There is a problem in the raw material procurement process at the Contractor Company, such as running out and excess stock of raw materials, as well as difficulties in determining how many raw materials to order that meet the company's economic value. Running out of raw material stock results in delays in production activities, while excess raw material stock can fill warehouse capacity, thereby increasing storage costs. To overcome this problem, research was carried out using a quantitative descriptive method to determine the level of production cost efficiency and production effectiveness level in order to achieve optimization of raw material supplies using Always Better Control (ABC) Analysis and the Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) Method at Bolt Companies. ABC analysis plays a role in determining which raw materials have the highest level of demand and the EOQ method plays a role in determining the amount of raw materials to be ordered in order to meet the company's economic value. The research results show that the combination of ABC Analysis and EOQ Method can reduce ordering costs and raw material inventory. There are 4 items out of 10 raw material items that are included in Category A or the most prioritized category. From the results of calculations using the EOQ method, the Bolt Company can save total orders and raw material inventory (TIC) in the period January to December 2023 amounting to IDR 2,147,403,-.
This article suggests and conceptualizes a methodology for calculating capacity in production processes, applicable to both the manufacturing industry and service companies. Its relevance lies in the fact that a correct dimensioning of the productive capacities of a company is a fundamental aspect, not only for its operations department, but also for the rest of the functional areas of the organization. The study begins with a reflection of the main concepts associated with measuring the capacity of production processes; where the main activities of the methodology stand out: description of the process, time study, capacity calculation and planning; in addition to the concepts of bottleneck and profitability. And it ends with the application of the step-by-step methodology on a case raised about a venture about the sale of fresh sugar cane juice on weekends at a farmer market. In short, it is important to mention that the article also aims to serve as a tool to contribute to the development of the Know-How competencies of future industrial engineers given its importance recognized by the employers sector (Ramírez-Mora, 2023). And, that it serves as an instrument to facilitate the study of students during their hours of independent work in their study plans. (Ramírez-Mora, 2023).
CAR-T cell therapies have consolidated their position over the last decade as an effective alternative to conventional chemotherapies for the treatment of a number of hematological malignancies. With an exponential increase in the number of commercial therapies and hundreds of phase 1 trials exploring CAR-T cell efficacy in different settings (including autoimmunity and solid tumors), demand for manufacturing capabilities in recent years has considerably increased. In this review, we explore the current landscape of CAR-T cell manufacturing and discuss some of the challenges limiting production capacity worldwide. We describe the latest technical developments in GMP production platform design to facilitate the delivery of a range of increasingly complex CAR-T cell products, and the challenges associated with translation of new scientific developments into clinical products for patients. We explore all aspects of the manufacturing process, namely early development, manufacturing technology, quality control, and the requirements for industrial scaling. Finally, we discuss the challenges faced as a small academic team, responsible for the delivery of a high number of innovative products to patients. We describe our experience in the setup of an effective bench-to-clinic pipeline, with a streamlined workflow, for implementation of a diverse portfolio of phase 1 trials.
O desenvolvimento da Indústria 4.0 promoveu grandes mudanças na logística, impulsionando a automação, digitalização e integração dos processos operacionais. Com base neste contexto, este estudo tem como objetivo avaliar a aplicação das tecnologias da Indústria 4.0 em uma empresa de transporte e serviços localizada em Feira de Santana-BA, analisando os desafios e as possibilidades de sua implementação. Com isso, foi realizada uma pesquisa qualitativa, composta por pesquisa bibliográfica, entrevista com gestor e visita técnica à empresa. A análise foi conduzida por meio da matriz SWOT da empresa, permitindo a identificação de fatores internos e externos que influenciam a adoção dessas tecnologias. A partir deste diagnóstico, foram propostas estratégias para otimizar os processos em termos de logística, reduções diretas das limitações operacionais e novas oportunidades a serem exploradas dentro do contexto da Logística 4.0.
Production management. Operations management, Production capacity. Manufacturing capacity
Alireza Soleymanipoor, Tomoyoshi Maeno, Kosuke Tosaka
et al.
