製品ライフサイクルマネージメントへの持続可能性の導入 : 意味論的アプローチ

近年，国際的な製造企業は製造能力と持続可能性の両者を向上させるという課題に直面している。特に，国際的な規制の強化が進むうえ，企業価値を高めるための独自の取り組みが重要視されてきていることから，環境への配慮を重視した生産活動が注目されている。しかしながら，現在の生産活動とこれから重視すべきであると考えられている持続可能性に関する試みを調和させて実施することには多くの困難が残されている。現在，企業全体を統合して企業活動を効率化するという統合された企業（Integrated Enterprise: IE）という概念が注目されている。この視点から生産システムの効率化を考えると，現在の設計生産活動においても製品のライフサイクルに関与する各ステージにおいて多く用いられている図面やテキスト文書といった技術情報媒体では実現できない，計算機可読性のある技術情報の意味表現を実現することが求められている。統合された企業（IE）の概念を実現する方法として，企業を取り巻く諸環境においてモデルを広範かつ徹底的に利用することが考えられる。企業全体のモデルを表現する方法としては形式オントロジー（formal ontology）とよばれる意味表現技術を利用する方法がある。明瞭に定義された意味を用いることで，異なる形式化のレベルで属性や関係を定義することが可能になるので，オントロジーを利用することで，ビジネスモデルの構造を適切に表現することが可能となる。本研究の目的は，製品ライフサイクルを支援可能なオントロジーをもとに表現された知識について検証することである。ここで対象とする知識は，持続可能性に関係する概念と意味的に結合された製品および生産プロセスデータを統合したものとなる。そして，この知識を用いることで，統合された企業（IE）実現のために重要となる情報システム間の完全な相互運用性を実現することが可能となる。この目的のために，製品ライフサイクルを構成する様々な業務領域における知識を反映したオントロジーを構築した。そして，持続可能性に関連した概念を従来の製品ライフサイクル管理の概念と結合することで製品のライフサイクル管理に持続可能性の視点を導入できるようした。最後に，オントロジーをもとに製品データと製造データを連携して用いることで，部品の製造におけるエネルギー効率の計算が可能となることを示した。The global manufacturing industry has faced continuing challenges over recent years to improve manufacturing performance and sustainability. Markets, as well as regulations and self-consciousness, have driven enterprise-wide initiatives that favour environment-friendly activities. Yet, the challenge to harmonize current manufacturing practices with on-going sustainability efforts remains. In order to be effective, manufacturing systems, in the context of the Integrated Enterprise (IE), require semantic representations of engineering information that are machine-readable, as opposed to the tradition of engineering drawings and textual documents still dominant throughout a product’s lifecycle. One way for implementing the concept of IE is through intensive and extensive application of models in the corporate environment. An alternative way of representing enterprise models is through the use of formal ontologies. Ontologies are rather adequate structures for the representation of business models because through their well-defined semantics they are able to define attributes and relationships with differing levels of formality. The present research aims to demonstrate that ontologies represent knowledge in product lifecycle operations, integrate sustainability-related concepts and semantically connect product and manufacturing process data, to ultimately promote interoperability between information systems in the context of the Integrated Enterprise. For that purpose, an ontology that captures knowledge of the various domains that compose the product lifecycle context was built. Next, PLM concepts were extended and connected to sustainability-related concepts, and finally, energy efficiency calculations are made possible upon product and process data gathered in the form of instantiated ontology.室蘭工業大学 (Muroran Institute of Technology)博士（工学

Uma plataforma de suporte ao gerenciamento do desenvolvimento rápido de produtos tecnológicos através da engenharia simultânea

Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia de Produção.O presente estudo propõe uma estrutura de organização de trabalho baseada nos preceitos da Engenharia Simultânea (ES). Os objetivos foram: (a) levantamento de cenários que contêm modelos de informação e processos para representar o desenvolvimento de produtos; (b) especificação e implementação de um sistema de informação, através do qual os preceitos da ES são aplicados em todas as suas abordagens e; (c) definição de um sistema de métricas que permite avaliar os trabalhos de uma equipe de desenvolvimento sob a ótica da ES. A pesquisa foi de natureza aplicada, utilizou uma abordagem qualitativa e teve caráter exploratório-descritivo quanto aos seus objetivos. Adotou ainda procedimentos técnicos que a classificam como do tipo bibliográfico, de levantamento, pesquisa-ação, participativa e experimental. Quanto aos procedimentos adotados, foram escolhidos dois cenários de desenvolvimento de produto, cujo trabalho de levantamento consistiu em registrar e avaliar entrevistas com engenheiros, projetistas e demais colaboradores de um equipe de desenvolvimento, apurar documentos de referência corporativa para o desenvolvimento de produto, e aplicar métodos reconhecidos, além de outras técnicas desenvolvidas especificamente para este fim. Futuros levantamentos de cenários poderão seguir os mesmos procedimentos. Em seguida, foi especificado um sistema de informações que combina funcionalidades de ferramentas de gestão de dados de projeto, gestão do trabalho colaborativo, gestão do fluxo de trabalho e gestão de recursos de projetos, entre outras. Os cenários levantados são utilizados com a finalidade de permitir a construção de um sistema que atua como agente facilitador para a prática da ES no desenvolvimento de produtos de teor tecnológico. Ao mesmo, tempo, novos cenários podem ser agregados ao sistema de forma a ampliar a sua aplicabilidade. Uma vez especificado o sistema, o banco de dados relacional foi definido através de um diagrama de relacionamento de entidades. As informações dos cenários levantados foram inicialmente implementadas no banco de dados através de scripts SQL, arquivos XML referentes a cronogramas mestres e páginas JSP contendo elementos de navegação em fluxo de trabalho utilizando applets Java. O sistema de informação PSES foi modelado em padrão UML e codificado em linguagem Java, utilizando-se técnicas de programação orientada a objeto para ambiente web. Foram projetadas dezenas de páginas JSP e Javabeans, que consultam uma mesma base relacional de dados através de um pool de conexões via JDBC. O usuário utiliza um navegador convencional para acessar o sistema via protocolo HTTP. No sistema PSES, as diversas funcionalidades estão agrupadas em três modos de uso: administração, gestão e operação. O modo de administração permite o cadastramento de novos usuários, empresas, setores, tipos de arquivos e repositórios a serem utilizados, entre outros. O modo de operação permite ao usuário colaborador de uma equipe de desenvolvimento consultar e modificar dados de projeto através de ações de upload e download de arquivos, conforme seu nível e área de responsabilidade no projeto, atualizar indicadores de progresso das tarefas sobre as quais responde e agendar sessões colaborativas síncronas e assíncronas. O modo de gestão permite ao gerente de projeto operar elementos de informação mestres, como requisitos do cliente e cronograma, configurar o mesmo para a criação de uma equipe, monitorar o fluxo do trabalho e o desempenho da equipe através de diagramas, utilizando como critério o sistema de métricas proposto

Cost Estimation in Initial Stages of Product Development – An Ontological Approach

Cost estimation in the early stages of the product development process is fraught with uncertainties. The conceptual design is characterized by the absence of data, the most critical being costs. Decisions based on incorrect assumptions impact a project significantly and can increase unexpected costs in the future. As there are no structured means of obtaining costs in the conceptual phase, the reuse of data from past projects is an alternative discussed in the literature. Knowledge management approaches suggest a search for data in successful earlier projects. The use of ontologies has been regarded as an approach to capturing either knowledge stored in database or tacit knowledge. The proposed solution, in the form of an expert system built upon an ontological model, seeks to estimate costs based on costs in previous projects as well as expert tacit knowledge. The model is demonstrated by queries with needed functions and requirements. The ontological model searches the necessary information and generates a cost estimation. The present research project follows the methodological framework Design Science Research, presenting an overhead crane as a case study. The proposed approach has great potential in other industrial contexts as well

Transdisciplinary Evaluation of Simulation Software for Industry 4.0 Assembly Lines

Industry 4.0 is driving the revolution of manufacturing processes by combining innovative technologies and new interaction paradigms among systems and operators. In particular, the layout, tasks and work sequences of assembly lines are designed according to several transdisciplinary Design Principles (DPs), such as process efficiency, product quality, ergonomics, safety and operators’ workload. A large variety of simulation software can be employed for evaluations. However, the related ability to assess multidisciplinary factors must be evaluated. The paper aims to provide a framework for guiding the assessment of simulation software in the context of Industry 4.0 assembly lines. Process requirements are first analyzed and mapped to select DPs, prioritized according to design goals by an analytical hierarchy process. Then, suitable simulation software is determined accordingly, and the virtual model is realized. Finally, the possibility of the software to provide meaningful elaborations for the selected DPs is assessed. The framework has been tested on a prototypal Industry 4.0 assembly line composed of automated logistic systems, cobots and systems to guide the execution of tasks. The line has been modeled in Siemens Process Simulate, analyzing the completeness and appropriateness of the functionalities of this software according to the defined DPs

