Handling Equipment Research Articles

Evaluation of work-related health and safety risks associated with hairdressers in Nairobi County, Kenya City

Hairdressers are exposed to awkward posture, prolonged standing, long working hours and chemical hazards capable of causing adverse health effects. The present study aimed to evaluate hairdressers' safety and health risks. The study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional and analytical design. Systematic random sampling was used to select salons and hairdressers. Closed and open-ended questionnaires were distributed to 286 hairdressers who consented to participate in the study. An observation checklist, WISHA caution checklist, thermometer, light meter and noise level meter were used to collect data in the sampled salon. Data were analyzed descriptively and with regression analysis. It was found that the average space for salons was 8.79 m2, and 68.5% of hairdressers work for long hours (11-12 hours). It was established that 5.48% of salons have an adequate amount of light and that 8.22% of salons have high temperatures. Aprons were the most used personal protective equipment by hairdressers. Manual handling of salon equipment and awkward posture cause musculoskeletal disorders among hairdressers. Their odd ratios impacting the health and safety of hairdressers were 2.706 and 2.728, respectively. The study reveals that hairdressing salon designs, space, lighting, and temperatures affect the health and safety of hairdressers. The hours off work and minimal or no breaks also have negative impacts on the health and safety of hairdressers

A study on: Design and fabrication of E-glass fiber reinforced IPN composite chain plates for low duty chain drives

Chains are used in mechanical drives to carry away a large amount of load from one drive to another drive. Therefore the material of the chain should be able to withstand tensile loads and have high stiffness. Usually the chains are made up of iron. But the disadvantage is that iron consumes more weight and it is more expensive. In order overcome the difficulties, the chain plates are fabricated with the help of Interpenetrating Polymer Networks (IPNs) resins (with vinyl ester and polyurethane) and reinforced E-glass fiber composite material. The main aim of the project is to study and analyze the physical properties and structural properties of the plate material varying proportions of IPN resin such as 100% vinyl ester (VEU) with 0% polyurethane (PU), 90% VEU and 10% PU, 80% VEU and 20% PU, 70% VEU and 30% PU, 60% VEU and 40% PU. Finally a fatigue tests is conducted for different plates for different resin proportion and comparison is made between the characteristics of fabricated chain plate with that of iron material. Because of their dependability and durability, glass fibre reinforced composite link plates are used in material handling equipment, agricultural machinery, manufacturing conveyors, and automobile manufacture.

Primer for Equipment Handling in Science Classroom towards Students’ Performance

Primer for Equipment Handling in Science Classroom towards Students’ Performance

Redundant Non-Serial Implicit Manipulator Kinematics and Dynamics

Abstract Redundant non-serial manipulators that include a spectrum of parallel and non-parallel heavy load bearing construction and material handling equipment are treated, using foundations of differential geometry. Kinematics of this category of manipulator are defined in manipulator configuration space by algebraic equations in input and output coordinates that cannot be explicitly solved for either as a function of the other. New sets called assembly components of manipulator configuration space are defined that partition the space into maximal, path-connected, disjoint, topological components. All configurations within an assembly component can be connected by one or more continuous paths within that component, but configurations in different assembly components cannot be connected by continuous paths. Forward and inverse kinematically singular configurations are characterized by criteria that partition each assembly component into path-connected, singularity-free assembly components in which equations of kinematics and dynamics are well behaved. It is shown that a generalized inverse velocity-based kinematic formulation that is problematic for serial manipulators is likewise plagued with problems for non-serial implicit manipulators that can be avoided using the methods presented. Singularity-free differentiable manipulator configuration space components are defined and parameterized by both input and operational coordinates, leading to well-posed ordinary differential equations of manipulator dynamics in both input and operational coordinates. Three typical applications and associated model problems are studied throughout the paper to illustrate the methods and results presented.

The influence of management functions on the productivity of yard cargo handling equipment in container terminals

PurposeThis empirical study explores the profound impact of management functions on the productivity of yard cargo handling equipment within container terminals.Design/methodology/approachBy closely examining crucial management aspects such as planning, organizing, leading, and controlling, a comprehensive managerial behavior framework was developed through focus group studies (FGS) and focal interviews. These qualitative methods were complemented by the distribution of questionnaires to practitioners in Vietnam. To validate the concept of management functions and analyze their influence on effective management practices for equipment efficiency, a structural equation model (SEM) technique was employed using partial least-squares estimation (PLS).FindingsThe findings of this study demonstrate that planning (PL), organizing (OR), and controlling (CT) significantly contribute to the productivity of yard cargo handling equipment, while leading (LD) does not exhibit a direct positive impact.Originality/valueTheoretically, this study contributes by providing clarity to the definition, purpose, and value of management functions in the field of cargo handling equipment management. Furthermore, these research findings offer valuable insights to terminal operators and managers, enabling them to optimize their management strategies and enhance productivity levels, ultimately resulting in improved operational outcomes.

