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The purpose of this study is to explore a new assembly process planning and execution mode to realize rapid response, reduce the labor intensity of assembly workers and improve the assembly efficiency and quality.

Based on the related concepts of digital twin, this paper studies the product assembly planning in digital space, the process execution in physical space and the interaction between digital space and physical space. The assembly process planning is simulated and verified in the digital space to generate three-dimensional visual assembly process specification documents, the implementation of the assembly process specification documents in the physical space is monitored and feed back to revise the assembly process and improve the assembly quality.

Digital twin technology enhances the quality and efficiency of assembly process planning and execution system.

It provides a new perspective for assembly process planning and execution, the architecture, connections and data acquisition approaches of the digital twin-driven framework are proposed in this paper, which is of important theoretical values. What is more, a smart assembly workbench is developed, the specific image classification algorithms are presented in detail too, which is of some industrial application values.

This paper aims to fulfil a need to identify assembly interfaces from existing products based on their Assembly Process Planning (APP). It proposes a tool to identify assembly interfaces responsible for reused components integration. It is integrated into a design for mixed model final assembly line approach by focusing on the identification of assembly interfaces as a generic tool. It aims to answer the problem of interfaces’ identification from the APP.

A tool is developed to identify assembly interfaces responsible for reused component integration. It is based on the use of a rule-based algorithm that analyses an APP and then submits the results to prohibition lists to check their relevance. The tool is then tested using a case study. Finally, the resulting list is subjected to a visual validation step to validate whether the identified interface is a real interface.

The results of this study are a tool named ICARRE which identify assembly interfaces using three steps. The tool has been validated by a case study from the helicopter industry.

As some interfaces are not contained in the same assembly operations and therefore, may not have been identified by the rule-based algorithm. More research should be done by testing and improving the algorithm with other case studies.

The paper includes implications for new product development teams to address the difficulties of integrating reused components into different products.

This paper presents a tool for identifying interfaces when sources of knowledge do not allow the use of current methods.

By focusing on Sustainable Development Goal 12 (SDG 12) and tourism automation, this perspective paper aims to investigate how tourism and automation will work to create a world in which tourism has more sustainable production and consumption patterns.

This perspective paper reviews the past developments of automation in tourism in the context of sustainable production and consumption patterns, the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and looks at the future of tourism and how automation will help it be more sustainable in terms of consumption and production patterns.

The insights from this analysis suggest that automation technologies will play a major role in both the supply and demand sides of the tourism and hospitality industry, encouraging increased tourism sustainability. While automation technologies will have the greatest impact on the supply side in the near future, as such technologies will be used to minimise waste and energy usage, creating large gains for environmental protection, the technologies will also benefit responsible consumption. Big data and analytical technologies will work in ways to ensure that consumers are nudged into consumer practices that are increasingly sustainable.

This perspective paper synthesises the literature on the subjects, namely, automation and SDG 12 in tourism, and points to important new future research agenda. This is one of the first papers in tourism to blend automation and SDG 12 literature to shed light on the use of automation in sustainable consumption and production in tourism.

通过聚焦于可持续发展目标12和旅游自动化, 本前瞻性文章旨在探讨旅游业和自动化如何共同创造一个让旅游产业拥有更可持续的生产和消费模式的世界。

本文回顾了旅游自动化在可持续生产和消费模式背景下的发展, 从COVID-19大流行中学到的教训, 并展望旅游业的未来以及自动化如何帮助其在消费和生产模式方面变得更加可持续。

根据分析, 自动化技术将在旅游和酒店业的供求两侧发挥重要作用, 促进旅游业的可持续性发展。虽然自动化技术在近期内将对供应侧产生最大影响, 因为这些技术将被用来最小化废物和能源使用, 为环境保护创造巨大收益, 但这些技术也将惠及负责任消费。大数据和分析技术将以确保消费者被引导向越来越可持续的消费实践。

本前瞻性论文综合了关于旅游中的自动化和可持续发展目标12的文献, 并指出了重要的新的未来研究议程。这是旅游业中第一批结合自动化和可持终发展目标12文献以阐明旅游中可持续消费和生产的自动化使用的论文之一。

Al centrarse en el ODS12 y la automatización del turismo, este artículo de perspectiva pretende investigar cómo el turismo y la automatización trabajarán para crear un mundo en el que el turismo tenga unos patrones de producción y consumo más sostenibles.

Este artículo de perspectiva revisa los desarrollos pasados de la automatización en el turismo en el contexto de los patrones de producción y consumo sostenibles, las lecciones aprendidas de la pandemia COVID-19, y examina el futuro del turismo y cómo la automatización le ayudará a ser más sostenible en términos de patrones de consumo y producción.

