Construction Equipment Manufacturing Research Articles

THE APPLICATION OF FUZZY SETS THEORY IN THE METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH TO ASSESSING PERSONNEL RISKS OF AN ENTERPRISE

The main idea of this paper is the substantiation of the methodological approach to the assessment of personnel risks of enterprises based on the application of the fuzzy logic apparatus in order to identify the problems of personnel risk management and provide appropriate recommendations for their solution. The methodological basis of the study is the classic provisions and fundamental works of foreign and domestic scientists, statistical data, the results of our research into the problems of assessing personnel risks of enterprises. The methods of fuzzy set theory, comparative analysis, scientific abstraction, generalization of scientific experience of modern theoretical research, systemcomplex approach were used. The study proposed a methodological approach to assessing the level of personnel risks of an enterprise; numerical experiments were conducted on the basis of a group of construction equipment manufacturers. Analysis of the results of assessing the level of personnel risks of enterprises made it possible to identify the problems of managing personnel risks at enterprises Statement of a mathematical problem: the work considers hierarchical fuzzy data, namely: four groups of indicators for assessing the level of personnel risks (quantitative composition – F1, state of qualifications and intellectual potential – F2, staff turnover – F3, motivational system – F4), each of the indicators has a different number of fuzzy coefficients (there are twelve of them in the current work – vi , i=1÷12). Indicators are functions of fuzzy coefficients: F1 = r(v1, v2, v3); F2 = g(v4,v5, v6, v7); F3 = h(v8, v9, v10,); F4=q(v11, v12). As an output variable, there is a functional – an integrated indicator Int = f(F1, F2, F3, F4) of the personnel risk level, which, in turn, is also a fuzzy value. Here, the functions r, g, h, q, f are unknown functions of the given variables. We have expert evaluations of the change in all input data; as a rule, they vary within three terms: Low (I), Medium (G), High (E). Formalized information on each variable can be written as , then for a group of indicators we have: . Using a fuzzy system and performing calculations with its help requires the system to have the following structural elements: membership functions of input and output variables, a rule base, and an output mechanism. These structural elements are the components that will be built when designing a fuzzy system. The built mathematical model and the method of its formalization on the basis of FST make it possible to estimate the level of personnel risk at the enterprise, which enables further substantiation of a set of measures to increase the efficiency of its use. The constructed system of fuzzy logical inference can be considered intelligent as it uses elements of computational intelligence, in particular, the theory of fuzzy sets. The proposed methodological approach to assessing the level of personnel risks of enterprises based on the apparatus of fuzzy logic allows, in contrast to existing ones, to integrate the consideration of both qualitative and quantitative indicators when assessing the level of personnel risks and personnel movement indicators and to significantly increase the efficiency of decision-making under conditions of uncertainty and reduce costs in the event of adverse situations.

Linking investment decisions-based on firm performance and open innovation practices in Vietnam’s wire and cable market using data envelopment analysis models

The wire and cable market has experienced a significant upsurge in demand, driven by its integration with industries such as electronics, telecommunications, infrastructure construction, and electronic equipment manufacturing. This study aims to investigate the linkages between investment decisions, open innovation practices, and firm performance in Vietnam's wire and cable market. In this study, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models, specifically the super-slacks-based measures (Super-SBM) and the Malmquist index, were applied to evaluate the profitable efficiency, position, technical innovation, and technological innovation of the top ten wire and cable firms in Vietnam from 2017 to 2020. The main results revealed that EC-07 emerged as the most efficient firm in terms of overall efficiency, while EC-04 and EC-05 exhibited substantial potential for development. Moreover, the key findings identified a critical gap in the area of technical and technological innovation, which hampers the continuous advancement of technical capabilities and overall productivity improvement in this industry. Therefore, the outcomes of this study have practical implications for enterprises in Vietnam's wire and cable market, offering insights to improve their innovative skills, cost reduction efforts, and overall profitability. The study underscores the importance of integrating open innovation practices into investment decisions as a means to enhance business performance, including the enhancement of innovative capabilities, cost reduction, and profit maximization. Furthermore, the findings of this study provide valuable insights for policymakers and regulators, offering a deeper understanding of the influence of open innovation and investment decisions on Vietnam's economic development, particularly leveraging these insights to support the growth and development of Vietnam's wire and cable industry.

