The way from Lean Product Development (LPD) to Smart Product Development (SPD)

Abstract Lean Product Development (LPD) is the application of lean principles to product development, aiming to develop new or improved products that are successful in the market. LPD deals with the complete process from gathering and generating ideas, through assessing potential success, to developing concepts, evaluating them to create a best concept, detailing the product, testing/developing it and handing over to manufacture. With the beginning of the fourth Industrial Revolution (Industrial 4.0) and the rising efforts to realize a smart factory environment, also product development has to perform a substantial transformation. This paper firstly describes the concept of Lean Product Development as well as new requirements for an intelligent and Smart Product Development (SPD) through the introduction of modern Industry 4.0 related technologies. Based on Axiomatic Design methodology, a set of guidelines for the design of Lean Product Development Processes is presented. These guidelines are linked with concepts from Industry 4.0 in Engineering, showing how a lean and smart product development process can be achieved by the use of advanced and modern technologies and instruments

Critical Factors for Introducing Lean Product Development to Small and Medium sized Enterprises in Italy

Abstract Small and medium sized enterprises are the backbone of many economies. Especially in Italy SME's play a major role in the economic system. In the last years many lean methods and approaches were introduced successfully also in small and medium sized enterprises. After a successful introduction in manufacturing the lean approach swapped also on other indirect areas such as engineering and product development. Actually in research we can find only few research on the application of Lean in the R&D departments of SME's. The novelty of this paper is to provide a survey based evaluation of applicability, benefits as well as critical factors of Lean in SME product development. In the survey 54 Italian SME's were asked for their opinion. Further, respondents gave a statement on the introduction of emerging Industry 4.0 techniques in product development and how they can influence the effect of Lean in product development. The main results are that numerous Lean methods can be introduced very quickly promising high potential for improvements and that Lean methods combined with Industry 4.0 technologies act like a booster for efficiency optimization in product development

Study of the impact of projection-based assistance systems for improving the learning curve in assembly processes

Abstract With the introduction of Industry 4.0 the use of worker assistance systems is getting more and more important. Assistance systems should support operators to increase efficiency and to reduce physical and mental stress and thus increase ergonomics of the work. In this paper, we investigate the impact of a projection-based worker assistance system conducting lab experiments simulating a ramp-up situation of a new product in assembly. The specific aim is the investigation of the impact of such systems in assembly for improving the learning curve, when products are changing. The study shows the results of a comparison between the assembly process with traditional worker instructions and the use of cognitive assistance systems to project instructions on the workplace

an evaluation methodology for the conversion of manual assembly systems into human robot collaborative workcells

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Urban production – A socially sustainable factory concept to overcome shortcomings of qualified workers in smart SMEs

Abstract Many of the Industry 4.0 approaches are of a technical nature, and by developing new intelligent technologies and adapting and transferring existing techniques, they will help increase productivity in industry. However, human resources will play a central role also in future factories, thus they are a key factor for implementing Industry 4.0. The role and job profile of employees in the smart factories will change in the future and it will be increasingly challenging for SMEs to compete with large corporations in the fight for skilled workers. In the smart city of tomorrow, production sites will be integrated in the sense of an 'urban production' in a city-friendly way becoming more interesting for talents and qualified work force. Thus, this paper discusses the imminent shortage of skilled workers with a focus on SMEs. The proposed concept of urban production gives an overview of measures to overcome the shortage of qualified workers. The paper aims to show that urban production is a concept to achieve a socially sustainable symbiosis between companies and the city of the future

Simulation Based Validation of Supply Chain Effects through ICT enabled Real-time-capability in ETO Production Planning

Abstract According to Industry 4.0, real-time information in production planning and control, shows a high potential for optimizing the whole supply chain. The paper considers the plant building industry, especially the off-site fabrication and on-site installation. Traditionally, production planning is centralized following a Master Schedule that rarely is up to date, ignoring deviations on-site. As a result, components are delivered in advance or too late, which create non-value adding activities and high inventory levels. The paper proposes an ICT-supported nearly real-time capable production planning approach, which by means of a simulation, shows a drastically reduction of the inventory level on-site

a human in the loop cyber physical system for collaborative assembly in smart manufacturing

