Setup Time Reduction Research Articles

Extending the clinical research network approach to all of healthcare

The development of Clinical Research Networks (CRN) has been central to the work conducted by Health Departments and research funders to promote and support clinical research within the NHS in the UK. In England, the National Institute for Health Research has supported the delivery of clinical research within the NHS primarily through CRN. CRN provide the essential infrastructure within the NHS for the set up and delivery of clinical research within a high-quality peer-reviewed portfolio of studies. The success of the National Cancer Research Network is summarized in Chapter 5. In this chapter progress in five other topics, and more recently in primary care and comprehensively across the NHS, is summarized. In each of the ‘topic-specific’ networks (Dementias and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Diabetes, Medicines for Children, Mental Health, Stroke) there has been a rapid and substantial increase in portfolios and in the recruitment of patients into studies in these portfolios. The processes and the key success factors are described.The CRN have worked to support research supported by pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies and there has been substantial progress in improving the speed, cost and delivery of these ‘industry’ studies. In particular, work to support the increased speed of set up and delivery of industry studies, and to embed this firmly in the NHS, was explored in the North West of England in an Exemplar Programme which showed substantial reductions in study set-up times and improved recruitment into studies and showed how healthcare (NHS) organizations can overcome delays in set up times when they actively manage the process. Seven out of 20 international studies reported that the first patient to be entered anywhere in the world was from the UK. In addition, the CRN have supported research management and governance, workforce development and clinical trials unit collaboration and coordination. International peer reviews of all of the CRN have been positive and resulted in the continuation of the system for a further 5 years in all cases.

Lead time reduction strategies in a single-vendor–single-buyer integrated inventory model with lot size-dependent lead times and stochastic demand

This paper studies alternative methods for reducing lead time and their impact on the safety stock and the expected total costs of a (Q,s) continuous review inventory control system. We focus on a single-vendor–single-buyer integrated inventory model with stochastic demand and variable, lot size-dependent lead time and assume that lead time consists of production and setup and transportation time. As a consequence, lead time may be reduced by crashing setup and transportation time, by increasing the production rate, or by reducing the lot size. We illustrate the benefits of reducing lead time in numerical examples and show that lead time reduction is especially beneficial in case of high demand uncertainty. Further, our studies indicate that a mixture of setup time and production time reduction is appropriate to lower expected total costs.

A genetic algorithm for scheduling dual flow shops

This study examines a dual-flow shop-scheduling problem that allows cross-shop processing. The scheduling objective is to minimize the coefficient of variation of slack time ( lateness), where the slack time (ST) of a job denotes the difference between its due date and total completion time. This scheduling problem involves two decisions: job route assignment (assigning jobs to shops) and job sequencing. This study develops a genetic algorithm (GA) embedded with the earliest due date ( EDD) dispatching rule for making these decisions. Numerical experiments with the GA algorithm indicate that the performance of adopting a cross-shop production policy may significantly outperform that of adopting a single-shop production policy. This is particularly true when the two flow shops are asymmetrically designed. This study develops a grouping heuristic algorithm to reduce setup time and due-date-based demand simultaneously. This study uses the proposed genetic algorithm (GA) to prove that the grouping heuristic algorithm performs well. Obtaining an approximate optimal solution makes it possible to decide the route assignment of jobs and the job sequencing of machines.

Analyzing the effects of family-based scheduling rule on reducing capacity loss of single machine with uncertain job arrivals

For a single finite-capacity machine that can process several product types of jobs, uncertainties in job arrival time and product type can make the calculation of required setup time and the setting of output target very complicated. Setup activities may cause wastage in machine capacity and extend job lead time. In such circumstances, the family-based scheduling rule (FSR) can be used to reduce setup frequency and amount of setup time. To efficiently evaluate the effects on capacity-saving, both expected setup time and service time are estimated by the FSR analytic models. The effect of FSR in reducing setup time and capacity loss is explored further by comparing the results with FIFO rule. Finally, the performances of the developed analytic models for estimating setups and setup time are evaluated in the experimental design, and a simulation model is built for accuracy comparisons with the analytic models.

