Parts Manufacturer Research Articles

The relationship between site history and human health risks: Lessons from 13 years of contaminated land risk assessments in Victoria, Australia

AbstractSite history is widely recognized as one of the key determinants of the nature and scale of contamination that is likely to be present at a location. While there is vast anecdotal and empirical evidence on the relationship between site history and risk of exposure to pollution, few attempts have been made to systematically collate data across sites to rigorously identify such trends. This study presents an analysis of human health risk metrics extracted from all 1732 contaminated land environmental audits published in Victoria, Australia between 2006 and 2018. The contaminating activities found to be most likely associated with elevated risks to human health were service stations, fuel depots, dry cleaners, gasworks, mechanical parts manufacturers, imported fill and unknown offsite sources generating regional groundwater pollution (usually polluted with trichloroethene). The ten chemical contaminants most frequently assessed in human health risk assessment reports included (in order): benzene, C>10–16 petroleum hydrocarbons, naphthalene, C6–10 petroleum hydrocarbons, xylenes, trichloroethene, toluene, ethylbenzene, benzo(a)pyrene, and tetrachloroethene. The findings of this report include recommendations to develop regulatory guideline values in Australia for trimethylbenzenes, heavy fraction petroleum hydrocarbons (C>16), and trans‐1,2‐dicholoethene, and to strengthen the evidence base informing risks associated with light fraction petroleum hydrocarbons (C6–16) and trichloroethene. To the author's knowledge, this study is the first to extract risk metrics from environmental audit reports and provides a strong evidence base to help regulators, academics and commercial practitioners rank and prioritize sites based on their site history and associated risks.

Unveiling the microstructure of LES manufactured parts for sustainable productive business

The Light Engineering Sector (LES) is regarded as the bloodline of Bangladesh’s economy for simultaneously creating jobs, poverty alleviation, and strengthening foreign currency reserves by reducing dependency on imported products for local industries. But this promising industry is now facing roadblocks mainly due to poor quality under service loading. Though many new and advanced manufacturing techniques are now available, conventional sand casting is the most widely used manufacturing technique utilized by the local spare parts manufacturer. It is well established that the mechanical properties (strength, toughness) of a material are determined by its microstructure. To date, the microstructure characterization of LES products has not been subject to much scrutiny. Therefore, in this work, an attempt has been made to systematically investigate the microstructure of an LES-manufactured marine propeller using an Optical microscope (OM) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) equipped with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS). A locally made marine propeller supplied by ACBD company was used for this study. It was found that the microstructure of both materials mainly consists of pores, needle-shaped particles, and Chinese script-like features embedded in the aluminum matrix. Based on EDS results it may be concluded that the needle-shaped particle is mainly composed of Si and Al. Moreover, the average pore size observed was about 5109.5 μm. Use of horse-and-buggy technology, and lack of knowledge of the casting process such as properties of molding sand, the composition of raw material, overall metallurgical control of the casting process, etc. might have resulted in these casting defects. As the conventional particle fracture mechanism for ductile fracture starts once the maximum load is applied, the presence of pores may exhibit premature growth soon after the beginning of plastic deformation. Therefore, the presence of large pores may exhibit premature growth immediately at the beginning of plastic deformation, thereby drastically reducing the mechanical properties under service loading. In summary, both the government and the private sector should involve themselves in strong and focused dissemination research activities with the support of universities so that suitable modifications and modernization can be adopted in the existing system.

Automotive parts remanufacturing models: Consequences for ELV take-back under government regulations

Increasing concerns pertaining to environmental conservation and the promotion of circular economy have exerted pressure on the implementation of automotive parts remanufacturing (APR). In order to examine the influence of government regulations on the choice of end-of-life vehicle (ELV) recycling, this study develops APR models for ELV take-back within a closed-loop supply chain (CLSC). These models consist of two direct APR models and one hybrid APR model, all operating under the purview of government regulation. The Stackelberg game is employed to attain an equilibrium strategy concerning the profits of CLSC members. Furthermore, this study conducts an analysis of the impact of recycling license fees and remanufacturing recycling rates on each CLSC member, based on the “Management Measures for Scrap Vehicle Recycling” issued in 2019. In every recycling model, automotive parts manufacturers consistently achieved greater profits compared to the nonrecycling model, while retailers also benefited from their involvement in recycling activities. Additionally, third-party profits experienced an exponential increase with the escalation of recovery rates. Numerical analysis results indicate that as the remanufacturing level of ELV matures, the government is inclined to relax the restrictions on the “remanufacturing recycling rate,” thus promoting the proliferation of third-party recycling centers.

