Concept Development to Control Non-value Added Logistical Costs in a Primary Aluminium Casthouse by Interfacing Linear Optimization and Simulation

After the financial crisis in 2008, demand reduction especially from the automotive in-dustry and changes in CO2 tax regulations which increased the energy prices the alu-minium industry forced to review and reduce its operational expenditure. High energy consumption in the production of primary aluminium dedicates most of the efforts on technological development onto the electrolysis unit. However, other units of a smelter also have the potential to improve their operational efficiency. In this thesis, the focus is on the casthouse unit of the smelter. The aim of this research is to quantify and reduce the non-value added logistical costs in the aluminium industry’s supply chain. This re-search attempts to simulate the internal supply chain of a primary aluminium casthouse and identify the wastes by implementing a lean thinking approach. After highlighting the possible improvements, optimization models attempt to reduce these wastes which create non-value added costs to the system. This concept is further developed by inter-facing the simulation model with the optimization model to validate the improvements. The success of the concept is tested by measuring the reduction in redundant logistical costs of a case study founded on the real casthouse specifications. Scenarios are defined to analyze the casthouse supply chain under different perspectives. The potential gain of the new concept is verified by applying it to these scenarios. In conclusion, the results analysis of the scenarios indicates the success of the main objective of this research; to develop a new concept that controls the non-value added logistical costs in the primary aluminium casthouse supply chain

Konzeptentwicklung zur Steuerung nicht-wertschöpfender Logistikkosten in einer Primär-Aluminium-Gießerei durch die Kopplung linearer Optimierung und Simulation

The aim of this study is to quantify and reduce the non-value added logistical costs in the aluminium industry’s supply chain. This study attempts to simulate the internal supply chain of a primary aluminium casthouse and identify the wastes by implementing a lean thinking approach. After highlighting the possible improvements, optimization models attempt to reduce these wastes which create non-value added costs to the system. This concept is further developed by interfacing the simulation model with the optimization model to validate the improvements. The success of the concept is tested by measuring the reduction in redundant logistical costs of a case study founded on the real casthouse specifications. Scenarios are defined to analyze the casthouse supply chain under different perspectives. The potential gain of the new concept is verified by applying it to these scenarios. In conclusion, the results analysis of the scenarios indicates the success of the main objective of this study; to develop a new concept that controls the non-value added logistical costs in the primary aluminium casthouse supply chain.Das Ziel dieser Studie ist die Quantifizierung und die Reduzierung von nicht-wertschöpfenden Logistik-kosten in der Lieferkette der Aluminium-Industrie. Mit dieser Studie wird der Ansatz verfolgt, die interne Lieferkette einer Primär-Aluminium-Gießerei zu simulieren und die Verluste durch die Implementierung eines Lean-Thinking-Ansatzes zu identifizieren. Nach dem Aufzeigen möglicher Verbesserungen wird mit dem Einsatz von Optimierungsmodellen versucht, die nicht-wertschöpfenden Kosten des Systems zu reduzieren. Zum Validieren der Verbesserungen wird dieses Konzept durch eine Kopplung eines Simulationsmodells mit den Optimierungsmodellen entwickelt. Der Erfolg des Konzepts wird mit einer Fallstudie basierend auf realen Spezifikationen einer Primär-Aluminium-Gießerei getestet. Verschiedene Szenarien werden definiert, um die Gießerei-Lieferkette unter unterschiedlichen Perspektiven zu analysieren. Der potenzielle Nutzen wird durch die Anwendung des neuen Konzepts auf diese Szenarien überprüft. Zusammenfassend zeigen die Analyseergebnisse für die Szenarien, dass das Hauptziel dieser Arbeit erreicht wurde, ein neues Konzept zu Verringerung von nicht-wertschöpfenden Logistikkosten in der Lieferkette der Primär-Aluminium-Gießerei zu entwickeln

Clinical and molecular evaluation of MEFV gene variants in the Turkish population: a study by the National Genetics Consortium

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is a monogenic autoinflammatory disorder with recurrent fever, abdominal pain, serositis, articular manifestations, erysipelas-like erythema, and renal complications as its main features. Caused by the mutations in the MEditerranean FeVer (MEFV) gene, it mainly affects people of Mediterranean descent with a higher incidence in the Turkish, Jewish, Arabic, and Armenian populations. As our understanding of FMF improves, it becomes clearer that we are facing with a more complex picture of FMF with respect to its pathogenesis, penetrance, variant type (gain-of-function vs. loss-of-function), and inheritance. In this study, MEFV gene analysis results and clinical findings of 27,504 patients from 35 universities and institutions in Turkey and Northern Cyprus are combined in an effort to provide a better insight into the genotype-phenotype correlation and how a specific variant contributes to certain clinical findings in FMF patients. Our results may help better understand this complex disease and how the genotype may sometimes contribute to phenotype. Unlike many studies in the literature, our study investigated a broader symptomatic spectrum and the relationship between the genotype and phenotype data. In this sense, we aimed to guide all clinicians and academicians who work in this field to better establish a comprehensive data set for the patients. One of the biggest messages of our study is that lack of uniformity in some clinical and demographic data of participants may become an obstacle in approaching FMF patients and understanding this complex disease