777 research outputs found

    Measuring the level of supply chain robustness during construction mega-projects

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    Trop souvent, les mégaprojets sont complétés en retard et dépassent les budgets prévus. Néanmoins, il n’existe toujours pas de modèle unique, ni de cadre opératoire, ni de théorie holistique pouvant mesurer les performances et les productivités des divers activités lors de mégaprojets de construction. Une solution proposée par l’auteur de cette thèse est la formulation d'un artefact ou d'un design, appelé modèle de performance et de productivité de la construction (CPPM), qui intègre un cadre opératoire à partir des processus de la chaîne d'approvisionnement. Le modèle de performance et de productivité de la construction fait face à la problématique managériale avec la vision de développer une conception d’attributs et de facteurs clés qui rendrait l'industrie de la construction canadienne plus compétitive. Le cadre du modèle repose sur une approche de chaîne d’approvisionnement, et fournit des facteurs clés de succès en temps réel avec des attributs de performance et des mesures couvrant toutes les phases des mégaprojets. La recherche aux fils des ans a su évoluer grâce à la liberté d’adopter diverses méthodologies et d’étudier plusieurs théories. L’approche de la recherche en design-sciences a donc été choisie parce qu'elle englobe cette liberté académique dans le design managérial, l’approche théorique et l'environnement réel des mégaprojets. Le modèle “CPPM” a révélé que les attributs de performance et les facteurs clés de succès prédominant à l’artefact, étaient ceux reliés aux “EPCM Agility”, suivis des contrôles de coûts et ceux de la fiabilité des achats. L’auteur de cette thèse estime que la recherche entreprit lors de son doctorat a permis à la science de progresser. Cette thèse s'appuie sur ses sept constats liés à la gestion de mégaprojets, renforcée par quatre ans d’observations avec des experts de l’industrie, des entrevues semi-structurées et sondage, de même que la conception d’un modèle “CPPM” qui couvre toutes les phases et activités dans la gestion de mégaprojets. L’auteur a aussi établi un modèle qui est validé par une série de principes, de processus, d’évaluation, de contribution et de justification des connaissances, ainsi que l’originalité et l’inventivité d’un modèle qui est unique et novateur dans la littérature de la gestion de construction. Enfin, l’auteur conclut que l’artefact a atteint un niveau de cohérence que pour le chantier de construction sur lequel il a seulement été testé. Comprenant les limites du modèle, cette recherche offre à d’autres chercheurs l’occasion de renforcer ultérieurement la validité du modèle en le testant sur différents sites de construction.Abstract: Too often mega-projects are completed late and over budget. Nevertheless, there is no holistic model, nor any solid-proof framework, nor theories which measures performance and productivity pertaining to the construction activities. One solution proposed by the researcher, is the formulation of an artifact or design, known as the Construction Performance & Productivity Model (CPPM), which integrates a supply chain framework. The Construction Performance & Productivity Model seeks to attenuate the managerial problematic in the industry with the vision to develop a design that would make the Canadian construction industry more competitive. The framework of the model has a supply chain approach, provides real-time measurement with performance attributes and metrics that are pertinent to the construction industry. It is also friendly to users and covers all phases of construction mega-projects. The research over the years evolved from the freedom of adopting various methodologies and theories. The paradigm of Design-Science Research (DSR) was selected because it espouses this academic freedom in design, science and real-life environment. Through a Participant Observation (engineering phases) and Action Research (construction activities), using the SCOR Model as its base, enriched and minimised through a series of semi-structures interviews and one survey, the research found the most important performance attributes and metrics that performed best in the model (CPPM) were the ones belonging to the categories of EPCM Agility, followed by Project Controls and Procurement Reliability. The researcher believes this doctoral thesis has permitted the science to progress because its model (CPPM) relates its seven (7) constructs to megaprojects, reinforced by four (4) years of observations, is validated through a series of principles, processes, evaluation, contribution and justification knowledge. Moreover, the model’s originality and inventiveness are different from the ones found in construction literature. Finally, the researcher concludes the CPPM has achieved a level of consistency for the construction site it was only tested to it. Understanding the model’s limitations, this research offer opportunities to other scientists to further the model validity by testing it in different construction sites

    Movement Analytics: Current Status, Application to Manufacturing, and Future Prospects from an AI Perspective

