Unproductive Time Research Articles

Freight train scheduling for industrial lines with multiple railway undertakings

With the liberalisation of the rail freight market, the number of railway undertakings in operation is increasing. Trains run by several railway undertakings (RUs) converge at industrial lines leading up to terminals. Here, uncoordinated interaction between mainline RUs and limited infrastructure capacity leads to bottlenecks, which reduces resource utilisation of railway undertakings. Outsourcing last-mile operations to an independent local railway undertaking can improve capacity utilisation and decrease the time engines of mainline engines spend within the considered network. In this paper, we propose the Industrial Line Scheduling Problem with multiple RU, a resource scheduling model for freight trains at industrial lines. The aim is to minimise unproductive time of mainline engines and the number of deployed local engines. The results show that the potential savings per employed local engine are highly dependent the timetables of inbound and outbound trains within the network, the dwell time of railcars and on the degree of local railway undertaking involvement.

Optimizing Sharia Pension Funds: Toward Superior Non-Bank Finance

Retirement is considered a desire to earn money after working, but the age leading up to retirement is still considered an unproductive time. This research uses literature review to collect, analyze and interpret data from various literature sources. Literature review is an integral part of research. By increasing productivity, raising public awareness, becoming a source of funding for development, and offering more stable investment options, Islamic pension programs can help reduce poverty by improving economic and financial stability in the long run, reducing the burden on the government pension system, and allowing individuals to be more sterile. Non-bank financial institutions use social media to increase public participation in Islamic pension funds by listening, talking, energizing, supporting and embracing. Therefore, social media platforms play an important role in encouraging people to join Islamic pension funds managed by non-bank financial institutions.

Evaluation of the Degree of Degradation of Brake Pad Friction Surfaces Using Image Processing

The improvement of drilling rig systems to ensure a reduction in unproductive time spent on lowering and lifting operations for replacing drilling tools and restoring the performance of drilling equipment units is an important task. At the same time, considerable attention is paid to the reliable and efficient operation of the braking systems of drilling rig winches. In the process of operation, the polymer pads periodically come into contact with the outer cylindrical surface of the metal pulley during braking, work in extreme conditions and wear out intensively, so they need periodic replacement. Tests were carried out on a modernized stand and in industrial conditions for the brakes of drilling winches. A methodology for evaluating the degradation of the brake pad friction surface during its operation is proposed. The assessment of the degradation degree is carried out based on the image of the brake pad surface using image processing techniques. Geometric transformations of the input image were performed to avoid perspective distortions caused by the concave shape of the brake pads and the spatial angle at which the image is acquired to avoid glares. The crack detection step was implemented based on the scale-space theory, followed by contour detection and skeletonization. The ratios of the area and perimeter of segmented and skeletonized cracks to the total area were chosen as integral characteristics of the degradation degree. With the help of scanning electron microscopy, the character of the destruction of the friction surface and the degradation of the polymer material was investigated. Experimental studies were performed, and the application of the proposed method is illustrated.

IMPACT OF SUTRA NETI ON ABSOLUTE EOSINOPHIL COUNT AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN INDIVIDUALS WITH ALLERGIC RHINITIS - A PROSPECTIVE RANDOMISED CONTROLLED TRIAL

