Mature Industry Research Articles

Do proposed regulatory approaches for commercialfusion energy jeopardize successful technologydeployment?

Fusion energy has long been touted as an energy source capable of producing large amounts of clean energy without the fuel, pollution, siting, and safety constraints of other energy sources. Despite this promise, fusion energy has not come to fruition after six decades of research and development due to continuing scientific and technical challenges. Significant private investment in commercial fusion start-ups signals a renewed interest in the prospects of near-term development of fusion technology. Successful deployment of fusion energy, however, will require an appropriate regulatory framework to ensure public safety and economic viability. Initial discussions and proposals from fusion start-ups (e.g., Commonwealth Fusion Systems, General Fusion, TAE Technologies) and industry associations (e.g., Fusion Industry Association)have advocated the use of risk-informed regulations as the basis for the licensing of commercial fusion technology in the United States. These proposals are based, in part, on regulatory methods used for licensing commercial fission technology that developed in parallel with the commercial fission industry. Risk-informed regulations incorporate risk information from probabilistic safety analyses to ensure that regulations are appropriate for the actual risk of an activity. Proponents of risk-informed regulation believe that these methods can improve the economics and operation of nuclear facilities by focusing regulatory resources on addressing credible accident scenarios that are most likely to pose threats to worker and public safety. In addition to interest from industry, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)has begun an initiative to develop a new risk-informed regulatory framework for the licensing of advanced nuclear fission power plants, but it is unclear if this framework would be applied to fusion. Despite the benefits of adopting a risk-informed framework for a mature fission industry, use of risk-informed regulations for the licensing of first-generation commercial fusion technology could be detrimental to the goal of economic near-term deployment of fusion. Commercial fusion technology has an insufficient operational and regulatory experience base to support the rapid and effective use of risk-informed regulations. More conservative regulatory analyses could instead be used for first-generation fusion facilities to facilitate more rapid deployment, and enable collection of operating experience to support future use of risk-informed regulations. A hybrid regulatory pathway that incorporates seven decades of lessons learned in commercial fission would enable the implementation of regulatory requirements that evolve with the development of commercial fusion technology, from a first-of-a-kind demonstration plant to a mature low-carbon energy source.

STRATEGIES OF EMERGING COUNTRIES TO EXPAND THE OPERATIONS TO THE GLOBAL MARKET OF BIOPHARMACEUTICALS

The past decade has seen an increasing number in production of newly-developed biopharmaceuticals, biosimilars and biobetters that can help contribute to improved global health. Global market growth in this industry was reported to increase and approach more than US$200 billion. As the industry matures, the growth is significantly higher in emerging markets than in developed countries. This shows a shift of biopharmaceuticals production outside of developed countries, thereby sending signals to emerg-ing countries the opportunity to become global leaders in new industries. This literature review seeks to identify the commercial levers in biopharmaceutical development in emerging countries. The study found that biopharmaceuticals industry was promising for emerging countries to compete in global mar-ket if it were supported by strong government involvement. This involvement revealed key strategies to improve poor pipeline productivity shaped by political, economic, technological and market fact.

The Role of Cultural Embeddedness and Social Salience in Coevolution of Related Industries

Previous research suggests that an emerging industry may erode the life prospects of a related incumbent market, when the newcomer industry is based on superior technology, has a more appealing ideology, or generates collective action. It is not well understood, however, why an incumbent industry may decline when those factors are weak or absent. We develop two new mechanisms of cultural embeddedness and social salience to explain such cases. When organizations in the nascent market embed their offerings in cultural artifacts of a related incumbent market and/or achieve social salience by reflecting public discourse, they invoke a sense of familiarity in audiences and in this way alleviate the uncertainty surrounding the novelty on which the emerging market is based. Decreased uncertainty draws audience attention to the new industry, often away from the incumbent market. This effect should be especially strong in the early stages of a new industry development and attenuate as the industry matures. We find support to our theorizing in the archival study of the historical coevolution of the emerging U.S. TV programming industry and the related incumbent market of all movie theaters in Illinois in 1944-1962.

