Energy efficiency in discrete-manufacturing systems: insights, trends, and control strategies

Since the depletion of fossil energy sources, rising energy prices, and governmental regulation restrictions, the current manufacturing industry is shifting towards more efficient and sustainable systems. This transformation has promoted the identification of energy saving opportunities and the development of new technologies and strategies oriented to improve the energy efficiency of such systems. This paper outlines and discusses most of the research reported during the last decade regarding energy efficiency in manufacturing systems, the current technologies and strategies to improve that efficiency, identifying and remarking those related to the design of management/control strategies. Based on this fact, this paper aims to provide a review of strategies for reducing energy consumption and optimizing the use of resources within a plant into the context of discrete manufacturing. The review performed concerning the current context of manufacturing systems, control systems implemented, and their transformation towards Industry 4.0 might be useful in both the academic and industrial dimension to identify trends and critical points and suggest further research lines.Peer ReviewedPreprin

Continuous maintenance and the future – Foundations and technological challenges

High value and long life products require continuous maintenance throughout their life cycle to achieve required performance with optimum through-life cost. This paper presents foundations and technologies required to offer the maintenance service. Component and system level degradation science, assessment and modelling along with life cycle ‘big data’ analytics are the two most important knowledge and skill base required for the continuous maintenance. Advanced computing and visualisation technologies will improve efficiency of the maintenance and reduce through-life cost of the product. Future of continuous maintenance within the Industry 4.0 context also identifies the role of IoT, standards and cyber security

Security aspects in cloud based condition monitoring of machine tools

In the modern competitive environments companies must have rapid production systems that are able to deliver parts that satisfy highest quality standards. Companies have also an increased need for advanced machines equipped with the latest technologies in maintenance to avoid any reduction or interruption of production. Eminent therefore is the need to monitor the health status of the manufacturing equipment in real time and thus try to develop diagnostic technologies for machine tools. This paper lays the foundation for the creation of a safe remote monitoring system for machine tools using a Cloud environment for communication between the customer and the maintenance service company. Cloud technology provides a convenient means for accessing maintenance data anywhere in the world accessible through simple devices such as PC, tablets or smartphones. In this context the safety aspects of a Cloud system for remote monitoring of machine tools becomes crucial and is, thus the focus of this pape