Background & Objective: Allergic rhinitis is a global health problem that contributes to missed or unproductive time at work. Inflammation associated with allergic rhinitis causes nasal venous sinusoids, swelling of the anterior and inferior nasal turbinates, and obstruction of nasal airflow, ultimately contributing to nasal congestion. Sutra Neti Kriya and Kapalabhati are practiced for more than thousands of years as part of Hatha Yoga practice. It has been used as nasal cleansing technique to clear the nasal passage from obstructions, and to improve the health of Upper Respiratory Tract and preventing infections like Sinusitis, Rhino conjunctivitis and Allergic Rhinitis. Breath awareness helps in focusing on the respiratory health and free passage of air in and out through both nostrils. Methods: Based on inclusion and exclusion criteria total 120 subjects were selected out of 200 subjects screened. 60 subjects are recruited for group 1 and 60 subjects for group 2. Group 1 subjects are given 11 sessions of Sutra Neti followed by Kapalabhati for 4 weeks, Group 2 undergo 20min of breath awareness on same sessions as group 1. Pre and post data were collected and analyzed using appropriate statistical methods for comparison. Results: The result is suggestive that the impact of Sutra Neti Kriya followed by Kapalabhati on variables was significant. Significant change was noted in AEC, SNOT and RQLQ each domain and total score in Group-1. In contrast, group 2 showed no significant changes. Conclusion: Practice of Sutra Neti Kriya followed by Kapalabhati helps to ward off common cold, coughs, allergic rhinitis and tonsillitis. Result of RQLQ and SNOT questionnaire in this study shows evidence to improvement of Quality of life and wellbeing. AEC decline is also observed, so the technique also reduces the inflammation.

Utilization of Johnson's Algorithm for Enhancing Scheduling Efficiency and Identifying the Best Operation Sequence: An Illustrative Scenario

This study's primary objective is the enhancement of makespan optimization, thereby minimizing unproductive time for both machinery and tasks. The research employs a case study methodology, focusing on job scheduling within anElectronicsmanufacturing facility, with a particular emphasis on resource availability. It implements Johnson's algorithm and its expanded versions designed for both two-machine and three-machine scenarios within the context of flow shop scheduling. The principal aim is to identify optimal sequences for scheduling. Within this framework, the investigation computes idle time and makespan metrics for individual machines, utilizing task processing durations and in-out timestamps. The findings reveal anoptimal idle time of 6.21 minutes and a makespan of 142.06minutes for scenarios involving two machines. Furthermore, the research extends its analysis to scenarios with three machines, where two machines are combined in each group, resulting in an optimal idle time of 5.22minutes for combined machine A2, 14.98minutes for combined machine A3, and a makespan of 192minutes. This study provides valuable insights applicable to industries dealing with diverse machinery and components, ultimately contributing to improved scheduling and productivity.

The labour process and workers’ rights at Mercado Libre: hiding exploitation through regulation in the digital economy

E-commerce platforms such as, most famously, Amazon use digitalised production systems in their warehouses. In this article we examine how such digitalised systems impact upon the labour process, the organisation of work and working condition in the warehouse of Mercado Libre in Argentina, the largest e-commerce platform there and in Latin America. In many respects, this case is aligned with the evidence emerging from similar studies on Amazon. The ubiquitous combination of algorithmic management with discretionary human management has limited the sphere of workers’ autonomy and spaces of resistance, increased control to virtually any productive or unproductive time spent by workers in the warehouse and imposed stressful working conditions on workers, often with negative implications for health and safety. These conditions of exploitation common to digitalised workplaces have, however, been strengthened by the company’s hiring strategy, based extensively on labour broking, on the high turnover of a young workforce, and the strategic use of the existing institutional regulatory framework and formal trade union representation to buffer management from workers’ complaints. In this sense it is not regulation as such that is the key to better working conditions in the digitalised labour process but rather how that regulatory framework is effectively used and contested by workers’ struggles on the ground to get concessions.

Statistical evaluation of reliability indicators of potato harvesting process

According to agrotechnical requirements, the technological process of potato harvesting should be carried out in a short period, with minimal losses of the grown yield and preservation of its quality. The fulfillment of these requirements depends on the organization of harvesting operations, the qualifications of employees, the technologies involved, the technical aids used, as well as natural and climatic conditions. Based on this, the authors propose to consider the potato harvesting process as the functioning system "man-machine-environment-transport", the main evaluation indicator of which is its reliability, determined by the probability of reliable operation of the system. Basing on the method of time-lapse observations, the analysis of the time characteristics of the operational and inoperable states of the system arising from the reasons of the "failure" elements included to it is carried out. Experimental studies were conducted during three harvesting seasons in the training farm of the Irkutsk State Agrarian University using a potato harvesting unit PPC-2-01+МТZ-80 by direct combining. Statistical processing of the empirical data obtained enabled to reveal a number of regularities in the reliability indicators of the potato harvesting process and quantify the unproductive time waste during the working day when performing managerial, technical and technological functions.