Achieving Firm Financial Performance Through the Just-In-Time Supply Chain, Quality Management, and Supply Chain Integration: The Moderating Role of IT Advancement

Global competition and uncertainties call for manufacturers to adopt advanced supply chain practices that help them achieve competitive advantages in a volatile business environment. In this essence, the current research examines how supply chain integration, just-in-time practice, and quality management boost a firm operational and financial performance during a pandemic crisis like COVID-19. Similarly, this study examines the moderating effect of IT advancement on the relationship between a firm operational and financial performance. The sample size of this study is assessed with a priori power analysis. Data were collected from employees working in manufacturing firms, including construction equipment, transportation, electronic products, engineering, chemical, pharmaceutical, and healthcare manufacturers. For empirical analysis, 380 responses were estimated with a structural equation modeling approach. Constructs validity and reliability are tested in the measurement model. Empirical findings revealed that factors such as internal integration, process integration, product integration, just-in-time, and quality management collectively explained R^2 75.4 % variance in firm operational performance. In addition, effect size analysis 〖 f〗^2 shows that product integration has the highest importance in determining a firm operational performance. The research model has shown substantial predictive power Q^2 54.2% to predict firm operational performance. The moderating impact of IT advancement is established and revealed that IT advancement in the supply chain will strengthen the relationship between the firm’s operational and financial performance. Theoretically, this research has developed an integrated supply chain model that combines supply chain integration factors, just-in-time, quality management, and IT advancement to investigate the firm’s operational performance. To practice, this study suggests that policymakers should concentrate on process integration, just-in-time supply chain strategy, and IT advancement, which boosts the firm’s operational and financial performance. This study is unique as it discloses several useful findings which would help manufacturers deal with an unprecedented situation like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sustainable Manufacturing Strategies Adopted by ConstructionEquipment Manufacturing Industries in India

India is a developing country and is laying emphasis on the infrastructure growth and is focusing on development of telecommunications, airlines, airports, ports, highways, railways, housing, power, motor vehicles, banking, manufacturing and others. The impact of development is seen on the environment in the form of air pollution, greenhouse gases emission, water pollution, land pollution, noise pollution, waste generation and its management, depletion of natural resources, loss of biodiversity, loss of water bodies, deforestation, threat to animal life and so on. An approach to balance development, environment impact and wellbeing of society is the need. Sustainable development, along with sustainable manufacturing strategies and sustainable performance measures, is required to facilitate and monitor the infrastructure growth, manufacturing growth and use of goods and services to keep a balance between environment and growth. For the infrastructure development, construction equipment are widely used and hence it is important that their manufacturing and use should be sustainable. This paper focuses on the sustainable strategies adopted by earthmoving and construction equipment manufacturing industries in India which include prevention of pollution, clean technology, product stewardship, life cycle assessment and impact on the environment in the entire life cycle of the product. The paper concludes that the efforts in this direction are presently focused on reducing CO2 emissions, energy conservation and designing and manufacturing the products reducing impact on environment by making them more fuel, carbon and consumable efficient. The scope of this paper is limited to original equipment manufacturers of the earthmoving and construction equipment and does not cover the complete value chain in the life cycle of product. The methodology deployed included introduction to the topic, review of literature, formulating questionnaire and getting responses on questionnaire from the earthmoving and construction equipment manufacturing organisations and use of the statistical tool of Relative Importance Index (RII) for analysing the result. The goal of this paper is to identify the sustainable strategies adopted by these organisations and what aspects are currently being focused and what are the other focus areas. The same is adequately described in the result and discussion section. High importance is given to technologies reducing CO2 emissions, energy consumption and conservation and designing the product to be more fuel-, carbon- and consumable-efficient. Circular economy concepts, integrating the suppliers to reduce environmental impacts in value chain, and renewable energy use are in the initial phase and catching up.

