System simulation and modeling of electronics demanufacturing facilities

Over the last decade, pressure on the electronic industry has been increasing as concerns for product take-back, product stewardship and global warming have continued to grow. Various end-of-life management options are being expanded including recycling to recapture values from basic materials through reengineering and recovery of subassemblies and individual components for remanufacturing. While progress has been reported on life cycle assessment (LCA), disassembly planning, design for disassembly, and design for environment (DFE), very little research has been focused on demanufacturing from a systems perspective. The objective of this thesis is to build an interface between the user who knows the demanufacturing operation and a software engine, which performs the simulation, collects detailed operational data, and displays results. This thesis bridges the gap between the requirement of hard core simulation knowledge and demanufacturing terminology to present a computerized software tool. Arena, a commercially available discrete event simulation software, acts as an engine for performing these simulations. The developed software tool for demanufacturing contains objects necessary for facility layout, systematic workflow and simulation of the facility. Each object refers to a specific demanufacturing activity and uses detailed simulation logic behind its design to perform that activity. The user selects and locates these objects to layout the facility for a graphical representation of the demanufacturing operation. Objects provide a user screen to input necessary data for the complete description of the activity and its operational characteristics. By simulating the facility for various scenarios, the demanufacturer can compare different options for improving operations, resource utilization, equipment and layout changes. To examine improvement options from an economic perspective a first-order model of demanufacturing costs has been developed and integrated with the simulation software. An activity based unit cost model is used to identify fixed and variable costs associated with each product demanufactured. A small electronics demanufacturing facility was observed and evaluated to validate the simulation modeling and operational logic. The application illustrates the usefulness of demanufacturing system simulation tool to manage and improve the overall efficiency of facilities for economical operation. In summary, a computer-base tool for simulating demanufacturing facility from a systems perspective has been developed and validated. An activity based cost model has been integrated with the simulation to give demanufacturers the ability to examine the full operational and economic trade-offs associated with the business

On Discrete-Event Simulation and Integration in the Manufacturing System Development Process

DES is seldom used in the manufacturing system development process, instead it is usually used to cure problems in existent systems. This has the effect that the simulation study alone is considered being the cost driver for the analysis of the manufacturing system. It is argued that this is not a entirely correct view since the analysis has to be performed anyway, and the cost directly related to the simulation study is mainly in the model realization phase. It is concluded that it is preferred if the simulation study life cycle coincides with the corresponding manufacturing system's life cycle to increase the usability of the simulation model and to increase efficiency in the simulation study process. A model is supplied to be used for management and engineering process improvements and for improvements of the organizational issues to support simulation activities. By institutionalizing and utilizing well defined processes the conceived complexity related to DES is considered to be reduced over time. Cost is highly correlated to the time consumed in a simulation study. The presented methodology tries to reduce time consumption and lead-time in the simulation study by: (i)~reducing redundant work, (ii)~reducing rework, and (iii)~moving labor intensive activities forward in time. To reduce the time to collect and analyze input data a framework is provided that aims at delivering high granularity input data without dependencies. The input data collection framework is designed to provide data for operation and analysis of the manufacturing system in several domains. To reduce the model realization time two approaches are presented. The first approach supplies a set of modules that enables parameterized models of automated subassembly systems. The second approach builds and runs the simulation model based on a copy of an MRP database, i.e. there is no manual intervention required to build the simulation model. The approach is designed to forecast the performance of an entire enterprise. Since the model is generated from a database, the approach is highly scalable. Furthermore, the maintenance of the simulation model is reduced considerably

Implementation of Computer Control in Control Loop Process

Process Control refers to the application of control technology components in order to achieve greater process stability, improved product specifications and yield, and to increase efficiency. In this work, in implementing a process control, Fieldbus technology is used on a simple control loop process. In definition, Fieldbus is a digital, two way communication link between controls where this technology is different with the 4-20mA Analog communication. The process control of desired plant is identified and depicted using P&ID. Then it is converted to the Function Block Diagram, by which the process control loop can be configured using SMAR SYSCON SYSTEM CONFIGURA TOR & ICONICS GEN32 Enterprise Edition. All related instruments and devices are initialized and configured using the same application. Finally, the performance of the process control using Fieldbus communication is monitore

Developing a Discrete Event Simulation Methodology to support a Six Sigma Approach for Manufacturing Organization - Case study.

