Factory Operations Research Articles

Robust closed-loop control of vegetable production in plant factory

Internal variations and external disturbances often adversely influence normal operation of plant factories and their production stability. In this research, a salad-cultivating plant factory (abbreviated as SPF) was considered as a dissipative system, its highly valid kinetic model was developed using system dynamics and experimental data. Optimal closed-loop control law of light intensity, temperature and aerating rate was then obtained based on the gradient of stored-energy (Lyapunov) function of the SPF derived from Hamilton-Jacobi-Isaacs equation. Both digital and real-time simulation results showed that the SPF closed-loop control system with optimal control law could continuously dissipate the stored energy, namely internal variation and external disturbances resulting from insect and microbial damage and other environmental fluctuations with different strengths to stabilize the SPF at an operating point and maintaining the good yield of salad with desired dynamic response characteristics to control actions. This research will lay a theoretical and method foundation for construction and operation of facility agricultural systems and closed artificial ecosystems.

Breeding new varieties for controlled environments

Agricultural production in controlled environments is increasingly feasible, and may play an important role in providing nutrition and choice to growing urban centres. New technologies in lighting, ventilation, robotics and irrigation are just a few of the innovations that enable production of high-value specialty crops outside of a traditional field setting. However, despite all of the advances in the hardware within the plant factory operation, innovation of the most complex machine has been neglected - the plant itself. Indoor agricultural operations typically rely on legacy varieties, plants selected and bred for field conditions. In the field, phenotypic stability is paramount, as production must be consistent in an unpredictable and changing environment. However, the controlled environment affords focus on different breeding priorities as environmental flux, pests, pathogens and post-harvest quality are less formidable barriers to production. On the contrary, breeding for controlled environments shifts the focus to a completely different set of plant traits, such as rapid growth, performance in low light environments and active manipulation of plant stature. Instead of breeding for phenotypic stability, plants may be bred to maximise genetic plasticity, allowing specific traits to be presented as a function of the quality of the ambient light spectrum. In this scenario plant varieties may be grown with optimal size, supporting a focus on consumer traits like flavour or accumulation of health-related compounds. Gene editing may be a central technology in the production of designer plants for controlled environments. This review considers the opportunity for breeding for controlled environments, with a focus on a revision of priorities for controlled-environment breeders.

Topographic Mapping Evolution: From Field and Photographically Collected Data to GIS Production and Linked Open Data

Whither the topographic map? Topographic mapping historically has been approached as a map factory operation through the period 1879–1990. During this time, data were field and photogrammetrically collected; cartographically verified and annotated creating a compilation manuscript; further edited, generalized, symbolized, and produced as a graphic output product using lithography, or more recently, through digital means. Adoption of geographic information systems (GIS) as the primary production process for topographic maps, including digital database preparation (1975–2000) and product generation operations (2001–present), has led to faster and more standardized production in a semi-automated process. However, the topographic product has remained the same static graphic. A new form of topographic map as an interactive, linked knowledge base is now being created. The appearance of the Semantic Web and Linked Open Data allows the map to become an interactive knowledge base. In this current theory and implementation of topographic mapping, the map is a graphics-based interface to a triplestore knowledge base which includes a topographic feature ontology, semantics and relations, and instance data with geometry and topology available. The topographic map graphic becomes an interactive link to the knowledge base and additional linked data through the Linked Open Data cloud.

A particle swarm optimization, fuzzy PID controller with generator automatic voltage regulator

The role of an intelligent control system with a certain stage of autonomy is prerequisite for effective operation. We designed a particle swarm optimization, fuzzy proportional integral derivative (PSOFPID) controller using MATLAB for a set point voltage and frequency. The projected controller intended to ease the frequency and the terminal potential difference constantly under any operating conditions and loads which can be attained in the wanted range via the rule of the generation system. PSOFPID used to carry out the AVR system auctions main voltage control. The existing algorithm was based on particle swarm optimization (PSO), and Sugeno fuzzy logic (SFL). It required optimal tuning for thematic factory operation of the generation system. The newly developed controller combined the PSO and fuzzy logic control (FLC) to determine the optimal PID controller of generator parameters in the AVR system. The PSOFPID controller was used as a hybrid full control system for the voltage and frequency. Optimal PID gains obtained by a combined PSO and SFL for various operating conditions of PSO (β and know about birds’ no.) were employed to develop the principle subject of the Sugeno fuzzy system. The hybrid controller arranged the control signal based on communication and thereby decreases the voltage error and the swaying in the terminal voltage and frequency control process. An outstanding potential and frequency control presentation was achieved when the projected hybrid controller was broken on the AVR system in synchronous generator to improve the transient response.