A Data Augmentation Method for Data-Driven Component Segmentation of Engineering Drawings

Abstract We present a new data generation method to facilitate an automatic machine interpretation of 2D engineering part drawings. While such drawings are a common medium for clients to encode design and manufacturing requirements, a lack of computer support to automatically interpret these drawings necessitates part manufacturers to resort to laborious manual approaches for interpretation which, in turn, severely limits processing capacity. Although recent advances in trainable computer vision methods may enable automatic machine interpretation, it remains challenging to apply such methods to engineering drawings due to a lack of labeled training data. As one step toward this challenge, we propose a constrained data synthesis method to generate an arbitrarily large set of synthetic training drawings using only a handful of labeled examples. Our method is based on the randomization of the dimension sets subject to two major constraints to ensure the validity of the synthetic drawings. The effectiveness of our method is demonstrated in the context of a binary component segmentation task with a proposed list of descriptors. An evaluation of several image segmentation methods trained on our synthetic dataset shows that our approach to new data generation can boost the segmentation accuracy and the generalizability of the machine learning models to unseen drawings.

Descriptive Study of HRD and Organizational Success Among Indian Motorized Vehicle Parts Manufacturers in and Around Delhi

Descriptive Study of HRD and Organizational Success Among Indian Motorized Vehicle Parts Manufacturers in and Around Delhi

Relevance of Barriers for Six Sigma Implementation in Industrial Organizations

Six sigma offers several benefits to organizations, but its implementation is frequently inhibited by numerous barriers for which there is no clear classification based on their relevance order in the literature. Moreover, there are few studies regarding the relevance of these barriers in relation to Brazilian organizations. Thus, this research aimed to identify and classify the main barriers to six sigma implementation in their order of relevance and to test if some organizational characteristics can change this classification. A survey was conducted by sending a questionnaire to 95 of the 473 Brazilian organizations in the automotive sector associated with the National Association of Auto Parts Manufacturers and 40 responses were obtained. The survey revealed that for the organizations analyzed, the most relevant barrier is the lack of skill and adequate training for implementing six sigma. It also showed that organizational characteristics, such as size or breadth (multinational or national) can influence the order of relevance of the barriers. This study is relevant due to its attempt to identify the main barriers that inhibit six sigma implementation and to order them by their level of relevance. This is important so that organizations that are in the process of implementing or want to implement six sigma can either deal with them or make efforts to overcome them.

Modeling production disorder: Procedures for digital twins of flexibility-driven manufacturing systems

While the achievement of mix flexibility is a key driver of competitive advantage for a manufacturing organization, it also represents a source of disruption on the shop floor that may compromise managers' ability to diagnose problems, predict behavior, and make decisions adequately. Given this challenge, the digital twin emerges as a potential tool to reestablish managers’ operational visibility. Its architecture allows for a manufacturing system model to be continuously updated and for management support services to be promptly delivered. Although some studies explore the use of the digital twin to solve specific flexibility-related challenges, the literature lacks a normative and systematic approach to guide the application of this technological architecture in a comprehensive set of flexibility scenarios. To address this gap, based on the normative knowledge acquired from the literature and subject-matter experts, we present procedures to design, implement, and use the digital twin within organizations that suffer flexibility-driven disruptions. We demonstrate the application of these procedures through a case in a large automotive parts manufacturer. Results show that the procedures effectively operationalize a digital twin architecture aimed at contributing to the achievement of a flexible production strategy.

Prediction of Weld Tensile-Shear Strength using ANN Based on the Weld Shape in Aluminum Alloy GMAW

Weld shape and size generally determine the quality of gas metal arc welding. Auto parts manufacturers prescribe the size and shape of the weld because they can indicate the mechanical properties of the weld. It is impossible to evaluate the quality of all welds through destruction inspection. Therefore, research on welding quality inspection using laser vision sensors as a non-destructive inspection method is underway. Although the external profile of the weld can be measured using a laser vision sensor, studies to predict the weld strength are insufficient. In this study, an artificial neural network (ANN) model was developed to predict the welding strength of the lap-fillet weld of an aluminum alloy. Input date for weld size was obtained in two ways. In the first method, a bead profile was acquired using a laser vision sensor, whereas the size of the weld was obtained through the acquired bead profile. In the second method, the size of the weld was obtained directly from cross-section analysis. The output data on the strength of the weld was obtained through a tensile shear test. Two models for predicting the tensile shear strength based on ANN were developed. By predicting the tensile strength of both models, the average error rate was within 10%, but the prediction accuracy using the laser vision sensor was better than that of the cross-sectional method.