YesCompetition in the manufacturing industry is growing at an accelerated rate due to globalization trend. This global competition urges manufacturing organizations to review and improve their processes in order to enhance and maintain their competitive advantage. One of those initiatives is the implementation of the Six Sigma methodology to analyze and reduce variation hence improving the processes of manufacturing organizations. This paper presents a Discrete Event Simulation methodology to support a Six Sigma approach for manufacturing organizations. Several approaches to implement Six Sigma focus on improving time management and reducing cycle time. However, these efforts may fail in their effective and practical implementation to achieve the desired results. Following the proposed methodology, a Discrete Event Simulation model was built to assist decision makers in understanding the behavior of the current manufacturing process. This approach helps to systematically define, measure and analyze the current state process to test different scenarios to improve performance. The paper is amongst the first to offer a simulation methodology to support a process improvement approach. It applies an action research strategy to develop and validate the proposed modelling methodology in a British manufacturing organization competing in global markets

Uses and applications of artificial intelligence in manufacturing

The purpose of the THESIS is to provide engineers and personnels with a overview of the concepts that underline Artificial Intelligence and Expert Systems. Artificial Intelligence is concerned with the developments of theories and techniques required to provide a computational engine with the abilities to perceive, think and act, in an intelligent manner in a complex environment. Expert system is branch of Artificial Intelligence where the methods of reasoning emulate those of human experts. Artificial Intelligence derives it\u27s power from its ability to represent complex forms of knowledge, some of it common sense, heuristic and symbolic, and the ability to apply the knowledge in searching for solutions. The Thesis will review : The components of an intelligent system, The basics of knowledge representation, Search based problem solving methods, Expert system technologies, Uses and applications of AI in various manufacturing areas like Design, Process Planning, Production Management, Energy Management, Quality Assurance, Manufacturing Simulation, Robotics, Machine Vision etc. Prime objectives of the Thesis are to understand the basic concepts underlying Artificial Intelligence and be able to identify where the technology may be applied in the field of Manufacturing Engineering

Framework for Project Due Diligence of Solar Photovoltaic Installations - Assessment from a Lender’s Perspective

