Aluminium recycling activity on construction site: Malaysia case study

Aluminium is largely used in transportation industry to make vehicles, but not all country has their own transportation industry. But nearly all country has their construction industry. With the rise of aluminium usage in the effort to save the environment, it is wise to identify the recycling activity on a construction site. This paper is about the identification of aluminium recycling activity on a construction site. Construction site is second to transportation in term of aluminium usage. A case study is conducted to identify the aluminium recycling activity on the construction site.This study is explorative in nature as different country has different conduct of recycling on site. Fromconducted case study, one main recycling activity is in the light which is collecting. Even though it is only one activity, it appears in many stages of the aluminium recycling activity. By having this knowledge, it might help the responsible party to set up standardised recycling procedure on the construction site while at the same time encourage the recycling activity

How Industry 4.0 technologies and open innovation can improve green innovation performance?

Purpose – This study investigates the impact of Industry 4.0 technologies on green innovation performance. In this relationship, the mediating role of green innovation behavior is also studied. Moreover, open innovation is tested as a mediator between Industry 4.0 technologies and green innovation behavior. Design/methodology/approach – A quantitative research method is adopted in which a structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 217 manufacturing firms of Malaysia. After collecting data, the partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique is applied to analyze data and test the hypothesis of study. Findings – It is found that Industry 4.0 positively impacts open innovation which leads to green innovation behavior. Also, the former lays positive impact on green innovation behavior which leads to improve green innovation performance. Research limitations/implications – The authors conclude that Industry 4.0 technologies can play an important role to improve green innovation performance of Malaysian manufacturing firms by managing open innovation for green innovation behavior which further improves the green innovation performance. In this context, it is recommended that strategists and policymakers should undertake the role of open innovation and Industry 4.0 technologies to promote environment-friendly innovations and to promote the green behavior in companies. The authors suggest hereby that firms should be given incentives to adopt and utilize Industry 4.0 technologies and collaborative innovation interactions – as they foster a climate for sustainable green innovations (which is also a key component to achieve competitive advantage) and a growing concern nowadays. Practical implications – First of all the research contributes to achieving the broader of United Nations to promote sustainable innovation through green innovations. Moreover, the companies can also incorporate the findings and insights of this study while devising their policies to foster green innovations. Originality/value – This research has done the novel contribution by bridging the gap between open innovation approach and sustainability fields while promoting green innovations in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). These two research fields are rarely studied in previous studies by focusing open innovation particularly. Hence, the authors suggest researchers to undertake these fields to further enhance the level of scholarship between innovation management and sustainability. Also, the authors recommend considering technological orientation and technological absorptive capacity of firms to improve green innovations. The current study has investigated the SMEs perspective in general irrespective to their sectoral differences, thus, for future researchers the authors suggest investigating the sector-wise comparison, i.e. electrical and electronics sector, chemical sector, etc.; or service and manufacturing sector differences

Value creating activity from aluminium recycling on metal scrap collector site: Malaysia case study

This research is on the value creating activities from aluminium recycling on the metal scrap collector site. Less is known on how value is created from recycling. Value creation is important in order to generate profit. Metal scrap collector is one of the main component in the recycling chain which creates value for recycling. Understanding the value creation part of metal scrap collector will help to understand the value creation from recycling as metal scrap collector is one of the actors in the recycling industry. A case study was conducted in order to gather the data for this research. An indepth interview session was done with Managing Director of the metal scrap collector firm. A few value creating activities were identified consisting of two categories which is primary and supporting activities. Eventhough the separation between primary and supporting activities is in line with the value chain analysis by Porter. But the activities in the primary and supporting section differs slightly in a few section. This indicates that the value creation activities in the metal scrap collector differs from the original value chain analysis by Porter. Further research on other actors in the recycling value chain is needed in order to test the homogenousity throughout the recycling calue chain

Effect Of Cold Sprayed Al Coating On Corrosion Behaviour Of Sponson Spar

Aluminium types 7075 alloys are widely used in aircraft components example helicopter because of their inherent weight advantages over other metals but premature failure due to corrosion is one of the main challenges associated with this alloys, which affects the safety and readiness of aircraft. Current practise of corrosion treatment is using DOW-17process or thermal spray coating. Disadvantage of DOW-17 process it involves hazard material and thermal spray coating issue of porosity and fatigue failure. A promising coating technique cold spray, CS powder particle in supersonic jet of compressed gas impact a solid surface to cause plastic deformation without the creation of heat affected zone. Salt spray testing, SST show no rust on surface specimen of coated area and EDX result show higher weight % of Aluminium on coated area as well. Corrosion treatment is the utmost concern in the aircraft industry

Identifying and Eliminating Waste in a Coal Mining Industry: The Value Stream Mapping Analysis