Impact of Endoscopic Surgical Techniques on Efficiency in Pituitary Surgery

To assess the impact of the introduction of endoscopic surgical techniques into a neurosurgical practice for pituitary surgery on operative efficiency. Case series with chart review. Tertiary referral center. Patients undergoing transsphenoidal pituitary surgery over a 4-year period were identified. The approach over this period evolved from classic transseptal surgery to exclusively endoscopic techniques. Patients were classified as having transseptal surgery, endoscopic approach with microsurgical resection, aborted endoscopic resection with subsequent microsurgery, and exclusive endoscopic techniques. Patient and surgeon demographics, operative times, total operating room times, and room setup time were examined. Univariate analysis and multivariate regression modeling were used to assess outcome measures. One hundred seven patients were identified. The use of the endoscope for either sphenoid exposure alone (n = 41) or for the entire procedure (n = 35) resulted in a significant reduction in operative and room times compared to transseptal approaches (n = 25). Exclusively endoscopic techniques resulted in a significant reduction in operative and room times independent of all other clinical and surgical parameters (P < .001). Progressive use of endoscopic techniques resulted in statistically significant progressive reduction in setup time (P = .001), operative time (P = .04), and total room time (P = .03) over the study period. The transition from transseptal transsphenoidal pituitary surgery to endoscopic techniques implies a learning process for both neurosurgeon and otolaryngologist. Despite this, a noteworthy reduction in operative times, operating room times, and room setup times is observed. The impact of endoscopic techniques on efficiency in pituitary surgery is discussed.

Productivity enhancement by reducing adjustment time and setup change

The paper presents a study of set-up time reduction in a small factory involved in the machining of precision components in small batches with large variety for the automobile industry. The factory has made some set-up reductions mainly using work study related methods and in one manufacturing cell by the use of the Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) methodology. Until recently the set-up times were not measured and worse still were considered as productive hours. As a consequence, there was a lack of awareness and motivation amongst operational personnel to reduce set-up times and knowledge of SMED was limited to a small group of individuals. This, along with the lack of investment in mechanisms to aid set-up time reductions and prevent errors, has restricted the use of this type of methods and technology. However, there is evidence that the demands made by the factory’s major customer will lead to increased efforts to put into place these types of changes.

Control system evaluation and implementation for the abrasive machining process on wood

Continuous process improvement and automation have proven to be powerful tools for the wood processing industries in order to obtain better final product quality and thus increase profits. Abrasive machining represents an important and relevant process in the manufacturing and processing of wood products, which also implies high cost of materials and labor; therefore, special attention to this process is necessary. The objective of this work was to evaluate and demonstrate a process control system for use in the abrasive machining of wood and wood-based products. A control system was created on LabView® to integrate the monitoring process and the actions required, depending on the abrasive machining process conditions. The system acquires information from the optical sensor to detect loading and activate the cleaning system. The system continuously monitors the condition of the abrasive belt (tool wear) by using an acoustic emission sensor and alerts the operator of the status of the belt (green, yellow, and red lights indicating satisfactory, medium, and poor belt condition). The system also incorporates an additional safety device, which helps prevent permanent damage to the belt, equipment, or workpiece by alerting the operator when an excessive temperature has been reached. The process control system proved that automation permits enhancement in the consistency of the belt cleaning technique by the elimination of the human errors. Furthermore, this improvement also affects the cost by extending the life of the belt, which reduces setup time, belt cost, operation cost, as well as others.

TU-C-BRB-09: A New Monthly QA Routine for CyberKnife: Experience and Evaluation

Purpose: The currently accepted techniques for monthly quality assurance of a CyberKnife system is inefficient with respect to time, uneconomical with respect to cost, and prone to setup error. We propose a new routine which reduces time allotment, cost, and susceptibility to error.Methods: Our phantom includes three slabs of solid acrylic. The 0.5 mm‐thick top slab provides buildup for radiochromic film which is sandwiched between the first and the 2 mm‐thick second slab (containing a cavity drilled for insertion of a microchamber which intersects the beamline at the central axis. Between the second and third (3 mm‐thick) slab are three fiducials which are used with stereoradiography for 6‐axis phantom alignment. A plan is created which irradiates the phantom with all fixed and variable‐ diameter collimators used in our clinic. Each of these beams delivers 300 MU to the film, upon which beam widths can be verified. A set of 60‐mm beams is directed to the center of phantom, coinciding with the location of the ion chamber (at 80 cm SAD). We irradiate the phantom three times with this beam (50, 100, and 150 MU), allowing verification of output calibration and dose‐per‐MU linearity. Results: For three months, the new monthly QA routine was performed in parallel with the current routine. No notable deviations were noticeable with either method. The notable difference between the two routines was the reduction in setup and study time. From setup‐to‐analysis, the new routine took 45 minutes, while the former routine took three hours to complete. Additionally, comparable results were achieved using a single sheet of radiochromic film, as opposed to four sheets (which is required by the former routine). Conclusions: We present a time‐ efficient and cost‐effective method to perform monthly QA. The highly‐ automated nature of the aforementioned technique reduces setup time and can reduce setup error.

