Design and Management of Manufacturing Systems

Although the design and management of manufacturing systems have been explored in the literature for many years now, they still remain topical problems in the current scientific research. The changing market trends, globalization, the constant pressure to reduce production costs, and technical and technological progress make it necessary to search for new manufacturing methods and ways of organizing them, and to modify manufacturing system design paradigms. This book presents current research in different areas connected with the design and management of manufacturing systems and covers such subject areas as: methods supporting the design of manufacturing systems, methods of improving maintenance processes in companies, the design and improvement of manufacturing processes, the control of production processes in modern manufacturing systems production methods and techniques used in modern manufacturing systems and environmental aspects of production and their impact on the design and management of manufacturing systems. The wide range of research findings reported in this book confirms that the design of manufacturing systems is a complex problem and that the achievement of goals set for modern manufacturing systems requires interdisciplinary knowledge and the simultaneous design of the product, process and system, as well as the knowledge of modern manufacturing and organizational methods and techniques

An economic and environmental analysis of potential water quality regulations on dairy farms in the Big Limestone Watershed

Recently, greater environmental awareness has resulted in placing greater value on the proper management of animal waste. Dairy farmers have become concerned about the possibilities of future regulations that may affect their farm income. Nitrates associated with agricultural practices is a major water quality concern. Dairy farms in particular have been cited as contributors to the water quality degradation because of animal waste and high use of nitrogen fertilizer. Best Management Practices (BMP) have been developed to address the unique issues associated with nonpoint source pollution. BMP\u27s to control animal waste are usually associated with some type of waste storage. It is generally accepted the storage structures will allow better timing of manure disposal, thus reducing nitrogen loss. This study examined the effects farm income effects on including a waste storage system. Most dairy farms in East Tennessee do not have a waste storage system. A recent survey found less than 70 percent of dairies used a daily haul system. The specific objectives of the study were to develop a linear programming model to evaluate the farm level effects of adding a waste storage system. The third objective was to evaluate the ability of each system to met a nitrogen loss restriction. A linear programming model and a simulation model were integrated in this analysis. A simulation model was used to develop a nitrogen loss coefficient. Daily haul system was compared to five typical systems; dry stack, earthen pit, earthen pit with irrigation, lagoon and lagoon with irrigation. The income effects of adding the five systems were compared to the daily haul. It was assumed that waste system would differ in their ability to met nitrogen loss reductions because of timing and crop utilization of nitrogen. Partial budgeting was used to develop coefficients for two farm sizes. Information needed the partial budgeting came from survey and extension specialist. Earthen pit with irrigation increased income as compared to the daily haul system for the 60 cow dairy. Earthen pit with irrigation, lagoon and lagoon with irrigation increased income for the 100 cow dairy. This increase in income as compared to daily haul can be attributed to better timing and utilization of nitrogen fertilizer and labor savings with the irrigation systems. A marginal cost curve of reducing the amount of allowable nitrogen loss was developed for each system. The 100 cow dairy could best meet the nitrogen loss constraint with the daily haul system. While the earthen pit with irrigation was better able to meet the nitrogen loss constraint

PRICING AND FINANCING DECISIONS WITH UNRELIABLE SUPPLIES

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Production Optimization Indexed to the Market Demand Through Neural Networks