Macnum Wheel: An Emerging Trend for Material Handling Equipment in Industries

Macnum Wheel: An Emerging Trend for Material Handling Equipment in Industries

Criteria pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions from cargo handling equipment operating at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach

This study reports in-use emissions from eight pieces of diesel or natural gas cargo handling equipment (CHE) moving containerized freight at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Equipment had engines certified to the legacy on-road model year (MY) 2010 or the off-road Tier 3, Tier 4 Interim, or Tier 4 Final emission standards. Overall, load factors were about half of the values in the California Air Resources Board's (CARB) current CHE emissions inventory, oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions were 2.7 times higher than certification standards, and tailpipe-emitted fine particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions were 2.2 times higher than certification standards. This is yet another study, the first dedicated to in-use operations by CHE at a large commercial seaport, showing elevated in-use emissions from combustion-powered mobile sources compared to certification levels. These results underscore the need to perform routine surveillance emissions testing of any off-road mobile source fleet when developing emission inventories and air quality programs for any jurisdiction worldwide. The Energy Economy Ratio (EER) – or ratio of increased efficiency from converting combustion to zero-emission battery-electric equipment – ranged from 2.8 to 3.7, which highlights potential energy savings and therefore greenhouse gas benefits of transitioning CHE and other freight sectors to zero-emission technologies.

Study the Physical Properties of Fertilizers and Plant Basin Parameters to Design the Tractor Operated Round Basin Maker cum Fertilizer Applicator for Orchard Crop

The physical form of fertilizer production is of extremely importance, both agronomically and in regard to satisfactory handling, transport, storage, and finally application to the field. The improvement of equipment for handling, storage, and application of granular fertilizer require a proper understanding of material properties and flow behavior. The most common problems encountered in fertilizers were caking, poor flow ability, segregation, dustiness and excessive hygroscopicity due to differences of physical properties. The physical properties such as moisture content, angle of repose and bulk density as important in designing the hopper and metering roller of fertilizer plays an important role in the storage, transport and application of fertilizer. The urea, Ammonium phosphate Sulphate, complex fertilizers and fertilizer ratio (10 26 26) per one orchard tree should be applied yearly trice based on crop requirement. The angle of repose value ranges 28° -37° the hopper angle was decided. For that, to flow the fertilizer freely from the hopper, the inclined angle of the hopper should be greater than 40° respectively. The lowest bulk density and tapped density observed 0.648 kg cm-3 and 0.708 kg cm-3 respectively. Coefficient friction for galvanized Iron (GI) material is very high So, based on the obtained results, a fertilizer applicator for orchard crops has been designed. The basin diameter of orchard palm varies from 1500 mm to 1750 mm the mean of 1650 mm. The root zone depth of orchard crop varies from 150 to 180 mm at radius of 1800 mm from the base of palm. The mean 171.66 mm hence depth of operation of machine was selected as 150 mm such that the machine does not interfere with root zone of orchard trees.

Hybridization in meta-heuristic techniques for green layout design in the tyre manufacturing industry: An optimal analysis

To stop or lessen factory pollution, many academics in the field of study have produced a vast array of strategies to achieve optimization goals. But, it is unable to follow a uniform solution for all production facilities. In this research work, green layout design (GLD) is proposed to minimize total material handling cost (TMHC) and CO2 emissions. The green facility layout refers to the facility layout with minimum CO2 emissions and to eliminate unnecessary energy dissipation from material handling equipments & production machineries, as well as plant re-layout in-term on material handling cost. In this study context, a Lagrangian relaxation model has been used at the allocation level. It computes a suboptimal solution to the dual problem in order to obtain a feasible solution. This enhanced algorithm method iteratively tries to minimize the gap between the dual and feasible solutions on minimal of TMHC and CO2 emission rate. It has been experimentally simulated using the MATLAB (Matrix Laboratory) application and upgraded adaptive salp swarm optimization (ASSO), dragon fly optimization (DFO) and Hybrid (combination) of ASSO-DFO evolutionary optimization techniques. The primary focus of this implementation is to control material handling between departments or cells, production flow between departments, energy consumption (electrical and gas consumption for production), and manpower utilization within and across departments. This research has chosen an existing and acceptable designs from targeted tyre manufacturing company in South India. The hybrid ASSO-DFO implementation TMHC differs from ABC by 60%, DFO by 65%, 58% with simulated annealing (SA), and ASSO by 48%. Emission rate decreased by 26% ABC, 21% DFO, and 24% SA & 18% with ASSO. An average of 50% decrease in TMHC and 25% reduction of CO2 emission rate in GLD have been achieved.