Contextual factors on Toyota Way and Agile Manufacturing: an empirical investigation

This research aims to examine the differences across selected contextual factors on the Toyota Way (TW), agile manufacturing (AM) and their sub-elements. These factors include firm size, nationality of firms, production approaches, IATF 16949 - an international quality management certification in the automotive industry, supplier tiers in supply chains, export levels, and import levels. A survey instrument was developed based on literature, then verified by experts and statistical techniques. ANOVA and independent samples t-test were used to explore the differences across contextual factors of 216 automotive part manufacturers on TW, AM, and their elements. It revealed that there were significant differences across firm size, nationality of firms, and export levels on overall TW, AM and most sub-elements. Insignificant differences across production approaches and IATF 16949 on overall TW, AM and their sub-elements were found. Firms with different contextual factors require different levels of TW, AM and sub-elements. Managers should apply TW and AM elements at suitable levels in accordance with their organizational contexts.This is one of the first studies to empirically investigate the differences across the contextual factors on TW, AM and sub-elements in the same paper from a socio-technical perspective. This study can be used as a basis for further research on integrative practices between lean and agile (leagile) manufacturing.

RF Systems on Chip and Mixed-Signal Front-End Devices: Game-Changing RF Technologies for Space Applications

Growing interest in the commercialization of space (NewSpace) is leading to increased acceptance of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) electronics and thus enabling use in space of the latest technologies developed for terrestrial applications. This opens new capabilities for applications in space missions. RF communication via satellites has been established for decades; traditionally used for military applications, it is becoming increasingly important for commercial users. Today, global connectivity and access to the Internet has never been so important, and the demand for worldwide connectivity increases significantly each year. Space-based Internet access is especially important for areas with poor terrestrial infrastructure, such as Africa and Antarctica. There are already geostationary-Earth orbit (GEO)-stationary-located satellites available such as <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Inmarsat</i> or low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations like Iridium, which provide almost-global access to the Internet, but they are either very expensive or have low data rates and long latencies, so they are not very attractive. New solutions with high data rates, low latencies, and affordable fees are currently in development, such as StarLink, with its giga constellation <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref1" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">[1]</xref> , <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref2" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">[2]</xref> , and Amazon’s Project Kuiper <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref3" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">[3]</xref> , <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref4" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">[4]</xref> , <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref5" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">[5]</xref> . So it is true: there really has been a change in the market with the NewSpace Era. With NewSpace, or in other words, the commercialization of space, traditional space missions with high-quality assurance requirements, very long design and manufacturing times, and extraordinary costs may become obsolete at a certain point, at least when it comes to commercial services like satellite-based Internet access. To decrease the lead time and costs of such missions, satellite designers and manufacturers need to rely on commercially available electronics, namely, COTS devices, which are usually much cheaper and have better performance and shorter lead times compared to space-qualified parts. In terms of performance, COTS devices have great benefits over space-qualified parts simply because the design, development, and qualification processes for space parts are very complex and take years before they are qualified and available for the market. It is likely that state-of-the-art space-qualified parts are 10 years behind what we currently have available for terrestrial applications, such as for the automotive or industrial markets <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref6" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">[6]</xref> . One obvious reason is certainly that electronic parts manufacturers develop products for certain markets, and space is yet not one of the biggest or most attractive markets. But this has already started changing and big players such as Texas Instruments and Analog Devices are moving forward with the NewSpace wave and establishing ever-more products for commercial space applications. Truly, using state-of-the art electronics is not only of interest for the space-based Internet, there are also other space-related applications that can clearly benefit from using the latest technologies.

Line Balancing Analysis to Optimize Production line of Bushing Rubber Using Theory of Constraints and Heuristics Method with Promodel Simulation at PT. Madya Putera Tehnik

The development of manufacturing industry is currently experiencing very rapid development, although the Covid-19 pandemic is still ongoing, this development cannot be inhibited. PT. Madya Putera Tehnik is an industry-engaged automotive part manufacturer that produces bushings. The problem experienced is that the high demand for bushing rubber products makes companies have to optimize the performance of employees and their machines so that targets can be met on time. This study aims to analyze the effectiveness of the production line in the process of making rubber bushings as well as to provide suggestions regarding the balance of the track to increase productivity by using the Theory of Constraints and Heuristic methods. The Theory of Constraints method aims to identify bottlenecks at the outer pipe cutting, rubber roll, rubber clean, and packing work stations that are experiencing problems, and the Heuristic method aims to calculate the balance of the production line. The results obtained from data processing, namely the ranked positional weight and largest candidate rules method have the same results with the number of work stations as many as 14 work stations, track the efficiency of 70%, balance delay of 30%, smoothing index of 66.57, and total exits as many as 1145 units of rubber bushings. It can be interpreted that the two methods have proposed the most optimal trajectory conditions. The company should review the balance of the track and the current production capacity of the company.