HeartWare HVAD Market Withdrawal and Impact on the Pediatric Field.

HeartWare HVAD Market Withdrawal and Impact on the Pediatric Field.

Tracking the maturity of industry 4.0: the perspective of a real scenario.

To track industry 4.0 status, readiness models are used to analyze the state of industry 4.0 technologies’ implementation, allowing the quantification and qualification of its readiness level considering different dimensions. Not all companies are adopting these new technologies with the same ease and with the same pace. There are companies unable to blend the industry 4.0 with their business models, leading to a lack of a correct self-assessment on understanding the reached readiness level. Into this purpose, it is important to understand how companies are facing the digital transformation challenges, what is their perception about the enabling technologies towards the industry 4.0, assess the industry 4.0’ readiness so far, and what are their perception of the barriers to the adoption of these technologies. This paper aims to assess the industry 4.0’ readiness level of companies and discuss the perception of companies about the barriers on the adoption of industry 4.0 with the reached readiness level of companies. New barriers are also brought for discussion on academic community. To this end, empirical data was collected on a sample of 15 companies belonging to an important industrial cluster located in Portugal.

Organic pigments: general principles

AbstractThis introductory chapter presents an overview of the general principles underlying the structural chemistry, manufacturing processes, and application technology of organic pigments. The coverage provides a fundamental theoretical and practical basis for the chapters that follow in this series that are devoted to specific chemical classes of industrially significant organic pigments of the azo, phthalocyanine, carbonyl, dioxazine, and metal complex classes. The initial sections cover the fundamental differences which mean that dyes and pigments are considered universally as two separate types of colorant, based on their solubility characteristics. They also provide discussions of the contrasting chemical, technological, and performance features of organic and inorganic pigments. An outline of the most important historical features in the development of the synthetic organic pigment industry is then presented, from its origins in the 19th century that followed soon after the development of the industrial synthetic dye industry, through its expansion in the 20th century, to its current position as a mature global industry. A section then follows that describes the functions that organic pigments are required to perform in their application, mainly their optical functions that include not only color properties, including hue, strength, brightness, but also the contrasting requirements for transparency or opacity as demanded by specific applications. The pigments are also required to resist the conditions and agencies that they might encounter in applications, assessed as fastness properties, such as fastness to light, heat, solvents and chemicals, amongst many others, to an extent that specific applications demand. The principles, in broad terms, of the ways in which chemical structures determine colour and performance of organic pigments are discussed, with focus not only on the influence of molecular structure, but also on the effect of the crystal structural arrangement and the particulate structure, including particle size and shape and its distribution, on application performance. This is important as these pigments are applied as a dispersion of finely divided crystalline solid particles that are insoluble and are ultimately trapped mechanically in their application medium, often a polymer. The manufacture of organic pigments is discussed in broad terms. The overall process may be considered in stages, initiated by the chemical synthetic sequence in which the pigment is formed, followed by a conditioning stage where the crude product thus obtained is modified to optimise its performance properties, and finally finishing where the product is processed into a form, or preparation, that is suitable for its intended applications. Finally, the technological principles underlying a broad range of the most important application areas for organic pigments, which are mainly in paints, inks, and plastics, are discussed.

Strategic management of industrial enterprise digital maturity in a global economic space of the ecosystem economy

Most traditional businesses are now in the early stages of a digital transformation process that is essential to stay competitive. One of the distinctive features of the digital environment is the development of ecosystems that change the established rules of competition and business conduct, and break down the boundaries between industries. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to explore the possibilities and formulate recommendations for the use of business ecosystems as a strategic factor in the development of traditional industrial enterprises. The analysis of research in the field of creation and functioning of business ecosystems was carried out, the features and strategic advantages were highlighted. It was shown that the business ecosystem is only one of the successful management models in the digital economy. The factors of choosing the preferred model are picked out: the stability of the industry, the features of the value proposition and the level of coordination of partner companies required for its creation. The necessity is noted and clarification of some provisions in the field of strategic management as a methodology for managing the development of industrial enterprises (in terms of the limited scheduling, modular and “two-speed” format of the digital transformation strategy) is formulated. The characteristics of models for assessing the digital maturity of an enterprise as a tool for managing its development are given. In the context of the growing role of business ecosystems in economic development, it is proposed to supplement such model with a block for assessing the readiness of an enterprise for partnership. A model of strategic management of enterprise development in a digital environment has been developed based on an assessment of the gap in terms of digital maturity.

