Manufacturing Activities Research Articles

The Emerging Electric Vehicle and Battery Industry in Indonesia: Actions around the Nickel Ore Export Ban and a SWOT Analysis

As the automotive industry shifts from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to electric vehicles (EVs), many countries are setting new strategies in their transportation sector. The Li-ion battery is currently the most common battery used in EVs due to its high energy density, durability, safety, and cost competitiveness. Nickel is predicted to be an essential component for the lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide (NMC) as a cathode material of choice for EV applications. Indonesia, one of the world’s largest nickel ore suppliers, put an export ban on nickel ore effective from 2020. The bold movement was intended to initiate the domestic EV industry and encourage investors abroad to drive their manufacturing activities into the country. On the other hand, the global Li-ion battery manufacturers who imported nickel from Indonesia had to restrategize their businesses. This review discussed the chronological events leading to the ban and after the ban from the media, government regulations, and literature reviews. The authors of this study also conducted interviews and attended seminars with the national experts and key players in the battery and EV industry to gain their most pertinent insights. The SWOT analysis of the reviewed materials indicated that while the Indonesian battery industry is still new, it needs to diversify its research and development activities and collaborate internationally to optimize the utilization of its resources and meet the purchasing power of the domestic EV market. Finally, this study summarized six key factors to support Indonesia’s ambition to be a new regional hub for EVs. These factors are: (1) pricing, (2) technology, (3) policy, (4) investment, (5) infrastructure, and (6) compliance with sustainability standards.

Modelling and Optimisation of the Business Process of Documentary Support of Cargo Transportation for Building a Digital Document Management System

The objective of the work is to analyse the examples of optimisation of documentary support system regarding rail cargo transportation based on the transition to the electronic form of documents.The theoretical concept of modelling the business process of documentary support of cargo transportation is developed using the ARIS (Architecture of Integrated information Systems) software, which is used for development of an integrated process model of the activities of many manufacturing and transportation companies in Russia and in the world [1].The subject of the research is modelling of the document circulation system supporting cargo transportation to eliminate losses in a significant part of the processes of interaction with customers. The objective of business process modelling is to use all the advantages and functionality of case tools to eliminate duplication of actions and operations that do not add value to the customers of the transport company but reduce their loyalty to the products and services of railway transportation. The studied business processes ensure formation of an application for transportation and its transformation during the transportation process.The study reflects the results of modelling business processes for documentary support of transportation in digital form. A comparative analysis of these models is followed by description of the advantages of the electronic documents in comparison with their paper form considering a possibility of using a digital signature.

Smart Working in Industry 4.0: How digital technologies enhance manufacturing workers' activities

Prior studies have investigated the relationship between Industry 4.0 technologies and work. This paper acknowledges the contributions of such studies and builds on their perspective to broaden the understanding of the contribution of Industry 4.0 technologies to specific worker capabilities and manufacturing activities. The aim is to build a conceptual framework to consolidate a common view on this growing yet fragmented issue by integrating a wide range of findings from the literature. The study adopts a systematic literature review approach to systematize such knowledge in a singular and consolidated perspective on Industry 4.0 technologies and work. The study analyzes 80 papers in this field and investigates how different Industry 4.0 technologies are related to workers’ manufacturing activities. Eight main manufacturing activities were considered to frame the analysis: assembly, maintenance, training, quality control, movement, machine operation, product and process design, and production planning and control. Eight worker capabilities that Industry 4.0 technologies can enhance were also considered: super-strength capability, augmented capability, virtual capability, healthy capability, smart capability, collaborative, social capability, analytical capability. Based on these 80 papers, this paper conceptualizes Smart Working-related technologies for Operators 4.0 and shows their benefits and limitations as described in the literature. The study shows how these manufacturing activities and worker capabilities can be supported by Industry 4.0 technologies, which is useful for future research and the design of operational processes in the Industry 4.0 context.