Sustainable closed-loop supply chain network optimization for construction machinery recovering

<p style='text-indent:20px;'>With regard to environmental pressures and economic benefits, some original construction equipment manufacturers, have focused on collecting and recovering construction machinery at the end of their life. The present study aimed to focus on Sustainable closed-loop supply chain network optimization for construction machinery recovering. To this purpose, different recovery options such as remanufacturing, recycling and reusing were implemented. A mixed integer linear programming model (MILP) including three objective functions was proposed in this regard. Based on the model, all three dimensions of sustainability including economic, environmental, and social dimensions were considered and could successfully determine the optimal values of the flow of used products, remanufactured products, recycled parts, re-usable parts. In order to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed model, a numerical example was used with the help of GAMS software to obtain the supply chain structure with the lowest cost and reduce the pollution caused by CO₂. Finally, the model could maximize fixed and variable job opportunities.

3D printed construction and implementation in Cyprus: Discussion and overview

The article describes the construction technology using three-dimensional printing. The use of 3D printing allows the engineers to implement architectural projects of any complexity, to reduce the amount of industrial waste, the deficit of housing, and material, energy and labour costs for construction. The article discusses the leading technologies that are used to print buildings and structures, their distinguishing features, methods of their application with examples of finished work. The issue of materials used for the manufacture of building mixtures and the present situation of 3D printing on the global market was identified in this investigation. All the positive and negative aspects of the 3D printing construction are listed. The construction companies, equipment manufacturers and research centres, which are the main participants in the market, are reviewed. The primary purposes of the study are the determination of the possibility of implementation of additive technologies in Cyprus and the promotion of innovative construction methods.

Design and analysis of bi-objective flexible job shop scheduling problem: A case study in construction equipment manufacturing industry

Bu calismada esnek atolye tipi uretim cizelgeleme probleminin kapasite kisitlari altinda programlanmasi icin karmasik tamsayi dogrusal optimizasyon modelinin tasarlanmasi ve gelistirilmesi kesin cozum algoritmasi kullanilarak saglanmistir. Modelleme yaklasimi, gercek vakalar uzerinden veri analizini saglamak, uretim hatlarindaki uretim suresini en aza indirmek, toplam uretim maliyetlerini azaltmak ve matematiksel programlama probleminin onemli ozelliklerini detayli olarak ortaya koymak icin tasarlanmistir. Bu calismanin temel amaci, iki amacli cizelgeleme problemleri icin ϵ-kisit yontemini kullanarak daha hizli ve verimli cozum setleri elde etmektir. Gercek hayat verileri kullanilarak elde edilen Pareto cozum setleri karar vericiler ile paylasilmistir. Iki amacli cizelgeleme problemi icin gelistirilen karmasik tamsayi dogrusal optimizasyon modelinin cozum asamasinda GAMS programlama dili kullanilmistir ve sirketin uretim maliyetlerinde %16.6’lik bir iyilestirme gerceklestirilmistir.

Construction equipment engine performance degradation due to environmental and operation factors in Latin America

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine whether the altitude at which construction equipment operates affects or contributes to increased engine wear.Design/methodology/approachThe study includes the evaluation of two John Deere PowerTech Plus 6,068 Tier 3 diesel engines, the utilization of OSA3 oil analysis laboratory equipment to analyze oil samples, the employment of standard sampling scope and methods, and the analysis of key Engine Control Unit (ECU) data points (machine utilization, Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs) and engine sensor data).FindingsAt 250 h of engine oil use, the engine operating at 3,657 meters above sea level (MASL) had considerably more wear than the engine operating at 416 MASL. The leading and earliest indicator of engine wear was a high level of iron particles in the engine oil, reaching abnormal levels at 218 h. The following engine oil contaminants were more prevalent in the engine operating at the higher altitude: potassium, glycol, water and soot. Furthermore, the engine operating at higher altitude also presented abnormal and critical levels of oil viscosity, Total Base Number and oxidation. When comparing the oil sample analysis with the engine ECU data, it was determined that engine idling is a contributor for soot accumulation in the engine operating at the higher altitude. The most prevalent DTCs were water in fuel, extreme low coolant levels and extreme high exhaust manifold temperature. The ECU operating data demonstrated that the higher altitude environment caused the engine to miss-fire and rail pressure was irregular.Practical implicationsMany of the mining operations and construction projects are accomplished at mid to high altitudes. This research provides a comparison of how construction equipment engines are affected by this type of environment (i.e. higher altitudes, cooler temperatures and lower atmospheric pressure). Consequently, service engineers can implement maintenance strategies to minimize internal engine wear for equipment operating at higher altitudes.Originality/valueThe main contribution of this paper will help construction equipment end-users, maintenance engineers and manufacturers to implement mitigation strategies to improve engine durability for countries with operating conditions similar to those described in this research.