El cambio climático no es un problema del futuro. El cambio climático es global, rápido y va en aumento. Una realidad. El último informe presentado por el Panel Intergubernamental sobre Cambio Climático (IPCC) destaca que el Antropoceno está detrás del aumento sin precedentes de las temperaturas, lo que lleva a eventos climáticos extremos como olas de calor, sequías, fuertes precipitaciones o ciclones tropicales. Se debe tomar acción climática. La transición energética juega un papel fundamental para el bienestar del planeta. Sin embargo, la financiación de energías renovables siempre ha sido un desafío. Lamentablemente, hasta la fecha, la transición energética ha carecido del soporte suficiente. En 2018, el sistema energético global estuvo por debajo del 50% de la inversión necesaria para mantener el calentamiento global por debajo de 1,5 ° C y evitar las peores consecuencias de la crisis climática [4]. Esta asombrosa estadística muestra claramente que la inversión debe reorientarse hacia la transición energética o deben abrirse nuevos canales de financiación. Seeds Renewables, una startup con sede en California, ha ideado una solución que tiene el potencial de cubrir una parte del déficit de la financiación al permitir que las personas inviertan en proyectos de energía renovable desde tan solo unos céntimos. Antes de permitir que sus usuarios inviertan, Seeds realiza el due diligence de los proyectos para determinar la viabilidad de la instalación. Se identifica que existe una falta de literatura pública y concisa sobre el proceso requerido para determinar la viabilidad técnica y la rentabilidad económica de los proyectos. Esta tesis sirve de guía para prestamistas, como Seeds Renewables, que tienen como objetivo realizar evaluaciones tecno económicas sobre instalaciones solares fotovoltaicas. Este objetivo central se complementa con listas de verificación cualitativas para el desarrollo de proyectos y una pauta legal para proporcionar una descripción general completa de los factores que rodean el análisis tecno económico. Además, se identifica el software óptimo disponible en el mercado para realizar análisis de instalaciones fotovoltaicas. La tesis cubre la investigación en sistemas solares fotovoltaicos, una compilación de las mejores prácticas de due diligence de proyectos, conocimientos sobre financiamiento de proyectos de energía renovable y una revisión de la literatura sobre herramientas de software de análisis fotovoltaico que conduce a la selección de dos softwares. PVsol y PVsyst se comparan mediante un análisis multicriterio. Se lleva a cabo un estudio de una instalación solar fotovoltaica de 63,3 kW instalada en 2016 empleando los softwares seleccionados. La instalación está ubicada en el techo de Rinaldi Tile en Pajaro, California, Estados Unidos de América. El sistema se replica utilizando PVsol y PVsyst. Las predicciones de la simulación se comparan con los datos de producción reales extraídos del sistema. La relación de rendimiento de los datos reales, PVsol y PVsyst son 82,4%, 85,9%, 80,51% respectivamente. La cantidad real de energía producida durante un período de estudio de 5 años es un promedio de 82,24 MWh, mientras que las simulaciones de PVsol y PVsyst predicen 93,49 MWh y 81,30 MWh respectivamente. La discrepancia entre los datos reales y los resultados del software se debe a las limitaciones de ambas herramientas. Después de evaluar la precisión de las herramientas de simulación de energía solar fotovoltaica, el análisis multicriterio califica a PVsyst como la herramienta más deseable. Con este estudio, los ingenieros o inversores tendrán un marco claro a seguir al realizar el proceso de due diligence del proyecto en una instalación solar fotovoltaica y una calificación de los softwares disponibles para evaluar la viabilidad de la instalaciónClimate change is no longer a problem of the future. Climate change is global, rapid, and intensifying. A reality. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report highlights the Anthropocene is behind the unprecedent rising temperatures, leading to extreme weather events such as heatwaves, droughts, heavy precipitation, or tropical cyclones. Climate action must be taken. The energy transition plays a fundamental role when considering the wellbeing of the planet. However, renewable energy finance has always been a challenge. To date, the energy transition has been regrettably underfunded. In 2018, the global energy system was below 50 % of the investment required to keep global warming below 1.5 °C and avert the worst consequences of the climate crisis [4]. This staggering statistic clearly shows that financial investment needs to either be redirected to the energy transition, or new financing channels must be open. Seeds Renewables, a California-based startup, has come up with a solution which has the potential to cover a portion of the energy financing deficit by enabling people to invest in renewable energy projects from as little as their spare change. Before allowing their users to invest, Seeds carries out the due diligence of the projects to determine the feasibility of the installation. It is identified that there is a current lack of concise and public literature regarding the process required to determine the technical feasibility and economic profitability of projects. This thesis serves as a guide for lenders, such as Seeds Renewables, who aim to conduct techno-economic assessments on