The impact of renewable energy consumption and environmental sustainability on economic growth in Africa

In line with the global call for alternative sources of energy rather than conventional fossil-based sources, research in the area of renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainability seems to have intensified in Africa in the last five years. As a form of a contribution to the existing body of knowledge, this study seeks to parametrically estimate the effects of renewable energy consumption and environmental sustainability on economic growth in Africa. Using panel data, for thirty-seven African countries, and employing the system Generalized Method of Moments estimation technique which more efficiently solves the problems of endogeneity and omitted variable bias than least squares and causal estimation method, this study found that renewable energy adoption and development will lead to an increase in economic growth in Africa, both in the long run and short run as a one percent increase in renewable energy consumption will lead to 0.07% and 1.9% increases in economic growth in both the short-run and long-run, respectively The study also found that environmental sustainability through a reduction of emission may not be Africa’s priority towards achieving an all-inclusive development at present because the coefficient of CO2 emission in the study is not statistically significant. Therefore, African countries’ governments should intensify efforts towards developing the renewable energy sector, especially using policy instruments, while also harnessing the already mature nonrenewable industry for more rapid growth in the continent and the attainment of Agenda 2063.

Beef production from cull dairy cows: a review from culling to consumption.

Although more than 3 million head of dairy cows enter the food supply chain in the U.S. every year, research on this topic remains limited and scarce. Meat production from dairy cows is a significant component of beef production, accounting for almost 10% of U.S. commercial beef production. Thus, the purpose of this review is to demonstrate the importance of dairy cows as a beef source, and to provide an overview on topics from farm to meat product-culling, marketing, transportation, welfare, body composition and its relationship with lactation particularities, carcass characteristics, meat quality, and traceability. Current scientific evidence has shown that culling a dairy cow at an appropriate time has beneficial effects on cow welfare and, consequently, cow value. During marketing the dairy cow is visually evaluated for health and factors associated with its expected carcass value; thus, marketing a well-conditioned cow will ensure that the animal is fit for transportation and provides high carcass yield. However, limitations such as low body condition score, lameness or mobility problems, and visual defects remain persistent. Even though beef harvest plants accommodate cows in all body composition states, the current carcass grade system does not reflect the mature cow industry needs. Therefore, improvement of the grading system could maximize carcass utilization and increase cow carcass value by recognizing subprimal cuts that could be merchandised as whole muscle cuts. Lastly, implementation of a traceability system would unify information from the farm to harvest assisting the industry in making further advancements.

Aromatics Production via Methanol-Mediated Transformation Routes

The methanol-to-aromatics (MTA) process is regarded as a promising route to produce aromatic commodities through non-petroleum carbon resources, such as biomass, waste, coal, natural gas, and CO2. In contrast with the industrially implemented methanol-to-olefin (MTO) process, most MTA studies are still in the laboratory-scale stage. Recently, a few demonstration plants of MTA have been successfully launched, indicating the importance and the gradual industrial maturity of this technology. However, there are still many fundamental questions and technological challenges that must be addressed. In this Review, we summarize the recent advances in mechanistic understanding on the reaction and catalyst deactivation during MTA, elaborate the available strategies to improve the catalytic performance, and correlate MTA studies with other important catalytic aromatization processes. With this knowledge in hand, we share our views on future research directions in this field.