Total ionizing dose estimation of ITER upper port remote handling equipment

This study delineates a comprehensive estimation of the integrated Total Ionizing Dose (TID) for the ITER Upper Port Remote Handling Equipment (UPRHE). The primary objective is to assess the radiation impact and devise strategies to attenuate its effects on the UPRHE components. Radiation levels in various operational zones are deduced from the ITER radiation map. This analysis includes a meticulous definition of operation sequences and corresponding durations for each maintenance task executed by the UPRHE. It is imperative to evaluate each subsystem of the UPRHE for its resilience against the maximum conceivable dose rate and the cumulative TID throughout its operational lifespan. The estimation of TID for the UPRHE encompasses both hourly rates and cumulative doses, calculated based on the identified dose levels and task durations. Additionally, this study computes the TID for all UPRHE subsystems over both a single long-term maintenance (LTM) cycle and the projected 20-year lifespan. Subsequently, the study justifies the derived TID values with the established nuclear radiation alert thresholds for ITER electronics. This comparison reveals that most UPRHE components remain within the safety margin. For components surpassing these thresholds, the paper proposes mitigation strategies to refine the system design in subsequent development phases.

Physical Properties of Full-ripe Dabai (Canarium odontophyllum miq. Variety Song) at Different Fractions

Dabai fruit is an exotic and seasonal fruit in Sarawak. Among the varieties available, the Song variety was chosen due to better taste and high demand amongst local consumers. This study determined the physical properties of dabai (Song variety) at three different fractions: whole fruit, nut, and kernel. According to the results, whole fruit had the highest values in geometric mean diameter (27.86 mm), volume (12.70 cm3), mass (13.89 g), surface area (2442.60 mm2) and angle of repose (39.06°) when compared to nut and kernel. Bulk density of dabai nut reached the highest with the value of 0.63 gcm-3. Kernel had the highest percentage of porosity (80.50) compared to others. The correlations of physical properties between whole fruit, nut and kernel were further analysed using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The findings can potentially be useful in the design of handling and processing equipment.

Assessing biologic/toxicologic effects of extractables from plastic contact materials for advanced therapy manufacturing using cell painting assay and cytotoxicity screening

Plastic components are essential in the pharmaceutical industry, encompassing container closure systems, laboratory handling equipment, and single-use systems. As part of their material qualification process, studies on interactions between plastic contact materials and process solutions or drug products are conducted. The assessment of single-use systems includes their potential impact on patient safety, product quality, and process performance. This is particularly crucial in cell and gene therapy applications since interactions with the plastic contact material may result in an adverse effect on the isolated therapeutic human cells. We utilized the cell painting assay (CPA), a non-targeted method, for profiling the morphological characteristics of U2OS human osteosarcoma cells in contact with chemicals related to plastic contact materials. Specifically, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of 45 common plastic extractables, and two extracts from single-use systems. Results of the CPA are compared with a standard cytotoxicity assay, an osteogenesis differentiation assay, and in silico toxicity predictions. The findings of this feasibility study demonstrate that the device extracts and most of the tested compounds do not evoke any measurable biological changes on the cells (induction ≤ 5%) among the 579 cell features measured at concentrations ≤ 50 µM. CPA can serve as an important assay to reveal unique information not accessible through quantitative structure–activity relationship analysis and vice versa. The results highlight the need for a combination of in vitro and in silico methods in a comprehensive assessment of single-use equipment utilized in advanced therapy medicinal products manufacturing.

Implementation of 5s Concept to Improve Productivity in a Fabrication Industry

In the current unstable economy, every fabricating sector has continuously made attempts to ensure its survival by adopting new and effective procedures to improve productivity. The industry's production issues were brought on by poor equipment handling, a lack of inventory classification, and an unorganized storage area. So, the objective is to reduce the waste, risk of labour, production cost, and time, and increase the workspace and production, thus gradually influencing the industry's overall profit. It can be achieved by implementing the most relevant lean techniques. Lean, an emerging technology, is used in manufacturing sectors to find and eliminate waste and increase efficiency. It is a completely customer-based strategy that concentrates on the value chain and its improvement. In this paper, lean analysis suggests using a 5S for restructuring the storage area, Kanban, and Kaizen for properly handling waste. It is observed that there is a significant improvement after this implementation.