Deciphering Enzyme Function Using Peptide Arrays

Enzymes are key molecules in signal-transduction pathways. However, only a small fraction of more than 500 human kinases, 300 human proteases and 200 human phosphatases is characterised so far. Peptide microarray based technologies for extremely efficient profiling of enzyme substrate specificity emerged in the last years. This technology reduces set-up time for HTS assays and allows the identification of downstream targets. Moreover, peptide microarrays enable optimisation of enzyme substrates. Focus of this review is on assay principles for measuring activities of kinases, phosphatases or proteases and on substrate identification/optimisation for kinases. Additionally, several examples for reliable identification of substrates for lysine methyl-transferases, histone deacetylases and SUMO-transferases are given. Finally, use of high-density peptide microarrays for the simultaneous profiling of kinase activities in complex biological samples like cell lysates or lysates of complete organisms is described. All published examples of peptide arrays used for enzyme profiling are summarised comprehensively.

Three Types of Diabetic Foot Ulcer Education Plan to Determine Patient Recall of Education

Purpose: As the need for new technology increases, the need for Operating Room (OR) capabilities also increases. The ability to use high-quality imaging during vascular cases combined with the familiarity of the OR has made a case for many hospitals to invest in a hybrid suite. With the help of a large multidisciplinary team, our hybrid suite opened in August 26, 2009. Description: Working with teams to achieve the best possible scenario for the safety and efficacy of the patient was amajor priority for the new hybrid team.We developed relationships with work groups we had never worked with before. Time was spent in our Cardiac Procedure Center, as the surgeons were familiar with the workflow and materials and preferred this arrangement. Doctorpreference cards and procedural packs were adjusted. Staff education played and continues to play a major role with opportunities including procedural outcomes and responsibilities, equipment usage and maintenance, and multiple ever-changing materials. Evaluation: As OR nurses, we are accustomed to larger incision procedures and have learned standards and recommended practices relating to these. We had to change our thought processes to meet the needs of the hybrid procedures. Though the adjustment was not easy, the patients, surgeons and staff have been more satisfied due to superior imaging, reduced set-up time, ease and availability of materials and medications and gained relationships among other units. Our hybrid room is used for training of local to national surgeons and sales representatives.

Planning a Hybrid OR Suite: Considerations From a Nurse's Perspective: Structuring for the Future

Purpose: As the need for new technology increases, the need for Operating Room (OR) capabilities also increases. The ability to use high-quality imaging during vascular cases combined with the familiarity of the OR has made a case for many hospitals to invest in a hybrid suite. With the help of a large multidisciplinary team, our hybrid suite opened in August 26, 2009. Description: Working with teams to achieve the best possible scenario for the safety and efficacy of the patient was amajor priority for the new hybrid team.We developed relationships with work groups we had never worked with before. Time was spent in our Cardiac Procedure Center, as the surgeons were familiar with the workflow and materials and preferred this arrangement. Doctorpreference cards and procedural packs were adjusted. Staff education played and continues to play a major role with opportunities including procedural outcomes and responsibilities, equipment usage and maintenance, and multiple ever-changing materials. Evaluation: As OR nurses, we are accustomed to larger incision procedures and have learned standards and recommended practices relating to these. We had to change our thought processes to meet the needs of the hybrid procedures. Though the adjustment was not easy, the patients, surgeons and staff have been more satisfied due to superior imaging, reduced set-up time, ease and availability of materials and medications and gained relationships among other units. Our hybrid room is used for training of local to national surgeons and sales representatives.

Integrating parts design characteristics and scheduling on parallel machines

Setup times have an important effect on providing quick response to the external besides internal customers. As well as eliminating setup activities, jobs with sequence-dependent setup times should be scheduled efficiently so as to reduce setup times. In this paper, a scheduling methodology which considers parts design characteristics is presented for parallel machines. With respect to the roadmap of the methodology, a parts design characteristics based scheduling algorithm is developed in order to reduce total setup times. When evaluating the performance of sequencing methods, the cable cutting–stripping–crimping (CSC) process of a real life wiring harness production system is focused. In the current scheduling system of CSC division, cable sequences are developed semi-manually by CSC supervisors. Making the proposed methodology compatible with cable sequencing, an expert system is developed so as to reduce the burden of supervisors and improve effectiveness. Performance comparison of scheduling algorithms is based on deviation from the lower bound for the total setup time as well as previously implemented semi-manual cable sequences. With respect to performance comparison, parts design characteristics based scheduling algorithm has resulted in 6.81% reduction of the total setup time compared to implemented semi-manual cable sequences (MCS) for 45-day production data.

