Sustainable supply chain management in the digitalisation era: The impact of Automated Guided Vehicles

Internationalization of markets and climate change introduce multifaceted challenges for modern supply chain (SC) management in the today's digitalisation era. On the other hand, Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) systems have reached an age of maturity that allows for their utilization towards tackling dynamic market conditions and aligning SC management focus with sustainability considerations. However, extant research only myopically tackles the sustainability potential of AGVs, focusing more on addressing network optimization problems and less on developing integrated and systematic methodological approaches for promoting economic, environmental and social sustainability. To that end, the present study provides a critical taxonomy of key decisions for facilitating the adoption of AGV systems into SC design and planning, as these are mapped on the relevant strategic, tactical and operational levels of the natural hierarchy. We then propose the Sustainable Supply Chain Cube (S2C2), a conceptual tool that integrates sustainable SC management with the proposed hierarchical decision-making framework for AGVs. Market opportunities and the potential of integrating AGVs into a SC context with the use of the S2C2 tool are further discussed

Docking solutions for smart autonomous mobile units

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Eletrónica Industrial e ComputadoresDocking solutions are key in the development of smart autonomous vehicles for industrial applications. Throughout the course of every autonomous vehicle workflow inside a factory, there will be moments where parking or picking cargo is needed. As these maneuvers require a precise positioning, without a correct approach, the maneuvers become ineffective jeopardizing all the automation of the process and as result, the maneuver success. Collaborating with the team of the sub-project P24 ”Autonomous Milk-Runs” result of a partnership between University of Minho and Bosch Car Multimedia Portugal S.A., this dissertation aims to conceive and develop docking maneuvers solutions for one of the prototype smart autonomous units, the stacker vehicles. In Bosch’s Braga Plant (BrgP) factory stacker vehicles are required to deliver packagings material and move finished goods within different areas on the warehouse. Stackers will then need to pick the products placed on pallets at the production lines end as the established workflow requires. This area consists in a long and narrow corridor where the stacker vehicles will need to maneuver correctly in order to pick the targeted pallets signalized by logistics. To develop a docking solution, the study of mobile vehicles kinematics, the development of behavioral based dynamics and the implementation of a pallet detection algorithm was needed to match the factory workflow and requirements. The proposed solution allows the stacker vehicles to respect their workspace constraints, with docking capabilities under multiple circumstances.Soluções de acostagem são importantes no desenvolvimento de veículos autónomos para aplicações industriais. Durante o curso das tarefas de um veículo autónomo dentro de uma fábrica, irão existir momentos em que parqueamento e o levantamento de cargas é necessário. Como estas manobras requerem um posicionamento preciso, se a abordagem não for a mais correta, as mesmas tornam-se obsoletas, colocando em causa toda a automatização do processo e, como consequência, o seu sucesso. Colaborando com a equipa do sub-projeto P24 ”Autonomous Milk-Runs” resultante da parceria entre a Universidade do Minho e a Bosch Car Multimedia Portugal S.A., esta dissertação aponta à conceção e desenvolvimento de soluções para manobras de acoplamento para uma das unidades autónomas inteligentes em análise, os empilhadores. Na fábrica da Bosch Braga Plant (BrgP), é requerido aos veículos empilhadores a entrega de bens finalizados dentro de diferentes áreas no armazém. Os empilhadores deverão então levantar os produtos colocados em paletes no final da linhas de produção, tal como o fluxo de trabalho estabelecido para estes indica. Esta área consiste em um longo e apertado corredor, onde os veículos empilhadores irão necessitar de manobrar corretamente de modo a levantar as paletes alvo sinalizadas pela logística. Para a desenvolver uma solução de acoplamento, o estudo da cinemática de veículos móveis, o desenvolvimento de uma dinâmica baseada em comportamento e a implementação de um algoritmo de deteção de paletes foram necessários de modo a cumprir com os requisitos e fluxo de trabalho impostos pela empresa. A solução proposta permite aos veículos empilhadores respeitarem o seu espaço de trabalho, tendo capacidade de acoplamento para circunstâncias múltiplas

Case Studies of Automation in Services. A workplace analysis of logistics, cleaning and health sectors in Italy