Frictional conditions at the workpiece–die interface are critical in metal forming, as significant plastic deformation generates heat that affects lubricant performance. Understanding lubricant behavior, especially its influence on friction under elevated temperatures, is essential for optimizing forming processes and meeting ecological demands. While the conventional ring compression test evaluates friction through inner diameter changes, it becomes unreliable when friction is transient. In this study, a warm ring compression test incorporating an in situ measurement system is proposed to evaluate the transient frictional behavior of lubricants under temperature rise due to plastic deformation. Results show that at <i>T</i> = 50 °C and 150 °C, the friction coefficient increases notably with the compression ratio, whereas at <i>T</i> = 100 °C, it remains relatively stable. This stability is likely due to the optimal performance of the chlorinated base lubricant at 100 °C, where boundary lubrication is most effective. At <i>T</i> = 50 °C, the additive activation is insufficient, and at <i>T</i> = 150 °C, thermal degradation may reduce its effectiveness. Finite element simulations using the transient friction coefficient reproduce the deformed ring cross-section with high accuracy, while those using constant friction values show less agreement.
Andreas Kapshammer, Severin Huemer-Kals, Kepa Zulueta
et al.
This study introduces a methodology for characterizing and modeling the viscosity and specific volume–pressure–temperature (pvT) behavior of sheet molding compound (SMC) materials, based on the use of specialized testing equipment. Conventional rheometers are inadequate for such materials due to the presence of long fibers, necessitating the use of specialized equipment like squeeze flow rheometers and pvT dilatometers. Our findings demonstrate that traditional oscillatoric rheometer measurements underestimate the viscosity of CF-SMCs, highlighting the need for advanced, albeit non-standardized, testing methods. Additionally, we found that standard Tait models failed to capture the temperature-dependent porosity of CF-SMCs at low pressures, whereas models based on thermodynamic state variables (TSVs) provided accurate predictions across a broader range of conditions. The study also addressed the complexities introduced by fiber–flow coupling and the fiber orientation in measuring the viscosity, revealing limitations in conventional modeling approaches. The numerical analysis showed that a power law-based anisotropic viscosity model (PL-IISO) combined with a TSV model offered the best predictive performance in finite volume flow simulations, especially for thick-walled regions. However, the current modeling approaches have limited predictive capabilities for the fiber orientation in thin-walled regions. This research underscores the challenges in accurately modeling CF-SMC materials in terms of the fiber orientation, whereas the compression forces needed from the pressing machine could be predicted accurately within an average error of 6.5% in the squeeze flow experiments.
Kittima Sillapasa, Konkrai Nakowong, Siriporn Khantongkum
et al.
In this study, we examine the evolution of dislocation substructures influenced by the fatigue behavior of SSM 6063 aluminum alloy processed through friction stir welding (FSW). The findings indicate that dislocation substructures have a significant impact on fatigue life. Cyclic loading induced recrystallization in the stir zone (SZ), the advancing-side thermomechanically affected zone (AS-TMAZ), and the retreating-side thermomechanically affected zone (RS-TMAZ). The transformation of the α-primary aluminum matrix phase into an S/S’ structure and the precipitation of Al<sub>5</sub>FeSi intermetallic compounds into the T-phase were observed. Furthermore, the precipitation of Si and Mg, the primary alloying elements, was observed in the Guinier–Preston (GP) zone within the SZ. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis revealed small rod-like particles in the T-phase, measuring approximately 10–20 nm in width and 20–30 nm in length in the SZ. In the AS-TMAZ, these rod-like structures ranged from 10 to 120 nm in width and 20 to 180 nm in length, whereas in the RS-TMAZ, they varied between 10 and 70 nm in width and from 20 to 110 nm in length. The dislocation substructures influenced the stress amplitude, which was 42.46 MPa in the base metal (BM) and 33.12 MPa in the FSW-processed SSM 6063 aluminum alloy after undergoing more than 2 × 10<sup>6</sup> loading cycles. The endurance limit was 42.50 MPa for BM and 32.40 MPa for FSW. Fractographic analysis of the FSW samples revealed distinct laminar crack zones and shear fracture surface zones, differing from those of other regions. Both brittle and ductile fracture characteristics were identified.