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    Data-driven decision making is becoming an integral part of manufacturing companies. Data is collected and commonly used to improve efficiency and produce high quality items for the customers. IoT-based and other forms of object tracking are an emerging tool for collecting movement data of objects/entities (e.g. human workers, moving vehicles, trolleys etc.) over space and time. Movement data can provide valuable insights like process bottlenecks, resource utilization, effective working time etc. that can be used for decision making and improving efficiency. Turning movement data into valuable information for industrial management and decision making requires analysis methods. We refer to this process as movement analytics. The purpose of this document is to review the current state of work for movement analytics both in manufacturing and more broadly. We survey relevant work from both a theoretical perspective and an application perspective. From the theoretical perspective, we put an emphasis on useful methods from two research areas: machine learning, and logic-based knowledge representation. We also review their combinations in view of movement analytics, and we discuss promising areas for future development and application. Furthermore, we touch on constraint optimization. From an application perspective, we review applications of these methods to movement analytics in a general sense and across various industries. We also describe currently available commercial off-the-shelf products for tracking in manufacturing, and we overview main concepts of digital twins and their applications

    Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

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    Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

    Picking process improvement: The case of a company in the sporting goods retail sector

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    Although, with Covid-19, some sports-related activities were temporarily affected, the pandemic reinforced the importance of physical activity for a healthy life, resulting in a greater practice of sports both formally and informally, which had already been gaining more and more adherence in Portugal. Having said this, companies in the sports-related activity sectors must be prepared for this reality. Markets are increasingly competitive, it is essential to revise and improve processes in a continuous and systematic way. Order picking is one of the processes that most requires this effort, as it is one of the processes that involves more working hours and has a direct impact on the quality and efficiency of the entire supply chain. This is clearly the case at the logistics centre of Company X, particularly in the area of bulky items. In this sense, this study focuses on finding appropriate strategies to improve this process. With this objective in mind, and based on the literature review, a Business Process Improvement (BPI) approach was used. As an integral part of this approach, and also as a consequence of the literature review, it was proposed an improvement solution that involves the replacement of the current pick-by-label method with pick-by-tablet combined with RFID technology as a confirmation method. All the analyses performed lead to the conclusion that this proposal may represent significant improvements in terms of process efficiency and effectiveness, thus meeting the objectives established for the project.Apesar de, com a Covid-19, algumas atividades ligadas ao desporto terem sido temporariamente afetadas, a pandemia veio reforçar a importância da atividade física para uma vida saudável, resultando numa maior prática de desporto tanto a nível formal como informal, que já vinham a ganhar cada vez mais adesão em Portugal. Dito isto, as empresas nos setores de atividades ligadas à prática desportiva devem estar preparadas para esta realidade. Os mercados são cada vez mais competitivos, é fundamental rever e melhorar os processos de uma forma contínua e sistemática. Order picking é um dos processos que mais exige este esforço, pois é um dos processos que implica mais horas de trabalho e tem um impacto direto na qualidade e eficiência de toda a cadeia de abastecimento. Este é claramente o caso no centro logístico da Empresa X, mais concretamente na área dos artigos volumosos. Neste sentido, o presente estudo foca-se em encontrar estratégias apropriadas que permitam melhorar este processo. Tendo em conta este objetivo, e com base na revisão de literatura, foi usada uma abordagem de Business Process Improvement (BPI). Como parte integrante desta abordagem, e também como consequência da revisão de literatura, foi proposta uma solução de melhoria que passa pela substituição do atual método de pick-by-label por pick-by-tablet juntamente com tecnologia RFID como método de confirmação. Todas as análises efetuadas permitem concluir que esta proposta poderá representar melhorias significativas no que diz respeito à eficiência e eficácia do processo, indo assim de encontro aos objetivos estabelecidos para o projeto

