'Smart' design: greening the Total Product System

About the book: Since the Rio summit in 1992, the paradigm of corporate environmental responsibility has gradually and consistently extended beyond complying with increasingly stringent environmental regulation and taking up the proactive initiatives of a few world-class companies. Research indicates that the business and financial performance of companies may depend directly on socially and environmentally responsible business practices. Many world-class companies now realize that customers and other stakeholders do not distinguish between a company and its suppliers. As a result, greening the supply chain is an innovative idea which is fast gaining attention in the industry. Greening the Supply Chain is a compilation of important chapters written by a diverse set of international authors which incorporates a broad variety of perspectives. Note: Smart car refers to Smart City coupe and Fortwo, and all terms are registered trademarks of MCC (micro compact car)

A Total Product System Concept - a case study of the smart (tm) automobile

Increasing demand from consumers plus EU legislation has raised awareness within the automotive production sector of the urgent need to reduce the environmental impacts from the three main stages in vehicle life – car manufacture, car use and end-of life vehicle processing. The paper reviews how the originator and manufacturer of the smart automobile has worked directly with its main system partners to address environmental issues in these three stages while optimizing performance across the parameters of commercial viability. This required the creation of strategic relationships within the supply chain. Overall, this innovative approach is viewed in the context of a total product system. The smart car highlights the following critical areas: use of modularity in product design and production facility layout; emphasis on partner participation from product creation to after-sales; and the use of highly customised build-to-order product system to 'green' the entire supply chain. In particular, the case study compares the process characteristics empoyed at the smart car factory, called 'smartville', with more traditional approaches to vehicle manufacture. It exmaines these issues in a preliminary attempt to establish the actual or potential reduction of environmental impact in the three stages of vehicle life, including the role of main suppliers in this process

The Two Faces of Collaboration: Impacts of University-Industry Relations on Public Research

We analyze the impact of university-industry relationships on public research. Our inductive study of university-industry collaboration in engineering suggests that basic projects are more likely to yield academically valuable knowledge than applied projects. However, applied projects show higher degrees of partner interdependence and therefore enable exploratory learning by academics, leading to new ideas and projects. This result holds especially for research-oriented academics working in the ‘sciences of the artificial’ and engaging in multiple relationships with industry. Our learning-centred interpretation qualifies the notion of entrepreneurial science as a driver of applied university-industry collaboration. We conclude with implications for science and technology policy.University industry relations; Collaborative research; Contract research; Academic consulting; Science technology links; Engineering

Smart working technologies in industry 4.0 : contributions to different manufacturing activities and workers’ skills

A Indústria 4.0 é considerada a quarta revolução industrial porque utiliza uma ampla integração de tecnologias de informação e de operação na fabricação industrial. Apesar dessa perspectiva tecnológica, diversos estudos vêm evidenciando a importância de considerar o fator humano para o desenvolvimento de um sistema de manufatura inteligente. Nesse sentido, a dimensão denominada como Smart Working precisa ser melhor investigada, uma vez que entender como as tecnologias afetam os trabalhadores e as habilidades desses são cruciais para o bom desempenho das fábricas. Em razão disso, o objetivo desta dissertação foi entender como as Smart Working Technologies (SWT) podem contribuir para as atividades e as habilidades dos trabalhadores da manufatura. Para tanto, primeiramente foi realizada uma análise abrangente da literatura para identificar as SWT e seus impactos nas capacidades dos trabalhadores em suas atividades de manufatura. Deste modo, foram analisados 80 artigos que relacionam as SWT em oito atividades de manufatura. Posteriormente, foi selecionada uma das SWT mais relevantes conforme a literatura, os robôs colaborativos, para identificar os efeitos das tecnologias nas habilidades dos trabalhadores. Deste modo, foram analisados 138 casos de aplicação reportados por uma das empresas fornecedoras líderes mundiais, bem como três entrevistas com empresas adotantes da tecnologia. Os resultados apontam que existem 15 SWT que podem ser implementadas nas atividades de manufatura e relacionadas às capacidades dos trabalhadores. Além disso, os resultados também apontam que podem existir quatro efeitos das SWT nas habilidades dos trabalhadores. Estes achados demonstram que de acordo com a estratégia da empresa uma SWT pode impactar de diferentes formas os trabalhadores.Industry 4.0 is considered the fourth industrial revolution because it uses a broad integration of information and operating technologies in industrial manufacturing. Despite this technological perspective, several studies have highlighted the importance of considering the human factor to develop a smart manufacturing system. In this sense, the Smart Working dimension needs to be further investigated since understanding how technologies affect workers and their skills are crucial for factories' good performance. Therefore, the objective of this dissertation was to understand how Smart Working Technologies (SWT) can contribute to the activities and skills of manufacturing workers. To this end, firstly a systematic literature review was carried out to identify SWTs and their impacts on workers' capabilities in their manufacturing activities. Thus, 80 articles relating to SWT in eight manufacturing activities were analyzed. Subsequently, one of the most relevant SWTs according to the literature, collaborative robots, was selected to identify the effects of technologies on workers' skills. In this way, 138 application cases reported by one of the world's leading supplier companies were analyzed, as well as three interviews with companies that adopted the technology. The results show that there are 15 SWT that can be implemented in manufacturing activities and related to workers' capabilities. In addition, the results also point out that there may be four effects of SWT on workers' skills. According to the company's strategy, these findings demonstrate that an SWT can impact workers in different ways