Improved Treatment of the Breast and Supraclavicular Fossa Based on a Simple Geometrical Principle

In breast cancer, nodal irradiation has become routine, but adds time and creates concerns for field overlap if the “match” is not accurate. We developed a technique to address these issues by using only one isocenter for both areas. Tangents are designed at simulation. The isocenter is then shifted to the upper border of the breast using a straightforward geometrical calculation. After determining the new isocenter, fields are recreated wherein the tangents are treated with a quarter beam and the supraclavicular field fashioned with a half-beam block. The gantry, collimator, and couch angles of the supraclavicular field are adjusted to achieve an accurate match. Ten patients were evaluated. Doses to the spinal cord and brachial plexus were lowered relative to conventional techniques. The hot spots were not augmented. In comparison with standard arrangements, setup time decreased. Accurate matching was consistently achieved and verified by portal imaging. A new approach for treating the supraclavicular fossa is easily executed. Advantages include negligible doses to the critical neural structures ( i.e., spinal cord and brachial plexus), optimized matchline, and reduced setup time.

Comparing Kanban with CONWIP in a make-to-order environment supported by JIT practices

Adaptation of constant work-in-process (CONWIP) in make-to-order (MTO) environments essentially depends on the support of three key just-in-time (JIT) practices, i.e. unidirectional flow (UF), one-piece flow (OPF), and set-up time reduction (STR) induced by cellular manufacturing. Their impacts on the performance difference between CONWIP and Kanban were investigated by simulation experiments. CONWIP was found to be more adaptable to the dynamic shop environment since it outperforms Kanban regardless of the scenarios of the key JIT practices. The importance of UF in support of CONWIP was highlighted for a smaller STR. While a larger STR extends the effectiveness of UF, the advantage of UF in favor of CONWIP lessens at the same time. To justify the practice of OPF, an 80% or larger STR is required and CONWIP along with UF should be adopted. This study complements the current literature by establishing essential guidelines for coordinating the key JIT practices to enhance the functioning of CONWIP in MTO environments.

Reduction of Machine Setup Time

Customers today require smaller series of products. In manufacturing companies, this increases machine setup time, which is a waste. This paper presents a procedure for organizing and implementing a reduction of machine setup time. It is based on teamwork and uses the SMED method, which allows a gradual reduction of machine setup time to less than 10 minutes, and a continuous improvement system. The paper also presents the results of the organization and execution of a SMED workshop for the reduction of setup times in a jet machine, as well as first suggestions for improvements that should significantly reduce machine setup time.

Comparative study on the relationship between just-in-time production practices and operational performance in manufacturing plants

This study analyzes the differences in approaching JIT production across countries in order to identify alternative paths to high manufacturing performance. We applied ANOVA and regression techniques to the database of High Performance Manufacturing Project to examine the similarities and differences across countries in JIT implementation and the effect of JIT production practices on operational performance. The results indicated that JIT production practices were implemented in different ways across the countries. We found that the relationship between JIT production practices and plant performance is contingent on the national context and infrastructure practices in quality and workforce management. JIT delivery by suppliers, JIT layout, and setup time reduction were found to be the most effective approaches to improve cost, delivery, and flexibility. This study highlights the important role of shop-floor communication and information sharing, which should be focused for maximizing the benefits of JIT implementation.

The effect of shop floor continuous improvement programs on the lot size–cycle time relationship in a multi-product single-machine environment

While continuous improvement on the shop floor is a major component of many popular management movements such as lean manufacturing and Six Sigma, there are few quantitative studies of the cumulative effects of such improvement programs over time. On the other hand, lot sizing has long been recognized as an important problem in manufacturing management. In this paper, we use a system dynamics model based on the Factory Physics relationships proposed by Hopp and Spearman [1] to examine the effect of different continuous improvement programs on the relationship between lot sizes and cycle times. We compare two different types of improvement programs: large improvements in a single parameter, such as might be obtained by a focused project, or small improvements in many parameters simultaneously. Our results show that the relationship between lot sizes, cycle times, and shop floor parameters is complex and nonlinear. The cycle time benefits of improvements in shop floor parameters are significantly enhanced by the reduced lot sizes they enable; on the other hand, a poor choice of lot sizes can negate the benefits of a continuous improvement program. Although the largest cycle time reduction is achieved by a large reduction in setup time, small, simultaneous improvements in several parameters can achieve much of the same benefit. The cycle time benefits of multiple simultaneous improvements are mutually reinforcing, creating a positive feedback between shop floor improvements and reduced lot sizes. Our model yields insight into why the Toyota Production System has been able to obtain such excellent results over time, and suggests a number of interesting future directions.

