1,720,968 research outputs found
An electrical DC Motor Equivalent Circuit testbed for the battery Prognostic Health and Management
No full textA simulation based approach to model SARS-CoV-2 spread in assembly lines
No full textThe recent SARS-CoV-2 outbreak has challenged companies, from both service and industry sectors, to reorganize how their business are operated in order to guarantee continuity to their operations while maintaining proper and safe conditions for workers and customers as well. In fact, a recognized preventive measure against the coronavirus spread, that has been adopted by many governments all over world, is to limit as much as possible and to make safer social interactions in the workplace. The effect of such measures is very impactful on those activities that require physical presence or a direct interaction with physical resources such as shop floors. For example, on an assembly line, it could be more difficult for operators to maintain appropriate distances if the new workplace and the new working conditions have been attentively conceived and deployed. This paper has the objective of showing how computer simulation can support companies in this complex task and, at the same time, of providing an operational tool and a case study application. Particularly, it uses a computer simulation tool (i.e., AnyLogic), to model and evaluate alternative design solutions with the aim of making the considered shop floor more resilient from the coronavirus spread perspective. We focused on the automotive sector and considered the case of a two-sided single model assembly line and the related surrounding areas. Various reconfigurations of the assembly line were considered with the aim of reducing contagion likelihood during production. In order to increase the distance between operators, we compared different solutions involving centralized and decentralized warehouses as well as collaborative robots (i.e., cobots). Each configuration was also tested with respect to the individual protection parameter, i.e., we explicitly considered the type of protection the operators use while performing their activities (no mask, surgical or FFP2 mask)
A systemic analysis of the impacts of Product 4.0 on the triple bottom-line of Sustainability
No full textThe advent of innovative technologies is reshaping every aspect of our lives. Smart products incorporating these new technologies have become commonplace in both our private and professional lives. The use of advanced technologies has shown great potential in improving and streamlining various daily activities, but the products that support their deployment in real life present serious threats to the environment. Indeed, the speed at which new technological products are brought onto the market and old ones are discarded is generating a dual negative effect: an exponential increase in electrical and electronic waste and unsustainable exploitation of non-renewable natural resources. This situation in turn can have significant effects on the economic sustainability of our societies, due to the increasing costs of waste disposal and the increasingly limited availability of raw materials. As is evident, the introduction of smart products has its positive and negative sides that influence all aspects of sustainability within a complex structure of cause-effect relationships. Therefore, this article investigates the main variables at play and their interconnections when considering smart products. To analyse the effects of these variables, a Causal Loop Diagram (CLD) is developed and thoroughly discussed. The proposed CLD highlights the sustainability aspects of smart products. In addition, it highlights how the introduction of the so-called”Product 4.0” can be a solution to improve the triple bottom-line of sustainability
A flow chart analysis of the Smart Products End of Life
No full textWith the advent of the fourth industrial revolution, digital innovation appears to be spreading like wildfire around the world. Innovative technologies surround us and connect us to everything. Waste, on the other hand, is wreaking havoc on our planet and our future. In this article, we will look at how advanced technologies found in new smart products can help us find a better end-of-life recovery process. To this end, after a literature review of the most recent work, the first research question of this paper (RQ1) is to identify the widely accepted vision for such an intelligent object, referring to them with the term Smart Product (SP). After that, the second research question of this paper deal with the analysis by means of a flow chart of the impact that such a product may have on the End of Life (EoL) phase of its Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
An Association Analysis of Digital Technologies in Circular Economy Scenarios
No full textThe paper investigates the role of Digital Technologies (DTs) in fostering the implementation of CE models and practices by means of a systematic literature review. It first identifies available CE frameworks, by focusing on the so called 9R framework and the ReSOLVE framework. Then, DTs are briefly described and their features are appropriately summarized. Relevant literature is categorized by industry sector, study type, and CE strategies and employed DTs. Later, the collected papers are statistically analysed in order to highlight association effects between CE strategies, DTs and industrial sectors. As previous works highlighted that, in many instances, DTs are integrated in order to support CE objectives, we also verify the existence of preferred combinations of DTs for specific CE strategies
Resilience and Sustainability for Lean Design of Intensive Care Units. An ICU Case Study
No full textExploiting the Full Potential of I4.0 Technologies for Products EOL Recovery Process
No full textThe recent advancements of technology have been radically transforming the industrial world and our societies as well. The application of the new technologies is ubiquitous involving various domains from industrial production to everyday life. This paper investigates whether and how it is possible to better support product life-cycle management by exploiting product’s enhanced capabilities stemming from an I4.0 ecosystem. To this aim, this paper proposes the new concept of Product 4.0 that is a product archetype combining the functionalities of an intelligent product with those permitted by I4.0 technologies. As Product 4.0 has the potential to benefit the various phases of the product life cycle, this paper also provides further details on the end-of-life recovery options for this new product archetype, by means of an explanatory case dealing with a laser-jet printer
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
An Allostatic Load Measurement Model in Industrial Production Processes for Work-Related Stress Risk Assessment
No full textThe current European regulatory framework for work health and safety has identified work-related stress as one of the risksto be considered and to be managed properly. In particular, the new legislation has implemented interest in the topic of “work-related stress”.The proposed paper aims to offer theoretical principles and operational information about how to assess work-related stress risk. The study proceeds from the assumption that the danger is due to the human being. Consequently, that certain "event" depends on the combined disposition of the industrial process to which the subject is assigned and, above all by the intrinsically individual characteristicsof the human resources be considered. The paper meant to be a contribution to the identification of methodologies applicable to theassessment of work-related stress in the workplaces for the identification of shared diagnostic paths in the field of psychosocial risk. Inthis context, the allostatic load of the subject under examination can measure, monitor, and observe the resilienceor the risk in developing a mood disorder, depressive, anxiety, psychosomatic or somatoform (overt or potential) through vital signs andpersonality of the subject. It is a way to observe the consequences (stress) of factors that seem unrelated to each other andallows us to relate a series of behavioral profiles that are correlated by known pathophysiological links with industrial processes, both in terms of probability of occurrence and consequences that is the severity of the impact. The proposed procedure based on a semi-quantitative approach considers a four-dimensional domain that will allow the definition ofa risk matrix based on an objective indicator of assessment risk. This model will tell us the tendency to develop a somatoform or psychosomatic as well as mood, depressive or anxiety disorder, relative to a specific activity and, considering the different hazards present in the company; it will be possible to reconstruct the overall level of risk held by the plant under examination
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