Continuous maintenance and the future – Foundations and technological challenges

High value and long life products require continuous maintenance throughout their life cycle to achieve required performance with optimum through-life cost. This paper presents foundations and technologies required to offer the maintenance service. Component and system level degradation science, assessment and modelling along with life cycle ‘big data’ analytics are the two most important knowledge and skill base required for the continuous maintenance. Advanced computing and visualisation technologies will improve efficiency of the maintenance and reduce through-life cost of the product. Future of continuous maintenance within the Industry 4.0 context also identifies the role of IoT, standards and cyber security

After sales service: key settings for improving profitability and customer satisfaction

This paper presents a performed study to develop and improve the process of after sales of a Latvian company specialized in manufacturing fish processing equipment. The project was developed based on an action- research methodology. During the first stage of the study, the current after sales process was analysed to identify the issues and possible improvement opportunities that could be implemented later on. Data were collected through surveys and analysed, resulting in a series of improvement proposals discussed with the board of the company. At a later stage of the study, improvements were implemented such as the introduction of new services, development of new process diagrams and improvements of the spare parts management strategy. To conclude the study, the new services were offered and presented to customers and the trial period for the new after sales methodology was started.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A Process to Implement an Artificial Neural Network and Association Rules Techniques to Improve Asset Performance and Energy Efficiency

In this paper, we address the problem of asset performance monitoring, with the intention of both detecting any potential reliability problem and predicting any loss of energy consumption e ciency. This is an important concern for many industries and utilities with very intensive capitalization in very long-lasting assets. To overcome this problem, in this paper we propose an approach to combine an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) with Data Mining (DM) tools, specifically with Association Rule (AR) Mining. The combination of these two techniques can now be done using software which can handle large volumes of data (big data), but the process still needs to ensure that the required amount of data will be available during the assets’ life cycle and that its quality is acceptable. The combination of these two techniques in the proposed sequence di ers from previous works found in the literature, giving researchers new options to face the problem. Practical implementation of the proposed approach may lead to novel predictive maintenance models (emerging predictive analytics) that may detect with unprecedented precision any asset’s lack of performance and help manage assets’ O&M accordingly. The approach is illustrated using specific examples where asset performance monitoring is rather complex under normal operational conditions.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad DPI2015-70842-

Methodology to Calculate the Costs of a Floating Offshore Renewable Energy Farm

This paper establishes a general methodology to calculate the life-cycle cost of floating offshore renewable energy devices, applying it to wave energy and wind energy devices. It is accounts for the contributions of the six main phases of their life-cycle: concept definition, design and development, manufacturing, installation, exploitation and dismantling, the costs of which have been defined. Moreover, the energy produced is also taken into account to calculate the Levelized Cost of Energy of a floating offshore renewable energy farm. The methodology proposed has been applied to two renewable energy devices: a floating offshore wave energy device and a floating offshore wind energy device. Two locations have been considered: Aguçadoura and São Pedro de Moel, both in Portugal. Results indicate that the most important cost in terms of the life-cycle of a floating offshore renewable energy farm is the exploitation cost, followed by the manufacturing and the installation cost. In addition, the best area in terms of costs is the same independently of the type of floating offshore renewable energy considered: Aguçadoura. However, the results in terms of Levelized Cost of Energy are different: Aguçadoura is better when considering wave energy technology and the São Pedro de Moel region is the best option when considering floating wind energy technology. The method proposed aims to give a direct approach to calculate the main life-cycle cost of a floating offshore renewable energy farm. It helps to assess its feasibility and evaluating the relevant characteristics that influence it the most

Analysis of Common Cause Failures Coupling Factors and Mechanics from Ageing Point of View

The investigation of ageing phenomenon impact on CCF potential was the main goal of Task 5 of the EC JRC Ageing PSA (APSA) Network. This report is devoted to investigation of close links between CCF potential and ageing, and provides expert opinions (based on the questionnaire answers) regarding connection between common cause failure potential and ageing phenomenon, as the influence of the individual prevention factors against CCF. In the questionnaire, two main topics were discussed: -What is the strength of relation between the individual CCF coupling factors (contributing to total CCF potential) and ageing phenomenon? -For those CCF coupling factors, which have been evaluated as coincident with ageing phenomenon (at least medium level of coincidence) - what is the effect of CCF prevention measures on the coupling factor versus ageing relation? A specific color scale was used to specify the strength value of CCF coupling factor and ageing phenomenon relation and to define the strength of potential influence of prevention factor on the strength of link between CCF potential and ageing phenomena. The strength value assigned in the table was commented (reflection in operational experience, assumptions etc.). The strength between CCF coupling factors and ageing and the influence of the individual prevention factors against CCF was evaluated based on available operational experience and expert judgments.JRC.F.5-Nuclear Reactor Safety Assessmen