Industry 4.0: The Future of Indo-German Industrial Collaboration

Industry 4.0 can be described as the fourth industrial revolution, a mega- trend that affects every company around the world. It envisions interconnections and collaboration between people, products and machines within and across enterprises. Why does Industry 4.0 make for an excellent platform for industrial collaboration between India and Germany? The answers lie in economic as well as social factors. Both countries have strengths and weakness and strategic collaboration using the principles of Industry 4.0 can help both increase their industrial output, GDP and make optimal use of human resources. As a global heavy weight in manufacturing and machine export, Germany has a leading position in the development and deployment of Industry 4.0 concepts and technology. However, its IT sector, formed by a labor force of 800,000 employees, is not enough. It needs more professionals to reach its full potential. India, on the other hand, is a global leader in IT and business process outsourcing. But its manufacturing industry needs to grow significantly and compete globally. These realities clearly show the need for Industry 4.0-based collaboration between Germany and India. So how does Industry 4.0 work? In a first step, we look at the technical pers- pective – the vertical and horizontal integration of Industry 4.0 principles in enterprises. Vertical integration refers to operations within Smart Factories and horizontal integration to Smart Supply Chains across businesses. In the second step, we look at manufacturing, chemical industry and the IT sector as potential targets for collaboration between the two countries. We use case studies to illustrate the benefits of the deployment of Industry 4.0. Potential collaboration patterns are discussed along different forms of value chains and along companies’ ability to achieve Industry 4.0 status. We analyse the social impact of Industry 4.0 on India and Germany and find that it works very well in the coming years. Germany with its dwindling labor force might be compensated through the automation. This will ensure continued high productivity levels and rise in GDP. India, on the other hand has a burgeoning labor market, with 10 million workers annually entering the job market. Given that the manufacturing sector will be at par with Europe in efficiency and costs by 2023, pressure on India’s labor force will increase even more. Even its robust IT sector will suffer fewer hires because of increased automation. Rapid development of technologies – for the Internet of Things (IoT) or for connectivity like Low-Power WAN – makes skilling and reskilling of the labor force critical for augmenting smart manufacturing. India and Germany have been collaborating at three levels relevant to Industry 4.0 – industry, government and academics. How can these be taken forward? The two countries have a long history of trade. The Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC) is the largest such chamber in India and the largest German chamber worldwide. VDMA (Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau, Mechanical Engineering Industry Association), the largest industry association in Europe, maintains offices in India. Indian key players in IT, in turn, have subsidia- ries in Germany and cooperate with German companies in the area of Industry 4.0. Collaboration is also supported on governmental level. As government initiatives go, India has launched the “Make in India” initiative and the “Make in India Mittelstand! (MIIM)” programme as a part of it. The Indian Government is also supporting “smart manufacturing” initiatives in a major way. Centers of Excellence driven by the industry and academic bodies are being set up. Germany and India have a long tradition of research collaboration as well. Germany is the second scientific collaborator of India and Indian students form the third largest group of foreign students in Germany. German institutions like the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) or the German House for Research and Innovation (DWIH) are working to strengthen ties between the scientific communities of the two countries, and between their academia and industry. What prevents Industry 4.0 from becoming a more widely used technology? Recent surveys in Germany and India show that awareness about Industry 4.0 is still low, especially among small and medium manufacturing enterprises. IT companies, on the other hand, are better prepared. There is a broad demand for support, regarding customtailored solutions, information on case studies and the willingness to participate in Industry 4.0 pilot projects and to engage in its platform and networking activities. We also found similar responses at workshops conducted with Industry 4.0 stakehold- ers in June 2017 in Bangalore and Pune and in an online survey. What can be done to change this? Both countries should strengthen their efforts to create awareness for Industry 4.0, especially among small and medium enterprises. Germany should also put more emphasis on making their Industry 4.0 technology known to the Indian market. India’s IT giants, on the other hand, should make their Industry 4.0 offers more visible to the German market. The governments should support the establishing of joint Industry 4.0 collaboration platforms, centers of excellence and incubators to ease the dissemination of knowledge and technology. On academic level, joint research programs and exchange programs should be set up to foster the skilling of labor force in the deployment of Industry 4.0 methods and technologies

Sensing as a Service Model for Smart Cities Supported by Internet of Things

The world population is growing at a rapid pace. Towns and cities are accommodating half of the world's population thereby creating tremendous pressure on every aspect of urban living. Cities are known to have large concentration of resources and facilities. Such environments attract people from rural areas. However, unprecedented attraction has now become an overwhelming issue for city governance and politics. The enormous pressure towards efficient city management has triggered various Smart City initiatives by both government and private sector businesses to invest in ICT to find sustainable solutions to the growing issues. The Internet of Things (IoT) has also gained significant attention over the past decade. IoT envisions to connect billions of sensors to the Internet and expects to use them for efficient and effective resource management in Smart Cities. Today infrastructure, platforms, and software applications are offered as services using cloud technologies. In this paper, we explore the concept of sensing as a service and how it fits with the Internet of Things. Our objective is to investigate the concept of sensing as a service model in technological, economical, and social perspectives and identify the major open challenges and issues.Comment: Transactions on Emerging Telecommunications Technologies 2014 (Accepted for Publication