Analysis of key trends and ways to improve the marketing activities of domestic manufacturers of municipal equipment

The results of the marketing analysis of the market of special equipment for housing and communal services of Russia are presented. Market trends have been analysed, the sales dynamics of municipal machinery have been characterised and segments of the product portfolio of domestic manufacturers have been identified. The article analyzes the features of the development of two key product segments - the segment of snowplows and snow loaders, as well as the segment of garbage trucks. It is proved that they have a high market potential and objective prerequisites for import substitution, but they need to improve marketing support. The authors proposed and justified a set of measures to improve marketing activities, including development of financial instruments to support customers, expansion of the product line, improvement of distribution strategies, optimisation of call centers and the development of exports using state support tools.

Drivers of deindustrialisation in internationally fragmented production structures

AbstractThis paper provides detailed evidence on the extent of outsourcing and offshoring of manufacturing employment and value added using a regional subsystem input–output framework. The paper argues that direct employment and the value-added shares of manufacturing in the totals underestimate manufacturing’s importance. Jobs in manufacturing subsystems accounted for more than 25% of total worldwide employment, in contrast to just 15% recorded in direct statistics. In major developed countries, the level of intersectoral outsourcing reached its upper limit at the beginning of the new millennium. At the same time, the offshoring of activities interlinked with manufacturing has become the dominant driver of deindustrialisation in these countries. While direct manufacturing employment and intersectoral outsourcing declined between 2000 and 2014, offshoring experienced a significant increase of 6.5 percentage points, from 29% to 35.5% of the total employment generated under the G7 manufacturing subsystem. Furthermore, 84% of the value added that existed to meet the final demand for manufactured products in G7 countries remained in G7 countries, while most of the jobs needed to meet G7 final demand have been offshored to developing countries. The paper concludes that the importance of manufacturing subsystems for the world economy did not decline over 2000–14, but there was a significant shift of manufacturing activities and related services from G7 countries to China and other rapidly growing economies.

Financial and Growth Analysis: A Comparative Study of Economic Sectors of Pakistan

performance across the sectors. Taking economic group of an economy the unit of analysis, this research presents a comparative financial ratios analysis of economic groups composed of listed companies at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSE). The analysis is based on the profitability, liquidity, efficiency, leverage, growth and trends over a period of time using 5 years data of non-financial listed companies. The results show that profitability ratios for Food, Chemicals, Cement, Motor vehicle, Fuel & energy sector and Coke sectors are performing above the overall average R.O.A and NPM while the Textile, Sugar, Manufacturing, Minerals, Information and Communication, Electric machinery and Other Services economic groups are performing below the overall averages. Sales growth of Manufacturing, Mineral product, Cement and Other services activities economic groups are performing above 50%. While Textile, Sugar, Food, Chemicals products, Motor vehicle, Fuel & energy, Info. & transport services, Coke and refined pet., Paper products and Electric machinery economic groups are performing below 50%. Sugar economic group has liquidity and total asset turnover ratio above overall average but the profitability of this economic group is below overall average. It means that the economic group is not properly utilizing its liquidity for generation of profits. Similarly, Textile sector has profitability, efficiency and liquidity below the overall average of economic groups.

Recent Progresses in Eco-Friendly Fabrication and Applications of Sustainable Aerogels from Various Waste Materials.

Tons of waste from residential, commercial and manufacturing activities are generated due to the growing population, urbanization and economic development, prompting the need for sustainable measures. Numerous ways of converting waste to aerogels, a novel class of ultra-light and ultra-porous materials, have been researched to tackle the issues of waste. This review provides an overview of the status of aerogels made from agricultural waste, municipal solid, and industrial waste focusing on the fabrication, properties, and applications of such aerogels. The review first introduced common methods to synthesize the aerogels from waste, including dispersion and drying techniques. Following that, numerous works related to aerogels from waste are summarized and compared, mainly focusing on the sustainability aspect of the processes involved and their contributions for environmental applications such as thermal insulation and oil absorption. Next, advantages, and disadvantages of the current approaches are analyzed. Finally, some prospective waste aerogels and its applications are proposed. Graphic

