Manufacturing Unit Processes Research Articles

Dividing Global Business Process: Safeguarding Confidential Data

This study shows that manufacturing unit process dispersion serves as an operational-level variable that allows businesses to modify their information protection strategy when it comes to sourcing business services overseas to suit the regulatory framework of the chosen host nation as well as the potential for using internal controls over activities carried out overseas. Our hypothesis is that businesses are more inclined to split up their processes among several foreign production facilities rather of concentrating every procedure duties in one unit when the aforementioned mechanisms are unavailable. Businesses may take advantage of the synergies between the scattered pieces of a process while lowering the risk of individual fragment theft because of IT-enabled integration capabilities. Robustness tests and empirical findings closely align with these theories. Additionally, we discover that the likelihood of using the defense mechanism against process fragmentation increases with the firm's expertise in the host nation as well as the alternative worth of the activity's unique knowledge that is outsourced.

Ascertaining Life Cycle Inventory Data for Electrical Discharge Machining

Sustainable manufacturing systems require accounting for both product and process level environmental impacts. Established methods and databases are available for product level environmental impact assessment. However, there is a lack of data for process level or use phase assessments despite these being responsible for a significant share of the total environmental impact. This lack of data is even further exacerbated for unconventional machining (UCM) - unit process Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) data for UCM processes has particularly limited records in LCI databases. Electrical discharge machining (EDM), which is the most widely used UCM process, is reported as much less energy efficient compared to conventional machining processes. In addition to that, EDM produces wastes in solid, liquid, gas and aerosol form increasing its environmental footprint. The purpose of this study is to ascertain LCI data for EDM processes and thus to facilitate improved life cycle assessment during the use phase. The study takes insights of CO2PE!-methodology, a systematic inventory analysis of the use phase of manufacturing unit processes. Case studies are carried out with an industrial die and mould manufacturer. The resultant data for die sinking and wire EDM is then compared with publicly available data. Challenges of generalising LCI data are discussed with future improvement potentials.

A generic method for energy-efficient and energy-cost-effective production at the unit process level

Generally, industry includes various sectors like manufacturing, energy, materials & mining, and transportation. Industry consumes about one half of the world's total delivered energy, and manufacturing is one of the energy-intensive industrial sectors. With the rising energy price, the energy cost is becoming a controllable expenditure in manufacturing. In this paper, a generic method has been proposed to minimize the energy cost and improve the energy efficiency of manufacturing unit processes. Finite state machines have been used to build the transitional state-based energy model of a single machine. A mixed-integer linear programming mathematical model has been formulated for energy-cost-aware job order scheduling on a single machine. A generic algorithm has been implemented to search for an energy-cost-effective schedule at volatile energy prices with the constraint of due dates. As a result, plant managers can have an energy-cost-effective job order schedule which is associated with machine energy states along time, and can also get time-indexed energy simulation of the schedule. In comparison to most of the static scheduling approaches, stochasticity has been further handled through a cyclic interaction between the scheduler and the energy model, which facilitates to investigate how stochasticity on a shop floor affects the performance of energy-cost-aware scheduling. Empirical data have been used in the case study, including the power measured from a grinding machine, and the real-time pricing and time-of-use pricing tariffs. The proposed method has been demonstrated to be both energy-efficient and energy-cost-efficient even at the presence of stochasticity. As a joint effort of energy efficiency and demand response within demand side management, this method shows its effectiveness for contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions during peak periods, and for leading to energy-efficient, demand-responsive, and cost-effective manufacturing processes.

The Role of Manufacturing Techniques in Enterprises Producing Heating Devices in the Context of Sustainable Development

Abstract Manufacturing techniques are concerned with quality, cost, productivity and sustainability. With today‘s environmental awareness and the pressure of the sustainability requirements, existing manufacturing techniques of heating devices are evolving into the redesign manufacturing unit processes to increase overall sustainability. Also, these techniques need a measurement method to assess processes-related sustainability performance indicators. The purpose of this paper is to stress the role of manufacturing techniques: welding, cleaning and painting in the manufacture of heating appliances (solid fuel fired boilers used renewable energy sources) in terms of incorporating into the field the concept of sustainable development. It then focuses on the environmental, technical, economical and social impact of sustainable technologies and argues for the need to ensure that the concept is being applied to the manufacture of heating devices. In this paper, author tries to propose a unified, standard scientific factory-level methodology to evaluate the influence of manufacturing techniques on the sustainability of enterprises producing heating devices. The proposed methodology in the terms of the case study is a comprehensive answer to the question of to what extent the improvements in those techniques influence the sustainable development of the enterprises. An industrial case study demonstrates that the proposed improvements can effectively influence the sustainability of enterprise. The results of this assessment can be applied to broad industry sectors, and can lead to the accepted measures and practices.

Methodology for systematic analysis and improvement of manufacturing unit process life cycle inventory (UPLCI) CO2PE! initiative (cooperative effort on process emissions in manufacturing). Part 2: case studies

This report presents two case studies, one for both the screening approach and the in-depth approach, demonstrating the application of the life cycle assessment-oriented methodology for systematic inventory analysis of the machine tool use phase of manufacturing unit processes, which has been developed in the framework of the CO2PE! collaborative research programme (CO2PE! 2011) and is described in part 1 of this paper (Kellens et al. 2011). The screening approach, which provides a first insight into the unit process and results in a set of approximate LCI data, relies on representative industrial data and engineering calculations for energy use and material loss. This approach is illustrated by means of a case study of a drilling process. The in-depth approach, which leads to more accurate LCI data as well as the identification of potential for environmental improvements of the manufacturing unit processes, is subdivided into four modules, including a time study, a power consumption study, a consumables study and an emissions study, in which all relevant process in- and outputs are measured and analysed in detail. The procedure of this approach, together with the proposed CO2PE! template, is illustrated by means of a case study of a laser cutting process. The CO2PE! methodology aims to provide high-quality LCI data for the machine tool use phase of manufacturing unit processes, to be used in life cycle inventory databases and libraries, as well as to identify potential for environmental improvement based on the in-depth analysis of individual manufacturing unit processes. Two case studies illustrate the applicability of the methodology.

