Studying the funding principles for integrating Asset Management in Operations: an empirical research in production companies

The aim of this paper is to investigate Asset Management (AM) implementation as a business process within production systems to contribute to operational excellence. The main fundamentals to be considered to properly implement AM within production companies according to the existing literature and standards are identified and they are: two dimensions - i.e., the asset life cycle (Beginning of Life, Middle of Life, End of Life phases) and the hierarchical level of the asset-control activities (strategic level, tactical level, operational level) - and four funding principles - i.e., life cycle orientation, system orientation, risk orientation and asset-centric orientation. An empirical investigation is then developed through multiple case-study involving eight production companies in Italy, in order to assess the level of orientation towards those funding principles within production companies as it is nowadays, in order to identify existing gaps and areas for improvements

appearance of new physics phenomena in the opera neutrino experiment

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An ontological modelling of multi-attribute criticality analysis to guide Prognostics and Health Management program development

Digital technologies are becoming more pervasive and industrial companies are exploiting them to enhance the potentialities related to Prognostics and Health Management (PHM). Indeed, PHM allows to evaluate the health state of the physical assets as well as to predict their future behaviour. To be effective in developing PHM programs, the most critical assets should be identified so to direct modelling efforts. Several techniques could be adopted to evaluate asset criticality; in industrial practice, criticality analysis is amongst the most utilised. Despite the advancement of artificial intelligence for data analysis and predictions, the criticality analysis, which is built upon both quantitative and qualitative data, has not been improved accordingly. It is the goal of this work to propose an ontological formalisation of a multi-attribute criticality analysis in order to i) fix the semantics behind the terms involved in the analysis, ii) standardize and uniform the way criticality analysis is performed, and iii) take advantage of the reasoning capabilities to automatically evaluate asset criticality and associate a suitable maintenance strategy. The developed ontology, called MOCA, is tested in a food company featuring a global footprint. The application shows that MOCA can accomplish the prefixed goals; specifically, high priority assets towards which direct PHM programs are identified. In the long run, ontologies could serve as a unique knowledge base that integrate multiple data and information across facilities in a consistent way. As such, they will enable advanced analytics to take place, allowing to move towards cognitive Cyber Physical Systems that enhance business performance for companies spread worldwide

Integration of amorphous silicon balanced photodiodes and thin film heaters for biosensing application

This work presents the development and testing of an integrated system for on-chip detection of thermochemiluminescent biomolecules. The activation energy of the reaction is provided by a transparent structure of thin film heaters deposited on one side of a glass substrate. Light, passing through the substrate, reaches an array of amorphous silicon differential structure deposited on the opposite side of the glass substrate. The structure is designed to perform differential current measurements between a light- shielded diode, whose current is sensitive only to temperature, and a photosensor, sensitive to both incident light and temperature. The device therefore balances the thermal variations of the photodiode current and reduces the dark-current noise. These features make the presented system very appealing as highly miniaturized micro-analytical devices for biosensing applications

Electronic interface board to monitor and control CERN´s sputter ion pump

This report presents the work developed during the master internship at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). The described work resulted from two initial objectives: improvement of the control system of vacuum sectors and the development of a new Pro bus-DP intelligent slave interface board for sputter ion pump controllers. Since the objectives were distinct, the work was split into two di erent projects. In the rst project, the control system for vacuum sectors of Large Hadron Collider, Super Proton Synchrotron and Complex Proton Synchrotron was improved. A new control rmware based in VHDL was developed, tested and upgraded for the control cards. The second project presented in this report involved the development of an electronic card for sputter ion pump controllers. Currently, the communication between the Pro bus network and the ion pump controllers is performed by a remote input-output station based on the ET200 module from Siemens. The operation and status information of the ion pumps and their controllers provided to the network are limited since the remote input-output station does not acquire all the available signals. Moreover, the physical connections between the remote input-output station and each ion pump controller is done with a dedicated cable, which is prone to connection malfunctions. In order to reduce the complexity, improve the signal integrity and upgrade the monitoring and control of the ion pumps system, a new Pro bus-DP intelligent slave interface was developed. It aims to provide direct Pro bus connection to the ion pump controller and to give to the Pro bus master access to all its control signals, improving the controllers usability and exibility. In this report, the card topology, its internal modules, the rmware, the LabVIEW application and assessment tests are presented and described

Improved processing methods to reduce the total cyanide content of cassava roots from Burundi

The identification of highly effective procedures that reduce the cyanogens contained in cassava roots which require no sophisticated equipment, and can readily be adopted by subsistence farmers is of tremendous importance. This study, which used cassava root samples collected in Burundi, included fermentation tests using both selected and native cultures at different temperatures for variable times. Moreover, drying procedures with and without fermentation were carried out. A factorial analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that the detoxification was mainly affected by fermentation length and by the initial cyanogens content of the roots. When fermentation lasted 48 h and the initial cyanide level was lower than 300 mg/kg dry weight (d.w.), the detoxification was also found to vary based on the microorganism inoculated; Saccharomyces cerevisiae demonstrated the greatest effectiveness. In terms of drying conditions, a temperature of 60°C, even for a shorter duration of time (8 h), lowered the initial cyanide level by more than 90%. Finally, when dehydration followed fermentation, the pressed pulp showed a substantial reduction in cyanide content. By means of this last procedure, safe cassava was produced according to FAO/WHO amendments (10 mg HCN equivalent per kilogram flour), if the initial cyanide level of roots did not exceed 200 mg/kg d.w. Actually, the initial maximum total cyanide content was confirmed to be fundamental in order to obtain safe products in relation to processing method adopted.Keywords: Cassava, cyanide, detoxification, drying, fermentation.African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(19), pp. 2685-269

On the relationship of spare parts inventory policies with Total Cost of Ownership of industrial assets

This work presents the results of a simulation study aimed at characterizing the relationship of spare parts inventory policies with Total Cost of Ownership of industrial plants. The study is motivated by the expectation that several spare parts management decisions cause important effects in the long-term profitability of industrial assets. Such decisions may regard, amongst the others, the initial provisioning, the inventory policy and the end-of-life acquisition. This work adopts simulation to test a specific spare parts inventory policy, i.e. a continuous review system, with the final purpose to assess its effects on the operational performance of an industrial comminution plant and, consequently, on its Total Cost of Ownership