Big Data and the Internet of Things

Advances in sensing and computing capabilities are making it possible to embed increasing computing power in small devices. This has enabled the sensing devices not just to passively capture data at very high resolution but also to take sophisticated actions in response. Combined with advances in communication, this is resulting in an ecosystem of highly interconnected devices referred to as the Internet of Things - IoT. In conjunction, the advances in machine learning have allowed building models on this ever increasing amounts of data. Consequently, devices all the way from heavy assets such as aircraft engines to wearables such as health monitors can all now not only generate massive amounts of data but can draw back on aggregate analytics to "improve" their performance over time. Big data analytics has been identified as a key enabler for the IoT. In this chapter, we discuss various avenues of the IoT where big data analytics either is already making a significant impact or is on the cusp of doing so. We also discuss social implications and areas of concern.Comment: 33 pages. draft of upcoming book chapter in Japkowicz and Stefanowski (eds.) Big Data Analysis: New algorithms for a new society, Springer Series on Studies in Big Data, to appea

Promoting Inquiry in Science Classrooms in European Schools : a Handbook for Tutors

In Scotland, PISCES stands for Promoting Inquiry Skills for a Curriculum for Excellence in Science. It is a CPD module for teachers of science, which has been developed in Scotland with the support of the S-TEAM project. However, this Handbook uses our international acronym in which PISCES stands for Promoting Inquiry in Science Classrooms in European Schools . It is, we believe, potentially equally as successful across Europe as it was designed around the idea of empowering teachers to think for themselves how to make their practice more-inquiry based, wherever they are. It is recognised that some school, social, policy and cultural environments may be more supportive of the idea of ‘more inquiry-based practice’ than others. PISCES empowers teachers to make small or large changes to their practice, according to those sorts of contextual factors, their own aims and how they perceive the needs of their pupils. You will note that we have been careful to use the word ‘more’ in ‘more inquiry-based.’ As befits the idea of empowerment to adapt to one’s own context, there is no single model of inquiry being ‘pushed’ here. Indeed, we count it as a measure of success of PISCES that the teachers who have participated did very different things in making their practice more inquiry-based. Strathclyde University is a leading partner in S-TEAM. Members of Strathclyde University, along with the Development Officer for Curriculum for Excellence for East Lothian, successfully developed and delivered a pilot version of PISCES as a module to a group of East Lothian teachers, in 2010/11. The module resulted in successful ‘experiments in practice’ and increased awareness of the benefits of inquiry-based teaching and learning. The same group of teachers have also taken part in a follow-up course (ARIES: Advanced Resources for Inquiry and Evaluation in Science). PISCES is a high quality CPD programme, valued by teachers and supportive of their professional self-development. It can be applied to both primary and secondary teaching, in all science subjects. Pupils benefit from learning experiences, which develop scientific inquiry skills. Feedback from participating teachers has been consistently positive

Evaluating strategies for implementing industry 4.0: a hybrid expert oriented approach of B.W.M. and interval valued intuitionistic fuzzy T.O.D.I.M.

open access articleDeveloping and accepting industry 4.0 influences the industry structure and customer willingness. To a successful transition to industry 4.0, implementation strategies should be selected with a systematic and comprehensive view to responding to the changes flexibly. This research aims to identify and prioritise the strategies for implementing industry 4.0. For this purpose, at first, evaluation attributes of strategies and also strategies to put industry 4.0 in practice are recognised. Then, the attributes are weighted to the experts’ opinion by using the Best Worst Method (BWM). Subsequently, the strategies for implementing industry 4.0 in Fara-Sanat Company, as a case study, have been ranked based on the Interval Valued Intuitionistic Fuzzy (IVIF) of the TODIM method. The results indicated that the attributes of ‘Technology’, ‘Quality’, and ‘Operation’ have respectively the highest importance. Furthermore, the strategies for “new business models development’, ‘Improving information systems’ and ‘Human resource management’ received a higher rank. Eventually, some research and executive recommendations are provided. Having strategies for implementing industry 4.0 is a very important solution. Accordingly, multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods are a useful tool for adopting and selecting appropriate strategies. In this research, a novel and hybrid combination of BWM-TODIM is presented under IVIF information