Characterization of tasks and skills of workers, middle and top managers in the Industry 4.0 context

This study intends to make a characterization of the main tasks and skills needed to face the Industry 4.0. Moreover, it gives special attention to the different company’s hierarchical levels. To achieve the goals of this paper, a methodology based on Collaborative Decision Making method was used. Firstly, thirty participants were interviewed to understand their point of views. Next, they were split into Group Works to refine the results. Finally, a Group Concordance took place to create the final list of tasks and skills. The skills were organized into four categories: Technical, Social, Methodological and Personal. The results show different requirements in each level. In the Workers level, due to the presence of more technical tasks, eight of the top ten skills belong to the Technical category. In the Middle Managers level, there are tasks of both leading and analyzing nature and thus the top ten skills needed are split through the four categories. Finally, in the Top Managers level, due to the presence of mainly strategy tasks, the top ten skills are split between the Methodological and Social categories. To the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies to use a Collaborative Decision Making methodology to develop a set of tasks and skills that future work environments will demand on the different hierarchical levels of the organization.This work was supported by the research unit on Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policy (UIDB/04058/2020) and by Algoritmi Research Unit (UIDB/00319/2020), funded by national funds through FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia

Digital transformation and knowledge management in the public sector

UID/CPO/04058/2019 UIDB/00667/2020Digitizing public services is, at the moment, an essential necessity for numerous governments around the world. An improved government through digitization will not only have a growing effect on businesses, but it will also be able to intensify citizen engagement and push for economic growth. During the last 10 years more countries have progressively begun to provide digital services to their citizens. Therefore, in order to address this development, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the evolution of the digital government literature in order to describe the aspects of digital transformation in the public sector and how it is related to knowledge management. In this study the methodology is quantitative and it is based on a review and a survey made with the main goal being the estimation from several collected data on how the digital transformation process in the Public Administration takes place and what its relationship is with knowledge management. The review study is based on articles found on Scopus database and it addresses the role that digital government research plays in the theory and practice of knowledge management. In the survey study, 54 employees working for the services of the two governmental areas of the Portuguese Ministry of the Environment were surveyed. The results show that the research on the theme is still at an exploratory stage due to the lack of studies relating digital government to knowledge management effectiveness in the public sector. The results also show that the success of digital government seems to be related with the quality of the organizations' knowledge management, complementing each other for significant improvements in the public sector. In terms of originality, this study aims to contribute and stimulate data-driven discussions regarding the impacts of the digital transformation in the public sector and their relation with the implementation of knowledge management practices. The results offer insights into future research needs.publishersversionpublishe

Current status, emerging challenges, and future prospects of industrial symbiosis in Portugal

Radu Godina would like to acknowledge financial support from Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (UID/EMS/00667/2019).Industrial symbiosis has proven to be an important tool for improving business sustainability with numerous environmental, economic, and social benefits. The literature on this subject has been provided with countless case studies of the application of this practice in different geographical locations. However, studies concerning Portugal in this area are still scarce. Thus, this article aims to map and analyze the existing cases of industrial symbiosis in Portugal, as well as the current state and the legislative context regarding this practice. It also aims to analyze the main barriers to the growth of synergy relations and outline new paths for the development of industrial symbiosis in Portugal. From the analysis to the case studies, it was possible to conclude that most industrial symbiosis networks have few actors, and networks with two and three are common. However, owing to strategic plans, the type of existing economic activities, and the waste generated, there is much potential for industrial symbiosis networks to be established and to contribute to emission reductions, more efficient use of resources, and reduced external dependence. However, in order to increase industrial symbiosis, concerted action must be taken at various levels to encourage companies to develop synergy relations. Changing the legislative framework, making funds available, the role of local governments, the existence of a facilitator, and the use of some industries as anchor tenants are some of the aspects that can contribute to the increase of industrial symbiosis in Portugal.publishersversionpublishe

Design and Implementation of a New Layout in a New Production Area of a Cork Stopper Factory Following Lean Manufacturing Principles