Florian Pape, Belal G. Nassef, Stefan Schmölzer
et al.
Metalworking fluids (MWFs) are crucial in the manufacturing industry, playing a key role in facilitating various production processes. As each machining operation comes with distinct requirements, the properties of the MWFs have to be tailored to meet these specific demands. Understanding the properties of different MWFs is fundamental for optimizing processes and improving performance. This study centered on characterizing the thermal behavior of various cutting oils and water-based cutting fluids over a wide temperature range and sheds light on the specific tribological behavior. The results indicate that water-based fluids exhibit significant shear-thinning behavior, whereas cutting oils maintain nearly Newtonian properties. In terms of frictional performance, cutting oils generally provide better lubrication at higher temperatures, particularly in mixed and full-fluid film regimes, while water-based fluids demonstrate greater friction stability across a wider range of conditions. Among the tested fluids, water-based formulations showed a phase transition from solid to liquid near 0 °C due to their high water content, whereas only a few cutting oils exhibited a similar behavior. Additionally, the thermal conductivity and heat capacity of water-based fluids were substantially higher than those of the cutting oils, contributing to more efficient heat dissipation during machining. These findings, along with the reported data, intend to guide future researchers and industry in selecting the most appropriate cutting fluids for their specific applications and provide valuable input for computational models simulating the influence of MWFs in the primary and secondary shear zones between cutting tools and the workpiece/chiplet.
The evaluation of the geometric conformity of in-layer features in Additive Manufacturing (AM) remains a challenge due to low contrast between the features and the background, textural variations, imaging artifacts, and lighting conditions. This research presents a novel in situ vision-based framework for AM to identify in real-time in-layer features and estimate their shape and printed dimensions and then compare them with the as-processed layer features to evaluate geometrical differences. The framework employs a composite approach to segment features by combining simple thresholding for external features with the Chan–Vese (C–V) active contour model to identify low-contrast internal features. The effect of varying C–V parameters on the segmentation output is also evaluated. The framework was evaluated on a 20.000 mm × 20.000 mm multilayer part with internal features (two circles and a rectangle) printed using Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM). The segmentation performance of the composite method was compared with traditional methods with the results showing the composite method scoring higher in most metrics, including a maximum Jaccard index of 78.34%, effectively segmenting high- and low-contrast features. The improved segmentation enabled the identification of feature geometric differences ranging from 1 to 10 pixels (0.025 mm to 0.250 mm) after printing each layer in situ and in real time. This performance verifies the ability of the framework to detect differences at the pixel level on the evaluation platform. The results demonstrate the potential of the framework to segment features under different contrast and texture conditions, ensure geometric conformity and make decisions on any differences in feature geometry and shape.
Stefan Rathfelder, Stephan Schuschnigg, Christian Kukla
et al.
In the last fifteen years, several groups have investigated metal injection moulding (MIM) of NdFeB powder to produce isotropic or anisotropic rare earth magnets of greater geometric complexity than that achieved by the conventional pressing and sintering approach. However, due to the powder’s high affinity for oxygen and carbon uptake, sufficient remanence and coercivity remains difficult. This article presents a novel approach to producing NdFeB magnets from recycled material using Powder Extrusion Moulding (PEM) in a continuous process. The process route uses powder obtained from recycling rare earth magnets through Hydrogen Processing of Magnetic Scrap (HPMS). This article presents the results of tailored powder processing, the production of mouldable feedstock based on a special binder system, and moulding with PEM to produce green and sintered parts. The magnetic properties and microstructures of debinded and sintered samples are presented and discussed, focusing on the influence of filling ratio and challenging processing conditions on interstitial content as well as density and magnetic properties.
