Manufacturing Value Modelling, Flexibility, and Sustainability: from theoretical definition to empirical validation

The aim of this PhD thesis is to investigate the relevance of flexibility and sustainability within the smart manufacturing environment and understand if they could be adopted as emerging competitive dimensions and help firms to take decisions and delivering value

digitalization technologies for industrial sustainability

Abstract Digital technologies are shown to perform a potential role in developing a resource efficient industrial base. The effective adoption of them can help to deliver reduced costs and improve the flexibility and sustainability of manufacturing systems. However, these positive benefits are far from guaranteed and the way in which digital technologies favor the transition towards sustainable manufacturing systems has not been analyzed in detail yet, so more conceptual and empirical investigations are required in this field. This paper develops a conceptual framework, which explains the potential significance of using digital technologies toward efficiency, resilience and sustainability. It also includes evidence from various case studies, which illustrate the core technologies which can potentiality contribute to a sustainable industrial future. The findings show some impressive results concerning the sustainable implications of the digitalization of manufacturing processes. If the predicted benefits can be achieved through digital technologies, they could massively impact on sustainability

Cyber-physical systems (CPS) in supply chain management: from foundations to practical implementation

Abstract Since 2015 developments such as Industry 4.0 and cyber-physical production systems on the technology side, and approaches such as flexible and smart manufacturing systems hold great potential. These in turn give rise to special requirements that the production planning, control and monitoring, among others, needing a paradigm shift to exploit the full potential of these methods and techniques. Starting from foundations in Cyber Physical Systems (CPS), building upon definitions and findings reported by literature, a practical example of innovative Cyber Physical Supply Chain Planning System (CPS2) is provided. The paper clarifies the advantages of cyber-physical systems in the production planning, controlling and monitoring perspective with respect to manufacturing, logistics and related planning practices. A set of basic features of CPS2 systems are discussed and addressed by contextualizing service orientation architecture and microservices components with respect to supply chain management collaboration and cooperation practices. The identification of specific technologies behind those functions, within the developed research, provides some practical insight if the interesting CPS2 potential

Investigating Flexibility as a Performance Dimension of a Manufacturing Value Modeling Methodology (MVMM): A Framework for Identifying Flexibility Types in Manufacturing Systems☆

Abstract In recent years manufacturing companies have been faced with various challenges related to volatile demand and changing requirements from customer as well as suppliers. This trend is now even accelerating with a direct impact on the value chain. New technological roadmaps and suggested interventions in manufacturing systems try to solve these challenges and solutions such as the German high tech strategy "Industrie 4.0" or the Italian cluster "Fabbrica Intelligente" which often aimed at enhancing the flexibility of manufacturing systems among many other competitive dimensions. However, these approaches often do not provide a detailed definition of flexibility and its different manifestations. Therefore, the question rises if different types of flexibility, that have an impact on the complete manufacturing system, can be better identified with the existing Manufacturing Value Modeling Methodology (MVMM). This question becomes even more important when considering the potential that smart machines interacting with humans, such as cyber-physical systems (CPS), and the possibility to increase connectivity and data access through technologies, such as the internet of things (IoT), offer for increasing flexibility. Especially due to the various possibilities it becomes even more important to understand, which kind of flexibility is needed for a given problem. Implementing flexibility into the MVMM requires a 'catalog' that makes use of the MVMM framework presenting an overview of internal and external influence factors in order to support the identification of correct solutions and improvements related to functional areas in the manufacturing environment. Starting from a qualitative literature review on manufacturing flexibility, a 'flexibility catalog' is designed, which provides a structural definition of existing flexibility types and their composition as well as providing decision support. In conclusion, the scope of the 'flexibility catalog' is to verify that the flexibility demand fits into the market trends and is aligned to the manufacturing and company strategy, in order to help firms to take decisions and delivering value

Digital Transformation and Sustainable Oriented Innovation: A System Transition Model for Socio-Economic Scenario Analysis