Connectivity, mobility and real-time data analytics are the prerequisites for a new model of intelligent production management that facilitates communication between machines, people and processes and uses technology as the main driver. Many works in the literature treat maintenance and production management in separate approaches, but there is a link between these areas, with maintenance and its actions aimed at ensuring the smooth operation of equipment to avoid unnecessary downtime in production. With the advent of technology, companies are rushing to solve their problems by resorting to technologies in order to fit into the most advanced technological concepts, such as industries 4.0 and 5.0, which are based on the principle of process automation. This approach brings together database technologies, making it possible to monitor the operation of equipment and have the opportunity to study patterns of data behavior that can alert us to possible failures. The present thesis intends to forecast the pulp production indexed to the stock market value.The forecast will be made by means of the pulp production variables of the presses and the stock exchange variables supported by artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, aiming to achieve an effective planning. To support the decision of efficient production management, in this thesis algorithms were developed and validated with from five pulp presses, as well as data from other sources, such as steel production and stock exchange, which were relevant to validate the robustness of the model. This thesis demonstrated the importance of data processing methods and that they have great relevance in the model input since they facilitate the process of training and testing the models. The chosen technologies demonstrated good efficiency and versatility in performing the prediction of the values of the variables of the equipment, also demonstrating robustness and optimization in computational processing. The thesis also presents proposals for future developments, namely in further exploration of these technologies, so that there are market variables that can calibrate production through forecasts supported on these same variables.Conectividade, mobilidade e análise de dados em tempo real são pré-requisitos para um novo modelo de gestão inteligente da produção que facilita a comunicação entre máquinas, pessoas e processos, e usa a tecnologia como motor principal. Muitos trabalhos na literatura tratam a manutenção e a gestão da produção em abordagens separadas, mas existe uma correlação entre estas áreas, sendo que a manutenção e as suas políticas têm como premissa garantir o bom funcionamento dos equipamentos de modo a evitar paragens desnecessárias na linha de produção. Com o advento da tecnologia há uma corrida das empresas para solucionar os seus problemas recorrendo às tecnologias, visando a sua inserção nos conceitos tecnológicos, mais avançados, tais como as indústrias 4.0 e 5.0, as quais têm como princípio a automatização dos processos. Esta abordagem junta as tecnologias de sistema de informação, sendo possível fazer o acompanhamento do funcionamento dos equipamentos e ter a possibilidade de realizar o estudo de padrões de comportamento dos dados que nos possam alertar para possíveis falhas. A presente tese pretende prever a produção da pasta de papel indexada às bolsas de valores. A previsão será feita por via das variáveis da produção da pasta de papel das prensas e das variáveis da bolsa de valores suportadas em tecnologias de artificial intelligence (IA), tendo como objectivo conseguir um planeamento eficaz. Para suportar a decisão de uma gestão da produção eficiente, na presente tese foram desenvolvidos algoritmos, validados em dados de cinco prensas de pasta de papel, bem como dados de outras fontes, tais como, de Produção de Aço e de Bolsas de Valores, os quais se mostraram relevantes para a validação da robustez dos modelos. A presente tese demonstrou a importância dos métodos de tratamento de dados e que os mesmos têm uma grande relevância na entrada do modelo, visto que facilita o processo de treino e testes dos modelos. As tecnologias escolhidas demonstraram uma boa eficiência e versatilidade na realização da previsão dos valores das variáveis dos equipamentos, demonstrando ainda robustez e otimização no processamento computacional. A tese apresenta ainda propostas para futuros desenvolvimentos, designadamente na exploração mais aprofundada destas tecnologias, de modo a que haja variáveis de mercado que possam calibrar a produção através de previsões suportadas nestas mesmas variáveis

Green power in green spaces: Policy options to promote renewable energy use in U.S. National Parks

The National Park Service (NPS) has a mission of sustainability: to conserve its resources for the enjoyment of future generations. The mission implies the use of sustainable technologies. In order to best make use of sustainable energy technologies, the NPS must have an understanding of the most significant barriers inhibiting such technologies’ use. The purpose of this research is to identify barriers to renewable energy technologies (RETs) at U.S. national parks located in the Pacific West Region (PWR), and to develop recommendations for appropriate policy interventions to address the barriers. A survey of energy managers representing the approximately 50 parks in this region identified and ranked key barriers from the perspective of those initializing projects and maintaining the RET systems. To validate the significance of barriers identified by park personnel, parks with RET systems were compared with parks without systems according to relevant attributes such as funding and staffing. To gain a further understanding of the barriers to RET use and of underlying issues, the comments of park personnel were analyzed to establish common themes and concerns. The barriers identified through qualitative analysis were then validated through comparison of barrier ratings in relation to RET ownership and experience with unsuccessful attempts to obtain RETs. Finally, the strategies of park energy managers to overcome central barriers, and the factors assisting them in this regard were examined to determine opportunities for overcoming what were established as the strongest barriers to RET implementation. The results of this research are a set of policy recommendations that could be used by the federal government to incentivize and encourage park decision makers to undertake cost-effective renewable energy projects in the future