A full understanding of the technological complexity underlying robotics and automation is still lacking, most of all when focusing on the impacts on work in services. By means of a qualitative analysis relying on the administration of more than 50 interviews to HR managers, IT technicians, workers and trade union delegates, this work provides evidence on the main changes occurring at shopfloor level in selected Italian companies having adopted technological artefacts potentially affecting labour tasks by automating processes. The analysis of interviews complemented with visits to the companies and desk research on business documents highlights that so far labour displacement due to the adoption of automation technologies is not yet in place, while tasks and organizational reconfiguration appear more widespread. Major heterogeneity applies across plants due to the final product/service produced, the techno-organizational capabilities of the firm and the type of strategic orientation versus technological adoption. These elements also affect drivers and barriers to technological adoption. Overall, the analysis confirms the complexity in automating presumably low-valueadded phases: human labour remains crucial in conducting activities that require flexibility, adaptability and reconfiguration of physical tasks. Further, human agency and worker representation, in particular the role of trade unions, are almost disregarded and not considered by the firms when deciding to introduce a new technology

Case studies of automation in services

A full understanding of the technological complexity underlying robotics and automation is still lacking, most of all when focusing on the impacts on work in services. By means of a qualitative analysis based on over 50 interviews to HR managers, IT technicians, workers and trade union delegates, this work provides evidence on the main changes occurring at shopfloor level in selected Italian companies having adopted technological artefacts potentially affecting labour tasks by automating processes. The analysis of interviews complemented with visits to the companies and desk research on business documents highlights that so far labour displacement due to the adoption of automation technologies is not yet in place, while tasks and organizational reconfiguration appear more widespread. Major heterogeneity applies across plants due to the final product/service produced, the techno-organizational capabilities of the firm and the type of strategic orientation versus technological adoption. These elements also affect drivers and barriers to technological adoption. Overall, the analysis confirms the complexity in automating presumably low-value-added phases: human labour remains crucial in conducting activities that require flexibility, adaptability and reconfiguration of physical tasks. Further, human agency and worker representation, in particular the role of trade unions, are almost disregarded and not considered by the firms when deciding to introduce a new technology

Design and Simulation Analysis of Deep Learning Based Approaches and Multi-Attribute Algorithms for Warehouse Task Selection

With the growth and adoption of global supply chains and internet technologies, warehouse operations have become more demanding. Particularly, the number of orders being processed over a given time frame is drastically increasing, leading to more work content. This makes operational tasks, such as material retrieval and storage, done manually more inefficient. To improve system-level warehouse efficiency, collaborating Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) are needed. Several design challenges encompass an AV, some critical aspects are navigation, path planning, obstacle avoidance, task selection decisions, communication, and control systems. The current study addresses the warehouse task selection problem given a dynamic pending task list and considering multiple attributes: distance, traffic, collaboration, and due date, using situational decision-making approaches. The study includes the design and analysis of two situational decision-making approaches for multi-attribute dynamic warehouse task selection: Deep Learning Approach for Multi-Attribute Task Selection (DLT) and Situation based Greedy (SGY) algorithm that uses a traditional algorithmic approach. The two approaches are designed and analyzed in the current work. Further, they are evaluated using a simulation-based experiment. The results show that both the DLT and SGY have potential and are effective in comparison to the earliest due date first and shortest travel distance-based rules in addressing the multi-attribute task selection needs of a warehouse operation under the given experimental conditions and trade-offs

Production Engineering and Management

It is our pleasure to introduce the 8th edition of the International Conference on Production Engineering and anagement (PEM), an event that is the result of the joint effort of the OWL University of Applied Sciences and the University of Trieste. The conference has been established as an annual meeting under the Double Degree Master Program “Production Engineering and Management” by the two partner universities. This year the conference is hosted at the university campus in Lemgo, Germany. The main goal of the conference is to offer students, researchers and professionals in Germany, Italy and abroad, an opportunity to meet and exchange information, discuss experiences, specific practices and technical solutions for planning, design, and management of manufacturing and service systems and processes. As always, the conference is a platform aimed at presenting research projects, introducing young academics to the tradition of symposiums and promoting the exchange of ideas between the industry and the academy. This year’s special focus is on Supply Chain Design and Management in the context of Industry 4.0, which are currently major topics of discussion among experts and professionals. In fact, the features and problems of Industry 4.0 have been widely discussed in the last editions of the PEM conference, in which sustainability and efficiency also emerged as key factors. With the further study and development of Direct Digital Manufacturing technologies in connection with new Management Practices and Supply Chain Designs, the 8th edition of the PEM conference aims to offer new and interesting scientific contributions. The conference program includes 25 speeches organized in seven sessions. Two are specifically dedicated to “Direct Digital Manufacturing in the context of Industry 4.0”. The other sessions are covering areas of great interest and importance to the participants of the conference, which are related to the main focus: “Supply Chai n Design and Management”, “Industrial Engineering and Lean Management”, “Wood Processing Technologies and Furniture Production”, and “Management Practices and Methodologies”. The proceedings of the conference include the articles submitted and accepted after a careful double-blind refereeing process

A distributed framework for the control and cooperation of heterogeneous mobile robots in smart factories.

Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.The present consumer market is driven by the mass customisation of products. Manufacturers are now challenged with the problem of not being able to capture market share and gain higher profits by producing large volumes of the same product to a mass market. Some businesses have implemented mass customisation manufacturing (MCM) techniques as a solution to this problem, where customised products are produced rapidly while keeping the costs at a mass production level. In addition to this, the arrival of the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) enables the possibility of establishing the decentralised intelligence of embedded devices to detect and respond to real-time variations in the MCM factory. One of the key pillars in the Industry 4.0, smart factory concept is Advanced Robotics. This includes cooperation and control within multiple heterogeneous robot networks, which increases flexibility in the smart factory and enables the ability to rapidly reconfigure systems to adapt to variations in consumer product demand. Another benefit in these systems is the reduction of production bottleneck conditions where robot services must be coordinated efficiently so that high levels of productivity are maintained. This study focuses on the research, design and development of a distributed framework that would aid researchers in implementing algorithms for controlling the task goals of heterogeneous mobile robots, to achieve robot cooperation and reduce bottlenecks in a production environment. The framework can be used as a toolkit by the end-user for developing advanced algorithms that can be simulated before being deployed in an actual system, thereby fast prototyping the system integration process. Keywords: Cooperation, heterogeneity, multiple mobile robots, Industry 4.0, smart factory, manufacturing, middleware, ROS, OPC, framework

On-Board Electronic Control Systems of Future Automated Heavy Machinery

The level of automation and wireless communication has increased in heavy machinery recently. This requires utilizing new devices and communication solutions in heavy machinery applications which involve demanding operating conditions and challenging life-cycle management. Therefore, the applied devices have to be robust and hardware architectures flexible, consisting of generic modules. In research and development projects devices that have various communication interfaces and insufficient mechanical and electrical robustness need to be applied. Although this thesis has its main focus on machines utilized as research platforms, many of the challenges are similar with commercial machines.The applicability of typical solutions for data transfer is discussed. Controller area network with a standardized higher level protocol is proposed to be applied where data signalling rates above 1 Mb/s are not required. The main benefits are the availability of robust, generic devices and well-established software tools for configuration management. Ethernet can be utilized to network equipment with high data rates, typically used for perception. Although deterministic industrial Ethernet protocols would fulfil most requirements, the conventional internet protocol suite is likely to be applied due to device availability.Sometimes sensors and other devices without a suitable communication interface need to be applied. In addition, device-related real-time processing or accurate synchronization of hardware signals may be required. A small circuit board with a microcontroller can be utilized as a generic embedded module for building robust, small and cost-efficient prototype devices that have a controller area network interface. Although various microcontroller boards are commercially available, designing one for heavy machinery applications, in particular, has benefits in robustness, size, interfaces, and flexible software development. The design of such a generic embedded module is presented.The device-specific challenges of building an automated machine are discussed. Unexpected switch-off of embedded computers has to be prevented by the control system to avoid file system errors. Moreover, the control system has to protect the batteries against deep discharge when the engine is not running. With many devices, protective enclosures with heating or cooling are required.The electronic control systems of two automated machines utilized as research platforms are presented and discussed as examples. The hardware architectures of the control systems are presented, following the proposed communication solutions as far as is feasible. Several applications of the generic embedded module within the control systems are described. Several research topics have been covered utilizing the automated machines. In this thesis, a cost-efficient operator-assisting functionality of an excavator is presented and discussed in detail.The results of this thesis give not only research institutes but also machine manufacturers and their subcontractors an opportunity to streamline the prototyping of automated heavy machinery

INDUSTRY 4.0: glitter or gold? A systematic review

Publications on the fourth industrial revolution have skyrocketed since its establishment in 2011, both in academic and non-academic channels. Even though their measurable results have been published in non-academic material, especially among industry and business reports, within the academia it is still unclear how they are shown. This study aims to review and analyse the presence of industrial results within the academic context in a systematic manner by using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) methodology. The findings indicate an increase trend of this type of publication within the academia and further directions are suggested