A global survey on the current state of practice in Zero Defect Manufacturing and its impact on production performance

To be competitive in dynamic and global markets, manufacturing companies are continuously seeking to apply innovative production strategies and methods combined with advanced digital technologies to improve their flexibility, productivity, quality, environmental impact, and cost performance. Zero Defect Manufacturing is a disruptive concept providing production strategies and methods with underlying advanced digital technologies to fill the gap. While scientific knowledge within this area has increased exponentially, the current practices and impact of Zero Defect Manufacturing on companies over time are still unknown. Therefore, this survey aims to map the current state of practice in Zero Defect Manufacturing and identify its impact on production performance. The results show that although Zero Defect Manufacturing strategies and methods are widely applied and can have a strong positive impact on production performance, this has not always been the case. The findings also indicate that digital technologies are increasingly used, however, the potential of artificial intelligence and extended reality is still less exploited. We contribute to theory by detailing the research needs of Zero Defect Manufacturing from the practitioner’s perspective and suggesting actions to enhance Zero Defect Manufacturing strategies and methods. Further, we provide practical and managerial suggestions to improve production performances and move towards sustainable development and zero waste.publishedVersio

Material Distribution and Transportation in a Norwegian Hospital:A Case Study

Automated Guided Vehicles have shown significant importance in material transportation and distribution in today’s hospitals. The increasing trends of shorter hospital stays and increase of treatments and surgeries in clinics, present new challenges for the supply of goods. The rise in patients in hospitals, and consequently the increase of treatments and surgeries, cause a growth of material usage and goods movement. This study used the Control Model methodology to analyze the material and information flow within the case hospital. Information sharing and integration is still a major issue in the case hospital. The study aims to stimulate further research in material handling and distribution in hospitals

Planning and control of autonomous mobile robots for intralogistics: Literature review and research agenda

Autonomous mobile robots (AMR) are currently being introduced in many intralogistics operations, like manufacturing, warehousing, cross-docks, terminals, and hospitals. Their advanced hardware and control software allow autonomous operations in dynamic environments. Compared to an automated guided vehicle (AGV) system in which a central unit takes control of scheduling, routing, and dispatching decisions for all AGVs, AMRs can communicate and negotiate independently with other resources like machines and systems and thus decentralize the decision-making process. Decentralized decision-making allows the system to react dynamically to changes in the system state and environment. These developments have influenced the traditional methods and decision-making processes for planning and control. This study identifies and classifies research related to the planning and control of AMRs in intralogistics. We provide an extended literature review that highlights how AMR technological advances affect planning and control decisions. We contribute to the literature by introducing an AMR planning and control framework t

A Survey on Current Practices, Strategies and Research Needs for Circular Manufacturing of Plastics

Advances in manufacturing technology made plastics comparatively inexpensive, light, mouldable and durable. The great success of plastics comes along with a strong negative environmental impact and their accumulation in landfills and leakage into the natural environment is now recognized as a global environmental crisis. The circular economy approach to plastics provides a feasible solution to the prevailing linear system and aims to raise the proportion of plastic that is reused or recycled back into the system. The transition towards a circular economy, cannot be achieved solely through changes within the waste-handling system but must be combined with changes in other parts of the value chain, including the design, the manufacturing, etc. Plastic manufacturing companies need support in the transition. Therefore, this study aims to provide knowledge to plastics companies to move from linear towards circular manufacturing processes. We conduct a systematic literature review examining current practices and research needs in circularity within the plastics industry. This study contributes to the literature by mapping circularity strategies in plastics, explaining innovative circular plastic materials, and highlighting current circular manufacturing technologies such as additive manufacturing and the chemical transformation of waste plastics into various value-added chemical feedstocks, which can replace petrochemicals. Additionally, circular pathways are illustrated to support practitioners in identifying their current position in the value chain and understanding pathways to increase circularity. One of the key conclusions is that circular plastic value chains are still deficient in the implementation of R-strategies (such as rethinking, reducing, reusing, etc.) besides recycling.acceptedVersio