Publisher Copyright: © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.The current market conditions and purchasing power put pressure on selling prices. To maintain corporate profits, it is important to increase manufacturing efficiency and lower costs. The industrial unit in which this project was developed aims to increase the annual production of cork stoppers and by doing so, maintain the high standards of the quality and accuracy in their processes. To respond to this growth, Lean Manufacturing was implemented, and it was decided to build a new production area. The goal is to create a new production area for cork stoppers capable of producing around half a million cork stoppers per day. The use of Total Flow Management (TFM) tools allowed for the design of the layout and to level production. With the construction of a continuous flow between processes, the storage areas were gradually reduced, and the volume of WIP stock decreased by 63%. The results have also shown a decrease in the complaint rate of 3.5%, which was reduced under the established threshold of 5%, fulfilling the objectives proposed by the company for the project.publishe

Diagnosis and TQM Strategies for Improving the Organizational Efficiency of a Consulting Company

Publisher Copyright: © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.Total Quality Management (TQM) is useful in both the industrial and service sectors. The purpose of this study was to increase profitability at a management consulting company by applying and improving internal operational excellence. This was accomplished using a case study. In order to overcome the problems, a prioritized plan of actions was developed by identifying the main sources of improvement. TQM strategies and the requirements of the ISO 9001: 2015 standard are followed. It was possible to observe some benefits on efficiency outcomes and small changes can provide to a company through large steps towards greater results. In a long-term perspective and considering that the performance and efficiency of the commercial has increased.publishe

The Potential of Industrial Symbiosis: Case Analysis and Main Drivers and Barriers to Its Implementation

UID/EMS/00667/2019 UID/CPO/04058/2019Industrial symbiosis, which is characterised mainly by the reuse of waste from one company as raw material by another, has been applied worldwide with recognised environmental, economic, and social benefits. However, the potential for industrial symbiosis is not exhausted in existing cases, and there is still a wide range of opportunities for its application. Through a comprehensive literature review, this article aims to compile and analyse studies that focus on potential industrial symbiosis in real contexts, to highlight the margin of optimisation that is not being used. The cases reported in the publications identified here were characterised and analysed according to geographic location, type of economic activity, waste/by-products, main benefits, and the methods employed in the studies. From this analysis, we conclude that there is great potential for applications involving industrial symbiosis throughout the world, and especially in Europe, corresponding to 53% of the total cases analysed. Manufacturing stood out as the sector with the highest potential for establishing symbiosis relationships, and the most common types of waste streams in potential networks were organic, plastic and rubber, wood, and metallic materials. This article also discusses the main drivers and barriers to realising the potential of industrial symbiosis. The diversity of industries, geographical proximity, facilitating entities and legislation, plans, and policies are shown to be the main drivers.publishersversionpublishe

Support of advanced technologies in supply chain processes and sustainability impact

This paper aims to present a study of the type of advanced technologies used across manufacturing supply chains in supporting the main processes of the supply chain operations reference model (SCOR). It also intends to identify a set of sustainable performance indicators (environmental, economic, and social) suitable to evaluate a supply chain 4.0 (SC4.0). To attain this objective, based on the literature review, a conceptual model is proposed. The multiple case study is used with a cross-case comparison to identify the type of advanced technologies more commonly used in SC4.0, and the performance indicators more suitable for assessing a SC4.0 sustainability performance. A sample of ten case studies was considered with companies belonging to different manufacturing SCs, from different countries, and belonging to different echelons. Main findings revealed that the level of adoption of advanced technologies in the Supply Chain SCOR processes varies amongst the case studies. Some technologies are quite commonly used among the several SCOR processes and companies while others are seldom applied. Some indicators were also identified that are regarded as very or extremely suitable to evaluate the sustainability performance of a SC4.0. The main contribution of this research to the body of knowledge is the empirical insights on the SC4.0 field and on Supply Chain Sustainability performance measurement. The results provide guidelines for the selection of advanced technologies to support SC processes and for the design of sustainable SC4.0 performance measurement systems.This work has been funded by national funds through FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., Projects UIDB/05037/2020, UIDB/04058/2020 and UIDB/00319/2020

A logistics management system for a biomass-to-energy production plant storage park