    Methodology for Testing RFID Applications

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    Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a promising technology for process automation and beyond that capable of identifying objects without the need for a line-of-sight. However, the trend towards automatic identification of objects also increases the demand for high quality RFID applications. Therefore, research on testing RFID systems and methodical approaches for testing are needed. This thesis presents a novel methodology for the system level test of RFID applications. The approach called ITERA, allows for the automatic generation of tests, defines a semantic model of the RFID system and provides a test environment for RFID applications. The method introduced can be used to gradually transform use cases into a semi-formal test specification. Test cases are then systematically generated, in order to execute them in the test environment. It applies the principle of model based testing from a black-box perspective in combination with a virtual environment for automatic test execution. The presence of RFID tags in an area, monitored by an RFID reader, can be modelled by time-based sets using set-theory and discrete events. Furthermore, the proposed description and semantics can be used to specify RFID systems and their applications, which might also be used for other purposes than testing. The approach uses the Unified Modelling Language to model the characteristics of the system under test. Based on the ITERA meta model test execution paths are extracted directly from activity diagrams and RFID specific test cases are generated. The approach introduced in this thesis allows to reduce the efforts for RFID application testing by systematically generating test cases and the automatic test execution. In combination with meta model and by considering additional parameters, like unreliability factors, it not only satisfies functional testing aspects, but also increases the confidence in the robustness of the tested application. Mixed with the instantly available virtual readers, it has the potential to speed up the development process and decrease the costs - even during the early development phases. ITERA can be used for highly automated testing, reproducible tests and because of the instantly available readers, even before the real environment is deployed. Furthermore, the total control of the RFID environment enables to test applications which might be difficult to test manually. This thesis will explain the motivation and objectives of this new RFID application test methodology. Based on a RFID system analysis it proposes a practical solution on the identified issues. Further, it gives a literature review on testing fundamentals, model based test case generation, the typical components of a RFID system and RFID standards used in industry.Integrative Test-Methodology for RFID Applications (ITERA) - Project: Eurostars!5516 ITERA, FKZ 01QE1105

    Selected Papers from the 5th International Electronic Conference on Sensors and Applications

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    This Special Issue comprises selected papers from the proceedings of the 5th International Electronic Conference on Sensors and Applications, held on 15–30 November 2018, on sciforum.net, an online platform for hosting scholarly e-conferences and discussion groups. In this 5th edition of the electronic conference, contributors were invited to provide papers and presentations from the field of sensors and applications at large, resulting in a wide variety of excellent submissions and topic areas. Papers which attracted the most interest on the web or that provided a particularly innovative contribution were selected for publication in this collection. These peer-reviewed papers are published with the aim of rapid and wide dissemination of research results, developments, and applications. We hope this conference series will grow rapidly in the future and become recognized as a new way and venue by which to (electronically) present new developments related to the field of sensors and their applications

    Location tracking in indoor and outdoor environments based on the viterbi principle

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    Development of a Prognostic Method for the Production of Undeclared Enriched Uranium

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    As global demand for nuclear energy and threats to nuclear security increase, the need for verification of the peaceful application of nuclear materials and technology also rises. In accordance with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the International Atomic Energy Agency is tasked with verification of the declared enrichment activities of member states. Due to the increased cost of inspection and verification of a globally growing nuclear energy industry, remote process monitoring has been proposed as part of a next-generation, information-driven safeguards program. To further enhance this safeguards approach, it is proposed that process monitoring data may be used to not only verify the past but to anticipate the future via prognostic analysis. While prognostic methods exist for health monitoring of physical processes, the literature is absent of methods to predict the outcome of decision-based events, such as the production of undeclared enriched uranium. This dissertation introduces a method to predict the time at which a significant quantity of unaccounted material is expected to be diverted during an enrichment process. This method utilizes a particle filter to model the data and provide a Type III (degradation-based) prognostic estimate of time to diversion of a significant quantity. Measurement noise for the particle filter is estimated using historical data and may be updated with Bayesian estimates from the analyzed data. Dynamic noise estimates are updated based on observed changes in process data. The reliability of the prognostic model for a given range of data is validated via information complexity scores and goodness of fit statistics. The developed prognostic method is tested using data produced from the Oak Ridge Mock Feed and Withdrawal Facility, a 1:100 scale test platform for developing gas centrifuge remote monitoring techniques. Four case studies are considered: no diversion, slow diversion, fast diversion, and intermittent diversion. All intervals of diversion and non-diversion were correctly identified and significant quantity diversion time was accurately estimated. A diversion of 0.8 kg over 85 minutes was detected after 10 minutes and predicted to be 84 minutes and 10 seconds after 46 minutes and 40 seconds with an uncertainty of 2 minutes and 52 seconds

    Ubiquitous Computing

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    The aim of this book is to give a treatment of the actively developed domain of Ubiquitous computing. Originally proposed by Mark D. Weiser, the concept of Ubiquitous computing enables a real-time global sensing, context-aware informational retrieval, multi-modal interaction with the user and enhanced visualization capabilities. In effect, Ubiquitous computing environments give extremely new and futuristic abilities to look at and interact with our habitat at any time and from anywhere. In that domain, researchers are confronted with many foundational, technological and engineering issues which were not known before. Detailed cross-disciplinary coverage of these issues is really needed today for further progress and widening of application range. This book collects twelve original works of researchers from eleven countries, which are clustered into four sections: Foundations, Security and Privacy, Integration and Middleware, Practical Applications
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