A Framework of Joint Energy Provisioning and Manufacturing Scheduling in Smart Industrial Wireless Rechargeable Sensor Networks.

Energy provisioning is always a crucial problem restricting the further development and application of smart industrial wireless sensor networks in smart factories. In this paper, we present that it is necessary to develop smart industrial wireless rechargeable sensor networks (SIWRSNs) in a smart factory environment. Based on the complexity and time-effectiveness of factory operations, we establish a joint optimization framework named J-EPMS to effectively coordinate the charging strategies of wireless sensors and the scheduling plans of machines running. Then, we propose a novel double chains quantum genetic algorithm with Taboo search (DCQGA-TS) for J-EPMS to obtain a suboptimal solution. The simulation results demonstrate that the DCQGA-TS algorithm can maximally ensure the continuous manufacturing and markedly shorten the total completion time of all production tasks.

Scheduling of smart intra – factory material supply operations using mobile robots

This paper presents the design and prototype implementation of a service-based control system responsible for the material supply operations planning and coordination in assembly lines. The material supply processes are carried out by autonomous mobile units that are responsible for the transportation of the consumables from the warehouse to the production stations. The plan generation based on time and inventory level driven criteria is automatically carried out by a web-based software that can also distribute the derived plan to the autonomous mobile units. The proposed system was implemented on a case inspired by an actual production line from the automotive assembly sector. Discrete event simulation has been employed for the investigated production system, to derive the specifications for the mobile units (e.g. number of boxes that can carry simultaneously) that may serve the system efficiently. The results indicate that the proposed architecture integrated with the discussed mobile assistant units may provide high quality solutions with respect to the end user criteria.

Computers and populism: artificial intelligence, jobs, and politics in the near term

I project the near-term future of work to ask whether job losses induced by artificial intelligence will increase the appeal of populist politics. The paper first explains how computers and machine learning automate workplace tasks. Automated tasks help to both create and eliminate jobs and I show why job elimination centres in blue-collar and clerical work—impacts similar to those of manufactured imports and offshored services. I sketch the near-term evolution of three technologies aimed at blue-collar and clerical occupations: autonomous long-distance trucks, automated customer service responses, and industrial robotics. I estimate that in the next 5–7 years, the jobs lost to each of these technologies will be modest but visible. I then outline the structure of populist politics. Populist surges are rare but a populist candidate who pits ‘the people’ (truck drivers, call centre operators, factory operatives) against ‘the elite’ (software developers, etc.) will be mining many of the US regional and education fault lines that were part of the 2016 presidential election.

A Case Study of the Introduction of Smart Factory Operation Management(FOM) in the Fourth Industrial Revolution Era

A Case Study of the Introduction of Smart Factory Operation Management(FOM) in the Fourth Industrial Revolution Era

Establishing modalities for commercial-based variety evaluation and review of relative cane variety composition in sugarcane plantations

Coordinated commercial and trial based variety evaluation is compulsory to avoid sugarcane growers’ unexpected loss due to the pre- and post release variety performance discrepancies. This investigation was conducted to establish modalities for commercial based variety evaluation, estimating the general performance (Gp) and relative variety composition or proportion (RCV) of commercial varieties cultivated in Ethiopia. The cane, sugar and estimated recoverable sucrose yield (ERS) data of commercial varieties obtained from agricultural and factory operations datasets and the survey data were included and analyzed. Three modalities were established for commercial based variety evaluation, estimating GP and RVC of sugarcane varieties. Results from the analysis of variance revealed the existence of significant and complex interactions among the variety, crop cycle, cutting and harvest age effects. Its significance demonstrated the importance of specific crop management for a specific sugarcane variety cultivated in the respective sugarcane plantation and demands the revision of the existing crop management practices in all sugarcane plantations. Generally, the established models were adequate to evaluate variety yield performance, estimate GP and RVC of the varieties evaluated. The models developed to estimate the GP and RCV of varieties in a specific sugarcane plantation were original and are the major innovative parts of this investigation. The serious variety ranking changes across locations highlighted the existence of substantial genotype x environment interaction and signals the long year cultivated sugarcane varieties had specific environmental domains in Ethiopia. The inclusion of survey data (growers’ preference) in the present investigation was much helpful in the process of identifying appropriate variety rankings. Hence, we recommend active participations of sugarcane growers in future commercial and trial based variety evaluations. Moreover, we suggested that future research efforts involving commercial and trial based variety evaluation to adopt the established modalities as a guide to assure efficient and coordinated sugarcane variety evaluation program in Ethiopia.