Las conclusiones de este análisis sugieren que las tecnologías de automatización desempeñarán un papel importante tanto en la oferta como en la demanda de la industria del turismo y la hotelería, fomentando una mayor sostenibilidad del turismo. Mientras que las tecnologías de automatización tendrán el mayor impacto en el lado de la oferta en un futuro próximo, ya que dichas tecnologías se utilizarán para minimizar los residuos y el uso de energía, creando grandes ganancias para la protección del medio ambiente, las tecnologías también beneficiarán al consumo responsable. Los macrodatos y las tecnologías analíticas funcionarán de manera que se incite a los consumidores a adoptar prácticas de consumo cada vez más sostenibles.

Este documento de perspectiva sintetiza la bibliografía sobre los temas, a saber, la automatización y el ODS12 en el turismo, y apunta a una nueva e importante agenda de investigación futura. Se trata de uno de los primeros trabajos sobre turismo que combina la literatura sobre automatización y ODS12 para arrojar luz sobre el uso de la automatización en el consumo y la producción sostenibles en el turismo.

The six-axis force/torque sensor based on a Y-type structure has the advantages of simple structure, small space volume, low cost and wide application prospects. To meet the overall structural stiffness requirements and sensor performance requirements in robot engineering applications, this paper aims to propose a Y-type six-axis force/torque sensor.

The performance indicators such as each component sensitivities and stiffnesses of the sensor were selected as optimization objectives. The multiobjective optimization equations were established. A multiple quadratic response surface in ANSYS Workbench was modeled by using the central composite design experimental method. The optimal manufacturing structural parameters were obtained by using multiobjective genetic algorithm.

The sensor was optimized and the simulation results show that the overload resistance of the sensor is 200%F.S., and the axial stiffness, radial stiffness, bending stiffness and torsional stiffness are 14.981 kN/mm, 16.855 kN/mm, 2.0939 kN m/rad and 6.4432 kN m/rad, respectively, which meet the design requirements, and the sensitivities of each component of the optimized sensor have been well increased to be 2.969, 2.762, 4.010, 2.762, 2.653 and 2.760 times as those of the sensor with initial structural parameters. The sensor prototype with optimized parameters was produced. According to the calibration experiment of the sensor, the maximum Class I and II errors and measurement uncertainty of each force/torque component of the sensor are 1.835%F.S., 1.018%F.S. and 1.606%F.S., respectively. All of them are below the required 2%F.S.

Hence, the conclusion can be drawn that the sensor has excellent comprehensive performance and meets the expected practical engineering requirements.

This paper uses dialectical inquiry to explore tensions that arise when adopting Industry 4.0 technologies in a lean production system and their reconciliation mechanisms.

We conducted an in-depth qualitative case study over a 3-year period on an Italian division of an international electrotechnical organisation that produces electrical switches. This organisation successfully adopted Industry 4.0 technologies in a lean production system. The study is based on primary data such as observations and semi-structured interviews, along with secondary data.

We identify four empirically validated dialectic tensions arising across different Industry 4.0 adoption stages due to managers’ and workers’ contrasting interpretations of technologies. Consequently, we define the related reconciliation mechanisms that allow the effective adoption of various Industry 4.0 technologies to support a lean production system.

This is the first empirical investigation of tensions in the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies in a lean production system. Furthermore, the paper presents four theoretical propositions and a conceptual model describing which tensions arise during the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies in a lean production system and the reconciliation mechanisms that prevent lean production system deterioration.

Amidst the complicated nature of the UAE’s facilities management (FM) industry, the need to recalibrate the existing performance measurement (PM) system measures and criteria has been resonating to ensure their ability to capture the FM industry trends and dynamics, thus enhancing organizational excellence. Therefore, this research aimed to propose a specific PM tool to the country’s FM industry to accurately assess performance and establish strategic enhancements.

The study reviewed literature on the available PM systems to gather the available measures, which were presented to a focus group of seven participants, who were purposively selected based on their expertise in FM and PM implementation in the UAE to adjust them and add ones relevant to the UAE’s FM industry.

The focus group conducted various changes, from retaining certain measures and criteria, renaming them to simplify or make them more representative of the industry, ranking them based on their importance to limit their numbers, to finally categorizing them as enablers or results. Consequently, the final proposed tool was composed of nine dimensions with 51 measures as performance enablers and three dimensions with 11 measures as performance results. Seven measures were added by the experts, who highlighted their increasing popularity in the UAE’s FM industry.

Through addressing the critical void in literature, this paper develops a specific PM tool aligning with the intricacy of the UAE’s FM industry, thus providing proactive contribution to the industry’s effective and sustainable growth.

This study aims to investigate how to identify and address production levelling problems in assembly lines utilising an intensive manual workforce when higher productivity levels are urgently requested to meet market demands.

A mixed-methods approach was used in the research design, integrating case study analysis, interviews and qualitative/quantitative data collection and analysis. The methodology implemented also introduces to the literature on operational performance a novel combination of data analysis methods by introducing the use of the Natural Language Understanding (NLU) methods.

First, the findings unveil the impacts on operational performance that transportation, limited documentation and waiting times play in assembly lines composed of an intensive workforce. Second, the paper unveils the understanding of the role that a limited understanding of how the assembly line functions play in productivity. Finally, the authors provide actionable insights into the levelling problems in manual assembly lines.

