Analysis and improvement of the packaging sector of an industrial company

Manual operations in manufacturing companies are still a common practice. This often results in high costs, high cycle times and therefore in lower productivity, particularly for companies operating in western countries. This is why many manufacturing companies relocated their production facilities in low age countries. This study was developed at a leading Portuguese material construction manufacturing company. The objective was to improve the packaging and labeling processes, that were identified as main bottlenecks in the factory. Lean was used to streamline these processes before being automated. This allowed for annual savings of 12432 €, with human operators being reallocated to other departments where they are more useful. Furthermore, cycle times were reduced by 42,9%, non-value-added activities were minimized, and operations with potentially high ergonomic risks were eliminated. In addition, a reduction of 84,3% in lithographed packaging was achieved, with a cost reduction of around 36 000 €/year, which is expected to continue in the forthcoming years.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Lean manufacturing applied to a wiring production process

This project was carried out at a company in the electric mobility sector, which manufactures chargers for electric vehicles, specifically in the wiring section. The main objective of the developed work was to improve the production processes in order to enhance responsiveness to the growing demand. After analyzing the processes in the section, the objectives were outlined to enable the improvement of some practices in the production department, such as the ones related to the organization of the raw material supermarket, as well as the calculation of the wiring consumption by chargers, and the implementation of a production control system. After the improvement actions were implemented, it was possible to observe a 14,9% reduction in the changeover process of the cable cutting process; weekly wiring consumptions were estimated, and procedures were defined to generate orders of raw material and supply to the workstation, which led to the elimination of stock shortages. In addition, worker autonomy increased and production downtime was reduced.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Improvement of Production Line in the Automotive Industry Through Lean Philosophy

This work refers to concepts and definitions of Lean Philosophy. The main targets were to study how waste reduction can be achieved on a production scenario, by identifying added-value operations, enhance productivity, levelling and over-processing reduction. The project behind this study is a massive one, which involves the installation of seven final production lines and more seven pre-assembly lines, being considered by the company, a project that must be as profitable as possible. After implementation and validation, costs were evaluated and the savings reached 10,9 % (2 159 000 €) considering all costs of industrialization.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Modelo unidimensional de transferência de calor em um absorverdor trapezoidal multi-tubos para concentradores Fresnel lineares

CIES2020 - XVII Congresso Ibérico e XIII Congresso Ibero-americano de Energia SolarRESUMO: Este artigo descreve o modelo matemático unidimensional de transferência de calor em um absorvedor multi-tubos com cavidade trapezoidal utilizado em um concentrador solar do tipo Fresnel Linear. Todas as taxas de transferência de calor foram modeladas analiticamente e o modelo foi validado experimentalmente. Os experimentos para a validação do modelo foram realizados em um Fresnel com 60 m² de área localizados na cidade de Florianópolis. Nas condições analisadas, com diferenças de temperatura entre o fluido e o ambiente de até 200°C, aproximadamente 70% das perdas térmicas ocorrem por convecção das chapas metálicas com o ar externo e 30% por radiação e convecção pela janela de vidro. Na comparação dos resultados do modelo com os dos testes experimentais foi observado uma diferença média de 10%, sendo superior no modelo. As trocas de calor pelo ar no interior da cavidade foram consideradas como por difusão apenas, desconsiderando efeitos advectivos e, esta consideração não implicou em erros significativos.ABSTRACT: This article describes the one-dimensional heat transfer mathematical model of a multi-tube trapezoidal cavity absorber used in a linear Fresnel concentrator. All heat transfer rates were modeled analytically and the model was experimentally validated. The experiments for the validation of the model were carried out in a Fresnel with 60 m² of area located in the city of Florianópolis. Under the conditions analyzed, with temperature differences between the fluid and the environment of up to 200 ° C, approximately 70% of the thermal losses occur by convection of the metal plates with the external air and 30% by radiation and convection through the glass window. When comparing the results of the model with those of the experimental tests, an average difference of 10% was observed, being higher in the model. The heat exchanges for air inside the cavity were considered to be by diffusion only, disregarding advective effects and, this consideration did not imply significant errors.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Autonomic modulation of heart rate of young and postmenopausal women undergoing estrogen therapy

The aim of the present study was to determine whether estrogen therapy (ET) reduces alterations of the autonomic control of heart rate (HR) due to hypoestrogenism and aging. Thirteen young (24 ± 2.6 years), 10 postmenopausal (53 ± 4.6 years) undergoing ET (PM-ET), and 14 postmenopausal (56 ± 2.6 years) women not undergoing ET (PM) were studied. ET consisted of 0.625 mg/day conjugated equine estrogen. HR was recorded continuously for 8 min at rest in the supine and sitting positions. HR variability (HRV) was analyzed by time (SDNN and rMSSD indices) and frequency domain methods. Power spectral components are reported as normalized units (nu) at low (LF) and high (HF) frequencies, and as LF/HF ratio. Intergroup comparisons: SDNN index was higher in young (median: supine, 47 ms; sitting, 42 ms) than in PM-ET (33; 29 ms) and PM (31; 29 ms) women (P < 0.05). PM showed lower HFnu, higher LFnu and higher LF/HF ratio (supine: 44, 56, 1.29; sitting: 38, 62, 1.60) than the young group in the supine position (61, 39, 0.63) and the PM-ET group in the sitting position (57, 43, 0.75; P < 0.05). Intragroup comparisons: HR was lower in the supine than in the sitting position for all groups (P < 0.05). The HRV decrease from the supine to the sitting position was significant only in the young group. These results suggest that HRV decreases during aging. ET seems to attenuate this process, promoting a reduction in sympathetic activity on the heart and contributing to the cardioprotective effect of estrogen hormones.49149

Bulk viscosity driving the acceleration of the Universe

The possibility that the present acceleration of the universe is driven by a kind of viscous fluid is exploited. At background level this model is similar to the generalized Chaplygin gas model (GCGM). But, at perturbative level, the viscous fluid exhibits interesting properties. In particular the oscillations in the power spectrum that plagues the GCGM are not present. Possible fundamental descriptions for this viscous dark energy are discussed.Comment: Latex file, 8 pages, 3 eps figure