Grading Sewing Operator Skill Using Principal Component Analysis and Ordinal Logistic Regression

In the apparel manufacturing process, productivity and quality are somewhat determined by operator skill level. Predicting worker skill level is very important for effective production operation management. However, the current methods for ranking skill level in the manufacturing industry have been based on the subjective evaluation of managers and have failed both in predicting the operator skill level needed for planning and in encouraging operators to develop new skills for quality and productivity. This article develops a new method for grading sewing worker skill levels that employs updated knowledge from experts involved in training, coaching and managing operations in factories. This approach uses the Delphi method combined with principal component analysis to define and classify six qualitative variables that effect on three aspects of operator skill, including coordination skill, sustaining skill, and tool operating skill. Based on these three variables, ordinal logistic regression is applied to grade skill levels, with a statistically significance result.

“Rightly Enough Called Girls”: Melville’s Violated Virgins and Male Marketplace Fears

AbstractThis essay contextualizes Herman Melville’s “The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids” alongside antebellum portrayals of the female wage earner. Melville’s decision to measure the costs of economic change by sexualizing female wage earners typifies antebellum conversations in which men interpreted women’s labor in relation to an increasingly outdated framework for their activities, here termed the patriarchal shelter. This trope presumes that women’s activities ought to take place under conditions found in the preindustrial household and helps to explain why male authors interpreted factory operatives as women of suspect virtue. I argue that male authors who sexualized female wage earners alleviated their own anxieties about their compromised independence in the industrial marketplace. Male authors fixated on factory women’s sexual identity in an attempt to control their activities rhetorically, but in the process they symptomatized the many ways women’s labor no longer clearly evidenced male dominion.

The findings of an empirical study of the application of criminal law in non-terrorist disasters and tragedies ©2017

The world’s attention was riveted on Savar, Bangladesh on April 24, 2013 when the eight-story Rana Plaza collapsed, killing 1136 and injuring over 2000. Almost all the victims were textile workers. The causes of the collapse were the addition of an unpermitted, poorly engineered four stories coupled with substandard building materials. The building’s owner and factory operators ignored an engineer’s warning of dangerous cracks in the structure the day before the collapse. Instead, workers were ordered back into the building.The aftermath witnessed the arrests of 42 individuals, including the owner of the building, five factory owners, and a dozen national and local officials, including Savar’s mayor.11Syed Zain Al-Mahmood, Bangladeshi Police Charge 42 With Homicide for 2013 Garment Factory Collapse, Wall St. J. (June 2, 2015), http://www.wsj.com/articles/bangaldeshi-police-charge-42-with-homicide-for-2013-garment-factory-collapse-1433181270.The Bangladesh arrests of those responsible for the Rana Plaza tragedy raise the legal issue of criminal prosecutions in disasters and tragedies arising from both natural and human causes. I noticed in the aftermath of the Rana Plaza collapse an increasing application of criminal law in these incidents, giving rise to several theses:1)A substantial increase globally in criminal prosecutions in non-terrorist disasters and tragedies in the New Millennium;2)A high percent of the incidents are in Asia and the Pacific Islands;3)Several cases include the prosecution of government officials and employees for corruption and other derelictions of duty22The one exception to the initiation requirement is the commencement of administrative and party sanctions in China because of the unique role of the Communist party in China. Party discipline can effectively result in the end of the accused’s career.; and4)The surge in prosecutions may be prompted by the ubiquity of smart phones, tablets, and social media.A plausible hypothesis is the increase in hand held digital cameras and cell phones coupled with the advent of social media to globally disseminate incidents, disasters, and tragedies. The New Millennium ushered in smart phones, Google, and the Internet. Popular knowledge and reaction to tragedies prompts a call for action, resulting in prosecutors taking action.33I cannot prove this premise though, but the Rana Plaza tragedy resulted in Bangladesh not only bringing criminal prosecutions, but a strengthening of safety standards.This paper presents an analysis of the results of the study. It lays out the need for criminal prosecutions, followed by the methodology. It summarizes the findings, and discusses a few situations which stand out. It also looks at the special case of South Korea, which has been most proactive in responding to incidents, not only with criminal prosecutions, but also with changes in government and society. The full 56-page list at denisbinder.com contains thumbnail sketches of each incident.44The study has a date of September 26, 2016.

