A Method to Assess Value of Integrated Operations

Integrated operations in the petroleum industry adopt information technology, improve access to real-time data, integrate people and organizations, change work processes, and by doing so, enable better and faster decisions. Consequently, a set of associated business benefits is envisioned. However, the challenge is how to measure them. In this paper, we propose a pragmatic decision analytic method to assess monetary value of integrated operations. The proposed method builds on findings from contemporary literature that emphasizes the need to assess information technology in a broader context of organizational structures and work processes. The method therefore has a built in qualitative assessment of collaborative competence that provides indispensible insights to risks associated with a particular change management project. Yet, it allows for calculating monetary value by integrated formal decision analysis. Feasibility of the method is illustrated by an illustrative case from integrated and collaborative monitoring of offshore operations

Integration of end-of-life options as a design criterion in methods and tools for ecodesign

Ecodesigning a product consists (amongst other things) in assessing what its environmental impacts will be throughout its life (that is to say from its design phase to its end of life), in order to limit them. Some tools and methods exist to (eco)design a product, just like methods that assess its environmental impacts (more often, a posteriori). But it is now well accepted that these are the early design decisions that will initiate the greatest consequences on the product’s end-of-life options and their impacts. Thus, the present work aims at analysing traditional design tools, so as to integrate end-of-life possibilities in the form of recommendations for the design step. This proposal will be illustrated by means of a wind turbine design.EcoSD networ

Virtual Integration Platforms (VIP) –A Concept for Integrated and Interdisciplinary Air Transportation Research and Assessment

The paper descibes a new methodology for a holistic development of air transportation concepts. The Virtual Integration Plattform (VIP) concept is based on an IT tool chain as well as human collaborative methods to deal with complex systems. As a result the definitions of future air transportation concepts for short range "Quiet and Clean", long range "Comfortable and Clean" and individual transport "Fast and Flexible" are presente

Fatigue evaluation in maintenance and assembly operations by digital human simulation

Virtual human techniques have been used a lot in industrial design in order to consider human factors and ergonomics as early as possible. The physical status (the physical capacity of virtual human) has been mostly treated as invariable in the current available human simulation tools, while indeed the physical capacity varies along time in an operation and the change of the physical capacity depends on the history of the work as well. Virtual Human Status is proposed in this paper in order to assess the difficulty of manual handling operations, especially from the physical perspective. The decrease of the physical capacity before and after an operation is used as an index to indicate the work difficulty. The reduction of physical strength is simulated in a theoretical approach on the basis of a fatigue model in which fatigue resistances of different muscle groups were regressed from 24 existing maximum endurance time (MET) models. A framework based on digital human modeling technique is established to realize the comparison of physical status. An assembly case in airplane assembly is simulated and analyzed under the framework. The endurance time and the decrease of the joint moment strengths are simulated. The experimental result in simulated operations under laboratory conditions confirms the feasibility of the theoretical approach

Inventory analysis of the timber industry in Ghana

Background, aim, and scope The timber sector, i.e., forestry and timber industry, plays an important role in the socioeconomic development of Ghana through timber products export. Timber production in this sector is associated with increasing environmental burdens in terms of use of materials and energy, production of emissions and waste, and land use changes. The purpose of this study was to compile a comprehensive life cycle inventory (LCI) to identify the most dominant environmental pressures for five major production lines in the timber industry, and to evaluate the influence of the choice of the functional unit on the results (1 m3, 1 kg, and 1 euro). LCA’s of wood typically base their functional unit on volume, but mass or money may be more appropriate for the rather different products considered in this study. Materials and methods The LCI covers five timber production lines, namely, air-dried lumber, kiln-dried lumber, plywood, veneer, and furniture parts. Three functional units were used for this study to identify the most appropriate basis for a fair comparison of the different timber products (functional units were 1 m3, 1 kg and 1 euro). Questionnaires were administered to thirty selected companies in Ghana. These companies provided data about their material uses, energy requirements, and waste production for their operations from 2000 to 2007. The collected data were first converted into total annual average values, and next extrapolated to reflect the national average data for all 104 active companies. Finally, these data were expressed per functional unit for each of the five product lines on the basis of their production outputs (in volume, mass or money according to functional unit applied). Forest land used changes data was taken from the Ghana Timber Industry Development Division. Emissions for the several activities were taken from literature. Results and discussion Land use change for timber production in Ghana between the estimated periods turned out to be 34.0¿×¿103 ha per year, which will lead to complete deforestation in the year 2023 if continued. The total energy consumed by the timber sector per year was estimated at 1.9¿×¿109 MJ per year. The results showed that CO2 emissions by the timber sector activities per year accounted for 745k tons per year and dominate overall greenhouse gases emissions in the timber sector (changes in carbons storage related to land use changes not included). Wood waste by the timber sector accounted for 0.8 million m3 per year. The enormous wastage of wood contributes enormously to the rapid depletion of the country’s timber resources. The choice of the functional unit influences inventory results. The money-based functional unit, which also seems more appropriate for the different products considered, favors the value-added. Value-added products with strict sustainable forest management policy hold a promising future in terms of sustainability for the timber industry in Ghana. Conclusions This study has yielded good quality primary data unique for LCA research in Africa. This will enhance LCA approaches in Ghana, and allows here identification of the main environmental pressures and their dominantly contributing processes in the timber sector. Land use changes due to forestry form a critical issue and require urgent attention. The chosen functional units’ plays a crucial role in the environmental comparison of production line in the timber sector in Ghana. Recommendations and perspectives A comprehensive and transparent inventory for the timber industry provides the industry with an overview of areas in which material and thus economic savings can be made for the good of both environment and the industry finances. Good data keeping in the Ghanaian timber industry will help to build the required research capacity to develop local familiarity and competence in LCA techniques and applying these techniques will help to further certify tropical timber international markets