Abstract Industry 4.0 rose with the introduction of cyber-physical systems (CPS) and Internet of things (IoT) inside manufacturing systems. CPS represent self-controlled physical processes, having tight networking capabilities and efficient interfaces for human interaction. The interactive dimension of CPS reaches its maximum when defined in terms of natural human-machine interfaces (NHMI), i.e., those reducing the technological barriers required for the interaction. This paper presents a NHMI bringing the human decision-making capabilities inside the cybernetic control loop of a smart manufacturing assembly system. The interface allows to control, coordinate and cooperate with an industrial cobot during the task execution

Function-Based Mapping of Industrial Assistance Systems to User Groups in Production

Abstract By looking at the last few decades, industrial production has undergone great changes. Industry 4.0, also called the fourth industrial revolution, describes the change in the entire value chain through the digital networking of systems, machines, and products. In addition, product variety and complexity in assembly increased due to customization. Big Data Analytics, Internet of Things, Horizontal and Vertical Data Integration and Cyber-Physical Production Systems are just some examples of technologies that find their way from research into industrial practice. However, the most important resource is often neglected, when talking about industry: the human. When we look at companies, we find different types of personnel in production, each with different requirements and capabilities. Assistance systems can be used to counteract these new challenges and offer adequate support to each individual worker. In the past, much research has been done to develop new worker assistance systems, while the analysis of specific needs of user groups in production has been ignored. This paper presents a function-based mapping of industrial worker assistance systems to different user groups and proposes a method for selecting the most appropriate assistance system to each user group

Intelligent workpiece carrier for distributed data collection and control in manufacturing environments

Abstract The growing demand for customized products is challenging companies to change their organizational structure towards a flexible organizational model. However, small and medium sized enterprises (SME) do not have the necessary resources to integrate in their production processes new technologies which could help them facing such challenges. We propose a framework in which an intelligent workpiece carrier (IWC) is introduced in a traditional production line. We propose to integrate the knowledge of production steps in the IWC to make it able to take decisions about the process execution. A first prototype was developed and tested to verify the effectiveness of the proposed framework. Through the implementation, it has been shown that the IWC represents a promising component in the realization of flexible production systems

Applying Lean to Healthcare Delivery Processes - a Case-based Research

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that Lean principles and methodology should be applied on a regular basis to the entire process flow of healthcare delivery systems. With reference to an actual case-based research, this article demonstrates how patient flows can be successfully optimized if Lean is not limited to single processes/contexts only, and it is applied to achieve holistic process improvement of an entire system. The complexity of healthcare delivery systems requires inclusive investigation from various points of view. This is why case-study-based research has been used to investigate dynamic, experiential and complex processes and areas, such as the ones featured by this article. The methodological basis for this research has been a twelve-step optimization approach outlined by the authors during a previous successful Lean programme. This same approach has been applied to optimize patient flows in the emergency departments of four different hospitals in Northern Italy. The research has involved teams composed of medical, nursing, technical and administrative staff. The results outlined in the article suggest that inclusive application of Lean tools leads to effective process optimization and a better working environment, when in connection with a systematic and holistic optimization approach. Feedback from participants was obtained through a satisfaction survey and a project assessment; it reported enthusiastic project acceptance and good teamwork climate. Among the results of the research performed in the four hospitals, several measures have been effectively implemented to reduce the lead-time for patients from registration to discharge. At the same time, patient-staff ratio and quality of care have been either maintained or even improved. However, lack of a definite conclusive evaluation can be explained by the research project still being implemented. The value of this paper lies in demonstrating how Lean contributes to achieve better process performance and high staff satisfaction, when implemented within the whole supply chain of a healthcare delivery system on a regular basis