Co-Creative Problem Solving to Support Rapid Learning of Systems Knowledge Towards High-Tech Innovations: A Longitudinal Case Study

This article explores co-creative problem solving to support rapid learning of systems knowledge in the concept phase towards innovation. We introduce the term co-creative problem solving to describe the act of collective creation between systems engineers and stakeholders during problem solving. The context of this research is a mature Norwegian industry accustomed to efficiency and risk aversion, challenged by late validation of systems design due to poor utilization of systems knowledge. We have explored co-creation between systems engineers and stakeholders such as project managers, business developers, and subject-matter experts through a longitudinal in-depth industry case in the energy domain. The primary outcome is insights into how co-creative problem solving supports rapid learning of systems knowledge in the industry case. We propose a method building on the findings from the research results to support systems engineers in similar contexts facing similar challenges.

Decarbonizing cement production

Paul Fennell is a professor of clean energy at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London. His work encompasses the decarbonization and re-thinking of industrial processes, including the production of iron and steel and cement manufacture. He also works in the broader field of industrial decarbonization, including synergies between industry and power generation. Steve Davis is a professor of Earth system science and civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Irvine, where he researches trends and drivers of GHG emissions, net-zero emissions energy systems, and the environmental impacts of energy production, climate change, and international trade. Aseel Mohamed received an MSc in advanced chemical engineering from Imperial College London. Her research focused on investigating the various decarbonization technologies used to capture CO2 emissions in order to mitigate climate change effects.

Industrial policy intensity, technological change, and productivity growth: Evidence from China

China has employed various industrial policies and science & technology (S&T) policies in its effort of catching up with the world technology frontier. This paper evaluates the effect of China's industrial policies and S&T policies with a newly constructed measurement of policy intensity and a national database of firm surveys. We argue that whether China's industrial policies and S&T policies contribute to productivity growth in an industry is conditioned by the relative development stage of that industry to that of the world frontier. Specifically, we argue that China's industrial policies and S&T policies contribute to greater productivity growth in globally emerging high-tech industries than in domestically catching-up and domestically mature industries. We then provide empirical evidence for our hypotheses. Our study identifies a new driver behind China's economic success in the past decades.

A ten-year literature review of content-based image retrieval (CBIR) studies in the tourism industry

Purpose Due to the worldwide growth of digital image sharing and the maturity of the tourism industry, the vast and growing collections of digital images have become a challenge for those who use and/or manage these image data across tourism settings. To overcome the image indexing task with less labour cost and improve the image retrieval task with less human errors, the content-based image retrieval (CBIR) technique has been investigated for the tourism domain particularly. This paper aims to review the relevant literature in the field to understand these previous works and identify research gaps for future directions. Design/methodology/approach A systematic and comprehensive review of CBIR studies in tourism from the year 2010 to 2019, focussing on journal articles and conference proceedings in reputable online databases, is conducted by taking a comparative approach to critically analyse and address the trends of each fundamental element in these research experiments. Findings Based on the review of the literature, the trends of CBIR studies in tourism is to improve image representation and retrieval by advancing existing feature extraction techniques, contributing novel techniques in the feature extraction process through fine-tuning fusion features and improving image query of CBIR systems. Co-authorship, tourist attraction sector and fusion image features have been in focus. Nonetheless, the number of studies in other tourism sectors and available image databases could be further explored. Originality/value The fact that no existing academic review of CBIR studies in tourism makes this paper a novel contribution.

An ontological analysis of software system anomalies and their associated risks

Software systems have an increasing value in our lives, as our society relies on them for the numerous services they provide. However, as our need for larger and more complex software systems grows, the risks involved in their operation also grows, with possible consequences in terms of significant material and social losses. The rational management of software defects and possible failures is a fundamental requirement for a mature software industry. Standards, professional guides and capability models directly emphasize how important it is for an organization to know and to have a well-established history of failures, errors and defects as they occur in software activities. The problem is that each of these reference models employs its own vocabulary to deal with these phenomena, which can lead to a deficiency in the understanding of these notions by software engineers, causing potential interoperability problems between supporting tools, and, consequently, a poorer adoption of these standards and tools in practice. In this paper, we address this problem of the lack of a consensual conceptualization in this area by proposing two reference conceptual models: an Ontology of Software Defects, Errors and Failures (OSDEF), which takes into account an ecosystem of software artifacts, and a Reference Ontology of Software Systems (ROSS), which characterizes software systems and related artifacts at different levels of abstraction. Moreover, we use OSDEF and ROSS to perform an ontological analysis of the impact of defects, errors and failures of software systems from a risk analysis perspective. To do that, we employee an existing core ontology, namely, the Common Ontology of Value and Risk (COVR). The ontologies presented here are grounded on the Unified Foundational Ontology (UFO) and based on well-known and widely-accepted standards, professional and scientific guides and capability models. We demonstrate how this approach can suitably promote conceptual clarification and terminological harmonization in this area.