ReBISR: A Reconfigurable Built-In Self-Repair Scheme for Random Access Memories in SOCs

Built-in self-repair (BISR) technique has been widely used to repair embedded random access memories (RAMs). This paper presents a reconfigurable BISR (ReBISR) scheme for repairing RAMs with different sizes and redundancy organizations. An efficient redundancy analysis algorithm is proposed to allocate redundancies of defective RAMs. In the ReBISR, a reconfigurable built-in redundancy analysis (ReBIRA) circuit is designed to perform the redundancy algorithm for various RAMs. Also, an adaptively reconfigurable fusing methodology is proposed to reduce the repair setup time when the RAMs are operated in normal mode. Experimental results show that the ReBISR scheme can achieve high repair rate (i.e., the ratio of the number of repaired RAMs to the number of defective RAMs). The area cost of the ReBISR is very small, which is only about 2.7% for four RAMs (one 4 Kbit RAM, one 16 Kbit RAM, one 128 Kbit RAM, and one 512 Kbit RAM). Moreover, the time overhead of redundancy analysis is very small. For example, the ratio of the redundancy analysis time to the test time for a 512 Kbit RAM tested by a March-14 test with solid data backgrounds is only about 0.25%. On the other hand, the proposed fusing scheme can achieve about 86.94% reduction of repair setup time in comparison with a typical fusing scheme for 20 512 × 16 × 64-bit RAMs of which each RAM has one spare row and one spare column.

A multi-agent system for the integration of process planning and scheduling using operation-based time-extended negotiation protocols

This paper proposes the on-line adaptation of a process plan with alternatives, through the application of an operation-based time-extended negotiation protocol for decision-making for the real-time routing of job orders of parts composed of machining operations in a job-shop environment. The protocol is modified from the contract net protocol, which specifies the interaction between agents in a multi-agent system, in order to cater for the multiple tasks and many-to-many negotiations. A multi-agent system model was developed in order to make decisions based on a heterarchical structure, which allows grouping manufacturing parts composed of machining operations through the use of the new protocol. The grouping of the machining operations enables reduction of set-up times, resulting from the reduction of machines changes in flexible manufacturing environments. For each part, all feasible routings are considered as alternative process plans, provided the different manufacturing times in each machine are taken into account. This study evaluates four types of flexibility – operation flexibility, sequencing flexibility, processing flexibility, and machine flexibility – to identify which can provide better performance. The time-extended negotiation period allows the visualisation of all of the times involved in the manufacture of each part, including those times that are not considered in systems of this nature, such as the negotiation times among agents. Extensive experiments have been conducted in the system, and the performance measures, including makespan and flow time, are compared with those obtained by the search technique based on the co-evolutionary algorithm.

Flexible Internal Logistics Based on AGV System's: A Case Study

Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV) are self-driven vehicles used to transport material between workstations in the shop floor without the help of an operator, although they can also be applied in security and exploration. They are widely used in material handling systems and flexible manufacturing systems, where production orders are constantly changing. Today, and due to the constant development of technology, sophisticated machinery is increasingly available, thus enabling manufacturing firms to achieve significant process and setup time reductions. With this development, enterprises are encouraged to leave mass production approaches and start adopting small productions lot sizes, leading to constant changes in the production operation's sequences as well as changes in the factory layout. As a consequence of the development of technology, products started to spend a big percentage of time in the queue line or being transported from one workstation/storage to another. With the introduction of AGVs production process flexibility may increase, which, in many productions processes, is still below the expectations due to the used transportation system (ex: conveyors). At the same time, with the AGVs it is possible, to decrease transportations times and costs. In this article, we will study by means of simulation, the impact of the use of an AGV transportation based system in an industrial coating application. The AGV will be responsible for transporting the parts from the system's entrance to the workstations. With this, flexibility in the production process will increase, which will be reflected in system's productivity.