solar photovoltaic installations. This core objective is complemented by qualitative checklists for project development and legal due diligence to provide a comprehensive overview of the factors which surround the techno-economic analysis of solar arrays. Furthermore, the optimal software available in the market to carry out an analysis of solar photovoltaic installation is identified. The thesis covers the background research conducted on solar photovoltaic systems, a compilation of project due diligence best practices, insights on renewable energy project finance and a literature review on photovoltaic analysis software tools which leads to the selection of two softwares. PVsol and PVsyst are compared by means of a Multi-Criteria Analysis. A case study is conducted on a 63.3 kW solar photovoltaic array installed in 2016 to test the selected softwares. The array is located on the roof of Rinaldi Tile in Pajaro, California, United States of America. The array is replicated using PVsol and PVsyst. Consequently, the simulation predictions are compared to the real production data extracted from the system’s inverter. The performance ratio from the real data, PVsol and PVsyst are 82.4 %, 85.9 %, 80.51 % respectively. The real quantity of power produced over a 5-year period of study is average of 82.24 MWh while the simulations by PVsol and PVsyst predict 93.49 MWh and 81.30 MWh respectively. The discrepancy between the real data and software results is due to limitations of both tools. After evaluating the accuracy of the solar PV simulation tools, the Multi-Criteria Analysis rates PVsyst as the more desirable tool. Using this study, engineers or investors will have a clear framework to follow when carrying out the project due diligence on a solar photovoltaic installation and a rating of the available softwares to assess the viability of the solar arraysKlimatförändringarna är inte längre ett framtidsproblem. Klimatförändringarna är globala, snabba och intensifierande. En verklighet. Den senaste Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) rapporten visar att Antropocen ligger bakom de aldrig tidigare skådade temperaturerna, vilket leder till extrema väderhändelser som värmeböljor, torka, kraftig nederbörd eller tropiska cykloner. Klimatåtgärder måste vidtas. Energiomställningen spelar en grundläggande roll när man överväger planetens välbefinnande. Finansiering av förnybar energi har dock alltid varit en utmaning. Hittills har energiomställningen tyvärr varit underfinansierad. År 2018 låg det globala energisystemet under 50% av investeringarna som krävs för att hålla den globala uppvärmningen under 1,5 ° C och avvärja de värsta konsekvenserna av klimatkrisen [4]. Denna häpnadsväckande statistik visar tydligt att finansiella investeringar antingen måste omdirigeras till energiomställningen eller att nya finansieringskanaler måste vara öppna. Seeds Renewables, en Kalifornienbaserad startup, har kommit fram till en lösning som har potential att täcka en del av energifinansieringsunderskottet genom att göra det möjligt för människor att investera i förnybara energiprojekt från så lite som deras växel. Innan de tillåter sina användare att investera, utför Seeds projektets due diligence -analys för att avgöra genomförbarheten av installationen. Det identifieras att det för närvarande saknas kortfattad och offentlig litteratur om processen som krävs för att bestämma projektens tekniska genomförbarhet och ekonomiska lönsamhet. Denna avhandling fungerar som en vägledning för långivare, till exempel Seeds Renewables, som syftar till att göra tekno-ekonomiska bedömningar av solcellsanläggningar. Detta kärnmål kompletteras med kvalitativa checklistor för projektutveckling och juridisk due diligence för att ge en övergripande överblick över de faktorer som omger den tekno-ekonomiska analysen av solsystem. Dessutom identifieras den optimala programvara som finns tillgänglig på marknaden för att utföra en analys av solcellsinstallation. Avhandlingen omfattar bakgrundsforskning på solcellssystem, en sammanställning av bästa praxis för aktsamhet, insikter om projektfinansiering för förnybar energi och en litteraturgenomgång om programvara för fotovoltaiska analyser som leder till val av två programvaror. PVsol och PVsyst jämförs med hjälp av en multikriterieanalys. En fallstudie genomförs på en solcellsanläggning på 63,3 kW installerad 2016 för att testa de utvalda programvarorna. Arrayen ligger på taket av Rinaldi Tile i Pajaro, Kalifornien, USA. Arrayen replikeras med PVsol och PVsyst. Följaktligen jämförs simuleringsprognoserna med de verkliga produktionsdata som extraherats från systemets inverter. Prestandakvoten från de verkliga uppgifterna, PVsol och PVsyst är 82.4 %, 85,9% respektive 80,51%. Den verkliga mängden kraft som produceras under en 5-års studieperiod är i genomsnitt 82,24 MWh medan simuleringarna av PVsol och PVsyst förutsäger 93,49 MWh respektive 81,30 MWh. Skillnaden mellan de verkliga data- och programvareresultaten beror på begränsningar för båda verktygen. Efter att ha utvärderat noggrannheten i solcells-PV-simuleringsverktygen med multikriterieanalysen bedöms Multi-Criteria Analysis PVsyst som det mer önskvärda verktyget. Med hjälp av denna studie kommer ingenjörer eller investerare att ha en tydlig ram att följa när projektet genomförs due diligence på en solcellsanläggning och en bedömning av de tillgängliga programvarorna för att bedöma matrisernas livskraf

