from mathematical modeling to control, with the aim of proposing different alternatives that contribute to diminishing the adverse effects in the environment. In this regard, reverse logistics has become a key trend to balance economic development with environmental protection, as this approach allows the maximization of value and the sustainable use of products at the end of their life cycle. This approach has been applied in different sectors such as textiles, pharmaceuticals, food, among others, but still with great potential for study in the plastic industry given the impact of plastic products on the environment and the increasing pressures of consumers, government and environmental groups that propose new forms of operation and innovation in companies in the sector. The goal of this work is the identification of good practices and trends in the plastic products manufacturing industry, with respect to the recovery of plastic products through reverse logistics, both at the revision level of literature, as well as, from the use of an evaluation instrument among entrepreneurs of the sector, in order to provide a framework for diagnosis and continuous improvement in the development of good practices in reverse logistics for the industry.

O presente projeto tem como objetivo a elaboração de um plano de negócio inovador para a empresa Maria Rapaz, um parque de diversões infantis especialmente focado na organização de festas de aniversário. Inicialmente, foram realizadas análises internas e externas, através do recurso a fontes primárias (entrevistas e questionário presencial) e secundárias, que culminaram num diagnóstico que aponta como pontos fracos responsáveis pela situação financeira deficitária da marca, a falta de investimento em inovação, a total dependência de um único serviço e a baixa ocupação semanal. Tendo em consideração estas fraquezas, mas também todos os pontos fortes do negócio e as oportunidades e ameaças externas detetadas, este projeto apresenta um plano de negócio que permita atingir os objetivos da empresa e satisfazer as necessidades do mercado. O projeto termina com a apresentação de uma demonstração financeira previsional associada às ações propostas, evidenciando um relevante potencial de crescimento a médio-prazo. This project aims to develop an innovative business plan for the company Maria Rapaz, a children's amusement park especially focused on the organization of birthday parties. Initially, internal and external analyzes were carried out, using primary sources (interviews and face-to-face questionnaires) and secondary sources, culminating in a diagnosis that points out as weak points responsible for the deficit financial situation of the brand, lack of investment in innovation, total dependence on a single service and the low weekly occupancy. Considering these weaknesses, but also all the strengths of the business and the opportunities and external threats detected, this project presents a business plan that allows to reach the objectives of the company and satisfy the needs of the market. The project ends with the presentation of a financial statement with the proposed actions, showing a significant growth potential in the medium term.

This document presents an ERP system connection with a CNC machining center application in a kitchen furniture manufacturing facility. This has contributed to allow individually designed product to every customer through high process flexibility and integration. A Dynamic Structure Parametric Bill Of Materials is used as basic element in the management information system. The machining center used to perform the preassembly machining with different drilling, milling and sawing modules provides a process versatility that would not be possible using single machines. A standardization of the preassembly machining process for about 99% of the furniture is allowed. This means a very significant saving in material and labor costs and an improvement in the quality of the final product., Artigo sobre um centro integrado de maquinagem

This article intends to provide significant contributions towards the debate concerning the role of technological development, its impact on developing countries and its contribution towards the miracle of technology for poverty reduction in the world. A model for new product development is proposed, aiming at technological development leading to innovation. The referred model is divided in four phases: idea generation; prototype development; product manufacturing; and technology management/market related activities. It is imperative for developing countries to achieve economic evaluation of scientific knowledge in order to improve their living standard. Developing countries need smart work, this is, project/design of new products developed and produced with their own technology, rather than cheap work force to produce products thought/designed by others. New political actions to improve technological development in developing countries are presented appealing to the 'Latin Miracle' in Latin America, similar to what happened in South Korea with the 'Han River Miracle'.