Servitization of global service network actors – A contingency framework for matching challenges and strategies in service transition

Servitization is a rising trend across manufacturing companies, but it is not achievable without the corresponding transition of the manufacturers' service network. Despite the key role of service network actors, their servitization pathways are not widely understood. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to understand how diverse service network actors approach servitization under varying conditions. Findings are derived from an exploratory case study of eight service network actors for a global construction equipment manufacturer. The analysis reveals that service network actors face major capability-(lack of service provision capabilities, lack of service provision vision) and market-related challenges (unfavorable local conditions, low customer service readiness) that hinder their transformation. The analysis also reveals four unique servitization strategies (service extension, service benchmarking, digitalization, customer co-creation) that service network actors implement. A contingency framework is proposed to explain which challenges can be matched with which servitization strategies to achieve service network servitization.

The significance of supplier performance management in quality improvement - a case of construction equipment manufacturing

The competitive market situation of today's global marketplace is undergoing changes. Customers demand more variety, better quality, and greater service in terms of reliability and response time. The success in this situation is very much determined by how a company forms the entire system, mainly focusing on supplier management. A supplier plays a very imperative role as the product cost, quality, and service deliverables as they are highly dependent on the supplier performance. Besides cost and quality, an efficient delivery that can respond quickly to the customer demand is also an important issue in the customer-oriented economics nowadays. The need for the development of rudimentary but effective supplier selection method and its implementation is required to improve the product quality and delivery performance, which in turns increases the customer satisfaction. This work presents a development of supplier selection and performance management framework in a construction equipment manufacturing company. The problem of customer rejection due to suppliers has been significantly reduced; almost 60% reduction whereas improvement in production delay due to non-availability of purchased material is excellent. In the past, almost production was stopped but after implementation, it has been seen hardly interrupted. The problem is reduced to only 1%.

Implementation of dealer Management system in an earth moving and Construction Equipment Manufacturing Company

Modern industrial world has become more competent in terms of making profit and business development. Other than profits, business companies in the modern days have started to concentrate more on the touch points of the Customer's perception in selecting a product. In particular, manufacturing companies pertaining to earth moving and construction equipment have expressed deep interest in providing service for their products. In order to manage all the service operations, efficient and reliable systems are needed. Hence, there is a huge scope to manage customer service operations through new and innovative solutions for a lesser cost. There is also a huge requirement in designing and implementing such systems especially in earth moving and construction equipment manufacturing firms. This research study includes analysis of existing system through secondary data. Secondly, analysis of value added activities and non-value added activities is carried out to plot a Value Stream Mapping to identify wastes in the system. In order to collect the primary data, a questionnaire is designed considering important variables to implement Dealer Management System (DMS) through literature review. The variables that are considered include service operations, service related cost, customer service quality and resource utilization. The data obtained from the questionnaire is analysed using Smart Partial Least Square (PLS) and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) tools to validate the reliability of the questionnaire and impact of each variables in implementing DMS. From the results attained, an optimal conceptual model is constructed. Further, the model is validated and verified using hypothesis testing. Waste in the conventional service method is more with a total lead-time of 6.8 days minimum. The time in waste activities can be reduced by incorporating the innovative features present in DMS. Secondly, variables related to resource utilization has very less impact and contribute towards the implementation of DMS. It is also validated through the hypothesis testing where, null hypothesis is accepted in resource utilization variable's hypothesis but alternate hypothesis is accepted in other two variables, service related cost and customer service quality that are considered. Therefore, it is found that the resource utilization variable has a less impact in preparing a model for implementation of DMS whereas, variables related to service related cost and customer service quality has a major impact in preparing a validated model for implementation of DMS in earth moving and construction equipment manufacturing companies.