This work was partially supported by the following entities: (L.J.N.) proMetheus-Research Unit on Energy, Materials and Environment for Sustainability-UIDP/05975/2020, funded by national funds through FCT-Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia; (R.G.) UNIDEMI-Research & Development Unit for Mechanical and Industrial Engineering-UIDB/00667/2020, funded by national funds through FCT-Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia; and (J.C.M.) GOVCOPP-Research Unit on Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policies-UID/CPO/04058/2019, funded by national funds through FCT-Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia.The biomass industry is growing due to the current search for greener and more sustainable alternatives to fossil energy sources. However, this industry, due to its singularity, presents several challenges and disadvantages related to the transportation of raw materials, with the large volumes that are usually involved. This project aimed to address this internal logistics situation in torrefied biomass pellets production with two different biomass storage parks, located in Portugal. The main park receives raw material coming directly from the source and stores it in large amounts as a backup and strategic storage park. The second park, with smaller dimensions, precedes the production unit and must be stocked daily. Therefore, a fleet of transport units with self-unloading cranes is required to help to unload the biomass at the main park and transport the raw material from this park to the one preceding the production unit. Thus, the main goal was to determine the dimensions of the fleet used in internal transportation operations to minimize the idle time of the transport units using a methodology already in use in the mining and quarrying industry. This methodology was analyzed and adapted to the situation presented here. The implementation of this study allows the elimination of unnecessary costs in an industry where the profit margins are low.publishersversionpublishe

Application to the recovery of residual agroforestry biomass in Portugal

This research was funded by the FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia/MCTES, through national funds and, when applicable, co-financed by the FEDER, under the new partnership agreement PT2020, P. Espadinha-Cruz and Radu Godina acknowledges Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT-MCTES) . Publisher Copyright: © 2024 The AuthorsRural fires are currently one of the main global disasters, and Portugal is among the countries that have suffered from them for decades. These fires pose economic, environmental, and social threats to the country. A primary cause of rural fires is the burning of biomass to clear agroforestry residues. Thus, combating rural fires requires more effective forest management, particularly the removal of forest residues that serve as fuel. These residues, also known as biomass, have significant potential for energy production and biofuel use. This paper proposes a model that integrates the PROMETHEE decision-making method with the roadmapping. This proposed model includes 7 steps, including the planning of the roadmap, the definition of the decision problem, gathering information and building the roadmap. The proposed model was applied to develop a roadmap proposal for the recovery of surplus agroforestry biomass in Portugal, identifying the most emerging conversion technologies in the national context. With the roadmap developed, it was possible to understand that the recovery of surplus agroforestry biomass in Portugal involves several sectors. The energy sector is one of those that can benefit from the recovery of leftover agroforestry biomass, both from the point of view of carbon neutrality and energy independence. Forestry management is another of the great advantages of recovering leftover forestry biomass and, consequently, reducing the number of fires. In the context of recovery, combustion is the most widely used technology for producing energy or heat. The technology identified as most emerging in the upcoming years is gasification. Investment in scientific research is essential for the success of this sector, as is the development of public incentive policies and more engagement from all stakeholders. This paper conclude that valorizing agroforestry residues can reduce rural fire risks while promoting energy independence, sustainable regional development, and innovation in Portugal.publishersversionpublishe

Applying the SMED Methodology to Tire Calibration Procedures

Due to the automotive industry’s strict demands, customers submit constant production pressure, leading to the adoption of new methodologies, techniques, and management ideas. The goal is always to minimise losses and waste. These demands also affect the maintenance department, which has to keep the balance between machines’ availability for production and ensuring that the machines’ proper running conditions translate into excellent-quality products. Thus, continuous improvement and correct management of maintenance activities are crucial for a company to maintain effective production, without defects, breakdowns, and accidents. Nevertheless, some maintenance activities should also prevent the degradation of equipment conditions in order to produce high-quality products. This paper presents an improvement of maintenance activities conducted on equipment that produces large tires. The main problems and technical difficulties of Machine Tolerance Check (MTC) activities are explored by analysing existing documents, internal knowledge, and changes to working methods. We discuss the implementation of the SMED (Single-Minute Exchange of Die) methodology in calibration procedures, as this method is commonly applied to machines’ setups to reduce downtime. At the end of the study, a 31% decrease in the duration of machine tolerance check activities was achieved, which led to a significant increase in the equipment’s availabilityinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio