Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are considered an important health concern, particularly in automotive assembly industries. Evaluation of the effects of all MSDs risk factors is difficult due to its ...multifactorial nature. In addition, the risk factors cannot be detected accurately when they are only based on individual opinions. Thus, in this study, fuzzy logic tool was used to evaluate the combined effects of all risk factors on MSDs.
This cross sectional study was conducted on 100 male workers in an automotive industry. Job satisfaction, job stress, job fatigue, and body posture were evaluated by a self-reported questionnaire. Body posture was evaluated using Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA). Primary data analysis on extracting the input variables of MATLAB was performed by SPSS 22, with a significant level of 0.05. T test, one-way Anova, and Pearson correlation analysis were used to extract the input variables for the fuzzy logic model. The results obtained from the Nordic questionnaire was selected as the output of the fuzzy model. Fuzzy logic assessment was performed using MATLAB software version 7.0.
There were significant differences between WMSDs factors, including job fatigue, strain, working posture, and the REBA final score, and pain in all limbs of the body (p<0.05). A significant difference was also found between working posture with wrist score (p<0.05). The findings on defuzzification showed a strong correlation between real and modelling results.
The results showed that many factors such as posture, fatigue, and strain affect MSDs. Based on the obtained results, all categories of risk factors, including personal, psychosocial, and occupational, should be considered to predict MSDs, which can be achieved by a modeling approach.
We consider the question of how stability in automotive manufacturing systems should be analysed. This topic is motivated by the need of original equipment manufacturers to evaluate the performance ...of their production system to ensure efficiency and long-term competitiveness. In order to deal with the increasing complexity of the manufacturing process, original equipment manufacturers need to focus on efficiency in the manufacturing process and supply chain. Since stability is one determining factor of efficiency they need to implement indicators to quantify and visualise stability. While the overall target for the long-, mid- and short-term planning processes remain the same, the application of and specifications for performance measures differ. We present, analyse and evaluate different indicators and reveal their capability to represent the status of stabilised production facilities. We also describe the challenges that arise when implementing these performance measures in real-world production facilities and give recommendations on how to manage these challenges. We provide a framework to assign indicators to planning problems. The transparency provided by accurately chosen indicators fosters understanding of the overall performance of the system and enhances the management of stabilised production.
This paper provides an extensive review of studies carried out in lean production environments in the last 20 years. It aims to identify the effects of lean production (negative or positive) on ...occupational health and related risk factors. Thirty-six studies of lean effects were accepted from the literature search and sorted by sector and type of outcome. Lean production was found to have a negative effect on health and risk factors; the most negative outcomes being found in the earliest studies in the automotive industry. However, examples of mixed and positive effects were also found in the literature. The strongest correlations of lean production with stress were found for characteristics found in Just-In-Time production that related to reduced cycle time and reduction of resources. Increased musculoskeletal risk symptoms were related to increases of work pace and lack of recovery time also found in Just-In-Time systems. An interaction model is developed to propose a pathway from lean production characteristics to musculoskeletal and psychosocial risk factors and also positive outcomes. An examination is also made of the changing focus of studies investigating the consequences of lean production over a 20-year period. Theories about the effects of lean production have evolved from a conceptualization that it is an inherently harmful management system, to a view that it can have mixed effects depending on the management style of the organization and the specific way it is implemented.
Discovering previously unknown anomalies that are rare and dramatically differ from the majority of the data is a critical need for the automotive industry. Rare itemset mining (RIM), one of the ...pattern‐based methods, has been used for anomaly detection due to providing successful analysis results. However, several aspects still need to be explored, such as improving the mining process by identifying more targeted, valuable and reliable rare itemsets. Motivated by this fact, this study proposes a novel approach, named ensemble of rare itemset mining (ERIM), which investigates weak rare itemsets (WRIs) using different algorithms and aggregates these rules to obtain strong rare itemsets (SRIs). This study also combines four different RIM algorithms (Apriori Rare, Apriori Inverse, CORI and RP‐Growth) as base learners for the first time. The proposed ERIM approach is a general methodology that can be applied to any field, but, in this study, it was used in the automotive industry as a case study. In the experiments, ERIM was applied to a real‐world gear manufacturing dataset to discover anomalies in machine downtimes. The experimental results were evaluated in terms of the number of itemsets and the length of itemsets by giving some samples, as well. The results showed that the proposed ERIM approach gives more reliable common knowledge by jointly considering the relation between WRIs discovered by the base learners. The findings indicated that the proposed ERIM technique was successful in detecting anomalies whose support values are below 7.12. Furthermore, it is clear from the experimental results that the ERIM discovered the highest number of SRIs, 1403, each of which is a 3‐itemset. Finally, the results showed that our method performed 43.37% better on average than state‐of‐the‐art methods on the same dataset.