Links between components of business continuity management: an implementation perspective

PurposeThis research aims to examine the influences of preceding implementation phases on succeeding phases of business continuity management (BCM) comprising leadership, strategy, planning, application and maintenance.Design/methodology/approachData were gathered from 216 automotive parts manufacturers in Thailand. Descriptive statistics were employed to measure the maturity level of BCM implementation components. Path analysis of structural equation modeling was used to test hypotheses.FindingsThe study's findings found that the intensity of BCM elements decreased following the implementation phases. Leadership and strategy had the highest mean score, while maintenance had the lowest. Preceding phases had significant positive effects on succeeding phases. The direct impact of leadership on maintenance was much weaker than its indirect impact through strategy, planning and application.Originality/valueThis is one of the first examples of empirical research to investigate the sequential links between preceding and succeeding BCM implementation components. Strategic BCM elements and systematic implementation can improve and sustain BCM in the automotive parts industry in Thailand.

Servitization of SMEs: Focused on the Electrical Equipment and Metal Parts Manufacturers in South Korea

Servitization is becoming an essential strategy for manufacturers to gain competitive advantage, and several successful cases have already been reported. However, these success stories are mainly studied for large enterprises such as GE, IBM, Xerox, and Rolls-Royce. Therefore, it is difficult to apply the cases to the servitization of SMEs, thus in this study, the status of SMEs’ servitization was examined and the applicability was studied. Among those SMEs, manufacturing of electrical equipment and basic metal parts were selected because they are related to all manufacturing industries. As a research method, companies in the relevant industry were randomly selected and CEOs, managers, and employees were interviewed. Through in-depth interviews, the company’s current servitization status in the perception of different employment levels and new servitization opportunities are analyzed. As a result of the interview, the level of servitization in the industry seems to be very low, and it seems that there are very few new servitization opportunities due to the characteristics of general SMEs, such as lack of capital and human resources. Nevertheless, companies were aware that servitization was necessary for sustainability, and they could confirm their will to take on a challenge if there was an opportunity in the future.

Platform-based manufacturing

Platform-based manufacturing is substantially changing the way production is conceived and performed. Companies do not know who is making their parts, part manufacturers do not necessarily own the machines, and knowledge and decisions cross the borders of firms. This revolutionary approach is already becoming a reality thanks to a wealth of innovations related to manufacturing science as well as information and communication technologies, and novel business models that meet together at the right moment of their evolution. Considering the existing literature and digging into the phenomenon by interviewing decision-makers, the paper reconstructs the roots of these developments, analyzes the challenges posed to the manufacturing sector, focuses on recent challenges and opportunities, and finally delineates visions for the future.

Analysis of Quality Improvement of Camshaft type K50 on the Reamer Process using DMAIC and FMEA Methods

The company of this researchis one of the largest auto and motorcycle parts manufacturers in Indonesia. To support the productivity of demand from customers, Companyis divided into 2 plants, namely the Cikarang plant and the Karawang plant. While the production process is divided into several departments, one of these departments is production. In its duties, production functions to control production targets that have been set by the company and minimize rejects from production, with one of them producing K50 type Camshaft parts. Because in the Camshaft K50 part there are still many rejects, it is necessary to make improvements in the work process in order to create good effectiveness and efficiency. The percentage of reject reamer types that do not enter the pitch is 83%, drill blows 9%, and drill breaks 8%. Improving the quality of the K50 Camshaft is done using the DMAIC method. The purpose of this research. At stage D (Define) what is done is to determine the Critical to Quality (CTQ) tofind out what are the physical quality characteristics of the Camshaft K50. In the M (Measure) stage, measurements are made using a Pareto diagram to find out the highest frequency of defects which later need improvement. The expected result is to minimize product rejection.