Proposals for an environmental and social just transition for the post-lignite era in Western Macedonia, Greece

This text formulates a set of coherent and realistic proposals for the after delignification period in Western Macedonia. The aim of these proposals is to avoid the economic decline and poverty of the Region. The first part, based on the literature and the best available practices, the proposals for the necessary environmental restoration of mine lands. Concerning the economic rehabilitation of the Region, a mix of actions referring to the whole production chain: from the primary to the tertiary sector of the economy, is proposed. The action that is expected to enhance the production potential of this region is the creation of branded products, under a single brand name, which will voluntarily bring together, in the context of synergies, the agri-food and manufacturing activities. Overall, it is estimated that the deadline set for de-lignification in 2023, is too early to start all those activities that will allow the economic transition of the Region, and to exclude the possibility of a massive wave of migration. For this reason, the extension of de-lignification, for a period of time within the European objectives to achieve the target of climate neutrality in 2050, are proposed.

Application of Fluidized Bed Furnance Bottom Ash in Civil Engineering – A Review

For several years there has been widespread and open discussion about climate problems and human responsibility for the generated waste. The number of regulations has led to a search for applications for by-products of combustion. Moreover, the forecasted economic crisis additionally motivates to use every possible material to reduce the cost of manufacturing activities. Efficient waste management is a key element for Polish companies in their efforts to reduce their negative impact on the environment. Fluid combustion of fuels in the Polish power and heat industry still belongs to relatively new technologies. Despite the application of the most technologically advanced processing methods, bottom ashes from fluidized bed boilers are still reluctantly used. The author sees possibilities of using bottom ashes in geotechnical works. The aim of this review is to present the existing source papers relating to the use of bottom ashes in construction processes. A particular area of interest is the use of said ashes in jet-grouting (JG). The paper briefly refers to fluidized bed combustion technology as a source of combustion byproducts. The author pay special attention to the characteristics defining the characteristics of the ashes. The reader's attention will then be drawn to jet-grouting technology. References can be found to the methodology of general cement-soil testing. Due to the nature of the use of JG, the focus is particularly on their strength, water-permeability and frost resistance properties. Due to the need to determine the internal structure of the cement-ground, attention was also paid to the possibility of using X-ray computed tomography for soil cement testing.

Sustainable Recovery: Signs of Recovery?

The 2021 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE) was held in September as a hybrid (in-person and virtual) event in Dubai with more than 6,000 participants, with the health and safety of the participants being our highest priority. While the number of attendees is lower than in previous years, there was a general feeling that we may finally be getting out of the pandemic situation, after 18 months of a complete trans-formation of the way we work, communicate, and move. Thanks to the Conference Chair Ali Al Jarwan, CEO of Dragon Oil; Program Committee Chair Fareed Abdulla AlHashmi, COO of Dragon Oil; and the ATCE Executive and Program committees for organizing an excellent event under the theme of “The New Oil and Gas Journey: Agility, Innovation, and Value Creation.” The conference included 80 technical sessions, six plenary and panel sessions, and eight special sessions, spanning digitalization, electrification, sustainability, and emerging themes. Our appreciation goes to the sponsors, the exhibitors, the presenters, the volunteers, and the SPE staff. Dubai and the UAE, 1 week before the 2020 World Expo, were great hosts. Congratulations to the winners of the SPE (and AIME) International, Regional, and Student awards (https://jpt.spe.org/spe-honors-2021-international-award-recipients-during-annual-meeting). Many of them were able to travel to Dubai to receive their recognition. The Startup Village Awards, organized in collaboration with Rice University, was also well attended, and the winners were recognized (https://jpt.spe.org/2021-atce-startup-village-competition-winners-announced). The dynamism of the city of Dubai and the country of UAE and their capacity to project themselves in the future with a unique 50-year strategical timeframe that spans the period 2021–2071 never cease to amaze me. The world, including developing economies, has expanded significantly the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, reaching more than 6 billion doses administered, and nearly half of the world has received at least one dose of vaccination as of early October. The “green list” of countries deemed safe for travel is expanding after a summer that has seen a major impact of the COVID-19 Delta variant. Oil and gas demand is recovering for sectors such as transport and industry, even though the airlines may not see pre-pandemic levels of activity before 2025. Massive amounts of public funding injected to fuel the world’s economic recovery have been announced in Europe, the US, and Asia, adding up to trillions of dollars. However, economic recovery from the pandemic will take time, as there is a major backlog in global manufacturing activities impacting consumer markets and creating inflationary pressures.