Metal-coated plastic parts are replacing traditional metallic materials in the automotive industry. Sputtering is an alternative technology that is more environmentally friendly than electrolytic ...coatings. Most metalized plastic parts are coated with a thin metal layer (~100-200 nm). In this work, the challenge is to achieve thicker films without cracking or without other defects, such as pinholes or pores. Chromium coatings with different thicknesses were deposited onto two different substrates, polycarbonate with and without a base coat, using dc magnetron sputtering in an atmosphere of Ar. Firstly, in order to improve the coating adhesion on the polymer surface, a plasma etching treatment was applied. The coatings were characterized for a wide thickness range from 800 nm to 1600 nm. As the thickness of the coatings increased, there was an increase in the specular reflectivity and roughness of the coatings and changes in morphology due to the columnar growth of the film and a progressive increase in thermal stresses. Furthermore, a decrease in the hardness and the number of pinholes was noticed. The maximum thickness achieved without forming buckling defects was 1400 nm. The tape tests confirmed that every deposited coating showed a good interface adhesion to both polymers.
Increasingly sophisticated consumer requirements, as well as the constraints imposed by environmental policies around the world, are driving car manufacturers to find new ways and adopt various ...strategies to compete and attract consumers. The car market has grown steadily in recent decades, except in 2020 when it saw dramatic declines. The need for motor vehicles is undeniable in the economy, bringing many benefits (transport of goods and people, jobs, education), but their manufacture, marketing and use also brings a number of environmental problems (pollution, excessive consumption of water and energy, traffic congestion, increasing the number of serious accidents and at the same time increasing the costs of caring for people with temporary incapacity for work). To improve this, manufacturers in the automotive industry need to implement new strategies to help them meet the demands of society and the needs of consumers, but also to meet competition. Although the literature provides information on strategies and measures that have been taken in the automotive industry to improve the quality of products and processes, the authors have not found any studies on the quality strategies implemented. In order to highlight these strategies and how consumers perceive their implementation, the authors conducted an exploratory research and a quantitative marketing research. The results of the research showed that Romanians want to help a sustainable development, but when they choose a car they are guided by the reputation of the brand and price, not by the degree of pollution of the car or the type of engine.
► We examine carefully screened patent database in auto emission control technology. ► Performance-based technology-forcing (PBTF) regulation stimulates innovation. ► Both automakers and component ...suppliers innovated under the PBTF regulation. ► PBTF regulation temporarily induced domestic U.S. firms become more innovative.
This article uses a carefully screened patent database in automobile emission control technologies and a detailed regulatory action analysis to examine firms’ innovation in response to U.S. technology-forcing auto emissions standards enacted between 1970 and 1998. The study finds that under the
performance-based technology-forcing (PBTF) auto emissions regulations, both automakers and component suppliers innovated and introduced more advanced emission control technologies for automobile applications. The study also shows that stringent PBTF regulation temporarily induced domestic U.S. firms to become more innovative than foreign firms that operated in the local U.S. market during the early phase of the regulatory regime. Findings of this research strongly imply that government intervention in the form of technology-forcing regulation can drive firms to invest in technological innovation.
The purposes of this research are to remove some of the confusion surrounding the characterisation of lean systems; to delve deeper into the human issues associated with lean; and to explore the ...complexity of an established lean system to identify issues which affect its success and ongoing continuance. Using the mixed methods of literature analysis, semi-structured interviews and document analysis, we examine the lean implementation in one site of an international car manufacturer. We claim several contributions for the work. First, we produce a literature-based taxonomy defining the core dimensions of lean - this gives managers a clear roadmap for lean implementation. A second contribution is a detailed delineation of the human issues of lean, from which managers can follow our set of themes to guide their managerial efforts. Finally, we provide insights into the inner workings of a lean system showing several examples of the delicate balances and tensions which exist. Perhaps none is as significant as the issue of its long term survival, which our findings suggest may be at risk. This serves as a warning signal to managers to be on constant lookout for signs of faltering or failure.
This commentary reviews the position articulated in an article published in 2004 that the business model prevalent in the automotive industry was inadequate to meeting the challenge of ...sustainability, and reviews the key developments since then. The most noticeable developments the commentary traces are the growth in academic interest in business models, a more responsive government policy particularly in respect of new technologies, and the practical application of the concepts and ideas mooted in the original paper, notably with respect to electric vehicles.
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