Proposing an alternative allocation algorithm for smartphones: the case of Forall Phones

The refurbished market has grown at a considerable pace in recent years. The development of this market is due to the efforts of several countries to move to circular resource consumption that defines a circular economy (Mugge, Jockin, & Bocken, 2017). This is possible by reducing the waste created and reusing materials that would end up in the waste that are used again as resources (European Commission, 2019). This change has been accepted by organizations and their customers who are beginning to see the refurbished market as a great opportunity. Companies see the opportunity to dispose of used product stocks and recover some of their value (Weelden, Bakker, & Mugge, 2016). Customers see the opportunity to buy fully functional products at a fraction of the original price. The development and growth of the refurbished market has been quite noticeable in the smartphone segment, including in Portugal, where Forall Phones has been excelling. It was in the logistics area, in the allocation of smartphones to sales channels, that this project was carried out (a key area for the company's performance), with the aim of improving the allocation of smartphones to sales channels. After mapping the processes, some opportunities for improvement were identified. Then feedback on the approach (designed to respond to opportunities for improvement) was applied and implemented in Excel. The approach was then compared with other approaches being afterwards suggested some recommendations to further improve its performance.O mercado dos recondicionados tem crescido a um ritmo considerável nos últimos anos. O desenvolvimento deste mercado deve-se ao esforço de vários países em mudar para um consumo circular de recursos que é o que define uma economia circular (Mugge, Jockin, & Bocken, 2017). Isto é possível ao reduzir-se o lixo criado e ao reaproveitar materiais que iriam parar ao lixo, voltando a usá-los como recursos (European Comission, 2019). Esta mudança tem sido aceite pelas organizações e pelos seus clientes que começam a ver o mercado dos recondicionados como uma grande oportunidade. As empresas vêem a oportunidade de escoar stocks de produtos usados e de recuperar parte do seu valor (Weelden, Bakker, & Mugge, 2016). Os clientes vêem a oportunidade de comprarem produtos completamente funcionais a uma fração do preço original. O desenvolvimento e crescimento do mercado dos recondicionados tem sido bastante notório no segmento dos smartphones, incluindo em Portugal, onde a Forall Phones tem sobressaído. Foi na área logística que este projecto foi realizado (uma área fulcral para a performance da empresa), sendo o objectivo melhorar a alocação de smartphones aos canais de venda. Após o mapeamento dos processos foram identificadas algumas oportunidades de melhoria. De seguida o feedback relativamente à abordagem (criada para dar resposta às oportunidades de melhoria) foi aplicado e esta foi implementada em Excel. A abordagem foi depois comparada com outras abordagens, sugerindo-se depois recomendações para melhorar ainda mais o seu desempenho

Demand Response in Smart Grids

The Special Issue “Demand Response in Smart Grids” includes 11 papers on a variety of topics. The success of this Special Issue demonstrates the relevance of demand response programs and events in the operation of power and energy systems at both the distribution level and at the wide power system level. This reprint addresses the design, implementation, and operation of demand response programs, with focus on methods and techniques to achieve an optimized operation as well as on the electricity consumer

Proceedings of the European Conference on Agricultural Engineering AgEng2021

This proceedings book results from the AgEng2021 Agricultural Engineering Conference under auspices of the European Society of Agricultural Engineers, held in an online format based on the University of Évora, Portugal, from 4 to 8 July 2021. This book contains the full papers of a selection of abstracts that were the base for the oral presentations and posters presented at the conference. Presentations were distributed in eleven thematic areas: Artificial Intelligence, data processing and management; Automation, robotics and sensor technology; Circular Economy; Education and Rural development; Energy and bioenergy; Integrated and sustainable Farming systems; New application technologies and mechanisation; Post-harvest technologies; Smart farming / Precision agriculture; Soil, land and water engineering; Sustainable production in Farm buildings

Time Localization of Abrupt Changes in Cutting Process using Hilbert Huang Transform

Cutting process is extremely dynamical process influenced by different phenomena such as chip formation, dynamical responses and condition of machining system elements. Different phenomena in cutting zone have signatures in different frequency bands in signal acquired during process monitoring. The time localization of signal’s frequency content is very important. An emerging technique for simultaneous analysis of the signal in time and frequency domain that can be used for time localization of frequency is Hilbert Huang Transform (HHT). It is based on empirical mode decomposition (EMD) of the signal into intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) as simple oscillatory modes. IMFs obtained using EMD can be processed using Hilbert Transform and instantaneous frequency of the signal can be computed. This paper gives a methodology for time localization of cutting process stop during intermittent turning. Cutting process stop leads to abrupt changes in acquired signal correlated to certain frequency band. The frequency band related to abrupt changes is localized in time using HHT. The potentials and limitations of HHT application in machining process monitoring are shown

Optimization of Operation Sequencing in CAPP Using Hybrid Genetic Algorithm and Simulated Annealing Approach

In any CAPP system, one of the most important process planning functions is selection of the operations and corresponding machines in order to generate the optimal operation sequence. In this paper, the hybrid GA-SA algorithm is used to solve this combinatorial optimization NP (Non-deterministic Polynomial) problem. The network representation is adopted to describe operation and sequencing flexibility in process planning and the mathematical model for process planning is described with the objective of minimizing the production time. Experimental results show effectiveness of the hybrid algorithm that, in comparison with the GA and SA standalone algorithms, gives optimal operation sequence with lesser computational time and lesser number of iterations

Optimization of Operation Sequencing in CAPP Using Hybrid Genetic Algorithm and Simulated Annealing Approach

In any CAPP system, one of the most important process planning functions is selection of the operations and corresponding machines in order to generate the optimal operation sequence. In this paper, the hybrid GA-SA algorithm is used to solve this combinatorial optimization NP (Non-deterministic Polynomial) problem. The network representation is adopted to describe operation and sequencing flexibility in process planning and the mathematical model for process planning is described with the objective of minimizing the production time. Experimental results show effectiveness of the hybrid algorithm that, in comparison with the GA and SA standalone algorithms, gives optimal operation sequence with lesser computational time and lesser number of iterations

Autonomous Navigation of Automated Guided Vehicle Using Monocular Camera

This paper presents a hybrid control algorithm for Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) consisting of two independent control loops: Position Based Control (PBC) for global navigation within manufacturing environment and Image Based Visual Servoing (IBVS) for fine motions needed for accurate steering towards loading/unloading point. The proposed hybrid control separates the initial transportation task into global navigation towards the goal point, and fine motion from the goal point to the loading/unloading point. In this manner, the need for artificial landmarks or accurate map of the environment is bypassed. Initial experimental results show the usefulness of the proposed approach.COBISS.SR-ID 27383808

Autonomous Navigation of Automated Guided Vehicle Using Monocular Camera

This paper presents a hybrid control algorithm for Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) consisting of two independent control loops: Position Based Control (PBC) for global navigation within manufacturing environment and Image Based Visual Servoing (IBVS) for fine motions needed for accurate steering towards loading/unloading point. The proposed hybrid control separates the initial transportation task into global navigation towards the goal point, and fine motion from the goal point to the loading/unloading point. In this manner, the need for artificial landmarks or accurate map of the environment is bypassed. Initial experimental results show the usefulness of the proposed approach.COBISS.SR-ID 27383808