Methodology for systematic analysis and improvement of manufacturing unit process life-cycle inventory (UPLCI)—CO2PE! initiative (cooperative effort on process emissions in manufacturing). Part 1: Methodology description

This report proposes a life-cycle analysis (LCA)-oriented methodology for systematic inventory analysis of the use phase of manufacturing unit processes providing unit process datasets to be used in life-cycle inventory (LCI) databases and libraries. The methodology has been developed in the framework of the CO2PE! collaborative research programme (CO2PE! 2011a) and comprises two approaches with different levels of detail, respectively referred to as the screening approach and the in-depth approach. The screening approach relies on representative, publicly available data and engineering calculations for energy use, material loss, and identification of variables for improvement, while the in-depth approach is subdivided into four modules, including a time study, a power consumption study, a consumables study and an emissions study, in which all relevant process in- and outputs are measured and analysed in detail. The screening approach provides the first insight in the unit process and results in a set of approximate LCI data, which also serve to guide the more detailed and complete in-depth approach leading to more accurate LCI data as well as the identification of potential for energy and resource efficiency improvements of the manufacturing unit process. To ensure optimal reproducibility and applicability, documentation guidelines for data and metadata are included in both approaches. Guidance on definition of functional unit and reference flow as well as on determination of system boundaries specifies the generic goal and scope definition requirements according to ISO 14040 (2006) and ISO 14044 (2006). The proposed methodology aims at ensuring solid foundations for the provision of high-quality LCI data for the use phase of manufacturing unit processes. Envisaged usage encompasses the provision of high-quality data for LCA studies of products using these unit process datasets for the manufacturing processes, as well as the in-depth analysis of individual manufacturing unit processes. In addition, the accruing availability of data for a range of similar machines (same process, different suppliers and machine capacities) will allow the establishment of parametric emission and resource use estimation models for a more streamlined LCA of products including reliable manufacturing process data. Both approaches have already provided useful results in some initial case studies (Kellens et al. 2009; Duflou et al. (Int J Sustain Manufacturing 2:80–98, 2010); Santos et al. (J Clean Prod 19:356–364, 2011); UPLCI 2011; Kellens et al. 2011a) and the use will be illustrated by two case studies in Part 2 of this paper (Kellens et al. 2011b).

Unit process impact assessment for discrete part manufacturing: A state of the art

Manufacturing processes, as used for discrete part manufacturing, are responsible for a substantial part of the environmental impact of products, but are still poorly documented in terms of their environmental footprint. The lack of thorough analysis of manufacturing processes has as consequence that optimization opportunities are often not recognized and that improved machine tool design in terms of ecological footprint has only been targeted for a few common processes. To address these shortcomings, a worldwide consortium of universities and research institutes launched the CO 2PE! – Initiative (Cooperative Effort on Process Emissions in Manufacturing) [1]. This paper starts with an overview of the current shortcomings in terms of the coverage of production steps during LCA studies with existing tools. Further on, the CO 2PE! – methodology used to analyze manufacturing unit processes is summarized and some initial case studies conducted at the K.U. Leuven, which allowed to identify significant improvement potential, are presented.

Investigation into the Dissolution Rate Increase on Storage of Wellbutrin SR® 100 mg Tablets

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the New Drug Application for Wellbutrin sustained release (SR) 100 mg tablets on October 4, 1996. However, by 1998, the FDA expressed concern about the stability of this drug product based on an increase in the dissolution profile on storage. Data submitted in the annual report showed that this drug product could not meet the expiry of 18 months at the International Committee on Harmonization storage condition of 25 degrees C/60% relative humidity. The FDA mandated a 12-month expiry and GlaxoWellcome tightened this further by instituting an expiry of 9 months. The FDA also requested a long-term solution to the stability of Wellbutrin SR 100 mg tablets. Investigations via colloidal solutions revealed that the dissolution rate increase on storage occurred due to acid hydrolysis of the release controlling polymer. This drug product was successfully reformulated by slowing the initial dissolution rate and having an increased ratio of release controlling polymer to acid stabilizer. The reformulation used the same ingredients and manufacturing unit processes as the original formulation. The reformulated drug product was approved by the FDA on October 11, 2000 with an 18-month shelf-life. The shelf-life was extended to 36 months in an annual update to the FDA on December 1, 2005.

Sustainable manufacturing: a case study of the forklift painting process

Life cycle assessment (LCA) and design for environment (DFE) methods were applied to assess opportunities for reducing the environmental impacts of forklift manufacturing unit processes and to redesign those unit processes to increase overall sustainability. The unit processes of forklift manufacture generating the most environmental emissions were identified by applying LCA methodology. The results show that eco-toxicity and human toxicity were the most significant impacts of the forklift manufacturing process overall. Also, within the manufacturing unit processes, cutting, welding and painting had the highest impact values. In order to minimise environmental impacts, a new paint was created with increased solid content over the existing solvent paint used in the painting process. In addition, by applying DFE methodology and the high solid paint, overcoat and drying steps were eliminated from the forklift painting process. As a result, the environmental index of a follow-up LCA showed that environmental impacts could be reduced by 20%, while volatile organic compound (VOC) and paint usage could be decreased by 30% and 20%, respectively.