A review of e-maintenance capabilities and challenges

Within the era of e-manufacturing and e-business, e-maintenance provides the opportunity for a new maintenance generation. E-maintenance integrates existing telemaintenance principles, with web-services and modern e-collaboration principles. Collaboration allows not only to share and exchange information but also knowledge and (e)-intelligence. This paper outlines the basic capabilities provided by e-maintenance to companies as well as describes emerging challenges to benefit from these new operational improvement opportunitie

Maintenance management and operational support as services in reconfigurable manufacturing systems

Emergent architectures and paradigms targeting reconfigurable manufacturing systems increasingly rely on intelligent models to maximize the robustness and responsiveness of modern installations. Although intelligent behaviour significantly minimizes the occurrence of faults and breakdowns it does not exclude them nor can prevent equipment’s normal wear. Adequate maintenance is fundamental to extend equipments’ life cycle. It is of major importance the ability of each intelligent device to take an active role in maintenance support. This paper proposes a maintenance architecture supporting maintenance teams’ management and offering contextualized operational support. All the functionalities hosted by the architecture are offered to the remaining system as network services. Any intelligent module, implementing the services’ interface, can report diagnostic, prognostic and maintenance recommendations that enable the core of the platform to decide on the best course of action

AI and OR in management of operations: history and trends

The last decade has seen a considerable growth in the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for operations management with the aim of finding solutions to problems that are increasing in complexity and scale. This paper begins by setting the context for the survey through a historical perspective of OR and AI. An extensive survey of applications of AI techniques for operations management, covering a total of over 1200 papers published from 1995 to 2004 is then presented. The survey utilizes Elsevier's ScienceDirect database as a source. Hence, the survey may not cover all the relevant journals but includes a sufficiently wide range of publications to make it representative of the research in the field. The papers are categorized into four areas of operations management: (a) design, (b) scheduling, (c) process planning and control and (d) quality, maintenance and fault diagnosis. Each of the four areas is categorized in terms of the AI techniques used: genetic algorithms, case-based reasoning, knowledge-based systems, fuzzy logic and hybrid techniques. The trends over the last decade are identified, discussed with respect to expected trends and directions for future work suggested

Study of SMEs from electrical engineering industry providing smart services in the Czech Republic

Research background: A buzzword such as industry 4.0, digitalization and smart services are tracking economic news in recent time. The world has changed over the last decade from a mainly physical to software controlled economy. Many manufacturers provide a lot of accompanying services to their products. However, not all of them supply smart services with the expectation of achieving better performance, portfolio expansion and long-term cooperation with their customers. Purpose of the article: The aim of the paper is to find out differences between providers and non-providers of smart services and across subcategory of smart service providers in cooperation flexibility, innovation flexibility in product and accompanying services and performance. Methods: A quantitative research was held among 112 electro-technical SMEs in Czech Republic. The analysis is based on descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests to compare the differences in electrical industry and across providers of smart services in key areas. Findings & Value added: The findings show that the differences are statistically significant. The results in the field of electrical engineering suggest that the found diversity (patterns of behavior) could also help managers in this field and policies aimed at supporting the development of small businesses in this context

Does Provision of Smart Services Depend on Cooperation Flexibility, Innovation Flexibility, Innovation Performance or Business Performance in SMEs?

Many manufacturers provide a lot of accompanying services to their products. However, not all of them supply smart services, because the move towards these is not easy, especially for SMEs, which often struggle with a lack of money, insufficient digital technologies or unskilled employees. The aim of this paper is to find out if smart service provision depends on cooperation flexibility, innovation flexibility, innovation performance and business performance in SMEs. To fulfil the research aim, quantitative research was carried out among 112 Czech electrotechnical SMEs. The findings show that the higher the rating companies give to working with external customers, the less chance they have of providing smart services. Thus, SMEs who value cooperation flexibility with external customers as less important are more likely to provide smart services. The higher rating companies give to product innovation flexibility, the higher the chance for providing smart services. Thus, we can expect companies who value product innovation flexibility more highly to more likely deliver smart services