An ontology self-learning approach for CNC machine capability information integration and representation in cloud manufacturing

Manufacturing activities in cloud-based environments strongly rely on the online integration and description of the capability of machining resources. In the authors’ previous work, STEP-NC schema was applied to construct an ontology model to support the integration and reasoning of machine tool information and capability. For the maintenance and update of the model, in this paper, a self-learning method is proposed to explore correlations from STEP-NC process planning documents to obtain machining knowledge to improve the comprehensiveness of the model. In this method, a Map/Reduce-based Apriori algorithm is developed incombination with the built ontological model. First, a dataset is extracted from the document according to the importance analysis results of the model. Then, a mining procedure that combinesApriori algorithm and Map/Reduce framework is developed. Finally, two representation modes are adopted to embed the mined results into the model. According to the outcomes of a preliminary experiment with standard STEP-NC documents, this method effectively enables the ontology learning mechanism from the aspects of time consumption and mined associations, which improves the suitability of the enriched ontology model to handle information integration and industrial applications.

Health Risk Assessment of Metals via Multi-Source Oral Exposure for Children Living in Areas with Intense Electronic Manufacturing Activities.

Oral ingestion is the predominant pathway of metal(loid)s exposure. In this study, the health risks of typical metal(loid)s (including Mn, As, Cr, Cd, and Pb) via multi-source, oral pathways for children aged 3–12 years, living in an area of China dominated by the electronic manufacturing industry, were studied based on the field sampling of duplicated diet, soil, and drinking water. Child-specific ingestion parameters were measured (except the soil ingestion rates, which were from a previous study of the same population), and a Monte Carlo method was applied to determine the uncertainty of the risk assessment. It was observed that children living in such environments were at risk of metal(loid)s exposure, with the accumulative carcinogenic risk exceeding the maximum acceptable level. Food intake was identified to be the primary exposure pathway. Moreover, Pb and Cr were the major risk elements to local children’s health. Compared with primary school students, kindergarten children experienced a higher risk. This study highlights that high attention should be paid to children living in suburban areas dominated by the electronic manufacturing industry, and that priority should be given to studies on metal(loid)s exposure deriving from different types of food and their corresponding bioavailability, in order to further discern the precise risk sources to protect children’s health.

Heterogeneous impact of import competition on firm organisation: Evidence from Japanese firm‐level data

AbstractThis study empirically investigates the effect of import competition on within‐firm employment reorganisation using a Japanese firm‐level dataset covering the period of 1997–2014. Moreover, this study examines whether the import competition against low‐income countries leads to a shift from a manufacturing activity to non‐manufacturing activity, such as headquarters’ services, wholesale, retail or R&D. Furthermore, this study explored the heterogeneity of the impacts of import competition according to firm size. Findings reveal that competition from Chinese imports induces manufacturing firms to increase the share of service workers, particularly workers that engage in wholesale, retail and other service activities.