This research discusses facility design in the lightweight brick manufacturing industry. Every year the production costs of making lightweight bricks continue to increase due to increases in raw material prices, increases in minimum wages and increases in several auxiliary materials. The increase in selling prices cannot offset the increase in production costs because price competition in the market is high. This research aims to plan to increase the production capacity of lightweight bricks from initially 679.4m³ per day to 794.7m³ per day by designing facilities at lightweight brick manufacturing companies. This research also calculated how much it costs to produce lightweight bricks before designing, namely with a capacity of 679.4 m³ per day and how much it costs to produce lightweight bricks after designing the facilities, namely 794.7 m³ per day. The results of this research are in the form of production capacity data from each production work floor, as well as production work floors where facilities were designed so that a production capacity of 794.7 m³ per day could be achieved. And also calculate how much production costs will be with a production capacity of 679.4m³ and 794.7m³ per day.
Ganesh R. Kumraj, Sarang Pathak, Sanket Shah
et al.
ABSTRACT Approved vaccines prevent 2 to 3 million deaths per year. There is a lack of equitable access to vaccines in the low- and middle-income developing nations. Challenges in the life cycle of vaccine production include process development, lead time, intellectual property, and local vaccine production. A robust and stable manufacturing process and constant raw material supplies over decades is critical. In a continuously evolving vaccine landscape, the need of the hour for developing nations is to manufacture their own vaccines besides having supply security, control over production scheduling and sustainability, control of costs, socio-economic development, and rapid response to local epidemics. There is a need for capacity building of workforce development, technology transfer, and financial support. Technology transfer has improved vaccine access and reduced prices of vaccines. Capacity building for the manufacturing of vaccines in developing countries has always been an area of paramount importance and more so in a pandemic situation.
Failure to deliver orders because of low production capacity is one of the main problems faced by companies in the plastics sector. This has repercussions, creating customer dissatisfaction and directly affecting profits by increasing production costs. Among the main causes of these problems is production downtime, which is caused by high set-up times and machine failures during the production process. To solve these problems, a lean manufacturing model is proposed that includes 5S, SMED (Single Minute Exchange of Die), TPM (Total Productive Maintenance), and Jidoka tools. This model was validated in a company dedicated to the production of plastics by injection moulding, which resulted in an increase in OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) of 13 per cent and a reduction in set-up times of 48 per cent. Keywords Lean Manufacturing; Efficiency; Plastic Industry; Preventive Maintenance; SME
M. León-Calero, Sara Catherine Reyburn Valés, Á. Marcos‐Fernández
et al.
Additive manufacturing (AM) is a disruptive technology that enables one to manufacture complex structures reducing both time and manufacturing cost. Among the materials commonly used for AM, thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) are of high interest due to their energy absorption capacity, energy efficiency, cushion factor or damping capacity. Previous investigations have exclusively focused on the optimization of the printing parameters of commercial TPE filaments and the structures to analyse the mechanical properties of the 3D printed parts. In the present paper, the chemical, thermal and mechanical properties for a wide range of commercial thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) filaments were investigated. For this purpose, TGA, DSC, 1H-NMR and filament tensile strength experiments were carried out in order to determine the materials characteristics. In addition, compression tests have been carried out to tailor the mechanical properties depending on the 3D printing parameters such as: infill density (10, 20, 50, 80 and 100%) and infill pattern (gyroid, honeycomb and grid). The compression tests were also employed to calculate the specific energy absorption (SEA) and specific damping capacity (SDC) of the materials in order to establish the role of the chemical composition and the geometrical characteristics (infill density and type of infill pattern) on the final properties of the printed part. As a result, optimal SEA and SDC performances were obtained for a honeycomb pattern at a 50% of infill density.