Collaborative Engineering

Collaborative Engineering is the practical application of collaboration sciences to the engineering domain. Its aim is to enable engineers and engineering companies to work more effectively with all stakeholders in achieving rational agreements and performing collaborative actions across various cultural, discipli- nary, geographic and temporal boundaries. It has been widely applied to product design, manufacturing, construction, enterprise-level collaboration and supply chain management. The present chapter clarifies the main concepts around Collaborative Engineering, as well as the various forms of collaborative ventures, such as virtual enterprises. It underlies the crucial impact of Collaborative Engineering in the context of global distributed engineering. The most applied forms of technology for collaboration are presented, such as Computer Supported Collaborative Design (CSCD) and web-based design, which are mature fields of study in constant improvement, as collaborative tools and cloud-based systems become more pervasive. The application of Collaborative Engineering in the context of product lifecycle is also discussed, and different needs for collaboration are evi- denced along successive steppingstones of product development. Two case studies are provided to illustrate successful application of the concepts hereby provided

A Study on the Application of Business Plans in New Product Development Processes

The present work presents a study on the application of business plans (BP) (a widely used document for investment decisions of new enterprises), with standard new product development processes (PDPs). The main objective was to find out whether it may be applied and, if so, at which moments it should be used in the PDP. The main source of information in this exploratory research was the existing literature concerning product and business development processes, business plans models and similar documentation, and project selection and evaluation methods. Then, these contents have been compared using the PDP stages as references. As a result, the study points out that a business plan is a document that models business, and it can gather enough information for investment decision analyses, It can also be elaborated concurrently with the PDP stages and used at the PDP decision gates. However, business dynamics has favored other forms of documentation for early decisions, such as synopses, presentations and even web-pages (for external resources). Business plan contents are still relevant and useful for new enterprises investment decisions.Pages: 198-20

Designing Eco-Effective Reverse Logistics Networks

Reverse Logistics Networks (RLNs) have grown in importance after return policies became compulsory. Lately, questions have been raised whether they e®ectively decrease environmental impact: e®orts to optimize the eco-e±ciency of RLNs through minimizing costs and emissions were deployed, but results are not advancing with the necessary speed. Alternatively, the eco-e®ectiveness (\doing the right thing" for the environment) approach emerges, promoting a supportive relationship, balancing environment and economy. This research aims to model the design (or redesign) process of eco-e®ective RLNs. There are numerous ecodesign tools focusing on product or service design, but an eco-e®ective designprocess conceived speci¯cally for logistics design purposes is yet to be delivered. Research was carried out using the Design Science Research Methodology and an exempli¯cation for the Poultry Industry was outlined to demonstrate how the process unrolls. The model was conceived using a combination of Upcycling, Industrial Symbiosis, TRIZ rationale and Collaboration for Sustainability. The proposed design process model will help the conception of more innovative, eco-e®ective logistics networks

Cooperation of suppliers and clients with companies in the agricultural machinery industry: some evidence from Brazil

Companies in the agricultural machinery industry (AMI) in Brazil have shown significant revenues and potential growth in recent years, especially due to the worldwide market expansion for bio-fuels and grains. In order to overcome expertise deficiencies for developing increasingly complex products and achieving an alignment with market needs, companies have carried out cooperative projects with suppliers and customers. The present paper aims at identifying the most important factors for successfully establishing cooperative projects based on practical evidence collected from four case studies. The results suggest that companies should focus on getting upper management more engaged in their product development process and developing ways to bridge cultural gaps with suppliers and clients. In addition, the adoption of tools for facilitating project data exchange with partners as well as retaining and retrieving knowledge about previous projects is recommended.supplier cooperation; partnerships; client cooperation; product development; agricultural machinery; case study; cooperative project management; product development process; PDP; Brazil; cooperative projects; culture; project data exchange; knowledge retention; knowledge retrieval.