Comparative Study to Assess the Thermal Behaviour of Sandwich Roof Panels with Coconut Fibre as an Alternative Core Material to Polyurethane

Sandwich panels (modular panels) promote optimal solutions to some major issues prevailing in the construction industry such as increased energy consumption by building elements, excessive disposal of constructional waste and unproductive time spent during construction. Hence, the inclination towards sandwich elements has been increased vastly deviating from conventional building construction materials and methods. However, the potentiality of using locally available natural materials for the development of sandwich panels is a salient sustainable approach that needs to be addressed. This study evaluates the current and potential materials used in modular panels and key properties of sandwich panels including mechanical, thermal insulation, and sound insulation properties. Moreover, various test methods followed, and standards specified to investigate the mechanical, thermal and acoustic insulation properties are also discussed. The possibility of using coconut fibre as a locally available natural alternative core material to polyurethane core of sandwich panels has been evaluated using simulations based on the material properties obtained from literature. The study identifies coconut fibre as a potential alternative core material for sandwich roof panels as it reflects nearly similar thermal behaviour to polyurethane.

Drugs, techno and the ecstasy of queer bodies

In Cruising Utopia, José Muñoz writes that ‘drugs are a surplus that pushes one off course, no longer able to contribute labor power at the proper tempo’. Their pharmacology of unproductive time also interacts in a synergistic/synaesthetic manner with the hypnotic upbeat tempos of electronic dance genres like disco, house or techno. In the club, drugs enhance sensations and draw bodies close together, all while sound penetrates the ear, turning it into an erotic orifice. Central to countercultural histories of sexual liberation, the club is a temple of queer world-making, a laboratory carrying out experiments with a queerness-yet-to-come. In this speculative autotheoretical essay, I explore the ethics and political value – as well as political ambivalence – of drug-fuelled techniques of self-invention encountered in the queer club. At once pharmacological, sexual and biopolitical, these modes of becoming-queer of bodies flooded by sound, drugs and sexual pleasure allude to the possibility of kinds of subjectivity and social relations that resonate with a narcofeminist ethics and veer away from neoliberal regimes of identity and belonging.

Diagnosis to determine the root cause of unproductive times in the release of ascorbic acid as a raw material

The present work was carried out in a company dedicated to the elaboration of medicines and food supplements, in which a diagnosis was made in the raw material release process, specifically, in ascorbic acid; where the critical points of the release process that presented a difference in time (unproductive time) were detected in the analysis of the parameters of each test of the raw material with respect to the established time. The objective of this work was to determine the root causes of unproductive times that affect the release of raw material; the methodology used was a study of times and movements, process flow diagrams and route diagrams. During development, the proposal for traceability formats of the characteristics of the raw material was designed.

Experimental study on the continuous production of velvet bean-based bioactive peptides in a membrane reactor and bioactivity mapping

This study investigates the continuous production of bioactive peptides from fermented velvet bean (Mucuna pruriens) using a cost-effective enzymatic membrane reactor. The optimal operating conditions for continuous hydrolysis were residence time of 9 h, enzyme-to-substrate ratio of 10%, and the use of a 5-kDa PES membrane for separation. The resulting permeate exhibited notable antioxidant activity with DPPH and FRAP assay values of 0.28 and 0.12 mg AEAC/mL, respectively, and an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition of 83.28%. Further fractionation of the permeate with a 2-kDa membrane led to increased antioxidant activity and ACE inhibition, with resulting half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of 7.6 and 0.6 μg protein/mL, respectively. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to identify peptide sequences from the <2-kDa fraction, which were matched with the BIOPEP-UWM™ database. The results revealed that the fermented velvet bean peptides were predominantly dipeptidyl peptidase (DPP)-4 inhibitors and ACE inhibitors. Industrial relevanceThe combination of a stirred tank reactor and membrane separation has the potential to enable the continuous production of bioactive peptides from velvet bean through the use of a freely suspended enzyme system. This reactor design offers an alternative solution to the existing delay in commercializing bioactive peptides, by (i) simplifying the industrial process development for continuous bioactive peptide production, (ii) eliminating the need for enzyme immobilization, and (iii) eliminating batch-to-batch variability in product quality and unproductive time associated with batch-wise production.