A role for physical prototyping in Product-Service System design: Case study in construction equipment

Using a case study methodology to exploring an ambitious experimental combination of a construction equipment manufacturer’s products tailored to provide exponential increases in efficiency and reductions in CO2. The products and system represent a relevant example of new technology being the foundation upon which a functional offering IPSS can be designed. The researcher constructed a scaled down functional experiential prototype reflecting a full scale experimental all electric quarry site in under operation outside of Goteborg, Sweden. The prototype site represented the primary equipment and system functionality, to act as a boundary object around which relevant stakeholders both internal and external could share the vision of an electric autonomous future. This was confirmed via observation at an event where the scale site was used for this purpose and verified with follow up interviews to dig deeper into the impact this tangible representation could have in increasing the perceived viability of the full scale technology’s potential on display thousands of miles from the event.

Cycle time reduction in manufacturing industry by designing a dedicated fixture: A case study

The principal commercial requirement of any manufacturing system is directed towards a growth in productivity. One of the options for achieving higher productivity is reducing the cycle time. Cycle time comprises of the following time element: operation, loading/unloading, set-up and idleness. In this work a case study of a reputed construction equipment manufacturing company of India is considered where in it was observed that the demand for the 4Ton compactors remained unmet as there were no dedicated fixtures for the tack welding operation of those compactors. This welding work was being performed using hook and carrier by trial and error method. This led to inefficient utilization of man, machine, money and increase in manufacturing time. So there was a need to design the dedicated fixture so as to reduce the cycle time of tack welding operation. Benefits of this new fixture are twofold. It reduces setup time because it eliminates marking for each job, positioning by trial and error method and hence increases the productivity of 4Ton compactor. Also, usage of fixture calls for semiskilled labor instead of skilled labor, reducing labor cost for improved production rate.Keywords: Productivity, compactor, fixture, setup time, cycle time

Benchmarking framework for internal supply chain management: a case study for comparative analysis

The objective of this research work is to develop a benchmarking frame work for internal supply chain management (ISCM). The working steps of benchmarking framework can be explained by a functional activity flow chart. Timely regulation of benchmarking framework should be helpful for optimising the existing internal supply chain process. A case study is used to gather the relevant data information from industrial experts, advisors, supervisors and academics experts. The aim of authors is to evaluate ROI of top two heavy fabrication construction equipment's manufacturing industries. The optimisation of ROI has done by identifying problems of ISCM and taking appropriate corrective measures to rectifying them.

System Engineering Analysis of Construction Equipment Operation in the Latin America

AbstractThe Latin American region has many important ongoing infrastructure projects. It is a global source of mining materials such as copper and iron. Thus, the region is an important market for construction equipment manufacturers such as Caterpillar, John Deere, Komatsu, Volvo, and CNH. However, it is not financially feasible for these manufactures to test construction machines in all 33 countries. Consequently, there is a significant lack of engine system understanding in this region due to its diverse operating conditions. This research provides a system engineering analysis of how diesel engine durability is affected by the environmental factors such as altitude and fuel quality in Latin America. Examination of engine oil analyses shows that oil condition provides a leading indicator of premature internal engine wear in Latin America. The study further relates environment factors in Latin America such as altitude to machine diagnostic trouble codes.

Sources and flows of China's virtual SO2 emission transfers embodied in interprovincial trade: A multiregional input–output analysis

