Search results

The purpose of this paper is to discuss an example of modelling with experiments of robot prototype with dependent joint concept, including a full description of related functionalities. Reduction in active degrees of freedom in a machine can lead to improved accuracy, improved reliability and lower cost. The reconfiguration of machines and systems is a key technology for future responsive manufacturing systems. The concept of dependent joints helps to implement much specified sub-workspaces depending on functional needs in the machine.

This is inherently made possible using smart mechanical concepts having embedded sensors and reconfigurable control systems. This paper introduces structural reconfiguration systems and discusses a sample approach to functional reconfiguration.

A successful manipulator design with extended features when considering reduction in active degrees of freedom in a machine would lead to specific sub-workspace with improved accuracy, improved reliability and lower cost.

Reduction in active degrees of freedom in a machine can lead not only towards a dedicated functional workspace but also towards improved accuracy, improved reliability and lower cost.

This paper is of value to engineers and researchers developing robotic manipulators for use in various aspects of industry.

The purpose of this paper is to develop the methodology which can facilitate the concept of reconfiguration in the manufacturing system.

Design methodology includes the calculation of similarity matrix, formation of part family, and selection of part family. ALC algorithm has been used for part family formation and three criteria have been considered for the selection of part family. These criteria are reconfiguration effort, under-utilization cost, and floor space cost. AHP has been used to calculate the weights of criteria and reference ideal method has been used for the selection of alternatives.

In the manufacturing system, machines should be grouped on the basis of reconfiguration cost. When the time period is less, light machines and Group 1 machines are added and removed. In the case study, the concept of reconfiguration is useful for families (A, B, C, D). Machines can be reused by adding/removing some modules of machines. The concept of reconfiguration becomes more useful when it is implemented with lean manufacturing. Lean manufacturing techniques Jidoka and Poka-yoke are used to increase the diagnosability of the system.

Industrial case study has been considered.

Market competition is increasing rapidly and it increases the demand and variety of products, due to which manufacturing enterprises are forced to adapt a manufacturing system which can adjust its capacity and functionality quickly at low cost. To reconfigure manufacturing system from one product/product family to another product/product family, changes can be done in hardware and/or software components in response to sudden changes in the market or in regulatory requirements.

An integrated approach for reconfiguration has been proposed considering the industrial application. It includes weighted Jaccard function, ALCA, AHP, RIM. The methodology for calculation of reconfiguration effort, under-utilization cost, and floor space cost has been presented for industrial case.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a “Reconfiguration Methodology” in manufacturing systems that they can become more economically sustainable and can operate efficiency and effectively. This methodology will allow customized flexibility and capacity not only in producing a variety of products (parts) and with changing market demands, but also in changing and reengineering the system itself.

Reconfigurable manufacturing system (RMS) is a philosophy or strategy which was introduced during the last decade to achieve agility in manufacturing systems. Until now, the RMS philosophy was based changing activities such routing, planning, programming of machines, controlling, scheduling, and physical layout or materials handling system. But the RMS concept can be based on the needed reconfiguration level (NRL), operational status of production systems, and new circumstances (NC). The NRL measure is based on the agility level of the manufacturing systems which is based on technology, people, management, and manufacturing strategies. The components of the manufacturing system design (MSD) consist of production system design, plant layout system, and material handling system. Operational status of production systems includes machine capability (flexibility) and capacity (reliability), production volume or demand, and material handling equipment in addition to the plant layout. The NC are also consisting of new product, developing the existing ones, and changing in demand.

Reconfiguration manufacturing systems from one period to another period is highly desired and is considered as a novel manufacturing philosophy and/or strategy toward creating new sustainable manufacturing systems. A new reconfiguration methodology for the manufacturing systems will be analyzed and proposed. Two Case studies will be introduced.

The suggestion of a new methodology of reconfiguration including the NRL (configurability index) and the operational status of manufacturing systems with respect to any circumstance is highly considered. The reconfiguration methodology also provides a framework for sustainability in the manufacturing area which mainly focussed on manufacturing systems design.

This paper aims to provide a method and decision support tool to enhance swift reconfiguration of Plug&Produce (P&P) systems in the presence of continuously changing production orders.

The paper reviews different production scenarios and system design and configuration methods and more particularly specifies the need of decision support tools for P&P systems that integrate configuration and planning activities. This problem is then addressed by proposing a method that helps reduce the solution space of the reconfiguration problem and allows the timely selection of the most promising reconfiguration alternative.