A fog computing industrial cyber-physical system for embedded low-latency machine learning Industry 4.0 applications

Industrial cyber-physical systems are the primary enabling technology for Industry 4.0, which refers to an emerging data-driven paradigm focused on the creation of manufacturing intelligence using real-time pervasive networks and operational data streams. These cyber-physical systems enable objects and processes residing in the physical world (e.g. manufacturing facility), to be tightly coupled and evaluated by advanced predictive analytics (e.g. machine learning models) and simulation models in the cyber world, with the intention of realising self-configuring operations. Thus, this research presents an industrial cyber-physical system based on the emerging fog computing paradigm, which can embed production-ready PMML-encoded machine learning models in factory operations, and adhere to Industry 4.0 design concerns pertaining to decentralisation, security, privacy and reliability.

Decision Support for Planning Techniques in Energy Efficiency Projects

Factory operators can select from a multitude of measures to improve their energy efficiency. Despite the variety of planning techniques intended to help investigating the energy flows, little assistance is available for determining the most efficient approach to pursue in a specific project. This paper presents decision support procedures for making appropriate selections during planning, focusing on the selections of an energy model and a matching energy data acquisition method. They build on problem-independent decision models and systematize available alternatives. The models are solved independently by applying the Analytic Hierarchy Process that allows the integration and quantification of different criteria.

Behavioral Public Choice: The Behavioral Paradox of Government Policy

I. OVERVIEW What are the economic justifications for government intervention in the economy? In a market economy, prices coordinate the activities of buyers and sellers and convey information about the strength of consumer demand for a good and the costs of supplying it. Because trade is voluntary, buyers and sellers only make exchanges when both parties benefit. Under ideal market conditions, this process leads to an efficient allocation of goods without government intervention. However, economics has long recognized instances in which markets can fail to lead to an efficient outcome. The long-standing view is that either market power or the nonexistence of markets causes market failures. Market power is present when some individuals or firms are price makers (for example, monopolists) rather than participants in a perfectly competitive environment. Such situations typically lead to the production of a less than efficient quantity of goods. The problem of market power is the purview of industrial organization economics and antitrust policy. (1) The nonexistence of markets, or the failure of a robust market to arise, can occur for a number of reasons, such as asymmetric information (when one party in a transaction has information that is not available to another) and public goods (when a good is non-rival and nonexcludable in consumption and thus likely to be undersupplied by the market). Another cause for the nonexistence of markets is externalities, which occur when transactions impose costs or benefits on a third party that are not considered in the market exchange. A classic example is when a factory produces and sells a good to a consumer to their mutual advantage, but the pollution generated by the production of the good has a negative impact on the health of nearby residents. A market for the clean air in the affected area would not emerge if high transaction costs of organizing the pollution victims prevented the parties from negotiating. (2) The market system will fail to internalize the health costs imposed by the factory's operations and lead to inefficiently high production and health consequences. For about a century, economists have argued that policymakers should rely, when possible, on market-based principles in designing regulations to address these market failures. For example, in the pollution cases above, a tax on production equal to the marginal external costs could lead producers to internalize the third-party costs stemming from production, which would result in an efficient outcome. (3) Similarly, establishing a property right for the clean air (for example, through a cap-and-trade program) could also cause producers to internalize the third-party costs in their market decisions, again resulting in an efficient outcome. But in recent years, economics has seen a change from the traditional approach of evaluating market failures and in the justifications for government intervention in the economy, with implications for when and how the government should intervene. Recent research has focused on identifying cognitive limitations and psychological biases that lead people to make choices that cause self-harm, thus suggesting another type of market failure that justifies government intervention. (4) We refer to these phenomena as behavioral failures in that they often involve departures from the individual rationality assumptions incorporated in economists' models of consumer choice. William Congdon, Jeffrey Kling, and Sendhil Mullainathan classify deviations from standard economic assumptions found in psychology and behavioral economics into three categories: imperfect optimization, bounded self-control, and nonstandard preferences. (5) Imperfect optimization challenges the traditional economics view that people are good at making decisions concerning their own well-being. For example, one study suggests that people are less likely to participate in their employer's retirement plan as the number of investment alternatives rises, thus suggesting that a government policy of limiting options could improve welfare. …

일본 식물공장의 특징 및 운영 현황 분석

Purpose: Plant factories are active in Japan and around the world. The purpose of this study is to analyze the status of the plant in operation in Japan, its operation mode, the project proponent, and cultivated crops. Based on the results of the analysis, we will review the overall contents, characteristics and problems of plant factories. Through the above research, it is possible to provide basic knowledge necessary for the concept and operation of domestic plant factories, and it can be applied to the study of vertical farm through eco-friendly utilization of vacant houses or buildings as part of domestic urban regeneration plans. We expect to be used as basic data. Method: First, we analyzed the previous researches on the plant factories which have been carried out to date and examined the overall research trends. Second, the concept and characteristics of the plant were analyzed. Third, based on the analysis of general characteristics of plant factories in Japan, the status of plant factories was analyzed and analyzed by detailed items. Result: The results of the analysis of the operation types and characteristics of plant factories are as follows. First, under the support of the national government, the plant is being promoted in parallel with the business improvement of the plant. Second, we are preparing for an aging society, which is a social problem. Third, it expects to be supported by engineers in the industrial and manufacturing fields, including improvements in top management of production and management, including work management and labor management.

