Logistics and the supply chain are areas of great importance within organizations. Due to planning gaps, an increase in extra and unnecessary transport costs is usually observed in several companies ...due to their commercial commitments and need to comply with the delivery time and the batch quantity of products, leading to a negative economic impact. Thus, the objective of this work was to adjust an optimization model to maximize the shipments usually carried out by the companies. To validate the model, an automotive components manufacturer was selected, allowing us to apply the model to a real case study and evaluate the advantages and drawbacks of this tool. It was found that the company to validate the model exports most of its products, and most pallets sent are not fully optimized, generating excessive expense for the company in terms of urgent transport. To solve this problem, two mathematical optimization models were used for the company’s current reality, optimizing the placement of boxes per pallet and customer. With the use of the new tool, it was possible to determine that five pallets should be sent to the customer weekly, which correspond to their needs, and that have the appropriate configurations so that the pallet is sent completely.
With a view to maintaining the competitiveness required by the market, the automotive industry strongly encourages its suppliers to develop new production methods and technologies capable of reducing ...the costs of produced products, ensuring the necessary quality, and increasing flexibility, with a view to responding more easily to the customization of the products that the market increasingly demands. The main goal of this work was to increase the flexibility and productivity of equipment capable of producing the first subset that constitutes the product commonly known as the Bowden cable. To this end, the design science research methodology was used, which was understood as the most effective in describing scientific work related to the improvement of existing systems. Bowden cables are cables that activate various devices in the car, such as opening doors, moving window glasses, and adjusting some car seats, among others. The work consisted of integrating several operations usually carried out for the manufacture of the referred subset, reducing logistics operations and manual work, increasing operator safety, and increasing the production rate and flexibility of the equipment, by reducing the setup time. For this purpose, new mechanical concepts were developed, and automation was applied, which resulted in a completely new concept, able to fulfill all the objectives initially set. It should be noted here that the new equipment allowed a production rate of 1140 p/h, when the initial objective was 1100 p/h; it requires an investment of only around EUR 55,000 (easy return on investment), occupies only 11.6 m2, and has reinforced safety systems to avoid workers’ injuries, an aspect that is very important in this type of equipment, where operators deal with cutting systems and high temperatures. The dissemination of this concept could help other researchers to easily find solutions to certain problems that they face in the development of modern equipment. The main contributions of this paper are the novel concepts created to overcome some process difficulties, which can be used for a wide range of other processing situations with similar difficulties. The solutions proposed allow a decrease in the cycle time, present high flexibility, save workshop space, and are affordable in terms of global cost.
Strategies for obtaining deep slots in soft materials can vary significantly. Conventionally, the tool travels along the slot, removing material mainly with the side cutting edges. However, a “plunge ...milling” strategy is also possible, performing the cut vertically, taking advantage of the tip cutting edges that almost reach the center of the tool. Although both strategies are already commonly used, there is a clear gap in the literature in studies that compare tool wear, surface roughness, and productivity in each case. This paper describes an experimental study comparing the milling of deep slots in AA7050-T7451 aluminum alloy, coated with a novel DLCSiO500W3.5O2 layer to minimize the aluminum adhesion to the tool, using conventional and plunge milling strategies. The main novelty of this paper is to present a broad study regarding different factors involved in machining operations and comparing two distinct strategies using a novel tool coating in the milling of aeronautical aluminum alloy. Tool wear is correlated with the vibrations of the tools in each situation, the cycle time is compared between the cases studied, and the surface roughness of the machined surfaces is analyzed. This study concludes that the cycle time of plunge milling can be about 20% less than that of conventional milling procedures, favoring economic sustainability and modifying the wear observed on the tools. Plunge milling can increase productivity, does not increase tool tip wear, and avoids damaging the side edges of the tool, which can eventually be used for final finishing operations. Therefore, it can be said that the plunge milling strategy improves economic and environmental sustainability as it uses all the cutting edges of the tools in a more balanced way, with less global wear.
Injection moulds are crucial to produce plastic and lightweight metal components. One primary associated challenge is that these may suffer from different types of failures, such as wear and/or ...cracking, due to the extreme temperatures (T), thermal cycles, and pressures involved in the production process. According to the intended geometry and respective needs, mould manufacturing can be performed with conventional or non-conventional processes. This work focuses on three foremost alloys: AMPCO® (CuBe alloy), INVAR-36® (Fe-Ni alloys, Fe-Ni36), and heat-treated (HT) steels. An insight into the manufacturing processes’ limitations of these kinds of materials will be made, and solutions for more effective machining will be presented by reviewing other published works from the last decade. The main objective is to provide a concise and comprehensive review of the most recent investigations of these alloys’ manufacturing processes and present the machinability challenges from other authors, discovering the prospects for future work and contributing to the endeavours of the injection mould industry. This review highlighted the imperative for more extensive research and development in targeted domains.