The proposed method was found to be helpful in reducing the reconfiguration alternatives that need to be considered and in selecting the most promising one for different orders. The advantages and limitations of this method are identified, and an illustrative test case of the approach is presented, corroborating the method applicability in the absence of large queues in the system.

This paper addresses a less explored domain within the P&P systems research field, which is the system reconfiguration. It proposed a method to support system validation and reconfiguration jointly with an illustrative test case. This represents an original contribution to the P&P research field, and it can have impact in improving agility and decreasing the complexity of reconfiguration activities to cope with constantly changing production orders.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a new performance analysis and measurement regarding reconfigurable manufacturing systems (RMS) taken into consideration new circumstances which include changes in the market demand, changes in a product design, and/or introduction of a new product. As the reconfiguration process is applied to a manufacturing system to improve the system's performance due to new circumstances, the RMS process has potential quantitative and qualitative measures.

The manufacturing system has a great impact on the performance measurement and the selection of the objectives to measure the performance is very important. These objectives include the critical requirements for a RMS and they are as follows: product cost, manufacturing response, system productivity, people behavior, inventory, and quality of the finished products. Because each criterion measure in a RMS is a potential source of evaluation, it should have a relative weight with respect to the other measures. First, each criterion will be measured individually. Second, these measures need to be evaluated through an aggregate quantitative metric because there is a lack of analytical techniques to analyze and evaluate both qualitative and quantitative measures.

Performance evaluation of a RMS from one circumstance to another is highly desired by using the new quantitative metric regarding updating (upgrading) the system for the next period based on the previous one. The results show that the applicable of using this new technique in evaluating the RMS. The results also support the new quantitative metric.

The suggestion of a new aggregate performance measurement metric including the all potential objectives is highly considered. This paper provides an insight into each objective individually to measure it. It is also used from 0 to 1 as range of measure to evaluate the potential and aggregate metrics toward next reconfiguration with respect to the existing one.

This research paper reports a novel genetic algorithm (GA)‐based approach for reconfiguration of radial distribution networks for real loss minimization and power quality improvement.

A fuzzy controlled GA has been used for efficient reconfiguration of radial distribution systems for loss minimization and power quality improvement. The special features of the proposed algorithm are: an improved chromosome coding/decoding for network representation so as to preserve the radial property without islanding any load after reconfiguration and an efficient convergence characteristics attributed to fuzzy controlled mutation.

The proposed network reconfiguration algorithm is very much effective in arriving at the global optimal solution (minimum loss network structure) because of efficient search of the solution space. Also, no invalid chromosomes are generated in the genetic evolution because of appropriate coding/decoding. The algorithm is found to be very much suitable for real time implementations.

This research paper provides the power distribution engineers with a computationally efficient approach for optimal operation of distribution systems.

The algorithm proposed in this paper is computationally much faster compared to most of the present day mathematical programming approaches for distribution system operation. This makes it very much attractive for online implementations in any radial distribution network.

This paper has proposed a novel chromosome coding/decoding technique for radial distribution system and a fuzzy logic‐based mutation probability controller for efficient search of global solution space to be used in GA‐based optimal operation of radial distribution systems.

In the vast majority of published papers, the optimal allocation of photovoltaic distributed generation (PVDG) units and reconfiguration problems are proposed along with the number of PVDG used in the simulation. However, optimisation without selecting the number of PVDG units installed in the distribution grid is insufficient to achieve a better operational performance of power systems. Moreover, multi-objective installation of PVDG units and reconfiguration aims to simultaneously relieve congestion problems, improve voltage profile and minimise the active and reactive power losses. Therefore, this paper aims to propose a new modified camel algorithm (NMCA) to solve multi-objective problems considering radial distribution system to achieve secure and stable operation of electric power system with good performance.

In this paper, the decision variables include the location and size of PVDG units with specific rang to determine the number of PVDG units needed to install and open network lines determined using NMCA based on the L_∞ technique. This also satisfies the operating and radial constraints. Furthermore, a benchmark comparison with different well known optimisation algorithms has been made to confirm the solutions. Finally, an analysis of the findings was conducted, and the feasibility of solutions was fully verified and discussed.

Two test systems – the institute of electrical and electronics engineers (IEEE) 33-bus and IEEE 69-bus, were used to examine the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. The findings obtained amply proved the efficiency and superiority of the NMCA algorithm over the other different optimisation algorithms.

The proposed approach is applied to solve the installation PVDG unit’s problem and reconfiguration problem in the radial distribution system, satisfying the operating and radial constraints. Also, it minimises active and reactive power losses and improves voltage profile.