Production Scheduling Model and Machine Assignment to Automotive Parts Manufacturing for Optimum Production

PT. XYZ is a company engaged in the field of Automotive Parts Manufacturer. In carrying out its production this company uses make to order. The company carries out simple planning and scheduling, namely FCFS (First Come First Serve). The company has a problem, namely there is no production scheduling with the appropriate machine assignment. This causes the company to sometimes experience delays in completing the product. The purpose of this study is to overcome scheduling problems in companies to minimize order completion time (makespan). The method used in this study is the Heuristic Pour method, namely the development of a new heuristic algorithm in completing flowshop scheduling with the aim of minimizing makespan based on a combination approach and Genetic Algorithm which will be assisted with the help of MATLAB R2016a software which is a computational algorithm commonly used to solve a search for values in an optimization problem. Based on the data processing that has been done, the results of production scheduling are obtained using the Heuristic Pour method in the order Job 4 (J4)-Job 2 (J2) -Job 7 (J7) -Job 6 (J6) -Job 5 (J5) -Job 3 (J3) ) -Job 1 (J1) gets a makespan of 19440 minutes or equal to 16 working days with a total delay of 1 working day. While production scheduling with the selected Genetic Algorithm method getsthe order Job 4 (J4) -Job 2 (J2) -Job 7 (J7) -Job 6 (J6) -Job 3 (J3) -Job 1 (J1) -Job 5 ( J5) with the best makespan of 18660 minutes or 15 days, and there was no delay in completing requests. The company is expected to consider or review the use of the appropriate production scheduling method because it can provide a more optimum demand completion time (makespan), so the company can reduce delays in fulfilling customer requests.

Monitoring the Production Information of Conventional Machining Equipment Based on Edge Computing.

A production status monitoring method based on edge computing is proposed for traditional machining offline equipment to address the deficiencies that traditional machining offline equipment have, which cannot automatically count the number of parts produced, obtain part processing time information, and discern anomalous operation status. Firstly, the total current signal of the collected equipment was filtered to extract the processing segment data. The processing segment data were then used to manually calibrate the feature vector of the equipment for specific parts and processes, and the feature vector was used as a reference to match with the real-time electric current data on the edge device to identify and obtain the processing start time, processing end time, and anomalous marks for each part. Finally, the information was uploaded to further obtain the part processing time, loading and unloading standby time, and the cause of the anomaly. To verify the reliability of the method, a prototype system was built, and extensive experiments were conducted on many different types of equipment in an auto parts manufacturer. The experimental results show that the proposed monitoring algorithm based on the calibration vector can stably and effectively identify the production information of each part on an independently developed edge device.

Post-Covid Perspectives for the Automotive Industry, Opportunities, and Threats

Abstract The subject of the study is to verify the impact of the SARS-COV2 virus pandemic on the functioning of the automotive industry in the context of the global economy. The conducted research is important due to the enormous change in the functioning of the automotive industry due to the covid pandemic as well as megatrends affecting the industry. The paper aims to verify the determinants influencing the functioning of the automotive industry. The conclusions resulting from the study will be used to better understand the current situation and to prepare the market’s strategy for the coming years. The selected research method includes literature and industry research and the Exact Systems company case study. The case study relates to a survey of car and car parts manufacturers in 12 European countries. The author’s contribution is an indication of many factors influencing the potential future of the automotive industry available in the literature. Then the author compares these data with the expectations and predictions of the car manufacturers’ market participants to draw consistent conclusions.

Perancangan Ulang Tata Letak Fasilitas Produksi Menggunakan Metode Fraktal di Manufaktur Spare Part

The relayout of the production facilities needs to be carried out by a manufacturer if there is a new product produced that has a different material flow from the existing product. If the layout of the initial facility is maintained, the material flow will become irregular and lead to long material transfer distances and substantial material handling costs. One method that can be used for relayout production facilities is the fractal method. This method is suitable for job shop system because it could provide a high level of flexibility and low total material handling costs. The case study used in this research, which is a spare part manufacturer that initially applied the by-process layout. The initial layout is less flexible in line with the current manufacturing conditions where there are additional variations in the types of products produced. The distance between machines with different types becomes far apart. By relayout of the production facilities using the fractal method, the material handling cost savings of IDR 157,868.64/week or 60.75%/week and the total savings in moving distance is 186,365 meters/week or 38.93%/week. Fractal method is proven to be used to design the layout of production facilities and reduce material handling costs and material transfer distances.

The influences of organizational contexts on business continuity management

PurposeThis research examines the influences of organizational contexts (i.e. firm size, international level, tier level, export level, product brand and IATF 16949 - an international quality management certification in the automotive industry) on business continuity management (BCM) (i.e. leadership, strategy, planning, application and maintenance).Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 216 automotive parts manufacturers in Thailand. Regression analysis was used to test hypotheses.FindingsThe study found that firm size, international level, tier level, export level and product brand had significant positive impacts on overall BCM and every component, except for the insignificant effect of tier level on strategy. IATF 16949 had insignificant impacts on overall BCM and all components, except for maintenance.Originality/valueThis is one of the first research studies to investigate the influences of organizational characteristics on business continuity management.