Machining INCONEL® presents significant challenges in predicting its behaviour, and a comprehensive experimental assessment of its machinability is costly and unsustainable. Design of Experiments ...(DOE) can be conducted non-destructively through Finite Element Analysis (FEA). However, it is crucial to ascertain whether numerical and constitutive models can accurately predict INCONEL® machining. Therefore, a comprehensive review of FEA machining strategies is presented to systematically summarise and analyse the advancements in INCONEL® milling, turning, and drilling simulations through FEA from 2013 to 2023. Additionally, non-conventional manufacturing simulations are addressed. This review highlights the most recent modelling digital solutions, prospects, and limitations that researchers have proposed when tackling INCONEL® FEA machining. The genesis of this paper is owed to articles and books from diverse sources. Conducting simulations of INCONEL® machining through FEA can significantly enhance experimental analyses with the proper choice of damage and failure criteria. This approach not only enables a more precise calibration of parameters but also improves temperature (T) prediction during the machining process, accurate Tool Wear (TW) quantity and typology forecasts, and accurate surface quality assessment by evaluating Surface Roughness (SR) and the surface stress state. Additionally, it aids in making informed choices regarding the potential use of tool coatings.
A mapping of the sensory characteristics of bitterness and pungency and phenol composition of monovarietal virgin olive oils in relation to storage conditions (time and temperature), was undertaken. ...The two sensory qualities were evaluated by static (descriptive intensity) and dynamic (time–intensity) evaluation methods, to get information on the duration of bitter and pungent sensations and on the intensity variation over the time of duration of the two sensations. Relationships between bitter or pungent sensations and phenolic compounds were measured. Only oleopeurin and ligstroside derivatives were good predictors of two sensations of taste and mouthfeel. Particularly, 4-(acetoxyethyl)-1,2-dihydroxybenzene (3,4 DHPEA-AC) and dialdehydic form of decarboxymethylelenolic acid linked to hydroxytyrosol (3,4 DHPEA-EDA) were good predictors of bitterness and pungency (static and dynamic analysis) under the storage conditions (10 and 28
°C). For the higher of the two temperatures only, the dialdehydic form of decarboxymethylelenolic acid linked to tyrosol (
p-HPEA-EDA), for pungency, and oleuropein aglycone (
p-HPEA-EA), for bitterness and pungency, had relevant predictor power.
Automotive industries require constant technological development and the capacity to adapt to market needs. Hence, component suppliers must be able to adapt to persistent trend changes and technical ...improvements, acting in response to customers’ expectations and developing their manufacturing methods to be as flexible as possible. Concepts such as layout flexibility, management of industrial facilities, and building information modeling (BIM) are becoming ever more addressed within the automotive industry in order to envision and select the necessary information exchanges. Given this question and based on the gap in the literature regarding this subject, this work proposes a solution, developing a novel tool that allows the monitoring and assignment of newer/relocated equipment to the switchboards within a given industrial plant. The solution intends to increase the flexibility of production lines through the assessment, analysis, improvement, and reorganization of the electrical load distribution to develop projects accurately implying layout changes. The tool is validated with an automotive manufacturer. With the implementation of this open-source tool, a detailed electrical flow management system is accomplished, and it has proven successful and essential in raising levels of organizational flexibility. This has guaranteed the company’s competitiveness with effective integrated administration methods and tools, such as a much easier study upon inserting new/relocated equipment without production line breaks.
We explore the origin of the observed Lyα and other ultraviolet (UV) lines from galaxies at z < 3.7 by detailed modelling of their spectra. The objects are chosen from among those showing (a) ...UV–optical–near-IR lines, (b) only UV lines and (c) Lyα in the UV and a few optical lines. The total sample is heterogeneous, including galaxies in an all-sky radio survey, hard X-ray-emitting sources, a type 2 quasar (QSR)identified as a X-ray source, a type 2 active galactic nucleus (AGN) at high z (3.7), a very extended Lyα-emitting nebula, objects in a multi-band imaging survey for Lyman-break galaxies and in a slitless spectroscopic survey for Lyman-alpha emitters (LAEs), etc. We also present UV line predictions for a sample of galaxies in the 0.0686 < z < 0.8829 range. For calculation of the line and continuum spectra, we use the code suma, which accounts consistently for photoionizing flux from an external source and shocks. Dust-reprocessed radiation is also calculated. The results show that calculated Lyα/Hβ values are generally higher than observed, except for a few starburst (SB)-dominated models. Some spectra are better reproduced by shock-dominated models. The sample of galaxies including the Lyα line shows neither peculiar gas physical conditions nor abnormal element abundances. The line profiles have complex full widths at half maximum (FWHM) with two main components, which translate into two types of emitting gas clouds. High T
* values (>105 K), which indicate that SB stars are close to outburst, were found in a few objects. Traces of supernova events are suggested by a scandium emission line from the SST24 nebula and by shock-dominated models.
The spectra emitted from clouds near the Galactic Centre (GC) are investigated calculating the UV-optical-IR lines using the physical parameters and the element abundances obtained by the detailed ...modelling of mid-IR observations. Graphical representation of the spectra reveals strong lines. Characteristic line ratios calculated at the nebula provide information about the dereddened spectra emitted from regions near the GC. These line ratios are compared with those observed in active galaxies. We have found that the physical conditions in the nebulae near the GC are different from those of starburst galaxies and active galactic nuclei, namely, gas velocities and densities as well as the photoionization fluxes are relatively low. The geometrical thickness of the emitting filaments is particularly small suggesting that matter is strongly fragmented by instabilities leading to an underlying shock-generated turbulence. This is revealed by the power spectra of the radial velocities, of the mid-IR continuum flux and of the computed Si/H relative abundances. Moreover, turbulence could amplify the initial magnetic fields.
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