Quality costs and Industry 4.0: inspection strategy modelling and reviewing

Inspection strategy (IS) is a key component impacting quality costs. Although often considered an infexible output of initial quality plans, it may require revisions given the dynamic quality situation of the manufacturing system. It is from this background that the present study aims to model and compare diferent IS based on the cost of quality (CoQ) approach for a case study in the automotive manufacturing industry. While many computational inspection strategy models (ISMs) are available in the literature, most of them face application challenges and struggle to incorporate real-world data. The present study addresses this gap by developing a model that not only represents a real testing station in a manufacturing line but also uses historical production data. Additionally, in relation to model inputs, this study explores the challenges and opportunities of acquiring reliable quality cost estimates in the Industry 4.0 context. Among the main contributions of this work, the developed CoQ-based ISM can be used as a decision-making aiding tool for inspection revision and improvement, while conclusions about quality cost data collection in the industrial digitalization context can help advance the CoQ approach in practiceFCT|FCCN (b-on

Decision-making framework for implementing safer human-robot collaboration workstations: system dynamics modeling

Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) systems are often implemented seeking for reducing risk of Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders (WMSD) development and increasing productivity. The challenge is to successfully implement an industrial HRC to manage those factors, considering that non-linear behaviors of complex systems can produce counterintuitive effects. Therefore, the aim of this study was to design a decision-making framework considering the key ergonomic methods and using a computational model for simulations. It considered the main systemic influences when implementing a collaborative robot (cobot) into a production system and simulated scenarios of productivity and WMSD risk. In order to verify whether the computational model for simulating scenarios would be useful in the framework, a case study in a manual assembly workstation was conducted. The results show that both cycle time and WMSD risk depend on the Level of Collaboration (LoC). The proposed framework helps deciding which cobot to implement in a context of industrial assembly process. System dynamics were used to understand the actual behavior of all factors and to predict scenarios. Finally, the framework presented a clear roadmap for the future development of an industrial HRC system, drastically reducing risk management in decision-making.This work was supported by European Structural and Investment Funds in the FEDER component, through the Operational Competitiveness and Internationalization Programme (COMPETE 2020) [Project n◦ 39479; Funding Reference: POCI-01-0247-FEDER-39479] and by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the R&D Units Project Scope: UIDB/00319/202

Revisão e design de indicadores de desempenho preditivos para reduzir custos de qualidade

Programa doutoral em Advanced Engineering Systems for IndustryBesides the competitive environment, automotive electronics and other high-tech industries deal with the increasing complexity of products, processes, and systems, which is one of the major challenges for production quality. Accordingly, it is supposed that these industries have effective and cost-efficient quality control, and thoroughly elaborate quality and productivity continuous improvement systems, which are managed to meet strict technical standards. Therefore, by conducting a case study in a company in this quality-strict and data-rich environment, this thesis focused on four interconnected themes on Quality Management: the review and improvement of KPIs related to quality, the identification and quantification of relationships between them, practices for inspection planning and improvement, and modeling of inspection strategies considering quality costs. Among main findings, it can be underscored the relevance of reviewing and improving KPIs based on a set of attributes in order to ensure that metrics fully contribute to an organization’s continuous improvement. As for inspection design and update, the evaluation of the company’s practices showed that many aspects could be further improved, with findings being generalized by framing inspection planning on the continuous improvement tool PDCA. Lastly, the development and application of an inspection strategy model contributed to the literature on computational models and highlighted their potential as a decision-making aiding tool for inspection revision and improvement considering the CoQ approach.Além do ambiente competitivo, a eletrônica automotiva e outras indústrias de alta tecnologia lidam com a crescente complexidade de produtos, processos e sistemas, o que é um dos maiores desafios para a qualidade da produção. Consequentemente, supõe-se que essas indústrias tenham um controle de qualidade eficaz e econômico, e sistemas de melhoria contínua de qualidade e produtividade minuciosamente elaborados, os quais são geridos de acordo com rígidos padrões técnicos. Portanto, ao realizar um estudo de caso em uma empresa neste ambiente rigoroso em questões relacionadas à qualidade e rico em dados, esta tese focou em quatro temas interligados na Gestão da Qualidade: a revisão e melhoria dos KPIs relacionados à qualidade, a identificação e quantificação das relações entre eles, práticas de planeamento e melhoria da inspeção, e modelação de estratégias de inspeção considerando os custos da qualidade. Entre as principais conclusões, destaca-se a relevância de revisar e aprimorar os KPIs com base num conjunto de atributos, a fim de garantir que as métricas contribuam plenamente para a melhoria contínua de uma organização. Quanto ao planeamento e melhoria da inspeção, a avaliação das práticas da empresa mostrou que muitos aspetos podem ser melhorados, e os resultados foram generalizados através de um enquadramento do planeamento da inspeção na ferramenta de melhoria contínua PDCA. Por fim, o desenvolvimento e aplicação de um modelo de estratégia de inspeção contribui para a literatura sobre modelos computacionais e destaca o seu potencial como ferramenta de auxílio à tomada de decisão para revisão e melhoria da inspeção considerando a abordagem dos custos de qualidade.This work was supported by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the R&D Units Project Scope UIDB/00319/2020 and the doctoral scholarship grant PD/BDE/150517/2019