Optimização da estratégia de serviço pós-venda da Peruza

The aim of the study is to develop and optimize the process of after-sales from PERUZA, a Latvian company inserted in the food industry specializes in manufacturing equipment for processing and transforming the fish. The company produces and commercializes its products in the Latvian market as well as in international markets such as Southeast Asia, Europe and North America. The after-sales activities of a manufacturing company plays an important role in the success of the business, as after the machine is purchased the quality of the service offered is the gate for new purchases and good feedbacks that spread among the markets and increase the reliability and reputation of both product and company. The project was developed based on a research-action methodology through a six-month internship in Latvia. During that period multiple activities were performed that allowed to acquire enough information and knowledge to develop a new strategy aiming to increase the after-sales revenues and the relationship with the existing clients. To begin the study, the current after-sales process was analyzed in order to identify the issues and possible improvement opportunities that could be implemented later on. From that analysis and after some discussions with the department managers it was carried an analysis that aimed to understand the customer's opinion of the current after-sales services offered. With the data collected and analyzed a series of improvement proposals was made and discussed with the company manager to obtain its approval for the further actions. At a later stage of the internship new improvements were implemented such as the introduction of new services, development of new process diagrams and optimizations of the spare parts management strategy. To conclude the study the new services were offered and presented to the customers and the trial period for the new after sales methodology started. During that time PERUZA collected information based on the feedback of the customers and continued to work on optimized the new strategy implemented, aiming to achieve a stage where the process is capable of increasing the company’s revenues as well as keeping a good reputation and reliability of its products and services offered.O objetivo do estudo é desenvolver e otimizar o processo de pós-venda da PERUZA, uma empresa letã inserida na indústria de alimentos, especializada na fabricação de equipamentos para processamento e transformação do peixe. A empresa produz e comercializa os seus produtos no mercado da Letónia, bem como em mercados internacionais como o Sudeste Asiático, Europa e América do Norte. As atividades de pós-venda de uma empresa de produção desempenham um papel importante no sucesso dos negócios, pois, após a compra da máquina, a qualidade do serviço oferecido é a porta para novas compras e bons feedbacks que se espalham pelos mercados e aumentam a confiança e reputação do produto e da empresa. O projeto foi desenvolvido com base numa metodologia de pesquisa-ação através de um estágio de seis meses na Letónia. Durante esse período, foram realizadas diversas atividades que permitiram adquirir informações e conhecimentos suficientes para desenvolver uma nova estratégia, visando aumentar as receitas pós-venda e o relacionamento com os clientes existentes. Para iniciar o estudo, o atual processo de pós-venda foi analisado para identificar os problemas e possíveis oportunidades de melhoria que poderiam ser implementadas posteriormente. A partir dessa análise e após algumas discussões com os gerentes de departamento, foi realizada uma análise que visava entender a opinião do cliente sobre os atuais serviços pós-venda oferecidos. Com os dados coletados e analisados, uma série de propostas de melhoria foram feitas e discutidas com o gerente da empresa para obter a sua aprovação para novas ações. Numa fase posterior do estágio, novas melhorias foram implementadas, como a introdução de novos serviços, o desenvolvimento de novos diagramas de processo e as otimizações da estratégia de gerenciamento de peças de reposição. Para concluir o estudo, os novos serviços foram oferecidos e apresentados aos clientes e o período de teste para a nova metodologia pós-venda foi iniciada. Durante esse período, a PERUZA coletou informações com base no feedback dos clientes e continuou a trabalhar na otimização da nova estratégia implementada, com o objetivo de alcançar uma etapa em que o processo seja capaz de aumentar as receitas da empresa, além de manter uma boa reputação e confiança dos seus produtos e serviços oferecidos