Forecasting the technical condition of hydraulic transmissions of agricultural machines based on kinematic viscosity and pressure indicators of oil

Maintenance of the technical condition of hydrostatic transmission of agricultural machines is not fully provided by the existing repair and maintenance system of Ukraine, which determines the search for available methods for early detection of hydraulic drive malfunctions. The purpose of the study was to synthesise a method for predicting the technical condition of the hydraulic transmission of modern agricultural machines by controlling the dynamics of changes in the values of the empirical dependence of pressure on the kinematic viscosity of oil in conditions of insufficient material and technical equipment of the production base. Generally accepted methods were applied to achieve this goal: analysissynthesis, induction, observation, experiment, graphic method. As a result of the study, the author’s hypothesis was confirmed, according to which the change in the kinematic viscosity of the working fluid relative to the initial value is determined by the current state of the hydraulic transmission, which is controlled by pressure measurement. Based on the identified shortcomings and problems of the current system of maintenance and repair, a methodology was proposed that provides for monitoring the operational indicators of agricultural machines and the kinematic viscosity of working fluid samples taken from their hydraulic transmissions. Kinematic viscosity values for constructing the predictive model were obtained by the capillary method and calculated using the Walter formula, and the dependence of viscosity on influencing factors was determined by bilinear interpolation. A regression model of pressure from kinematic viscosity was obtained by the least squares method, and the exponent was used as an approximating function. Based on the results of testing the models according to the Fischer criterion, their adequacy was confirmed, and the deviation of the theoretical values of the controlled parameters calculated using the most accurate model from the empirical ones was 0.34% for pressure and 1.3% for kinematic viscosity. The practical value of the study lies in the fact that the results allow reducing unproductive time costs associated with the downtime of equipment, due to emergency failures of hydraulic transmission units and contribute to the adaptation of the planned preventive maintenance system for agricultural machinery to the needs of the Ukrainian agro-industrial complex

Factors affecting drilling incidents: Prediction of suck pipe by XGBoost model

The unproductive time is very high due to drill string jamming. So the main objective of this research is to determine the influences of the parameters in the accidents of stuck pipes using the construction of XGBoost models. To develop the model, drilling parameters are taken from daily drilling reports of the construction of 30 wells in the West Qurna field, Iraq. The data includes well drilling reports from 2013 to 2020. The results show that the factors such as Measured depth (MD), Rate of penetration (ROP), 10-sec gel (GEL1), Plastic Viscosity (PV), Mud weight (MW), Yield point (YP) contribute positively to the model predictions. In contrast, the factors such as Flow rate (FR), Rotation per minute (RPM), Filtrate (API/HPHT-FILTR and Bottom hole assembly (BHA) length has a negative contribution to the final model predictions. This research concluded that pipe sticking in the borehole is primarily due to inclination, penetration rate, and flow rate. This study is useful in the drilling of any field.

