Estudo e investigação do modelo de certificação b corporation e sua relação com sistemas integrados ISO

A importância da sustentabilidade e da responsabilidade social é nos dias de hoje a principal preocupação das empresas que se querem afirmar nos seus mercados internos e internacionais. As metas ambientais cada vez mais ambiciosas, fazem com que as empresas tenham que se adaptar e recriar, de forma a serem mais competitivas e resilientes. A certificação é uma ferramenta essencial para a sustentabilidade das empresas e é um selo de confiança para as partes interessadas. O objetivo deste trabalho consiste em realizar uma investigação profunda acerca do modelo de certificação B Corporation, baseado na avaliação BIA das empresas certificadas, e também avaliar a sua possível correlação com outras certificações, nomeadamente os sistemas de gestão integrados da ISO. Irá também avaliar-se o potencial do processo de avaliação B Corporation através da criação de um modelo de equações estruturais. A metodologia utilizada foi inspirada no “inquiry-based learning” e a fase de investigação divide-se essencialmente em duas etapas. A primeira consiste na criação de uma base de dados com toda a informação relevante da avaliação de impacto BIA de 2.262 empresas disponibilizada no diretório do B Corporation. Na segunda etapa foi realizada uma extensa pesquisa sobre o número de empresas B Corp com também certificação em sistemas de gestão ISO. O resultado desta investigação sobre o sistema de certificação B Corporation permitiu identificar algumas fragilidades e limitações na matriz de avaliação de impacto B, principalmente nas variáveis Governance e Customers. É uma certificação com foco na vertente comunitária, essencialmente direcionada para o setor dos serviços, nomeadamente para os que têm baixa pegada ecológica, e os dados recolhidos dos últimos 4 anos refletem uma forte tendência de crescimento na Europa, com Portugal a contribuir. Este estudo revelou também uma certa desvalorização por parte do B Corporation no que toca a implementação de sistemas integrados ISO, porém, a certificação pelos sistemas de gestão da ISO 9001, ISO 14001 e ISO 45001, parece contribuir de forma positiva para a pontuação B referente ao ambiente, com significância estatística ao nível de 5%. A matriz de avaliação deste modelo necessita de um processo de revisão de forma a melhorar o seu ajustamento.The importance of sustainability and social responsibility is, nowadays, the main concern of companies that want to assert themselves in their internal and international markets. The increasingly ambitious environmental goals make companies have to adapt and recreate, in order to be more competitive and resilient. Certification is an essential tool for the sustainability of companies and a seal of trust for specific parties. The objective of this work is to conduct an in-depth investigation into the B Corporation certification model, based on the BIA assessment of certified companies, and its possible correlation with other certifications, namely the ISO integrated management systems. We will also measure the potential of the B Corporation assessment process by creating a structural equation model. The methodology used was inspired in "inquiry-based learning" and the research phase is essentially divided in two stages. The first consists in the creation of a database with all the relevant BIA impact assessment information of 2.262 companies made available in the B Corporation directory. In the second stage, was carried out an extensive research on the number of B Corp companies with also certification in ISO management systems. The result about this study on the B Corporation certification system allowed us to identify some weaknesses and limitations in the B impact assessment matrix, mainly in the Governance and Customers variables. It is a certification with a community focus, essentially aimed at the services sector, namely those with a low ecological footprint, and the data collected from the last 4 years reflects a strong growth trend in Europe, with Portugal contributing. This research revealed a certain devaluation on the part of the B Corporation when it comes to implementing integrated ISO systems, but certification by ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 management systems seems to contribute positively to the B score for the environment, with statistical significance at the 5% level. The evaluation matrix of this model needs a review process in order to improve its fit

Smart electric vehicle charging system

In this work is proposed the design of a system to create and handle Electric Vehicles (EV) charging procedures, based on intelligent process. Due to the electrical power distribution network limitation and absence of smart meter devices, Electric Vehicles charging should be performed in a balanced way, taking into account past experience, weather information based on data mining, and simulation approaches. In order to allow information exchange and to help user mobility, it was also created a mobile application to assist the EV driver on these processes. This proposed Smart Electric Vehicle Charging System uses Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology, in order to connect Electric Vehicles and also renewable energy sources to Smart Grids (SG). This system also explores the new paradigm of Electrical Markets (EM), with deregulation of electricity production and use, in order to obtain the best conditions for commercializing electrical energy.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Collaborative broker for distributed energy resources

In this work is proposed the design of a system to handle Distributed Energy Resources (DER) that is a new reality due to the Electric Vehicles (EV), Micro Generation (MG) and the open Electrical Markets (EM). This upcoming reality brings the need of the ‘old’ central energy control to be installed locally. For that we propose a local energy broker, responsible to handle local energy flow, exchange energy with ‘big’ market players and based on a collaborative approach, promote user’s participation to increase systems knowledge. The broker uses an Information Communication Technology (ICT) network in order to establish a collaborative communication between all the involved parts.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Design and development of an Automatic Optical Inspection (AOI) system support based on digital manufacturing