Computers and Populism

I project the near-term future of work to ask whether job losses induced by artificial intelligence will increase the appeal of populist politics. The paper first explains how computers and machine learning automate workplace tasks. Automated tasks help to both create and eliminate jobs and I show why job elimination centers in blue collar and clerical work – an impact similar to that of manufactured imports and offshored services. I sketch the near-term evolution of three technologies aimed at blue collar and clerical occupations: autonomous long-distance trucks, automated customer service responses and industrial robotics. I estimate that in the next five-to-seven years, the jobs lost to each of these technologies will be modest but visible. I then outline the structure of populist politics. Populist surges are rare but a populist candidate who pits “the people” (truck drivers, call center operators, factory operatives) against “the elite” (software developers, venture capitalists) will be mining many the U.S. regional and education fault lines that were part of the 2016 presidential election.

INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL IN INNOVATIVE FIRM

This research was conducted to investigate the influence of intellectual capital on overall innovation and R&D activities in an innovative firm. The firm is a leader in natural goat’s milk-based cosmetics and health products in Malaysia. Intellectual capital consists of four components, human capital, structural capital, relational capital and spiritual capital. This research was a case study and qualitative approach was applied to gather data. The Marketing Manager, Human Resource Manager, Factory Operation Manager, administrative workers, factory workers, IT personnel and customers of the firm were interviewed. The information from the interviews was analyzed using codes and transcription. Finding of the study indicates that among the intellectual components, structural capital is the highest contributor to the firm’s innovation. Among the recommendations made to the firm are to increase human capital with high expertise, to have a systematic documentation, to cooperate with organization’s external environment and strengthen spiritual value. Future researches are suggested to use instruments other than interviews and widen the scope to more than one firm or industry.

Australia's Bankrupt Chinese Furniture Manufacturers, 1880–1930

The proprietors of almost 100 Chinese furniture factories in Australia went bankrupt during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. With a substantial stake in furniture production for decades following the gold rushes of the 1850s and 1860s, Chinese furniture factory operators were vilified and legislated against in a push for ‘White‐Australian’ industrial advancement. Historians have consistently concentrated on such campaigns when explaining Chinese‐Australian business failures of this period. Yet informed principally by their bankruptcy court testimony, this paper contends that Chinese furniture manufacturers went bankrupt largely because of economic difficulties and, thus, failures are not sufficiently explained by ‘White Australia’.

YÖNETİCİLERİN KULLANDIĞI MİZAH TARZININ ARAŞTIRILMASI VE MİZAH KULLANIMININ ÖRGÜT ÜZERİNDEKİ NEGATİF VE POZİTİF ETKİLERİ: TÜRKİYE’DE ÖRNEK BİR ÇALIŞMA

When is used correctly by the leader, it positively affects employees; its misuse has a negative effect. Theory was developed for the purpose of bringing a perspective of laughing action into the management literature. Humor with sociological, psychological, recreational and communication functions, are an important administrative argument for the accomplishment of important tasks in organizations. According to the literature, used correctly and on time creates trust, provides a fast way to reach audiences about the desired subject, has significance for softening of the environment before talking about important issues, and helps leaders by offering topics to keep in mind. Researchers have focused on the use of as an effective tool in leader-employee communication. To identify negative and positive effects of such communication, “Humor Styles Questionnaire” developed by Martin et.al. (2003) that includes 32 subjects has been applied on managers (top-middle-lower) working in a factory operating in Manisa Province. Four primary determinants of this scale, which are divided into two as compatible and incompatible senses of are; self-enhancing humor, affiliative humor, selfdefeating and aggressive reveals different results in various researches. When general results are examined it has been found that used by leaders creates a negative or positive environment within the business climate. As a result, is important because it acts as a conductor to solving life's problems and even more in reaching secrets, interpreting world issues from different perspectives, learning from one's past and as an indicator of critical thinking. When viewed from this aspect, results of the research conducted on business operating electronic sector clarifies that, not only how a style, used by managers in an enterprise will affect organizational climate, but also if an administrator develops his humor ability”, what advantages does he have overall in the organization’s tasks.