Extending the product portfolio with ‘devolved manufacturing’: Methodology and case studies

Current research by the developers of rapid prototyping systems is generally focused on improvements in cost, speed and materials to create truly economic and practical economic rapid manufacturing machines. In addition to being potentially smarter/faster/cheaper replacements for existing manufacturing technologies, the next generation of these machines will provide opportunities not only for the design and fabrication of products without traditional constraints, but also for organizing manufacturing activities in new, innovative and previously undreamt of ways. This paper outlines a novel devolved manufacturing (DM) ‘factory-less’ approach to e-manufacturing, which integrates Mass Customization (MC) concepts, Rapid Manufacturing (RM) technologies and the communication opportunities of the Internet/WWW, describes two case studies of different DM implementations and discusses the limitations and appropriateness of each, and finally, draws some conclusions about the technical, manufacturing and business challenges involved

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

Artificial in its own right

Artificial Cells, , Artificial Ecologies, Artificial Intelligence, Bio-Inspired Hardware Systems, Computational Autopoiesis, Computational Biology, Computational Embryology, Computational Evolution, Morphogenesis, Cyborgization, Digital Evolution, Evolvable Hardware, Cyborgs, Mathematical Biology, Nanotechnology, Posthuman, Transhuman

Renewable energy balancing with thermal grid support

Waste heat valorisation in process industry is a common strategy today. The residual heat is converted to electricity by using steam turbines or organic Rankine cycles. As this energy conversion is likely constructed as an integral cooling capacity for the primary process, loss of electricity production will result in reduced process cooling and hence production capacity loss. This restriction prevents these generators to deliver supporting services to the electrical grid. In this paper, it is proven that coupling waste heat recovery with a district heating network provides flexibility to the electricity generation while ensuring cooling capacity to the process. This flexibility can be utilised by a Virtual Power Plant (VPP), e. g., to compensate for the variable output of renewable energy sources. Today, the power fluctuations are only compensated by traditional power plants (gas, coal) due to the scale and flexibility of these power plants. In this paper, a strategy is defined to balance variable (renewable) production with industrial waste heat. As such, some grid support tasks can be transferred from the central power plants to decentralised generation units. The backup of the variable sources is provided by utilising the local available capacity, while maintaining or improving energy efficiency of exothermal industrial processes. Operational boundaries are defined and new challenges identified. In this paper, firstly, the heat sources available for this concept are identified. Secondly, the properties of the different conversion technologies are described. Thirdly, the benefits of a virtual power plant utilising waste heat are determined. Finally, this VPP concept is verified by means of a case study in Belgium, Ostend Energy port. Available heat from biomass, chemical processing and waste incineration is used as primary energy source to balance local renewable production

Effect of Industry 4.0 on Education Systems: An Outlook

Congreso Universitario de Innovación Educativa En las Enseñanzas Técnicas, CUIEET (26º. 2018. Gijón

State of the Industry 4.0 in the Andalusian food sector

The food industry is a key issue in the economic structure of Andalusia, due to both the weight and position of this industry in the economy and its advantages and potentials. The term Industry 4.0 carries many meanings. It seeks to describe the intelligent factory, with all the processes interconnected by Internet of things (IOT). Early advances in this field have involved the incorporation of greater flexibility and individualization of the manufacturing processes. The implementation of the framework proposed by Industry 4.0. is a need for the industry in general, and for Andalusian food industry in particular, and should be seen as a great opportunity of progress for the sector. It is expected that, along with others, the food and beverage industry will be pioneer in the adoption of flexible and individualized manufacturing processes. This work constitutes the state of the art, through bibliographic review, of the application of the proposed paradigm by the Industry 4.0. to the food industry.Telefónica, through the “Cátedra de Telefónica Inteligencia en la Red”Paloma Luna Garrid