Applying Value Stream Mapping (VSM) in the mining industry can increase productivity in production process activities. The coal mining industry has a vital role in life and is an essential investment in the regional economy. However, since 2017, coal production has experienced instability based on data from the Central Bureau of Statistics for East Kalimantan Province (2021) and has yet to meet consumer demand. Previous studies have only shed light on the critical theory that VSM has extended to many industries. However, those studies need to explain the concept of applying VSM to the mining industry. Therefore, to support this theory, a case study from the mining industry was conducted to determine cycle times and identify value-adding and non-value-adding activities. A current state map is developed after making the necessary observations and calculations. Different improvement proposals are identified, and a future state map for the industry is constructed. As a result, a 23.4% reduction in cycle time and 56.1% reduction in lead time ensure its applicability in the mining industry to increase productivity and meet customer demands. VSM is a powerful tool that helps mining managers and operators identify waste and opportunities for improvement. Efficiency is one of the most important things to consider in this industry. This study is especially true in the coal mining sector

Malaysian Apprenticeship Implementation: Issues and Challenges Towards Effective Employers Engagement

While the jobs recovery is underway in many countries, persistently high rates of youth unemployment remain a significant labour market challenge. In response, there has been increasing interest in apprenticeships both as a route into employment and also in raising the skill levels of the workforce. Apprenticeship is one of the methods to promote young people's employment. It is historically prevalent and successful in Europe and is emulated in other countries around the world to promote employment especially amongst youth. Apprenticeships and other work-based training opportunities are valuable training pathways for improving the transition from school-to-work. At the local level, apprenticeship programmes can contribute to regional development objectives and provide local employers with the skilled workforce they require to remain competitive and create jobs. Therefore, this study was carried out to investigate the currents issues and challenges faced by Malaysian industrial employers in employer engagement of apprenticeship programmes through action research and descriptive studies. This action-based research as a methodology is to gather the responses of Malaysian local companies’ experiences in the manufacturing sector, across Multinational Companies (MNC), Government-Linked Corporations (GLC) and Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SME) and identify the key issues and solutions that could create a beneficial prospect for TVET graduates and participating companies. Both descriptive quantitative and qualitative data from the survey questionnaires and interviews, respectively, were employed. 71 companies involved in the online survey and 6 manufacturing companies participated in the interviews and discussions as well as brainstorming. From the perspective of industries, this study found that the main key issues and challenges are: scarcity of competent industries instructors and coaches; provision of CPD; availability of apprenticeship bridging programs; teaching capacity; skills to deliver high quality employer focused apprenticeship; and industries and training providers collaboration. These six main issues are fundamentally systemic and highly intertwined in nature and will have to be resolved by all the stakeholders based on an agreeable working framework of apprenticeship in Malaysia. The findings of this study could provide policy makers and social partners with specific learnings to remove barriers to engaging employers in apprenticeship programmes, broaden access to training opportunities and improve the economic development and labour market performance of local areas

Innovation as mediating factor between total quality management and competitive advantage among manufacturers

This paper is aimed to explore the role of innovation as mediating role in relationship between TQM and competitive advantage within manufacturing sector in Malaysia. Quantitative method was used to find out the answer and questionnaires have been distributed to the management level in electrical and electronic (E&E) manufacturers in Malaysia. Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) and ADANCO were the software used to analyze the data gathering from respondents. The result of analysis shown that total quality management (TQM) and innovation gave significant positive impact on competitive advantage. In addition, the innovation is mediate positively for the relationship between TQM and competitive advantage. Therefore, this research is expected to provide deep understanding regarding TQM, innovation, and competitive advantage for the manufacturing industry within Malaysia and acts as reference to future researcher

Green factory: is it improving environmental burden? survey result in Malaysia

Green Factory is a new and proactive approach to reduce environment burden. Physical development grew rapidly has effected major implications to environment. Environmental issues such as carbon dioxide, loss of biodiversity, degradation of natural resources, global warming, ozone layer depletion and deforestation have effected on the environment stability. Based on statistics, showing amount of carbon dioxide gas production in Malaysia was 29 million tonnes which Malaysia is ranked 26th (0.66%) of the 215 countries in the world. 110 world leaders including Malaysia has agreed to work for reducing carbon dioxide gas in the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit 2009. Accordingly, a study was conducted on companies that adopted Green Factory practices to assess its key performance criteria and practices for minimizing environmental problems. The samples were 300 companies in Malaysia. Finally, 20% response rate has been received, with 60 respondents. Five main criteria for Green Factory have been identified; (1) Solar power generation systems, (2) Fuel cells system, (3) Cogeneration systems, (4) Air conditioning units and (5) Recycling system. Based on descriptive result, recycling shows the highest level of practices, followed by solar power cogenerations system, air conditioning units and fuel cells system. This study result shows Green Factory has significant relationship with environment performance (r = 0.404, P < 0.05) and business performance (r = 0.38, P < 0.05). Overall, the survey result shows green factory practices is well implemented in Malaysia manufacturing companies. In conclusion, Green Factory can be used as effective tool for improving not only for environment performance but also for business performance