Guidelines for auditing Solar PV Installations - Techno Economic Evaluation for investors

Climate change is no longer a problem of the future. Climate change is global, rapid, and intensifying. A reality. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report highlights the Anthropocene is behind the unprecedent rising temperatures, leading to extreme weather events such as heatwaves, droughts, heavy precipitation, or tropical cyclones. Climate action must be taken. The energy transition plays a fundamental role when considering the wellbeing of the planet. However, renewable energy finance has always been a challenge. To date, the energy transition has been regrettably underfunded. In 2018, the global energy system was below 50 % of the investment required to keep global warming below 1.5 °C and avert the worst consequences of the climate crisis [4]. This staggering statistic clearly shows that financial investment needs to either be redirected to the energy transition, or new financing channels must be open. Seeds Renewables, a California-based startup, has come up with a solution which has the potential to cover a portion of the energy financing deficit by enabling people to invest in renewable energy projects from as little as their spare change. Before allowing their users to invest, Seeds carries out the due diligence of the projects to determine the feasibility of the installation. It is identified that there is a current lack of concise and public literature regarding the process required to determine the technical feasibility and economic profitability of projects. This thesis serves as a guide for lenders, such as Seeds Renewables, who aim to conduct techno-economic assessments on solar photovoltaic installations. This core objective is complemented by qualitative checklists for project development and legal due diligence to provide a comprehensive overview of the factors which surround the techno-economic analysis of solar arrays. Furthermore, the optimal software available in the market to carry out an analysis of solar photovoltaic installation is identified. The thesis covers the background research conducted on solar photovoltaic systems, a compilation of project due diligence best practices, insights on renewable energy project finance and a literature review on photovoltaic analysis software tools which leads to the selection of two softwares. PVsol and PVsyst are compared by means of a Multi-Criteria Analysis. A case study is conducted on a 63.3 kW solar photovoltaic array installed in 2016 to test the selected softwares. The array is located on the roof of Rinaldi Tile in Pajaro, California, United States of America. The array is replicated using PVsol and PVsyst. Consequently, the simulation predictions are compared to the real production data extracted from the system’s inverter. The performance ratio from the real data, PVsol and PVsyst are 82.4 %, 85.9 %, 80.51 % respectively. The real quantity of power produced over a 5-year period of study is average of 82.24 MWh while the simulations by PVsol and PVsyst predict 93.49 MWh and 81.30 MWh respectively. The discrepancy between the real data and software results is due to limitations of both tools. After evaluating the accuracy of the solar PV simulation tools, the Multi-Criteria Analysis rates PVsyst as the more desirable tool. Using this study, engineers or investors will have a clear framework to follow when carrying out the project due diligence on a solar photovoltaic installation and a rating of the available softwares to assess the viability of the solar array

3D modelling and simulation of a production line with CIROS

3D simulation technology has been adopted successfully in production industry for dec-ades. It benefits the manufacturers by the possibility to answer ‘how would it be’ with vivid visual images, consuming much lower capital investment, resources and human power. This thesis paper first investigates into the background research of simulation and mod-elling approaches employed within the industry. Then a pallet-based Flexlink production line in FAST-Lab, Tampere University of Technology, is taken as the simulated object for case study. 3D model is created under FESTO CIROS Studio software envi-ronment, using built-in mechanism offered by the program to realize full transportation system of the assembly line, both sensors and actuators. Logic control of the conveyor system is integrated with built-in virtual PLC and programmed in FBD and STL with Siemens STEP7. The assessment results reveal the possibility of handling multiple pallets with multiple recipes simultaneously. Also the performance of FESTO CIROS Studio is evaluated as showing some limitations during research. /Kir1

BAYESIAN-INTEGRATED SYSTEM DYNAMICS MODELLING FOR PRODUCTION LINE RISK ASSESSMENT

Companies, across the globe are concerned with risks that impair their ability to produce quality products at a low cost and deliver them to customers on time. Risk assessment, comprising of both external and internal elements, prepares companies to identify and manage the risks affecting them. Although both external/supply chain and internal/production line risk assessments are necessary, internal risk assessment is often ignored. Internal risk assessment helps companies recognize vulnerable sections of production operations and provide opportunities for risk mitigation. In this research, a novel production line risk assessment methodology is proposed. Traditional simulation techniques fail to capture the complex relationship amongst risk events and the dynamic interaction between risks affecting a production line. Bayesian- integrated System Dynamics modelling can help resolve this limitation. Bayesian Belief Networks (BBN) effectively capture risk relationships and their likelihoods. Integrating BBN with System Dynamics (SD) for modelling production lines help capture the impact of risk events on a production line as well as the dynamic interaction between those risks and production line variables. The proposed methodology is applied to an industrial case study for validation and to discern research and practical implications