In manufacturing, dedicated machine tools and flexible machine tools are failing to satisfy the ever-changing manufacturing demands of short life cycles and dynamic nature of products. These machines are limited when new product designs are introduced. The solution lies in developing responsive machines that can be adjusted or be changed functionally when these change requirements arise. These machines are reconfigurable machines which are becoming the new focus, as they rapidly respond to product variety and volume changes. A sheet metal working machine known as a reconfigurable guillotine shear and bending press machine (RGS&BPM) has been developed. The purpose of this paper is to present a methodology, function-oriented design approach (FODA), which was developed for the design of the RGS&BPM.

The design of the machine is based on the six principles of reconfigurable manufacturing systems (RMSs), namely, modularity, scalability integrability, convertibility, diagnosability and customisability. The methodology seeks to optimise the design process of the RGS&BPM through a design of modules that make up the machine, enable its conversion and reconfiguration. The FODA is focussed on function identification to select the operational function required. Two main functions are recognised for the machine, these being cutting and bending; hence, the design revolves around these two and reconfigurability.

The developed design methodology was tested in the design of a prototype for the reconfigurable guillotine shear and bending press machine. The prototype is currently being manufactured and will be subjected to functional tests once completed. This paper is being presented not only to present the methodology by to show and highlight its practical applicability, as the prototype manufacturers have been enthusiastic about this new approach.

The research was limited to the design methodology for the RGS&BPM, the machine which has been designed to completion using this methodology, with prototype being manufactured.

This study presents critical steps and considerations in the development of reconfigurable machines. The main thrust being to explore the best possibility of developing the machines with dual functionality that will assist in availing the technology to manufacturer. As the machine has been development, the success of the design can be directly attributed to the FODA methodology, among other contributing factors. It also highlights the significance of the principles of RMS in reconfigurable machine design.

The RGS&BM machine is an answer for the small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs), as the machine replaces two machines with one, and the methodology ensures its affordable design. It contributes immensely to the machine availability by eliminating trial and error approaches.

This study presents a new approach to the design of reconfigurable dual machines using principles of RMS. As the targeted market is the SME, it is not limited to that as any entrepreneur may use the machine to their advantage. The design methodology presented contributes to the body of knowledge in dual reconfigurable machine tool design.

To present a methodology for requirements specification for assembly system reconfiguration.

Industrial needs were analysed through a series of interviews with personnel involved in the design and sales process. This was then compared to reported research in literature and a new method has been derived and demonstrated.

An improved methodology for requirements specification leading to more efficient design and deployment of reconfigurable assembly systems.

Provides a structured mechanism for performing requirements specification tasks that are currently done on an ad hoc basis.

Owing to dual constraints including liability of foreignness and liability of origin when emerging multinationals internationalize, they inevitably face the challenge of overseas legitimation. However, few studies have explored how latecomers cross the threshold of legitimacy in the dynamic context of transnational operation. The purpose of this paper is to unravel the evolution process, triggers and specific strategies of overseas legitimacy threshold crossing of emerging multinationals.

Through the longitudinal case study of Haier Group and Goldwind Sci & Tech Co., Ltd, this study investigates the periodical characteristics of overseas legitimacy threshold crossings and the co-evolution among critical factors influencing the legitimation process in the host country.

First, it summarizes that the legitimacy threshold in the host country experiences a sequential process from pragmatic legitimacy to normative legitimacy, and finally cognitive legitimacy. It is an inevitable choice for emerging multinational enterprises to realize and sustain legitimation from passive adaptation to active creation. Second, it reveals that the triggers for crossing the threshold of overseas legitimacy include periodically dynamic factors – international network linkage and resource system reconfiguration, as well as cross-stage spiral interaction effects. Third, it determines the specific strategies for crossing the threshold of overseas legitimacy, namely, replacement, upgrading and reconstruction of organizational identity, and reveals the important role of insisting on the country-of-origin Facebook in promoting the legitimation.

This study enriches the legitimacy threshold crossing literature from an evolutional perspective, especially the traditional static legitimacy research. This study also reveals the key impacting factors – international network linkage and resource system reconfiguration – and their evolution process interacted with the legitimation process.

The emerging multinationals should break the stereotypes from developed markets in that only creating new cognitive patterns through active legitimate strategies can they truly cross the legitimacy threshold in the host country. The emerging multinationals also need to retain their own home country legitimacy traits – Facebook and balance the relation between the image of the home country and the image of host country.

This paper investigates the process of overseas legitimacy threshold crossing for emerging multinationals in a dynamic context of transnational operation, particularly with respect to the evolutionary role played by international network linkage and resource system reconfiguration.