Visual inspection of components, subassemblies and final products is an essential step to ensure the quality control of ready-to-market electronic components. In many manufacturing plants, including Bosch Car Multimedia S.A., typically automated systems for automatic optical inspection (AOI) are implemented at several workstations to perform visual verification and validation in between critical production tasks. At Bosch Car Multimedia S.A., the AOI system includes a metallic support frame that accommodates a series of components for the function of AOI. The support frame is attached to a robotic arm for controlled movement. As the AOI is a rather fast-moving process, deformation of components may occur during monitoring due to the high acceleration of the robotic arm while operating. In addition to this issue, the existent AOI system includes a high number of components and connections which increase complexity for assembly and disassembly operations. This paper presents the redesign for enhanced performance and functionality of a AOI metallic support frame by resourcing to the generative design (GD) exploration method. Furthermore, additive manufacturing technology, based in selective laser sintering (SLS) of polymeric powders, was used for the production of a new lightweight and reliable version of an AOI support frame. The alternative AOI support frame configuration consists of a single consolidated polymeric component that enabled an overall weight decrease above 30% and a reduction of main components and total number of parts of approximately 89% and ~77%, respectively.FEDER - Federación Española de Enfermedades Raras(undefined)European Structural and Investment Funds in the FEDER component, through the Operational Competitiveness and Internationalization Programme (COMPETE 2020) [Project nº 039479

ASSESSORIA EXECUTIVA ATRAVÉS DE ESCRITÓRIOS VIRTUAIS: NOVAS FORMAS ORGANIZACIONAIS

Percebe-se o crescimento da profissão secretarial em suas formas de atuação, vislumbrando a assessoria virtual, por meio do secretariado remoto, com o intuito de acompanhar às diversas demandas das organizações e profissionais liberais. Nessa perspectiva, este trabalho tem como objetivo geral investigar os motivos que levaram os profissionais a atuarem como secretários remotos em escritórios virtuais. Os objetivos específicos são apontar as competências necessárias para como Secretário remoto; identificar a importância da assessoria por meio de escritório virtual como nova forma de trabalho; apresentar os benefícios e as dificuldades em atuar como secretário remoto. A abordagem teórica foi centrada na assessoria como pilar da profissão de secretariado executivo e no assessoramento por meio do escritório virtual (EV). A metodologia da pesquisa foi do tipo bibliográfica e exploratória, com a abordagem qualitativa. O instrumento para coleta dados foi o questionário elaborado com perguntas fechadas e abertas e aplicado através de e-mail e redes sociais. Os dados foram analisados e discutidos sob à análise do conteúdo, com as repostas categorizadas, como prevê Bardin (2011). A pesquisa de campo foi feita com nove (9) profissionais que atuam como secretariado remoto. Como principais resultados, apontou-se que as atividades da assessoria virtual são as mesmas desempenhadas por um profissional em ambiente presencial, com a mesma responsabilidade e compromisso profissional, além das competências técnicas e interpessoais requeridas. Por outro lado, foram observadas as seguintes condições: a recomendação de se ter experiência profissional prévia e especialização em relacionamentos empresariais virtuais, devido à dinâmica diferenciada de comunicação

Development of a monitoring system for electrical energy consumption and power quality analysis

This paper presents the development of a monitoring system for electrical energy consumption and power quality analysis, also known as power quality analyser (PQA). The internal architecture of the developed monitoring system is described in detail along the paper, highlighting the signal conditioning circuit and analogue to digital conversion (ADC) stage, the advanced RISC machine (ARM) processor, and the digital signal processor (DSP), which are used, respectively, for data acquisition, data communication and power quality calculations. This paper also describes the software developed for a Raspberry Pi, which receives the processed information from the ARM processor and presents it in real-time using a touch screen user-friendly interface. Among all the available features of the developed system, the paper presents the most relevant experimental results obtained with linear and nonlinear loads, showing the main functionalities of the different menus available in the developed user interface, mainly the menus “Scope”, “Harmonics” and “Data”.This work is supported by FCT with the reference project UID/EEA/04436/2013, by FEDER funds through the COMPETE 2020 – Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI) with the reference project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006941.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Cost estimation of rail power conditioner topologies based on indirect modular multilevel converter in v/v and scott power transformers

This paper presents a cost estimation study for several rail power conditioner (RPC) topologies based on an indirect modular multilevel converter (MMC), in which these topologies are combined with V/V or Scott power transformers. The RPC topologies under interest in this paper are: the RPC based on a full-bridge MMC (RPC based on MMC4), the RPC based on two-phase three-wire MMC (RPC based on MMC3), and the RPC based on a half-bridge MMC (RPC based on MMC2). These RPC systems operate at medium voltage levels in the interconnection to 25 kV-50 Hz catenary sections to solve power quality problems, such as the current harmonics and the negative sequence components (NSCs) of currents. Along the paper are described the V/V and the Scott power transformers, the RPC main architectures, and the estimated cost of implementation for each RPC topology considering V/V or Scott implementations. As main contribution, the presented results could help in the selection procedure of the RPC topology, giving the best economical solution according to the used power transformer (V/V or Scott).This work has been supported by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the Project Scope: UID/CEC/00319/2019. This work has been supported by FCT within the Project Scope DAIPESEV – Development of Advanced Integrated Power Electronic Systems for Electric Vehicles: PTDC/EEI-EEE/30382/2017. Mohamed Tanta is supported by the doctoral scholarship with a reference PD/BD/127815/2016 granted by the Portuguese FCT agency