Manufacturing Ergonomics Improvements in Distillery Industry Using Digital Tools

This paper presents the steps taken by distilleries to uphold years old traditions and how new design tools can streamlined the current manufacturing processes. Different methods for bung removal are explored and how they are used today within warehouses and distilleries worldwide. The aim is to test new designs to replace the current tools used in distillery process to perform heavily manual tasks. Models of the current and new design are produced, and both are tested in a digital environment for ergonomics and time efficiency purposes

E-learning tools: engaging our students?

Since Generation Z students have grown up around WIFI-laptops, video game, etc. they expect technology to be involved in teaching approaches, however students' perception towards e-learning tools indicate that 80% of students (∼180 students) prefer a face-to-face approach.(undefined

Sustainability enhancement of a turbine vane manufacturing cell through digital simulation-based design

Modern manufacturing systems should satisfy emerging needs related to sustainable development. The design of sustainable manufacturing systems can be valuably supported by simulation, traditionally employed mainly for time and cost reduction. In this paper, a multi-purpose digital simulation approach is proposed to deal with sustainable manufacturing systems design through Discrete Event Simulation (DES) and 3D digital human modelling. DES models integrated with data on power consumption of the manufacturing equipment are utilized to simulate different scenarios with the aim to improve productivity as well as energy efficiency, avoiding resource and energy waste. 3D simulation based on digital human modelling is employed to assess human factors issues related to ergonomics and safety of manufacturing systems. The approach is implemented for the sustainability enhancement of a real manufacturing cell of the aerospace industry, automated by robotic deburring. Alternative scenarios are proposed and simulated, obtaining a significant improvement in terms of energy efficiency (−87%) for the new deburring cell, and a reduction of energy consumption around −69% for the coordinate measuring machine, with high potential annual energy cost savings and increased energy efficiency. Moreover, the simulation-based ergonomic assessment of human operator postures allows 25% improvement of the workcell ergonomic index

DigiCAP: Towards digitalization for empowerment and capacity building of handcraft developments in Sub-Saharan Africa

This work presents a digital toolkit, which brings together multidisciplinary expertise in manufacturing, human factors and female entrepreneurship, to develop new methods to capture, predict and enable capacity building by digitalising local craft knowledge in Sub-Saharan Africa. The overall goal of DigiCAP is to produce a toolkit, derived from new fundamental capability engineering research that will enable women craft to increase productivity, support Digital skills adoption and de-risk the implementation of future digital skills through the consideration of human requirements and capabilities

Resource efficient configuration of an aircraft assembly line

The design of efficient assembly systems can significantly contribute to the profitability of products and the competitiveness of manufacturing industries. The configuration of a an efficient assembly line can be supported by suitable methodologies and techniques, such as design for manufacture and assembly, assembly sequence planning, assembly line balancing, lean manufacturing and optimization techniques. In this paper, these methods are applied with reference to the industrial case study of the assembly line of a Skycar light aircraft. The assembly process sequence is identified taking into account the analysis of the assembly structure and the required precedence constraints, and diverse techniques are applied to optimize the assembly line performance. Different line configurations are verified through discrete event simulation to assess the potential increase of efficiency and throughput in a digital environment and propose the most suitable configuration of the assembly line

Sustainability enhancement of a turbine vane manufacturing cell through digital simulation-based design

Modern manufacturing systems should satisfy emerging needs related to sustainable development. The design of sustainable manufacturing systems can be valuably supported by simulation, traditionally employed mainly for time and cost reduction. In this paper, a multi-purpose digital simulation approach is proposed to deal with sustainable manufacturing systems design through Discrete Event Simulation (DES) and 3D digital human modelling. DES models integrated with data on power consumption of the manufacturing equipment are utilized to simulate different scenarios with the aim to improve productivity as well as energy efficiency, avoiding resource and energy waste. 3D simulation based on digital human modelling is employed to assess human factors issues related to ergonomics and safety of manufacturing systems. The approach is implemented for the sustainability enhancement of a real manufacturing cell of the aerospace industry, automated by robotic deburring. Alternative scenarios are proposed and simulated, obtaining a significant improvement in terms of energy efficiency (−87%) for the new deburring cell, and a reduction of energy consumption around −69% for the coordinate measuring machine, with high potential annual energy cost savings and increased energy efficiency. Moreover, the simulation-based ergonomic assessment of human operator postures allows 25% improvement of the workcell ergonomic index

DigiCAP: Towards digitalization for empowerment and capacity building of handcraft developments in Sub-Saharan Africa

This work presents a digital toolkit, which brings together multidisciplinary expertise in manufacturing, human factors and female entrepreneurship, to develop new methods to capture, predict and enable capacity building by digitalising local craft knowledge in Sub-Saharan Africa. The overall goal of DigiCAP is to produce a toolkit, derived from new fundamental capability engineering research that will enable women craft to increase productivity, support Digital skills adoption and de-risk the implementation of future digital skills through the consideration of human requirements and capabilities

Resource efficient configuration of an aircraft assembly line

The design of efficient assembly systems can significantly contribute to the profitability of products and the competitiveness of manufacturing industries. The configuration of a an efficient assembly line can be supported by suitable methodologies and techniques, such as design for manufacture and assembly, assembly sequence planning, assembly line balancing, lean manufacturing and optimization techniques. In this paper, these methods are applied with reference to the industrial case study of the assembly line of a Skycar light aircraft. The assembly process sequence is identified taking into account the analysis of the assembly structure and the required precedence constraints, and diverse techniques are applied to optimize the assembly line performance. Different line configurations are verified through discrete event simulation to assess the potential increase of efficiency and throughput in a digital environment and propose the most suitable configuration of the assembly line