Improved dynamic dependability assessment through integration with prognostics

The use of average data for dependability assessments results in a outdated system-level dependability estimation which can lead to incorrect design decisions. With increasing availability of online data, there is room to improve traditional dependability assessment techniques. Namely, prognostics is an emerging field which provides asset-specific failure information which can be reused to improve the system level failure estimation. This paper presents a framework for prognostics-updated dynamic dependability assessment. The dynamic behaviour comes from runtime updated information, asset inter-dependencies, and time-dependent system behaviour. A case study from the power generation industry is analysed and results confirm the validity of the approach for improved near real-time unavailability estimations

Towards a data analytics framework for medium voltage power cable lifetime mangement

Power cables are critical assets for the reliable and cost-effective operation of nuclear power plants. The unexpected failure of a power cable can lead to lack of export capability or even to catastrophic failures depending on the plant response to the cable failure and associated circuit. Prognostics and health management (PHM) strategies examine the health of the cable periodically to identify early indicators of anomalies, diagnose faults, and predict the remaining useful life. Traditionally, PHM-related strategies for power cables are considered separately with the associated penalties involved with this decision. Namely, there is a lack of consideration of the interactions and correlations between failure modes and PHM tests, which results in scalability issues of ad-hoc experiments, and accordingly incapability to exploit the full potential for PHM strategies in an effective manner. An effective and flexible PHM strategy should be able to consider not only different PHM strategies independently, but also it should be able to fuse these tests into a cable health state indicator. The main contribution of this paper is the proposal of a PHM-oriented data analytics framework for medium voltage power cable lifetime management which incorporates anomaly detection, diagnostics, prognostics, and health index modules. This framework includes the characterization of existing data sources and PHM-oriented data analytics for cable condition monitoring. This process enables the creation of a database of existing datasets, identification of complementary PHM techniques for an improved condition monitoring, and implementation of an end-to-end PHM framework

Strategies to Manage Reduced Demand Among Mattress Manufacturers in Puerto Rico

The COVID-19 pandemic reduced consumer demand in Puerto Rico, resulting in manufacturing jobs decreasing from 76,000 in March 2020 to 72,600 in August 2020, and the PMI decreasing falling from 50.5 to 48.1 in the same period. Owners of mattress manufacturing firms in Puerto Rico who lack strategies to increase consumer demand risk financial losses. Grounded in the strategic management theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies owners of mattress manufacturing firms in Puerto Rico use to increase demand for mattresses. The participants included three owners of mattress manufacturing firms in Puerto Rico who successfully increased demand for mattresses. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and company documents related to mattress sales and demand. Thematic analysis of the data resulted in four themes: having inventory for immediate sales increased the demand for mattresses, marketing in social networks increased the demand for mattresses, establishing good prices increased the demand for mattresses, and delivering excellent customer service increased the demand for mattresses. A key recommendation is for owners of mattress manufacturing firms to post the amount of inventory available at their manufacturing facilities on their websites in response to the importance the buyers place buyers\u27 importance on buying products at the manufacturing facilities. The implications for positive social change include the potential of improved health benefits of more frequent mattress replacement and increased revenue that could translate into a larger more extensive tax base that local governments could use to implement community-based projects

Strategies to Manage Reduced Demand Among Mattress Manufacturers in Puerto Rico

The COVID-19 pandemic reduced consumer demand in Puerto Rico, resulting in manufacturing jobs decreasing from 76,000 in March 2020 to 72,600 in August 2020, and the PMI decreasing falling from 50.5 to 48.1 in the same period. Owners of mattress manufacturing firms in Puerto Rico who lack strategies to increase consumer demand risk financial losses. Grounded in the strategic management theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies owners of mattress manufacturing firms in Puerto Rico use to increase demand for mattresses. The participants included three owners of mattress manufacturing firms in Puerto Rico who successfully increased demand for mattresses. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and company documents related to mattress sales and demand. Thematic analysis of the data resulted in four themes: having inventory for immediate sales increased the demand for mattresses, marketing in social networks increased the demand for mattresses, establishing good prices increased the demand for mattresses, and delivering excellent customer service increased the demand for mattresses. A key recommendation is for owners of mattress manufacturing firms to post the amount of inventory available at their manufacturing facilities on their websites in response to the importance the buyers place buyers\u27 importance on buying products at the manufacturing facilities. The implications for positive social change include the potential of improved health benefits of more frequent mattress replacement and increased revenue that could translate into a larger more extensive tax base that local governments could use to implement community-based projects