In recent years, digital games had the capacity to join a vast set of knowledge fields that provided them the status of one of the areas that has most contributed to the development of contemporary theory of new technologies and also to the development of new imagetic solutions, especially in tri-dimensional representation (3D). Digital games were the motto in the research of artificial intelligence, physical and virtual interfaces, the relationship between man and machine, virtual representation, and development in the field of digital animation. In this context, the aim of the authors’ proposal is to show the need and universality of design in the development of digital games, at the level of amusement games and, mainly, in serious games. Since the authors consider design as a project and understand design as an essential tool in the development of the project, they will dwell on the amplitude of design and designer in multidisciplinary teams of game creation. The following “4 Ds” will be studied and explained in detail: design of games, design of characters and virtual scenography, “design” of emotions, and design of the interface.

A comparison between two machining of pieces management systems for the manufacture of kitchen furniture is presented. These pieces are characterized by having a morphology based on cuboid shapes and therefore defined by three variables: height, width and thickness. The first management system (type A) is based on the total machining of the pieces in a single process that uses boards of different raw materials (agglomerate, plywood, MDF, etc.). This is done in a single work center cutting the pieces as well as most of the holes necessary for the final assembly and the placement of hinges, handles and other fittings depending on the type of module. In the second system (type B) the process is done in two stages: the cutting of the pieces in the work center described above and the final finish prior to assembly in another work center. This investigation delves into a fundamental part of the process analyzed in a previous investigation in a Galician kitchen furniture manufacturing company. The goal is to demonstrate that the two stages system is the most suitable for a manufacturing characterized by a low standardization and the ability to meet orders with special modules with a customized manufacturing and therefore for the current production system in that company. The main results show that the second system is better: the total machining time used is 38% lower and the development time of machining programs for special parts (non-standard) is reduced to one third in type B system. As a main conclusion in this specific case, it is highlighted that the separation of cutting and machining operations improve productivity and flexibility especially in regard to setup times.

The aim of this work is to contribute to the new perspective of modernization of Portuguese manufacturing SMEs, evaluating innovation through design and its contribution to the improvement of development of products and manufacturing processes, as well as, to demonstrate how design thinking is a useful tool in manufacturing engineering. The survey will allow a new approach to the improvement of Industrial design in SMEs, as well provide evaluation tools of the company’s and promote innovation systems. Through mapping the fundamental processes, it was possible to group these routines into three dimensions, production, interactivity and through the impact on the economic system. For this work were validated 17 SMEs in the inquiries, that represents the sample. The main findings of the survey was, among others, 14% of the SMEs tend to perform external design contests, 43% of the analyzed SMEs create partnerships with schools, less than half of the surveyed companies use sources that allow direct interaction with the market, 43% of SMEs have a designer as responsible for the creation of its products; 18% say that their products reflect a Portuguese identity, 43% of the companies have defined the launching dates of new products and 21% considers innovation as the motor element in the company strategy. With these results it was possible to understand where the Portuguese SMEs, which are mostly manufacturing SMEs, are stand towards innovation through design. A draft of a grid to assess the modernization criteria of Portuguese SMEs through design is presented, to propose a useful tool for the modernization of manufacturing Portuguese SMEs.

Purpose This research aims to focus on the idea management system (IMS) with the main purpose of identifying and describing the factors that promote success in managing ideas, grounded on the analysis of case studies. Design/methodology/approach The method used consists of a case study and semi-structured interviews with those directly responsible for the management of ideas from four companies, which are presented in this paper. Findings The main findings, critical for the success of an IMS, are as follow: the involvement of top management, evidence of results, establishment of goals and objectives, dissemination of good results, willingness to share and develop ideas, complete transparency in the management of ideas, maintenance of dynamic and proactive attitudes and mainly recognition. All have been described. Research limitations/implications This work presents a preliminary framework for further research toward the study of CSFs inherent to IMSs that is still bound by the limited number of case studies presented. Further research should be undertaken to broaden and consolidate the presented CFSs and their pertinence. Originality/value This study, although limited to four case studies, presents conclusive results that support managers of suggestion systems/IMSs in improving or deploying such systems. The main factors were identified and described. They can contribute to the effectiveness of employee suggestion system. It can be reasoned from this investigation that the contributions from employees toward the success of a company leads to excellence in business.