This research supports industries operating assembly lines with intensive utilisation of manual workforce to improve operational performance. The paper also proposed a novel conceptual model prescriptively guiding quick and long-term improvements in intensive manual workforce assembly lines. The article assists industrial decision-makers with subsequent turnaround strategies to ensure higher efficiency levels requested by the market.

The paper offers actionable findings relevant to other manual assembly lines utilising an intensive workforce looking to improve operational performance. Some of the methods and strategies examined in this study to improve productivity require minimal capital investments. Lastly, the study contributes to the empirical literature by identifying production levelling problems in a real context.

Prefabricated building has been widely applied in the construction industry all over the world, which can significantly reduce labor consumption and improve construction efficiency compared with conventional approaches. During the construction of prefabricated buildings, the overall efficiency largely depends on the lifting sequence and path of each prefabricated component. To improve the efficiency and safety of the lifting process, this study proposes a framework for automatically optimizing the lifting path of prefabricated building components using building information modeling (BIM), improved 3D-A* and a physic-informed genetic algorithm (GA).

Firstly, the industry foundation class (IFC) schema for prefabricated buildings is established to enrich the semantic information of BIM. After extracting corresponding component attributes from BIM, the models of typical prefabricated components and their slings are simplified. Further, the slings and elements’ rotations are considered to build a safety bounding box. Secondly, an efficient 3D-A* is proposed for element path planning by integrating both safety factors and variable step size. Finally, an efficient GA is designed to obtain the optimal lifting sequence that satisfies physical constraints.

The proposed optimization framework is validated in a physics engine with a pilot project, which enables better understanding. The results show that the framework can intuitively and automatically generate the optimal lifting path for each type of prefabricated building component. Compared with traditional algorithms, the improved path planning algorithm significantly reduces the number of nodes computed by 91.48%, resulting in a notable decrease in search time by 75.68%.

In this study, a prefabricated component path planning framework based on the improved A* algorithm and GA is proposed for the first time. In addition, this study proposes a safety-bounding box that considers the effects of torsion and slinging of components during lifting. The semantic information of IFC for component lifting is enriched by taking into account lifting data such as binding positions, lifting methods, lifting angles and lifting offsets.

The purpose of this paper is to present an automatic approach for mesh sizing field generation of complicated  computer-aided design (CAD) models.

In this paper, the authors present an automatic approach for mesh sizing field generation. First, a source point extraction algorithm is applied to capture curvature and proximity features of CAD models. Second, according to the distribution of feature source points, an octree background mesh is constructed for storing element size value. Third, mesh size value on each node of background mesh is calculated by interpolating the local feature size of the nearby source points, and then, an initial mesh sizing field is obtained. Finally, a theoretically guaranteed smoothing algorithm is developed to restrict the gradient of the mesh sizing field.

To achieve high performance, the proposed approach has been implemented in multithreaded parallel using OpenMP. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed approach is remarkably efficient to construct reasonable mesh sizing field for complicated CAD models and applicable for generating geometrically adaptive triangle/tetrahedral meshes. Moreover, since the mesh sizing field is defined on an octree background mesh, high-efficiency query of local size value could be achieved in the following mesh generation procedure.

How to determine a reasonable mesh size for complicated CAD models is often a bottleneck of mesh generation. For the complicated models with thousands or even ten thousands of geometric entities, it is time-consuming to construct an appropriate mesh sizing field for generating high-quality mesh. A parallel algorithm of mesh sizing field generation with low computational complexity is presented in this paper, and its usability and efficiency have been verified.

New service businesses carry opportunities for industrial companies. The different cost management and management control implications of those service businesses deserve attention, which is a widely under-researched area in management accounting and control literature. Digital twins could hold potential in unveiling and supporting those new service business opportunities, as a unique approach of this paper. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to examine the possibility and potential for creating a digital twin of a service, especially to unveil the management accounting and control implications of the digital twin in developing new service businesses.

This paper investigates the potential of a digital twin in unveiling cost and control implications of new service businesses by examining the characteristics of a digital twin in the service business development context. The paper use an in-depth interventionist case study, where the designed animations illustrate the possibilities of a digital twin of a service. The animations showing the service process characteristics were first used as a communication tool and eventually those animations were actively used in customer cases for different purposes. This motivated the idea for examining the implications of such animations representing a digital twin of a service.

The paper provides empirical insights regarding the potential for developing and using a digital twin of a service for different cost management and management control purposes. The digital twin of a service may include all main details of a new service offering, simulating the functionality of a service, hence making the performance and the implications of the new service concept clear for all the stakeholders. The digital twin of the service enables defining the processes, setting targets and helps communication about the value generation. Thus, they represent a significant toolkit for the management accounting and control function of the manufacturers.

This paper is among the first attempts to understand the digital twin of the service. The paper is unique in providing financial and control implications of digital twins also in the context of service business development. The in-depth interventionist approach enabled an exceptional exploration process on the subject. The article paves the way toward further research on managing the digital twins of services in the future.