The Role of Digital Maturity Assessment in Technology Interventions with Industrial Internet Playground

The use of digital technologies such as Internet of Things and advanced data analytics are central in digitally transforming manufacturing companies towards Industry 4.0. Success cases are frequently reported, and there is clear evidence of technology interventions conducted by industry. However, measuring the impact and effect of such interventions on digital maturity and on the organizational adoption can be challenging. Therefore, the research aim of this paper is to explore how the combination of the different methods of Industrial Internet Playground (IIP) pilots, Shadow Infrastructure (SI) and digital maturity assessment can assist in conducting and documenting the technical, as well as organisational, impact of digital interventions. Through an elaborate literature review of existing digital maturity assessment tools and key dimensions in digital transformation, we have developed a digital maturity assessment tool (DMAT), which is presented and applied in the paper to identify digital development areas and to evaluate and document the effects of digital interventions. Thus, the paper contributes with new knowledge of how the IIP pilot and SI combined with digital maturity assessment can support effective, transparent and documented digital transformation throughout an organisation, as explored through theory and a practice case.

Application of Computer Technology in Supply Chain Management of Electronic Logistics

The 21st century is the information age, computer technology (hereinafter referred to as CT) has been applied to many fields, especially logistics. With the rise of e-commerce, China’s logistics industry has developed rapidly, which has been extended to supply chain management (hereinafter referred to as SCM). With the maturity of e-Logistics industry, e-logistics has developed to the direction of network, which also extends to the SCM. Through SCM, enterprises can better reduce the cost of supply chain, which will increase the competitiveness of enterprises. With the integration of information industry and supply chain, enterprises can guarantee information transmission, which will better realize the sharing and sharing of resources and information. Through SCM, e-logistics can provide integrated comprehensive services, which will better improve the profitability of enterprises. Therefore, CT has become an important way to enhance the core competitiveness. First of all, this paper analyzes the importance of CT to electronic logistics (hereinafter referred to as EL). Then, this paper analyzes the application of CT in SCM.

Design of an Innovative Oxide Dispersion Strengthened Al Alloy for Selective Laser Melting to Produce Lighter Components for the Railway Sector

The railway industry can take advantage of additive manufacturing (AM) processes from several perspectives such as the production of spare parts on-demand or the use of lightweight structures for vibration and noise control. One of the key issues regarding the limitations of using these technologies is the scarcity of processable material types. Selective laser melting (SLM) is a metal AM process with industrial maturity where material development can open new prospects for the railway industry. In order to respond to such requirements, this study proposes a framework to study a new material from concept to the processability and finally to the preliminary mechanical characterization of alloy for SLM. The new material is an alloy based on AlSi7Mg reinforced by alumina nano-dispersoids. The powder feedstock was produced through VIGA (Vacuum Inert Gas Atomization) technology, while the mechanical alloying of the nano-dispersoids has been carried out through the ball-milling process. The obtained oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) powder has been used to produce samples by SLM. These samples have been characterized in terms of density, chemistry, and hardness. The obtained results showed that samples, produced by SLM were characterized by >1% porosity. Compared to the reference Al alloy, an increase up to 20% in microhardness was achieved for ODS samples made by the SLM process. The results show promise especially in terms of mechanical properties, even if additional work is needed concerning both the powder production and the AM process.