Cutting tools undergo constant development to meet the demands of higher cutting speeds, difficult-to-cut materials and ecological considerations. One way to improve cutting tools involves transitioning from soldering to adhesive bonding in the manufacturing process. However, there is limited research comparing adhesively bonded tools with soldered tools in woodcutting applications. This paper presents a comparison between adhesively bonded and soldered tools in the cutting of medium-density fiberboards over a cutting distance of 1000 m. The results indicate that adhesively bonded tools are well-suited for machining medium-density fiberboards. Additionally, the cutting-edge radii exhibit a slower increase and the tool temperatures are higher compared to soldered tools. Future research could optimize the damping effect through the precise design of the bonding area. Additionally, investigating a cooling concept for the machining process could help minimize ageing effects.
The Competitive Industrial Performance Index (CIP) measures a country's ability to produce, add value, export, and impact global trade through manufacturing industries. To improve industrial competitiveness, focus must be given to expanding production and enhancing its quality with technological advancements. Developing countries need to build technological capacity, increase production, and invest in infrastructure to upgrade their industrial competitiveness. However, Iran's Competitive Industrial Performance has fallen behind, lacking a favorable position in the region and the world. The annual reports of the UNIDO analyzing data from 1990 to 2020 shows that Iran's performance has been weak compared to similar economies. The gap between Iran and the global benchmark (Germany with a score of 0.416) and the regional benchmark (Turkey with a score of 0.117) has widened over the past three decades. Additionally, Iran's manufacturing industry production and export structures have experienced two different directions of transformation in the past two decades. From 2000 to 2010, concurrent with the Third and Fourth Development Plans, the Manufacturing Value Added share in total GDP (MVAsh) increased from 9% to 14%, and the Medium- and High-tech manufacturing Value-Added share (MHVASH) in total manufacturing value added increased from 41% to 45%. However, during the years 2010 to 2020, concurrent with the Fifth and Sixth Development Plans, both of these mentioned indicators regressed. Notably, the regression in the level of technology for high-tech products, from 0.9% to 0.5%, is continuously declining and poses a fundamental challenge for Iran's industrial competitiveness.
Unique friction-based self-piercing riveting (F-SPR) was employed to join high-strength, low-ductility aluminum alloy 7055 for lightweight vehicle applications. This study aimed to maximize the joint strength of the AA7055 F-SPR joint while avoiding cracking issues due to low ductility at room temperature. A fully coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian (CEL) model was employed to predict the process temperature during F-SPR, and the temperature field was then mapped onto a 2D axisymmetric equivalent model for accelerated numerical analysis. The geometry, dimensions, and material strength of the rivet, as well as the depth of the die cavity and plunging depth, were investigated to enhance joint formation. Also, a static finite-element analysis model was developed to predict and analyze the stress distribution in the rivet under different mechanical testing loading conditions. Overall, the numerical model showed good agreement with the experiment results, such as joint formation and mechanical joint strength. With the aid of virtual fabrication through numerical modeling, the joint design iterations and process development time of F-SPR were greatly reduced regarding the goal of lightweight, high-strength aluminum joining.
The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic has provided a unique set of global supply chain limitations with an exponentially growing surge of patients requiring care. The needs for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for hospital staff and doctors have been overwhelming, even just to rule out patients not infected. High demand for traditionally manufactured devices, challenged by global demand and limited production, has resulted in a call for additive manufactured (3D printed) equipment to fill the gap between traditional manufacturing cycles. This method has the unique ability to pivot in real time, while traditional manufacturing may take months to change production runs. 3D printing has been used to produce a variety of equipment for hospitals including face shields, masks, and even ventilator components to handle the surge. This type of rapid, crowd sourced, design and production resulted in new challenges for regulation, liability, and distribution. This manuscript reviews these challenges and successes of additive manufacturing and provides a forward plan for hospitals to consider for future surge events. Recommendations: To accommodate future surges, hospitals and municipalities should develop capacity for short-run custom production, enabling them to validate new designs. This will rapidly increase access to vetted equipment and critical network sharing with community distributed manufacturers and partners. Clear guidance and reviewed design repositories by regulatory authorities will streamline efforts to combat future pandemic waives or other surge events.