Drivers for Smart Servitization in Manufacturing Companies

Wireless communication technologies associated with the Internet of things (IoT) have started to be used also in manufacturing. Developing data-driven services by IoT also known as “smart services” in manufacturing business has become one of the current trends. Sensors enable IoT systems to provide intelligent and smart services during the shift towards smart production. Smart technologies have begun to be used also in agriculture by means of agricultural and farming applications. The aim of the paper is to determine why manufacturing companies have started to provide smart services with their products. A literature review presents the background of smart services in manufacturing companies as well in agriculture. For the empirical part, a qualitative multi-case study was conducted among seven Czech electrotechnical manufacturers and one Czech agricultural tractor manufacturer. All case companies have already begun with their smart service development. The findings indicate that manufactures usually decide by themselves to start with smart servitization, but the main categories of smart servitization drivers are connected to competitive advantage. The study is unique in highlighting the problems of smart services in SMEs in the Czech Republic, where the industrial sector is still dominant in comparison to other European countries.Wireless communication technologies associated with the Internet of things (IoT) have started to be used also in manufacturing. Developing data-driven services by IoT also known as “smart services” in manufacturing business has become one of the current trends. Sensors enable IoT systems to provide intelligent and smart services during the shift towards smart production. Smart technologies have begun to be used also in agriculture by means of agricultural and farming applications. The aim of the paper is to determine why manufacturing companies have started to provide smart services with their products. A literature review presents the background of smart services in manufacturing companies as well in agriculture. For the empirical part, a qualitative multi-case study was conducted among seven Czech electrotechnical manufacturers and one Czech agricultural tractor manufacturer. All case companies have already begun with their smart service development. The findings indicate that manufactures usually decide by themselves to start with smart servitization, but the main categories of smart servitization drivers are connected to competitive advantage. The study is unique in highlighting the problems of smart services in SMEs in the Czech Republic, where the industrial sector is still dominant in comparison to other European countries

Sistema inteligente de gestão da manutenção e suporte operacional

Dissertação apresentada na Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Engenharia Electrotécnica e ComputadoresActualmente, a área da manutenção tem assumido um papel cada vez mais relevante na produtividade e organização de uma empresa em questões de sustentabilidade, desempenho, qualidade e ambiente, tendo vindo a ser fundamental no aumento da competitividade e nas mudanças estratégicas face às inconstantes condições do mercado mundial. Graças às recentes evoluções tecnológicas e aos emergentes paradigmas, novas estratégias e métodos de manutenção são concebidos no contexto industrial. A aplicação da inteligência artificial e mecanismos de decisão nos sistemas de manutenção permitem detectar e prever a ocorrência de falhas nos processos de produção, evitando a quebra dos processos produtivos. No entanto, a falta de sistemas de suporte operacional evita o planeamento e uma maior capacidade de resposta dos operadores e técnicos nas operações de manutenção. Esta tese apresenta a concepção de um novo sistema inteligente de gestão de manutenção baseado no paradigma dos agentes e que oferece mecanismos e serviços de suporte operacional

Estratégias de implementação de plataformas de e-maintenance na indústria: desenvolvimento de uma aplicação para um sistema logístico de viaturas