Umjetna inteligencija i robotika kao pokretačka snaga modernog društva

In synergy with other technologies, the AI significantly accelerates the scientific and technological development of human society. New possibilities of the application of technological achievements are constantly opening up – in industry, healthcare and everyday life. AI-based robotics is the main driver of the present industrial revolution. Robots have already played an important role in production and changed the production economy over the past decade. New generations of smart robots, or smart technical systems in general, are turning to new applications, especially in service industries, medicine and home use. In the future, autonomous and mobile robots will be able to assist the elderly and immobile, help with household chores, act as caregivers and perform repetitive, tedious or dangerous jobs in nursing homes, hospitals, military environments, disaster sites and schools. The potential benefits are great, but they pose significant ethical challenges too. Our autonomy may be compromised and social interaction obstructed. Expanded use of robots can lead to reduced contact among people and possible restrictions on personal freedoms. Machines of these kinds shape the new world radically, leading to significant economic and cultural changes, creating both winners and losers on a global scale.U sinergiji s drugim tehnologijama AI značajno ubrzava znanstveni i tehnološki razvoj ljudskog društva. Neprestano se otvaraju nove mogućnosti primjene tehnoloških dostignuća, kako u industriji, zdravstvu tako i u svakodnevnom životu. Robotika temeljena na umjetnoj inteligenciji glavni je pokretač sadašnje industrijske revolucije. Roboti su već odigrali važnu ulogu u proizvodnji i promijenili proizvodnu ekonomiju tijekom posljednjih desetak godina. Nove generacije pametnih robota, ili općenito pametnih tehničkih sustava, okreću se novim primjenama, posebno u uslužnim djelatnostima, medicini i kućnoj uporabi. Autonomni i mobilni roboti u budućnosti će moći pomagati starijim i nepokretnim osobama, pomagati u kućanskim poslovima, djelovati kao njegovatelji i obavljati ponavljajuće, dosadne ili opasne poslove u staračkim domovima, bolnicama, vojnim okruženjima, mjestima katastrofe i školama. Potencijalne prednosti su velike, ali također predstavljaju značajne etičke izazove. Naša autonomija može biti ugrožena, a društvena interakcija opstruirana. Prošireno korištenje robota može dovesti do smanjenog kontakta među ljudima i mogućih ograničenja osobnih sloboda. Strojevi ove vrste oblikuju radikalno novi svijet, što dovodi do značajnih ekonomskih i kulturoloških promjena, stvarajući jednako pobjednike kao i gubitnike na globalnoj svjetskoj razini

Industry 4.0: from theory to practice. An empirical analysis of the factory of the future

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Industry/University Collaboration at the University of Michigan-Dearborn: A Focus on Relevant Technology

https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154104/1/kampfner1996.pd