Characterizations for eWLB (Embedded Wafer Level Ball Grid Array) Antenna in Molded Package Integrations in 77GHz Automotive Applications

The worldwide IC market has had a significant growth rate in recent years, driving diversified package solutions in the segments of communication, computing, consumer, automotive, industrial, etc. Among these market segments, the automotive market is forecast to have the strongest CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of any of the end-use segments in the next 5 years, which results in more IC packages and components being designed into automotive vehicle systems such as infotainment, ADAS (Advance Driving Assistance System), instrumentation, body systems, battery control systems and so on. In these applications, the 77GHz short-range radar sensor application that can enable higher EIRP (Effective Isotropic Radiated Power) and adaptive cruise control performance has become more attractive to be commercialized. Due to the benefits of shorter interconnection length, lower conductive loss with smooth Cu surface as well as a lower dielectric constant and dielectric loss of materials in a fan-out wafer level package (FOWLP) technology, the FOWLP is proven as a suitable packaging solution to achieve the high speed and frequency requirements in 5G and mmWave applications. The eWLB Embedded Wafer Level Ball Grid Array) is a versatile FOWLP technology, providing a robust package platform in a space-efficient design with the very dense interconnection and routing of multiple dies as well as a smaller footprint and lower package profile providing a reliable package solution. Meanwhile, since the utilization of an antenna that is integrated into the packages has been studied as a lowcost solution because the packages can be tested in normal FR4 printed circuit board (PCB) instead of the RF function integrated PCB, the eWLB integrated with molded antenna chip packages (called eWLB antenna in molded package) technology is introduced in this paper. The characterizations for assembly process challenges are evaluated and illustrate the process optimizations of equipment handling, antenna molded chip package fabrication, reconstitution process control and warpage characterization of the molded wafer. In addition, the radio frequency (RF) test validation is performed to verify the performance of scattering parameter (S-parameter), radiation pattern, impedance and detection range of the antenna. In order to prove the reliable quality and yield of the evaluated eWLB antenna in molded packages, package-level reliability tests are studied. Through these results, it will show that this eWLB antenna in molded package integration is a robust and costeffective solution for 77GHz automotive applications.

THE IMPORTANCE OF MAINTENANCE PLANNING AND CONTROL (PCM) IN THE PERFORMANCE OF MOBILE EQUIPMENT IN PORT OPERATIONS

Maintenance Planning and Control (PCM) represents one of the most important maintenance departments, as it is responsible for controlling and monitoring the company’s maintenance activities. Collecting and managing data related to maintenance, as well as costs, time, equipment availability index, average time between failures, are part of the scope of PCM management. Ports are responsible for the disposal of products, raw materials, consumer goods, among others. The logistics of these products to the ships is planned and executed with the help of equipment and machinery for handling. It is important that the available equipment available for operations with different types of cargo, be it grains, tanks, containers, others. Thus, the study aims to analyze the maintenance of transport equipment, seeking to present types of maintenance as control tools and indicators. For this reason, a theoretical approach was carried out on the logistics of cargo handling in ports, industrial maintenance, costs and financial and economic viability of the maintenance of which guide the research. The growth scenario needs increased efficiency, availability, ease of transportation combined with reduced expenses, various techniques used in the management of the maintenance sectors, this work proposes a research of the benefits of Maintenance Planning and Control (PCM) for performance of cargo handling equipment in port operations.

Integrated Scheduling of Yard and Rail Container Handling Equipment and Internal Trucks in a Multimodal Port

Integrated Scheduling of Yard and Rail Container Handling Equipment and Internal Trucks in a Multimodal Port

Edukasi Mitigasi Bencana Kebakaran di Sekolah Dasar Islam Plus Baitul Maal

Fire is a disaster that can come suddenly, so efforts to handle it need to be prepared. Disaster mitigation, especially fire, needs to be taught to children early to prevent more significant impacts. Community service aims to educate and assist Baitul Maal Plus Islamic Primary School, South Tangerang, in handling fire disasters. The methods used are education and outreach on fire disaster mitigation, Fire simulation, and education on the types of fire handling equipment that can be reached nearby. Community service activities will be carried out in August 2023. The results obtained through the pretest and posttest were that students' understanding of the previous fire disaster was 63%, increasing to 92%. Also, knowing the fire evacuation process in various situations and conditions, which was 34%, increased to 93%. Furthermore, knowing the function of tools that can be used to handle fire disasters, both small and large scale, previously 35%, there was an increase in understanding of 87%. Based on these results, understanding was significantly increased after carrying out community service activities.