Mestrado em Engenharia Electrotécnica – Sistemas Eléctricos de EnergiaA evolução tecnológica, com particular incidência nas tecnologias de informação, e a necessidade de uma integração cada vez mais profunda do sector da manutenção na gestão estratégica global da empresa, contribuíram para o aparecimento do fenómeno denominado e-maintenance. Para ir ao encontro das necessidades da empresa do futuro, os conceitos associados à manutenção deverão ser cada vez mais refinados e explorados, tais como a manutenção proactiva, a manutenção baseada em condições, a manutenção remota ou a manutenção colaborativa, entre outras. Neste trabalho o termo e-maintenance foi entendido como uma componente de suporte à manutenção, onde se incluem os recursos, serviços e actividades de gestão necessários para habilitar a execução de processos de decisão proactivos. O desenvolvimento de plataformas de e-maintenance, entendidas como a agregação de software, hardware e outras tecnologias que, integradas, oferecem um determinado serviço, foi determinante para a evolução deste conceito, na medida em que permitiu a estudantes, grupos de investigação ou empresas o aprofundamento das suas diversas valências. Contudo, quando se analisam as realidades concretas de algumas unidades industriais, verifica-se que a implementação de plataformas de emaintenance na indústria não é um processo simples, devido a vários factores, como a heterogeneidade de sistemas em funcionamento, custos envolvidos ou resistência à mudança. O presente trabalho tem por objectivo desenvolver uma aplicação que irá transformar um sistema automatizado de pesagem de viaturas, usado na indústria cimenteira em vários países, numa plataforma de e-maintenance. O sistema é baseado na monitorização constante da degradação dos componentes críticos e através de um sistema de alertas permite antecipar as falhas, enviando ordens de serviço a equipas de trabalho previamente definidas e com habilitações específicas. É ainda enviada a informação documental referente à intervenção, bem como ao conjunto de acessórios e peças de substituição necessários. A aplicação denomina-se SLV_EMAINT e foi desenvolvida na Framework SLV Cement da empresa Cachapuz. Foram desenvolvidos vários módulos, denominados e-team, e-doc e e-sparts, bem como o módulo de gestão da manutenção que permite definir e controlar todo o fluxo de informação. Um sistema de aquisição de dados faz o interface entre a componente física e o módulo de gestão. Foi desenvolvido um simulador digital para permitir verificar o comportamento do sistema em situação de degradação dos componentes ou de avaria efectiva.The technological evolution, with particular relevance in the information technologies, aside with the need for a deeper integration for the maintenance area in the global strategic management of the company, contributed for the emergence of the phenomenon called e-maintenance. To meet the needs of the company of the future, the concepts related to the maintenance should be gradually refined and exploited, such as Proactive Maintenance, Condition Based Maintenance, Remote Maintenance or Collaborative Maintenance, among others. In the present work, the term e-maintenance was understood as a maintenance support component, where are included the resources, services and management activities that are needed to enable the execution of proactive decision making processes. The development of e-maintenance platforms, understood as the aggregation of software, hardware and other technologies that, when integrated, offer a certain service, was determinant to the evolution of this concept, allowing students, investigation groups or companies to make deeper studies on the various aspects of the e-maintenance potentialities. However, when the concrete realities of some industrial facilities are analyzed, it’s verified that the implementation of e-maintenance platforms in industry is not an easy task, due several aspects such as heterogeneity of the active systems, costs involved or resistance to change. The present work has as objective the development of an application that will transform an automatic system of weighting vehicles, used by cement industry in several countries, in an e-maintenance platform. The system is based in the constant monitoring of the critical components degradation and, through an alert system will allow the anticipation of failures, sending service orders to previously defined work teams and with specific qualifications. The documents necessary to the intervention are send along, as well as the needed set of accessories and spare parts. The application is denominated SLV_EMAINT and was developed in the SLV Cement Framework, of the company Cachapuz. Several modules were developed, namely e-team, e-doc e e-sparts, as well as the maintenance management module, which allows the definition and control of all the information flow. A data acquisition system makes the interface between the physical component and the management module. A digital simulator was developed to allow the verification of the behavior of the system in the circumstances of degradation of components or effective failure

Décision collaborative dans les systèmes distribués : application à la e-maintenance

Depuis leur apparition, les Technologies d'Information et de Communication (TIC) ont intégré et fait évoluer les modes de travail des entreprises, avec les notions de e-service, de travail collaboratif, d'organisations distribuées et de mutualisation des connaissances. Nous considérons cette intégration des TIC à la fonction maintenance, activité clé de la performance des entreprises, largement pénétrée par ces technologies avec, par exemple, les concepts de e-maintenance. Nos objectifs sont d'analyser les processus décisionnels collaboratifs et l'influence des TIC sur ceux-ci et de proposer les moyens d'évaluer les performances d'un service de maintenance supporté par les TIC. La modélisation du problème revêt un aspect multidomaine, multivue et multiacteur et l'évaluation des performances est multicritère. Nous proposons, tout d'abord, une modélisation des situations de e-maintenance en nous appuyant sur la représentation des processus et en utilisant le formalisme objet, afin de mettre en évidence les composants clés des activités de e-maintenance et l'influence des TIC. Ensuite, nous étudions les activités de décision collaborative en analysant la logique de regroupement de centres de décision, supports des décisions et nous caractérisons les ressources immatérielles engagées. Enfin, nous proposons un cadre d'évaluation des performances des activités de e-maintenance et des modèles de représentation permettant de simuler des configurations d'engagement de ces ressources et de guider les choix d'organisation afférents