Drones in Railways

Evidence shows that the applications of drones are increasing quickly in many industries. Railways are no exception. Due to fast advances in technology, drones are on the verge of breakthroughs that will affect future applications, implementations, and their consequences. Looking ahead, we elaborate on the potential for drones in railways. We use scenario planning and combine it with the findings of an action research project, which we conducted with Swiss Federal Railways (SBB). First, we explore the applications and future trends of drone use in railway operations. Second, based on seven identified factors that may affect the future of drones in railways by 2030, we develop three future scenarios: pessimistic, realistic, and optimistic. The study results help practitioners make informed decisions regarding future drone programs in railways. We also contribute theoretical insights into how high-potential technologies can unleash new capabilities in railway operations

A new human-centric factory model

The traditional manufacturing concept puts tasks at the center of the production system and the workers’ role is rather passive. However, the workplaces of the future will be worker-centric instead of task-centric, and the role of the workers is expected to increase, leading to an optimization of the production performance. In this manner, it is of paramount importance to define new social sustainable workplaces where the human dimension is a key cornerstone, highlighting the requirements for shifting from a traditional task-centric production to a worker centric production. The idea of this study is to design the workplaces of the future and to understand how the worker's role will change in the next years, focusing on the workers’ perspective to create workplaces that fit to their needs. The study therefore highlights a new human-centric factory model and provides a taxonomy of the aspects to be considered in designing these worker-centric factories of the future. The EU-Funded Man-Made Project is used for the development and validation of the concepts of the research work utilizing case studies in the transportation and white-goods industries

from eto to mass customization a two horizon eto enabling process

During the past few years, many companies are playing in their respective market managing one batch of their commercial offer as mass customizer and another as a pure Engineer-to-Order (ETO) company. This newly created business model generates new needs and issues both in the internal organization approaches, and in the supporting IT systems. The competitive advantage of successful firms relies on the effective management of their purely customized orders, with the aim of including relevant knowledge and information in the standard space of action. Therefore, this study aims at conceptualizing this new business reality, presenting an innovative underlying scheme for the ETO enabling process in which the central focus is on the design phase. Furthermore, a set of success practices are represented, discriminated between long and short term horizons. In this context, both technological and organizational aspects have been explored. Lastly, applicability of the proposed framework has been empirically validated through case studies

Drones in manufacturing: exploring opportunities for research and practice

ISSN:1741-038

Understanding manufacturing repurposing: a multiple-case study of ad hoc healthcare product production during COVID-19

The repurposing of manufacturing facilities has provided a solution to the surge in demand for healthcare products during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite being a widespread and important phenomenon, manufacturing repurposing has received scarce research. This paper develops a grounded understanding of the key factors that infuence manufacturing repurposing at the macro and micro levels. We collected rich qualitative data from 45 case studies of frms’ repurposing initiatives during COVID-19. Our study focuses on four types of healthcare products that experienced skyrocketing demand during the frst months of the COVID-19 pandemic: face shields, facemasks, hand sanitizers, and medical ventilators. Based on the case studies, we identify and generalize driving factors for manufacturing repurposing and their relationships, which are summarized in causal loop diagrams at both macro and micro levels. Our research provides practitioners, policymakers, and scholars with a conceptual understanding of the phenomenon of manufacturing repurposing. It helps manufacturing managers understand why, when, and how they should engage in manufacturing repurposing and informs policymakers when and how to tailor incentive policies and support schemes to changing situations. Scholars can build on our work to develop and test dynamic system–behavior models of the phenomenon or to pursue other research paths we discover. The world stands to beneft from improved manufacturing repurposing capabilities to be better prepared for future disruptions.ISSN:1936-9743ISSN:1936-973

Manufacturing Repurposing: A Literature Review

Manufacturing repurposing was a rapid response strategy to overcome shortages of critical healthcare products during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many companies repurposed facilities to manufacture products such as ventilators and hand sanitizers in response to the skyrocketing demand. Manufacturing repurposing was a widespread practice during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic. This systematic literature review consolidates the fragmented literature on manufacturing repurposing and identifies potential research opportunities in production and operations management. Using a systematic approach, we identified and reviewed 29 articles on manufacturing repurposing and report the findings from both descriptive and thematic analyses. We identified four main themes in the manufacturing repurposing literature: (1) barriers and success factors (2) role of the supply chain, (3) role of innovation, and (4) role of digital technologies. We conclude with a research agenda that suggests three promising lenses for future research on manufacturing repurposing: (1) dynamic capabilities, (2) supply chain resilience, and (3) network perspectives.ISSN:1868-4238ISSN:1868-422