China faces immense difficulties caused by its domestic regional air pollution caused by atmospheric diffusion of pollutants across administrative boundaries. Because of the closer interregional economic connections that have formed, in this study we focus on the virtual flows of pollutants embodied in interprovincial trade. We compared two methods, embodied emissions in bilateral trade (EEBT) and the multiregional input–output (MRIO) model, to determine emission flows for 2002 and 2007 and found that the results between these two approaches differed significantly, particularly for the year 2007. This indicates that the choice of the accounting method has obvious impacts on subsequent decisions. Further analysis based on the MRIO method, which captures the complete interregional supply chains and is more applicable to consumption-based studies, showed that the embodied SO2 emissions in interprovincial trade accounted for 27.58% of the total SO2 emissions in China in 2002 and 35.25% in 2007. Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, and Guizhou were the major embodied emission-exporting regions, with sources mainly from the electricity, nonmetal mineral production, chemicals, and metal smelting sectors. The exported emissions mainly ended up in rich provinces, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Guangdong, due to those provinces' final demands for products of the construction, food production, and transport equipment manufacturing sectors. Furthermore, rich provinces were net importers in interprovincial trade, with a pollution terms of trade value less than one. The results yield important implications for China's air pollution controls: emission reduction tasks should be reasonably distributed among provinces to prevent developed provinces from outsourcing more pollution emissions to less developed provinces through interprovincial trade; regulation of consumption in developed provinces would help to control national pollution; financial and technical support for pollution control should favor the less developed regions.

Unity is strength: A study of supplier relationship management integration

Researches on the supply chain management within the last decade demonstrate that business processes integration can increase the performance effectiveness and efficiency across the chain. This study intends to investigate the integration of the supplier relationship management (SRM) process between the manufacturer and its first upstream tier of suppliers within the construction equipment industry. This research also strives to identify the potential obstacles to the SRM integration and provides solution suggestions to overcome these barriers. In this regard, the review of the literature and subsequent analyses of the empirical findings from European construction equipment manufacturers illustrate that the SRM process integration can take place through the integration of its several sub-processes into strategic and operational characteristics. In this context, the lack of goal congruence, commitment, and trust between the manufacturer and its supplier are the major potential barriers to the SRM integration.

Services in Global Value Chains: Manufacturing-Related Services

The study compiles 22 firm-specific case studies which show the importance of manufacturing-related services in global value chains. The interviewed firms, based in 12 APEC economies, come from different sectors ranging from multinational automotive and construction equipment manufacturers to electrical appliances and watch manufacturing. It analyses what specific services are important in which stage of the value chain, and whether they are typically provided in-house or outsourced. The study contributes to the current discussions on ‘servicification’ of manufacturing by which services have increased its importance and value in manufacturing products, so much so that some manufacturing companies are, arguably, virtually service companies. The studies also present the importance of economic policies in shaping firms’ configurations, operations, and location of global value chains.

Research on the Budgetary Slack Behavior to the Construction Machinery and Equipment Manufacturing Enterprise in China

In Chinese construction machinery and equipment manufacturing enterprises, the behavior of budgetary slack is an intractable problem in comprehensive budget management so far. In this paper, the causes of budgetary slack behavior, from points of agency theory, contingency theory, behavioral theory, psychology theory, information asymmetry theory and motivation theory, and from the lack of relativity between the theory and practice of management accounting, are analyzed systematically. Some management countermeasures are advanced to prevent budgetary slack. As the research consequence, the compromised point is the appropriate budgetary slack is not harmful to corporate performance.

Virtual Atmospheric Mercury Emission Network in China

Top-down analysis of virtual atmospheric mercury emission networks can direct efficient demand-side policy making on mercury reductions. Taking China-the world's top atmospheric mercury emitter-as a case, we identify key contributors to China's atmospheric mercury emissions from both the producer and the consumer perspectives. China totally discharged 794.9 tonnes of atmospheric mercury emissions in 2007. China's production-side control policies should mainly focus on key direct mercury emitters such as Liaoning, Hebei, Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, Hunan, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Inner Mongolia provinces and sectors producing metals, nonmetallic mineral products, and electricity and heat power, while demand-side policies should mainly focus on key underlying drivers of mercury emissions such as Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Guangdong provinces and sectors of construction activities and equipment manufacturing. China's interregional embodied atmospheric mercury flows are generally moving from the inland to the east coast. Beijing-Tianjin (with 4.8 tonnes of net mercury inflows) and South Coast (with 3.3 tonnes of net mercury inflows) are two largest net-inflow regions, while North (with 5.3 tonnes of net mercury outflows) is the largest net-outflow region. We also identify primary supply chains contributing to China's virtual atmospheric mercury emission network, which can be used to trace the transfers of production-side and demand-side policy effects.