Assessment of suppliers’ collaboration on construction project in Ebonyi state

In Nigeria, the concept of suppliers’ collaboration is still a new area to construction stakeholders. The construction companies in Ebonyi State are faced with enormous challenges which involve the integration of all construction processes and activities of different agents and specialists hired by clients for successful project delivery. To address the problem of construction project in Ebonyi State, construction stakeholders require collaboration which suppliers’ collaboration is the most pertinent. The aim is to assess the factors affecting contractors–suppliers relationship on successful construction project delivery in Ebonyi State. The general objective is to identify and determine the factors affecting contractors–suppliers relationship in construction industry and impact of supplier’s collaboration on the cost of construction project in Ebonyi State. The research sought to ensure at least 95% level of confidence with a total population of 400 and sample size set to 250. Primary and secondary sources were used to generate data with the aid of structured questionnaire and oral interviews directed to both private firms and public firms in construction industry. In total, 250 forms containing a set of question were submitted randomly to selected medium and large-sized construction firms in Ebonyi State. Data collected were presented in tables containing frequencies of the responses and their corresponding percentages. Frequency distribution, relative importance index (R11), Chi-square (X2), Python spyder IDE, statistical package for social science students(SPSS) and Pearson product moment correlation coefficient were the analytical tools used in the study. The result of the analyses revealed that, correlation matrix used to measure the relationship between contractors and supplier variables. The matrix depicts there is a linear correlation between all possible pairs about contractors and suppliers. There exist a relationship between contractors and suppliers as shown with other pairs in the correlation matrix that connects to objective number 3 and addresses the research question number 3. This implies that as the contractor-supplier approach short term or/and long term increases, the supplier collaboration on the cost of construction project in the Ebonyi State is expected to increase. The study concludes that the main drivers of the success of supplier collaboration appear to be the elements of trust and teamwork. It is these which ensure the continued relationship and ensure that both parties derive the benefits necessary for the partnership to continue and therefore; made the following recommendation. A detailed schedule of materials supply should be provided by the contractor. The schedule should contain the time required for material to arrive on site. Thus, results in reducing unproductive time on site and cost saving.

Knitting towards sustainability, circular economy and Industry 4.0

AbstractAs part of the recent trend towards sustainability in modern society, in general, the knitting sector has done its part to emphasise social responsibility and the careful use of resources. Focus has been placed on reusing, recycling and upcycling raw materials and reducing or even eliminating knitting waste. Manufacturers and users have rethought processes, production and consumption volumes. Sustainable preparation and finishing processes have been developed. Knitting machines that offer environmentally friendly manufacturing techniques with less impact on people and the environment and production methods that significantly reduce the wasted or unproductive time between manufacturing phases have been favoured. Sustainability is not just a new approach or a trend that is fashionable right now, but a must, a compelling concept for the survival of businesses in the future. Knitting as a unique technology spans quite opposite poles: hand and machine production, hobby and money‐making, individual and mass production, assembled and seamless products, fashion and technical market, and so forth. As such, it can adapt, expand and evolve towards sustainability, circular economy and Industry 4.0. This paper provides an overview of the versatility and complexity of knitting today, as well as its sustainability potential, optimisation and merging within knitting and with other processes and opportunities for transition to the circular economy and Industry 4.0, covering digitalisation, the Internet of things and robotisation in knitting. It also analyses the market for knitting machines, knitted fabrics and knitted goods, and addresses the pitfalls of consumerism.

Examining inequality in the time cost of waiting.

Time spent waiting for services represents unproductive time lost while fulfilling needs. We use time diary data from the nationally representative American Time Use Survey to estimate the difference between high- and low-income people in time spent waiting for basic services. Relative to high-income people, low-income people are one percentage point more likely to wait on an average day, are three percentage points more likely to wait when using services, spend an additional minute waiting for services on a typical day and spend 12 more minutes waiting when waiting occurs. The unconditional gap in waiting time suggests low-income people spend at least six more hours per year waiting for services than high-income people. The income gap in waiting time cannot be explained by differences in family obligations, demographics, education, work time or travel time. Further, high-income Black people experience the same higher average wait times as low-income people regardless of race.