Analisa Desain Rangka Alat Compact Heat Induction Press Menggunakan Metode Finite Element Analysis

<p><em>In manufacturing technology, accuracy, effectiveness, and efficiency are important factors because the use of technology is expected to maximize quality and quantity with existing resources. The manufacturing process is the process of making products starting with the selection of raw materials and the machining process following the design to suit the needs. In other words, design is the main thing before carrying out manufacturing activities. Meanwhile, in designing a machine, it is necessary to have a material selection procedure according to the application conditions. The strength of the material can be obtained by simulating it using the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) method. This simulation aims to determine the maximum safe load limit on the tool frame design. In this study, the design of the tool frame made was given 5 loading treatments, the minimum loading was 50kg and the maximum loading was 200kg. Based on the simulation results, the maximum safety factor occurs at 50 kg loading of 10,019 ul and the minimum safety factor occurs at 200 kg loading with a value of 3.60064 ul. Based on the analysis of the load given to the frame of the compact press and sintering tool that the designed tool is safe.</em></p>

Supply Chain Integration as a Predictor of SSCM Practices on Operational Performance

There is no denying the fact that operations of manufacturing organisations have had adverse impact on the global environment and Ghana is no exception. Factors such as climate change, depletion of natural resources, environmental pollution and increase in carbon footprint as well as violation of human rights which have characterized the activities of these organisations over decades have led to a growing call by key stakeholders on manufacturing companies to have a paradigm shift in their approach to manufacturing in ways that meet environmental, economic, and social needs. It appears that an integration of manufacturing activities among channel members within the supply chain is a good approach in reducing the harmful effects of their operations, create value and wealth out of such activities and improve upon their operational performance. This paper is purposed to extend and strengthen theory building on sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) concept and supply chain integration to foster improved operational performance based on resource dependence theory.

Exchange rate fluctuations, volatility and exports: The intensive margin effect for Turkish firms*

We estimate an augmented gravity model using a firm-level database on Turkish firms to revisit the trade-exchange rate relationship over 2003–2015 at the intensive export margin. Besides several additional layers of analysis made possible by unique attributes of our firm-level database, we also examine exchange rate effects separately for firms engaged in manufacturing and services-intensive activities, which differentiates us from existing literature. A depreciation of the Lira is found to be associated with an increase in the quantity of Turkish exports, irrespective of firm ownership or size, though the effect is found to be muted for manufacturing firms in the sample that are more reliant on imported intermediates. Meanwhile, exchange rate volatility is found to be adversely associated with firm-level exports, especially for the sample of services-intensive and foreign-owned firms, irrespective of whether the Lira appreciated or depreciated. Finally, while the results display significant heterogeneity across sectors, at the regional level, they are driven by the location of production/export hubs in Turkey, namely İstanbul in Marmara, Ankara in Central Anatolia and İzmir in Aegean.

Near-shoring versus far-shoring: effects on customer perceived quality and purchase intention

PurposeDriven by the disruptive effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the ongoing debate about the international location of firms' manufacturing activities has increasingly highlighted the specific benefits and costs of near-shoring versus far-shoring. However, the effects of near-shoring versus far-shoring on customer perceived quality and purchase intention have not been examined. Thus, this study aims to develop a conceptual model and provide new evidence to fill this gap. In particular, the study explores the roles of brand familiarity and corporate social responsibility (CSR) to explain the different levels of perceived quality and purchase intention in relation to near-shoring versus far-shoring.Design/methodology/approachThis study includes two analyses of data collected from a sample of Italian customers. The first analysis consists of a 2 (high/low brand familiarity) × 3 (domestic insourcing, near-shoring, far-shoring) factorial design, and data are assessed via analyses of variance (ANOVA). The second analysis evaluates the suggested model in the two scenarios (near-shoring and far-shoring) via partial least squares–structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) multigroup analysis.FindingsResults showed that customer perceived quality and purchase intention were significantly higher for near-shoring than for far-shoring, but only when brand familiarity was low. No significant difference was found for participants with a high level of brand familiarity. In addition, the level of a brand's pre-offshoring perceived CSR was negatively related to perceived quality, and this was conceptually justified by the CSR-washing effect. Again, this effect was found only when brand familiarity was low.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings contribute to advancing the current understanding of the multiple effects of the offshoring decision and clarify that near-shoring and far-shoring have different effects for customers with low brand familiarity. The findings also emphasise that the far-shoring decision can elicit the perception of decoupling between the firm's CSR claims and CSR actions, thus decreasing perceived quality.Practical implicationsThis study provides managers with additional inputs to make more informed decisions regarding offshoring. While the post-pandemic scenario seems to favour near-reshoring over far-shoring due to agility considerations, this study also provides additional evidence of the superiority of near-reshoring from the customer's perspective.Originality/valueThis is the first study to examine and prove the differential effects of near-shoring versus far-shoring on the customer's perceptions and behaviours.

