Business analytics in industry 4.0: a systematic review

Recently, the term “Industry 4.0” has emerged to characterize several Information Technology and Communication (ICT) adoptions in production processes (e.g., Internet-of-Things, implementation of digital production support information technologies). Business Analytics is often used within the Industry 4.0, thus incorporating its data intelligence (e.g., statistical analysis, predictive modelling, optimization) expert system component. In this paper, we perform a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) on the usage of Business Analytics within the Industry 4.0 concept, covering a selection of 169 papers obtained from six major scientific publication sources from 2010 to March 2020. The selected papers were first classified in three major types, namely, Practical Application, Reviews and Framework Proposal. Then, we analysed with more detail the practical application studies which were further divided into three main categories of the Gartner analytical maturity model, Descriptive Analytics, Predictive Analytics and Prescriptive Analytics. In particular, we characterized the distinct analytics studies in terms of the industry application and data context used, impact (in terms of their Technology Readiness Level) and selected data modelling method. Our SLR analysis provides a mapping of how data-based Industry 4.0 expert systems are currently used, disclosing also research gaps and future research opportunities.The work of P. Cortez was supported by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the R&D Units Project Scope: UIDB/00319/2020. We would like to thank to the three anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions

Identifying rail asset maintenance processes: a human-centric and sensemaking approach

Efficient asset maintenance is key for delivering services such as transport. Current rail maintenance processes have been mostly reactive with a recent shift towards exploring proactive modes. The introduction of new ubiquitous technologies and advanced data analytics facilitates the embedding of a ‘predict-and-prevent’ approach to managing assets. Successful, user-centred integration of such technology is still, however, a sparsely understood area. This study reports results from a set of interviews, based on Critical Decision Method, with rail asset maintenance and management experts regarding current procedural aspects of asset management and maintenance. We analyse and present the results from a human-centric sensemaking timeline perspective. We found that within a complex sociotechnical environment such as rail transport, asset maintenance processes apply not just at local levels, but also to broader, strategic levels that involve different stakeholders and necessitate different levels of expertise. This is a particularly interesting aspect within maintenance that has not been discussed as of yet within a process-based and timeline-based models of asset maintenance. We argue that it is important to consider asset maintenance activities within both micro (local) and macro (broader) levels to ensure reliability and stability in transport services. We also propose that the traditionally distinct notions of individual, collaborative and artefact-based sensemaking are in fact all in evidence in this sensemaking context, and argue that a more holistic view of sensemaking is therefore appropriate by placing these results within an amended Recogntion Primed Decsion making model

Utilization of biomass for electricity generation in Greek islands

146 σ.Η παρούσα διπλωματική έχει σαν σκοπό να διερευνήσει και να παρουσιάσει, τις δυνατότητες αξιοποίησης της βιομάζας για ηλεκτροπαραγωγή, σε περιπτώσεις μή διασυνδεδεμένων νήσων.This diploma aims to investigate, the potential use of biomass for power generation in case of non interconnected islands.Αλέξανδρος Α. Μπουσδέκη

A Framework for Integrated Proactive Maintenance Decision Making and Supplier Selection

Part 6: Intelligent Diagnostics and Maintenance SolutionsInternational audienceThe increasing use of sensors in manufacturing enterprises has led to the need for real-time data-driven information systems capable of processing huge amounts of data in order to provide meaningful insights about the actual and the predicted business performance. We propose a framework for real-time, event-driven proactive supplier selection driven by Condition Based Maintenance (CBM). The proposed framework was tested in a real in automotive lighting equipment scenario

Condition-Based Predictive Maintenance in the Frame of Industry 4.0

Part 6: Intelligent Diagnostics and Maintenance SolutionsInternational audienceThe emergence of Industry 4.0 leads to the optimization of all the industrial operations management. Maintenance is a key operation function, since it contributes significantly to the business performance. However, the definition and conceptualization of Condition-based Predictive Maintenance (CPM) in the frame of Industry 4.0 is not clear yet. In the current paper, we: (i) explicitly define CPM in the frame of Industry 4.0 (alternatively referred as Proactive Maintenance); (ii) develop a unified approach for its implementation; and, (iii) provide a conceptual architecture for associated information systems