Pemberdayaan Ekonomi Masyarakat pada Lingkungan Empat Lorong Mesjid Gang Iman Kelurahan Bagan Deli Belawan Melalui Pengembangan Media Hidroponik

Community Economic Empowerment in the Four Alleys of the Gang Iman Mosque, Bagan Deli Belawan Sub-District through the Development of Hydroponic Media is carried out to assist in increasing the community's income and economy. The container for the results of this hydroponics has been provided by the Community Service Team. Training in management, finance and marketing is also carried out by the Service Team. With this, the community's economic problems will be resolved through the sale of hydroponic plants. Training, mentoring and introduction of suppliers to Partners aims to generate income and make their free time more productive and useful for Partners in the long term. . coupled with the environmental conditions near the coast, there are frequent dead tides and ROB floods and mothers have more unproductive time. Method Approach to the community and discuss with local officials what steps are considered appropriate to solve problems and provide solutions faced by the community. With training, mentoring and supervision of the activities provided to get the right results in empowering the community's economy in the Bagan Deli Belawan environment.

Whose time is it? Rancière on taking time, unproductive doing and democratic emancipation

This essay argues that an alternative conception of time to that underlying the ideology of productivism and growth is not only possible, but desirable. The creation of this time requires what I refer to as the practice of refusal via taking time: the self-determined arrangement of the nexus of time, action and utility that begins with the a-synchronous insertion of unproductive time into the synchronous horizontal time of productivism. The essay is divided into three sections. The first offers the reader a discussion of Jacques Rancière’s notion of time as a social and political medium that partitions and distributes actions and utility. The subsequent section of the essay elaborates in aesthetic terms an account of unproductive time that is indifferent to the time of productivism. In the final section, I discuss examples that show how taking time to do ‘nothing’ can elicit an emancipatory politics that seeks to liberate us from the hegemony of productivism. I conclude that political theory should attend to time as a political medium and to the possibilities of its occupation, and that picturing the taking of time in terms of stopping the force of productivism’s normalized horizontal time by entering the unproductive time of reverie and aesthetic experience, provides a promising perspective from which to apprehend a time for thriftless refusals, deliberate dis-identifications, and the forging of cooperation among people(s) and with nature.

Improvement of the methodology for determining unproductive loss of time in the disbandment system

The purpose of the work is to improve the methodology for determining inefficient time losses in the distribution system of the sorting station. Systematic analysis, analytical, graphic modeling, the law of normal distribution and methods for comparing the performance of wagon standing times were used. Unproductive time losses in the disbandment system were determined by the elements of the time spent by wagons at the sorting station. In the sorting station distribution system, the methodology for determining the time of stay and inefficient time losses of transit recyclable cars has been improved using the law of normal distribution. The analysis of unproductive time losses in the receiving and rolling stock of the sorting station by the actual average daily and average monthly values of the elements of unproductive time losses allows not only to purposefully identify methods to reduce the time spent by wagons, but also to carry out an accurate assessment of the work of the station staff, as well as to adjust the norm of the time spent by wagons.

Non-Productive Time Reduction during Oil Wells Drilling Operations

Often there is no well drilling without problems. The solution lies in managing and evaluating these problems and developing strategies to manage and scale them. Non-productive time (NPT) is one of the main causes of delayed drilling operations. Many events or possibilities can lead to a halt in drilling operations or a marginal decrease in the advancement of drilling, this is called (NPT). Reducing NPT has an important impact on the total expenditure, time and cost are considered one of the most important success factors in the oil industry. In other words, steps must be taken to investigate and eliminate loss of time, that is, unproductive time in the drilling rig in order to save time and cost and reduce wasted time. The data of six oil wells were approved for the purpose of the study, where it was noted that there are many factors affecting the NPT, which differ from one well to another. Its impact was limited to drilling rig, mud pump and equipment failure. There is also a difference between the planned program and what is actually happening on the ground, due to several reasons, including human errors during the implementation of the drilling program and others due to technical errors, Misuse of equipment, in addition to human errors related to the failure to implement the drilling program.