The optimization of the production of sinter as the feedstock of the blast furnace process

The performance of the sintering process can be increased by means of various procedures. One of the options is increasing the permeability of the sintering charge and improving the gas-dynamic conditions during the combustion. This can be achieved by dosing coarse sinter on the sintering strands. This article analyzes a research conducted in order to experimentally verify the impact of the use of coarse sinter on the performance of the sintering process.Web of Science561-213413

Kaizen – Right Management Summary

The article deals with the analysis of the Kaizen principles so called the continual improving principles. It compares the Japanese and European view at the control of the changes. Then the article describes the implementation of Kaizen principles in the companies

Hierarchical sales forecasting system for apparel companies and supply chains

The typical problems facing with apparel companies and supply chains are forecasting errors, because fashion markets are volatile and difficult to predict. For that reason, the ability to develop accurate sales forecasts is critical in the industry. There are several research studies related to forecasting apparel goods, but very often only for one level. However, apparel companies and supply chains deal with a number of levels at which the forecasts could exist and require consistent forecasts at all of them. The paper presents a hierarchical middle-term forecasting system designed for this purpose on the basis of a literature review. The system is built by the top-down forecasting approach and verified by means of a case study in a particular apparel company. The weaknesses of the system are identified during discussion of the results acquired. A generalised concept of the ANN forecasting model is designed for elimination these weaknesses.Web of Science21611

Principles of computer simulation design for the needs of improvement of the raw materials combined transport system

This article is focused on computer simulation design for raw materials transportation. The creation of a simulation model of the combined transport system for the raw materials transportation has its own problematic parts. In general, these are parts, which represent transport nodes, i.e. parts of the system in which raw materials are reloaded from one vehicle to another. The given operations are in practice dependent on the preparedness of all transportation means, which participate in it. To locate operations of reloading of the raw materials from one vehicle to another and the check of the preparedness of the vehicles of the reloading in the simulation system is more demanding because it is necessary to take into consideration several aspects, such as an existence of a vehicle with raw materials, an existence of a vehicle to which it is to be reloaded a suitable freeloader, and so on. The article focuses on defining a procedure and correct steps at the creation of the simulation computer model of the combined raw materials transport system in the EXTENDSIM simulation system based on specific data from a real transport system. As is clear from the proposed procedure of the creation of the combined raw material transport system, as a check element of the transport system preparedness, it is suitable to use the "Gate" block and its features in the EXTENDSIM simulation system. As transpires from the results of simulation of the combined raw material transport system, about 322,000 tons of raw materials at 90-96% with the use of all vehicles is transported during the year.Web of Science23217416

A hybrid decision support system for iron ore supply

Many European metallurgical companies are forced to import iron ore from remote destinations. For these companies it is necessary to determine the amount of iron ore that will have to be ordered and to create such a delivery schedule so that the continuous operation of blast-furnace plant is not disrupted and there is no exceedingly large stock of this raw material. The objective of this article is to design the decision support system for iron ore supply which would effi ciently reduce uncertainty and risk of that decision-making. The article proposes a hybrid intelligent system which represents a combination of diff erent artifi cial intelligence methods with dynamic simulation technique for that purpose.Web of Science511939

DETERMINATION OF IMPORTANCE OF ORE RAW MATERIALS EVALUATION CRITERIA

Industrial enterprises are now obliged to solve complicated and comprehensive problems. As a rule, they have a multi-criteria character, whereas separate criteria have fundamentally different properties. Logistics mathematics-based tools enabling the evaluation of these complicated problems are being more and more applied at present. A common problem can be the evaluation of a series of supplier's offers for commodities, which are typical by a wide spectrum of properties. It could be, for example, input production raw materials. A possibility of the use of mathematic tools in evaluating the quality of the ore raw materials was analysed within the performed investigation. The paper deals with an analysis of the results in determining a relevant importance of separate criteria

USE OF THE CONCEPT OF CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT AS A TOOL FOR OPTIMIZATION OF LOGISTIC PROCESSES

Manufacturing companies in today’s highly competitive environment are under great pressure. They are constantly forced to seek reserves in their processes. Within logistics we can use dozens of quantifiable parameters which offer us a range of indicators. Manufacturing companies, however, have recently also been trying to use soft tools for the development of the employees’ human potential, which can secondarily influence these parameters. One possibility is the application of the Kaizen philosophy. The article deals with the analysis of the research implementing this philosophy in the mechanical engineering production within a company in the Czech Republic

A computer simulation-based analysis of supply chains resilience in industrial environment

The article presents a computer simulation-based model for analysis of supply chain resilience, which allows determining and verifying the generally valid principles, capabilities and ways for building long-term resilience of global supply chains against serious disruptions. The model is created on the basis of a supply chain from automotive industry and contains the main logistics flows used by present automotive producers. Any real automotive supply chain can be modelled as a combination of these logistics flows. The model was created in DOSIMIS-3® and verified using experimental data. The performed simulation demonstrates a significant decrease of the supply chain performance in case of serious disruption occurrence.Web of Science54470670