Textile Re-Engineering: Eco-responsible solutions for a more sustainable industry

Even with constant scientific advancement and technological development, the manufacturing activities of textile industry have changed little in relation to the original production systems, especially in poor/emerging countries, which concentrate the largest production volumes in the globe. Therefore, the polluting loads deposited in the soil, in the water, and in the atmosphere, in addition to the forest impacts caused by the textile industry are a serious problem. For these reasons, it is important to recognize how these problems affect society and how urgent it is to find more effective solutions. In this context, the present research aims to investigate the sectorial processes that make up the textile production chain, and show how each segment of this chain negatively affects the environment. Also, considering the problems that each textile process generates, from an ecological point of view, this work searched for types of eco-responsible actions that could be suggested, studied and/or implemented (within current technical/technological possibilities), to make the entire production chain more sustainable. Thus, the content presented in this study aims to address an idea of re-engineering, that is, something that can be rethought, reevaluated, renewed, and restructured within the scope of traditional textile processes, considering eco-responsible solutions for increased environmental sustainability.

Study and analysis of the wiredrawing of CuZn37 wires via numerical simulations and slab method

Improving efficiency and productivity of industrial manufacturing activities is crucial in today’s global economy and the advanced engineering methods they have proven to be an effective solution to better understand the operation of the processes. The technological problem in wiredrawing is conditioned by multiple factors such as drawing die geometry, tribological system, process speed and the state of the metal to be drawn, among others. A wire rod of CuZn37 alloy brass with Ø8 mm is obtained by continuous casting process from electrolytic materials. The structural state of the initial wire rod and the draft sequence conditions the deformations and residual stresses accumulated in its cross section, affecting the sequential process and final quality. The present work proposes a complete analytical-numerical study aided to the better understanding of the problem for the design of a process proposal for an adequate continuous wiredrawing sequence for the production of Ø2 mm brass wire. An industrial sequence without intermediate annealing was evaluated by the analytical-numerical procedure allowing to better understand the technological problems involved. This methodology has allowed to check that it is not possible to achieve such a high degree of reduction ratio above of r=0.70÷0.75, without applying intermediate annealing heat treatment.

DfMA-oriented design optimization for steel reinforcement using BIM and hybrid metaheuristic algorithms

Steel reinforcement (also referred to as rebar) design plays an important role in reinforced concrete (RC) structures in terms of strength requirements, cost and buildability. Currently, rebar design is performed at the individual member level with few considerations of the interference between different intersecting members, leading to potential clashes and buildability issues. Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) is a cutting-edge technology concept that improves the design for higher buildability by incorporating knowledge from downstream manufacture and assembly activities into the early design phase. This paper presents an innovative DfMA-oriented approach for rebar design optimization with Building Information Modeling (BIM) and a hybrid metaheuristic algorithm. Firstly, activities related to the manufacture and assembly of rebar are identified to apply DfMA principles, followed by the proposed BIM-based optimization framework. Secondly, multi-objective cost design formulation including both the material cost and the installation cost is proposed, incorporating the design code requirements and DfMA considerations. Following this, key modules for implementation are presented including the rebar layout searching, the hybrid genetic algorithm incorporated with Hooke and Jeeves’s method for optimization and rebar clash avoidance. The illustrative example shows that the proposed approach can generate a series of practical rebar layouts, and a trade-off between the material cost and installation cost is found, which means excessive emphasis on minimizing one of them will lead to the rise of the other.