Institutional, Technology, and Policies of End-of-Life Vehicle Recycling Industry and Its Indication on the Circular Economy- Comparative Analysis Between China and Japan

With economic development and accelerated industrialization, resource consumption has seen rapid increase. Against such a consumer boom, vehicle ownership has rocketed up, which also brings surging numbers of end-of-life vehicles (ELVs). Thus, recycling and disposing those ELVs turn out to be a head-scratching issue. As a result, how to effectively collect, dismantle, and recycling ELVs grows into a global topic. In China, over the past two decades, the Chinese vehicle ownership had grown rapidly to 261.5 million in 2019. Likewise, the ELV recycling industry in China also faces mounting challenges, especially in policy-making, recycling system, and the remanufacturing industry. The key challenges in the sector are the loss of ELVs and illegal dismantling. In recent years, despite the emergency of a group of large-scale quality dismantling enterprises, the overall technological level in the industry and the recycling rate require further advancement. In contrast, countries with highly mature automobile industry have seen a different image. Japan, for instance, has been the pioneer in the field of ELV recycling, created well-rounded laws and regulations on the industry, and developed advanced know-hows to cope with technical challenges. Therefore, this study, firstly, tries to summarize the laws and regulations and the latest industrial status of ELVs recycling in China and Japan. The deviation, if any, shall be analyzed between Japan‘s existing system and policy design, and the possible causes. Secondly, the Material Flow Analysis (MFA) method is adopted to analyse the changes of Resource Input Intensity (RII) of steel and oil for vehicles over the past 10 years, which shall provide the basis for future research on material recycling and waste treatment. Thirdly, the overall recycling rate of China's automobile products is analyzed, with the prediction that as technologies advance and related policies evolve, the recycling rate shall increase from 90 to 98% within 5 years. Fourthly, against the backdrop of circular economy development, this paper tries to provide an enlightenment to ELVs recycling management in China and Asian countries, with the stage of social development, policy system, social awareness of resource recycling, market guidance and other factors combined in the research. As a whole, this study tries to facilitate the sustainable development of the ELV recycling industry, provides support for the policy-making, and contributes to the building of a resource-saving and recycling-oriented society.

Challenges of BIM implementation in GCC construction industry

PurposeIn some regions including the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region where construction is one of the main industries, the implementation of BIM is still at a slow rate. This article attempts to know the current situation of BIM and explore the challenges in the BIM implementation in the GCC construction industry.Design/methodology/approachA mixed research approach that includes a systematic literature review and a survey questionnaire was adopted to achieve the aim of this research. For the systematic review, four main databases were search considering a period of 2010–2019 to identify the main challenges in the BIM implementation. A total of 39 different challenges from 47 documents were classified into four main categories. A structured questionnaire developed on these challenges was sent to 206 selected from the top construction organizations from all over the GCC region.FindingsA total of 39 different challenges from 47 documents were classified into four main categories. The respondents for the questionnaire were selected from the top construction organization from all over the GCC region. A large number of the respondents (69.79%) reported that their organizations are planning for BIM implementation in their future projects. The results show that top challenges fall under the main categories of “Organization”, “Technical”, “Government and Legal” and “Environment”.Research limitations/implicationsWhile the paper provides an overview of BIM in a global context, however, the dynamics and maturity of the construction industry in different regions are quite different from each other. Since the data collected in this research is from the GCC region, the results are more relevant to the GCC region.Practical implicationsThe finding of this research identifies the main challenges which GCC construction is facing in the implementation of BIM. The finding will, therefore, be useful for the key stakeholders to develop strategies to overcome these challenges and pave the road to take the advantages of BIM implementation in construction.Social implicationsThe BIM implementation in the GCC construction industry will not only improve the performance of the industry but will also open the doors for new opportunities and employment. The BIM implementation in construction will help the region to achieve Goal 9 (industrial innovation and improved infrastructure) of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.Originality/valueThe results of this study help to understand the overall situation including the challenges in the BIM implementation in the GCC construction industry. This study will be helpful for all the stakeholders to develop strategies for the effective implementation of BIM in the GCC construction industry.