Sustainability and digitalization are essential duties for companies to perform in the current socio-economic landscape due to risks caused by traditional manufacturing practices, and rules imposed by stakeholders and governments. Tools that help exploring uncertain future scenarios to address such a complex challenge are of vital importance for both businesses, governments, and financial institutions. This paper presents the IN4.0-SD, a novel system dynamics model to capture the dynamic interplay of industrial innovation, inequality, and inflation. The IN4.0-SD is a closed-economy System Dynamics model composed of three agents: sustainable oriented innovation business (SOIB), digital asset supplier business (DASB), and household. DASB and SOIB are both assumed to supply one product to the economy and fundamentally differ among each other in their business models. While the sustainable oriented innovation business produces and sells capital goods making revenue out of sales, digital asset supplier detaches the concept of production from sales moving toward an intangible economy, charging for a fee licence of their tools that can be distributed via a network economy. Simulations show the level of flexibility of the model in addressing a variety of scenarios, playing at the threshold of technology development, inequality rise, massive unemployment and providing an archetype for sustainable oriented innovation and digital transformation models. The findings suggested by the model analysis are used to infer conclusions for the wider society, including implications for sustainable oriented businesses and digital transformation. These are confirmed by previous studies, around the overall trend in wealth creation for large technology firms’ owners, potential impact for employment in the digital economy, and transformation for the labour market

How Soft Drink Supply Chains drive sustainability: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) identification

Even if sustainability is a relatively new research area, it has already shown an interesting number of measures and metrics mainly de-structured and at very different levels. Furthermore, a specific framework of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) has not yet been developed for soft drink supply chains (SDSC). This variety is creating confusion among industries when they attempt to select a set of indicators for assessing sustainability in manufacturing in practical terms. A company should be able to analyze each element of its strategy and business model in order to understand which factors influence sustainability. Therefore, to address this challenge, Authors have collected sustainability KPIs SDSCs. KPIs helps soft drinks companies to have a more complete vision concerning their sustainability impact and to point out potential best practices. Finally, in order to provide a practical view of the methodology, a sample is presented and discussed

An investigation into modelling approaches for industrial symbiosis: a literature review

The aim of this paper is to understand how to model industrial symbiosis networks in order to favour its implementation and provide a framework to guide companies and policy makers towards it. Industrial symbiosis is a clear example of complex adaptive systems and traditional approaches (i.e., Input/Output analysis, Material flow analysis) are not capable to capture these dynamics behaviours. Therefore, the aim of this literature review is to investigate: i) the most used modelling and simulation approaches to analyse industrial symbiosis and ii) their characteristics in terms of simulation methods, interaction mechanisms and simulations software. Findings from our research suggest that a hybrid modelling and simulation approach, based on agent-based and system dynamics, could be an appropriate method for industrial symbiosis analysis and design

Adequação de medicamentos prescritos em pacientes em uso de sonda enteral em um hospital público no sul do Brasil

Patients receiving enteral nutritional therapy are fed via enteral feeding tubes, which are also routes of medical administration. Nutrients and drugs interact with each other and with the gastrointestinal tract; care is needed to ensure that this therapy is properly performed in order to avoid adverse effects related to enteral nutritional therapy. The professionals involved in prescribing, dispensing and administrating drugs by feeding tubes should have the technical ability and skills that ensure the adequacy of the drug treatment in patients who use this type of therapy. There are few clinical protocols that refer to drug use in solid pharmaceutical form via enteral catheter. This study aimed to verify the inadequacy of the prescription of the solid pharmaceutical form through enteral feeding tube in patients hospitalized in a clinical unit in a public hospital in the south of Brazil. This is an observational, cross-sectional study whose data were analyzed from medical prescriptions of patients using enteral tubes. Among the drugs with pharmaceutical form of oral use prescribed via enteral feeding tubes, 94% (604) were prescribed in a solid dosage form, of which 42% (253) were inadequately prescribed. The high prevalence of inadequately prescribed drugs for tube administration demonstrates the importance of the pharmaceutical activity among the multidisciplinary team who assists patients with enteral nutritional therapy