Technological development offers a wide range of new possibilities for implementation of
production processes. Continual production development is the main key to success and
competitiveness improvement, labour productivity and image-building for all manufacturing
companies. The article deals with designing of new workplace with implementation and
utilization of automated robot for faster and safer handling of cast stock. The new layout
of workplace is created in software Process Simulate.
The awareness of the growing importance of the complexity in creating a new type of a modern enterprise strategy and in introducing changes within planning, control and organizational structures contributed to undertaking studies on relationships occurring between the complexity of a modern enterprise and its flexibility in the sector of industrial automation, as well as filling the gap relating to the cognitive impact of poor complexity management on the flexibility of the company. The main objective of the research work is to check whether there is an important relationship between the complexity of the business and its flexibility in the industrial automation sector. Quantification of the relationship between these two quantities – the complexity and flexibility – happened by the use of the Multidimensional Correspondence Analysis (MCA) and Perceptual Maps. The study which has been carried out indicated that the flexibility and complexity functions in the enterprise management rise, however, the knowledge of these issues is highly insufficient. The research discovered that the obstacles which hamper striking a balance between the flexibility and complexity in their advanced stages exert a devastating impact on the quality of the process management. Reducing the flexibility at its higher levels generates a context in which the market risk is enhanced. Companies characterised by improper flexibility management bear higher workforce costs and their processes of decision-making last longer. Methodical and systematized study of flexibility and complexity will decrease the destructive influence of the interaction between these two categories.
Most of the developing countries economy largely depends on the agriculture. More than half of the population rely on agriculture related activities for their survival. In spite of dependency on agriculture, the technological development of agricultural work in developing country is not comparable to the countries like Australia or Israel. The main reason behind the lack of development is the small size of farms. Such farmers cannot afford expensive technology available in the market due to limited profit margins. The report describes an autonomous fertilization system that takes care of the fertilization requirements of the small scale farms at affordable rates. The system is divided in two parts namely User Interface and Control System. The user interface is designed using the state of the art Raspberry Pi board and a touch screen LCD. The control system is developed using the Arduino platform and can control five fertilizers at a time. The output of the system is the mix of the fertilizer, which is forced into the drip irrigation system of the farm. The system has built in data for the fertilization requirement for important crops and vegetation. The system also facilitates the customize fertilization requirements to be added in the system as per the user requirements.
The realization of digitalization in production companies – currently also referred to as Industry
4.0 – aims for reduction of internal value creation costs as well as costs for intercompany
collaboration and plays a key role in their current strategy development. However, related
strategy research still lacks to provide operationalized digitalization methods and tools to
practitioners with scientific rigor as well as real-world relevance. To challenge this status
quo, we present a scientifically grounded 14-step procedure model including 11 practically
tested tools, developed specifically for real-world application. The model leads practitioners
from their first contact with industrial digitalization, through the maturity assessment of
143 digitalization items, until the implementation of a KPI-monitoring system and a continuous
improvement process. We applied and re-worked the procedure model during three
years of application. Validation and Feedback from practitioners and scholars indicate, that
the model drives strategy development towards objective and data-based decision making
and increases stakeholder engagement in organizations considerably.
Ensuring the required quality of castings is an important part of the production process. The quality control should be carried out in a fast
and accurate way. These requirements can be met by the use of an optical measuring system installed on the arm of an industrial robot. In
the article a methodology for assessing the quality of robotic measurement system to control certain feature of the casting, based on the
analysis of repeatability and reproducibility is presented. It was shown that industrial robots equipped with optical measuring systems have
the accuracy allowing their use in the process of dimensional control of castings manufactured by lost-wax process, permanent-mould
casting, and pressure die-casting.
The scope of this work focuses on the aspects of quality and safety assurance of the iron cast manufacturing processes. Special attention
was given to the processes of quality control and after-machining of iron casts manufactured on automatic foundry lines. Due to low level
of automation and huge work intensity at this stage of the process, a model area was established which underwent reorganization
in accordance with the assumptions of the World Class Manufacturing (WCM). An analysis of work intensity was carried out and the costs
were divided in order to identify operations with no value added, particularly at individual manufacturing departments. Also an analysis
of ergonomics at work stations was carried out to eliminate activities that are uncomfortable and dangerous to the workers' health. Several
solutions were proposed in terms of rationalization of work organization at iron cast after-machining work stations. The proposed solutions
were assessed with the use of multi-criteria assessment tools and then the best variant was selected based on the assumed optimization
criteria. The summary of the obtained results reflects benefits from implementation of the proposed solutions.
The paper outlines the methodology of virtual design of a foundry plant as a system. The most important stage in the procedure involves the development of a model defined as a set of data about the system. Model development involves two stages: defining the model’s architecture and specifying the model data in the form of parameters and input-output relationships. The structure is understood as configuration of machines and transport units, representing the sub-systems and system components. As the main purpose of the simulation procedure is to find the characteristics of the system’s behaviour, the merits of the iterative method involving analysis, synthesis and evaluation of results are fully explored.
The work presents the results of examinations concerning the influence of various amounts of home scrap additions on the porosity of
castings made of MgAl9Zn1 alloy. The fraction of home scrap in the metal charge ranged from 0 to 100%. Castings were pressure cast by
means of the hot-chamber pressure die casting machine under the industrial conditions in one of the domestic foundries. Additionally, for
the purpose of comparison, the porosity of specimens cut out directly of the MgAl9Zn1 ingot alloy was also determined. The examinations
consisted in the qualitative assessment of porosity by means of the optical microscopy and its quantitative determination by the method of
weighting specimens in air and in water. It was found during the examination that the porosity of castings decreases with an increase in the
home scrap fraction in the metal charge. The qualitative examinations confirmed the beneficial influence of the increased home scrap
fraction on the porosity of castings. It was concluded that the reusing of home scrap in a foundry can be a good way of reduction of costs
related to the production of pressure castings.
The work presents the results of examinations concerning the influence of various amounts of home scrap additions on the properties of
castings made of MgAl9Zn1 alloy. The fraction of home scrap in the metal charge ranged from 0 to 100%. Castings were pressure cast by
means of the hot-chamber pressure die casting machine under the industrial conditions in one of the domestic foundries. The examinations
consisted in the determination of the following properties: tensile strength Rm, yield strength Rp0.2, and the unit elongation A5, all being
measured during the static tensile test. Also, the hardness measurements were taken by the Brinell method. It was found that the
mechanical properties (mainly the strength properties) are being improved up to the home scrap fraction of 50%. Their values were
increased by about 30% over this range. Further rise in the home scrap content, however, brought a definite decrease in these properties.
The unit elongation A5 exhibited continual decrease with an increase in the home scrap fraction in the metal charge. A large growth of
hardness was noticed for the home scrap fraction increasing up to the value of 50%. Further increasing the home scrap percentage,
however, did not result in a significant rise of the hardness value any more.
The work deals with technology Patternless process that combines 3 manufacturing process mold by using rapid prototyping technology,
conventional sand formation and 3D milling. It's unconventional technology that has been developed to produce large-sized and heavyduty
castings weighing up to several tons. It is used mainly in prototype and small batch production, because eliminating production of
models. The work deals with the production of blocks for making molds of gypsum and gypsum drying process technology Thermomold.
Into blocks, where were made cavities by milling were casted test castings from AlSi10MgMn alloy by gravity casting. At machining of
the mold cavity was varied feed rate of tool of cemented carbide. Evaluated was the surface roughness of test castings, that was to 5
micrometers with feed from 900 to 1300 mm/min. The dimensional accuracy of castings was high at feed rate of 1000 and 1500 mm/min
did not exceed 0.025 mm.