Exploitation of Buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) Grains for Physical and Functional Properties

Buckwheat is neither a nut nor a cereal but is included in a separate group called “pseudocereals”. Buckwheat grains contain high levels of protein, starch, dietary fibre, some minerals, vitamins, flavonoids and other bioactive compounds. The main aim of the study is to analyse physical and functional properties of buckwheat grains. The results showed that bread wheat (control) had significantly higher length (5.91 mm), length to width ratio (2.06) and lower width (2.86 mm) compared to other buckwheat varieties. In the present study, higher thousand grain weight and volume were recorded for bread wheat compared to buckwheat varieties indicating bolder grains of former. Significantly higher bulk (0.70 g/ml) for and true densities (2.08 g/ml) for Dharwad Selection-1 may be regarded as a consequence of volumes and shape of grains. Buckwheat varieties showed higher greenness (-0.80 to -1.14) lower brightness (78.12 to 82.36) and yellowness (6.30 to 8.09) compared to bread wheat. Chroma being higher for bread wheat (10.06) indicates having high brightness and saturation compared to buckwheat varieties (6.40-8.13). Hydration capacity and swelling index were higher for buckwheat varieties compared to bread wheat. where, in case of hydration index and swelling capacity it was vice versa. The overall information on physical properties plays an important role in food processing and its knowledge is essential to design the equipment for handling, aeration, storing and processing of food grains.

Warehouse management optimization using a sorting-based slotting approach

Purpose: Slotting is one of the main operations in warehouse management. It is based on the efficient allocation of slots for stock-keeping units (SKUs). Order picking and slotting represent a high percentage of total logistics costs; therefore, improving these activities leads to significant savings in the overall performance. This paper aims to develop an allocation model integrating SKUs physical variables, warehousing design, and operation (dimensions, layout, material handling equipment), and heterogeneous product demand.Design/methodology/approach: The modeling methodology considers two phases. First, an integer linear programming model for warehousing spaces assignment for SKUs considering priority and required orders is developed. Then, the total operation times using different strategies are calculated.Findings: The effectiveness of the model was verified through simulation using historical data. The results showed that the best performance in the total time of the slotting operation is achieved by using the ABC as a criterion for the classification of the SKUs and by sequentially assigning the row, level, column, and the section.Practical implications: This approach can be adapted to different industrial sectors and serves as a basis for more robust models regarding the number of constraints or the incorporation of additional warehouse operating parameters.Originality/value: The most important contribution of this work is the development of a flexible and adaptable methodology to changes in the operation to improve the efficiency of storage management through slotting. Future work includes other objective functions of sustainable operations and uncertainty treatment techniques.

A timely efficient and emissions-aware multiobjective truck-sharing integrated scheduling model in container terminals

In line with the development of green port terminals and the necessity of environmentally friendly efficient use of handling and transportation equipment, criteria such as emission reduction, energy minimization, and efficiency in a container terminal are prominent issues, which in recent years, have been the main concern of container terminal managers in developing terminal operating systems. Therefore, in this study, a bi-objective mixed integer mathematical programing model of integrated scheduling for ships’ loading and unloading operation sequencing in container terminals is proposed, which considers the minimization of containers’ flow time, trucks’ emission, and energy consumption as well as sharing trucks among quay cranes and decreasing their empty trips. In this model trucks’ technical specifications and polluting levels are input parameters for estimating emission and energy consumption of operation, which consequently leads to two uniform parallel machine scheduling models. To derive the exact solution of the model, the epsilon-constraint method is applied. Nevertheless, due to the problem’s NP-hardness attribute, two variants of non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm and multiobjective particle swarm optimization metaheuristic algorithms are proposed to identify the approximate Pareto front of solutions. In large-size problems, these algorithms outperform the epsilon-constraint method by finding acceptable results in a reasonable time. This model, which could be embedded in terminal operating software, not only yields a practical optimum operational sequence but also measures the amount of energy and emission from trucks during loading and unloading operations. The results, which utilized the data collected from Shahid Rajaee port in southern Iran, indicate that this practical model as compared to the current procedure in the terminal, results in a significant improvement in energy and emission reduction and terminal flow time.