Strategies for ensuring safety with industrial robot systems

The use of industrial robots is considered from the viewpoint of the strategies employed to ensure health and safety. The British legal context for health and safety is reviewed as a background and a framework of strategies for ensuring safety is utilised to discuss research findings from 6 companies on 84 robots. Some problems with the systems' operations and the adaptations that resulted are considered. The study shows that the strategic means of hazard anticipation and control varied considerably, that systematic circumvention took place and that an over-reliance upon physical safeguards occurred whilst those related to people and their interactions with the systems were often neglected.     

循环经济产业系统的分室模型与模拟

通过构建循环经济产业系统结构,建立了资源循环利用的分室模型及其动态方程系统;定义了测量资源循环利用效率的循环倍数及其计算公式.模拟结果显示资源循环利用不仅能够实现自然资源的数量积累,提高资源循环利用效率,还能够通过产业创新优化循环经济产业系统结构,降低对自然环境的废物排放.本文所研究的循环经济产业系统的分室模型方法还可以用来检测区域经济系统,国民经济系统或生态产业园区等资源循环利用效率和环境排放程度.     

The robot cleans up

Imagine a large building with many corridors. A robot cleans these corridors in a greedy fashion, the next corridor cleaned is always the dirtiest to which it is incident. We determine bounds on the minimum s(G) and maximum S(G) number of time steps (over all edge weightings) before every edge of a graph G has been cleaned. We show that Eulerian graphs have a self-stabilizing property that holds for any initial edge weighting: after the initial cleaning of all edges, all subsequent cleanings require s(G) time steps. Finally, we show the only self-stabilizing trees are a subset of the superstars.     

集群自组织的复杂网络仿真研究

集群演进过程是一个很难进行实证研究的问题,影响因素的复杂性以及动态数据的匮乏严重制约了对集群演进的定量研究.基于传统管理理论和方法的局限性,尝试从复杂理论角度研究集群演进过程.首先认为集群演进实质上是自组织过程,然后再通过复杂网络聚类系数、度分布、平均路径长度、网络的时效和质量等指标,采用仿真模拟方法对集群自组织过程进行了量化研究.主要结论有:(1)在集群自组织过程中,企业会首先利用地理位置的优势广泛地与群内其他企业接触,通过不断学习过程,从而建立相对稳定的交流圈层;(2)给定企业不同的能力,每个企业所享受到的集群优势是有差异性的,而同一集群内部企业在自组织过程中会逐步产生趋同性;(3)集群自组织过程是企业总体从无序逐步到有序的自发过程,企业与环境之间,以及企业与企业之间都会呈现出相互适应而逐步稳定的趋势.     

A systems simulation model of the Kenyan economy

This paper describes a systems simulation model of the national economy of Kenya. The model contains an input/output production component linked to a consumption component, disaggregated into nine income classes. Capital formation and government are integrated into the model as interactive elements. The model is demand driven and thus growth rates in the productive sectors are generated endogenously as a function of demand. The model has been used by the Kenyan Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning for forecasting and policy evaluation problems. A contributory factor in the successful implementation of the model is its ability to supply detailed quantitative forecasts which, in a developing country, are not readily available from routine sources. In addition, the model deals explicitly with income distribution and inflation consequences which are issues of current concern to local development planners.     

Critical evaluation of simulation studies in maintenance systems.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how far simulation studies of maintenance systems are neglecting simulation-related statistical issues. This negligence may leave simulation results suspicious and hard to explain. Several simulation factors are used to identify the strength of executed simulation experiments and to evaluate the level of clarity and reliability of the simulation models. The factors includes purpose of simulation, simulation model, model assumptions, distribution and random variables, simulation languages and computers, program verification and model validation, design of experiment, and analysis of the output. For this purpose, the literature is reviewed and subjected to the evaluation. It is observed that most papers define clearly their objectives, simulation languages, and model performance measures. However, verification, validation, experimental design, and output analysis are the most unclear factors.     

Automated simulation modelling and analysis for manufacturing systems

Simulation is extensively used as a basis for the analysis and design of manufacturing systems. It has been steadily increasing in popularity due to the simplicity and ease of model understanding even by the non-simulationist. The popularity of simulation is also due to recent developments of easy-to-use simulation software. Simulation generators represent a significant trend in this direction. More recent developments include simulation expert systems both from the viewpoint of modelling and also statistical output analysis. The work that has been explained herewith is based on one such simulation generator that has been developed at the Center for Manufacturing Productivity and Technology Transfer at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. This system, RENSAM (RENssclaer Simulator for Automated Manufacturing) is an adaptive simulation generator and has an underlying structure that represents a FMS. The research that has been accomplished is the result of the constant efforts that are being undertaken to make RENSAM a complete decision making tool. In order to achieve what is envisioned, output analysis, optimization and sensitivity analysis routines have been added to the generic simulation and intelligent front end (IFE), The output analysis routine determines the experimental conditions under which the simulation is executed. The optimization routine searches for the optimal values for the parameters of interest and then sensitivity analysis is used to examine the relationship among various parameters. The sensitivity analysis that is presented has been developed taking into account various methodologies in this field.     

The role of government in industrial innovation

U.S. attempts to foster technological innovation include recognition of the significant role played by policy makers within the federal government. This research seeks to provide all policy makers, including those directly or indirectly involved in industrial innovation, with an analytical framework for tracing and evaluating the potential impacts of Congressional legislation as well as federal agency regulations and incentives on business operations, and potentially upon industrial innovation.     

Achieving manufacturing excellence through the integration of enterprise systems and simulation

This paper discusses the significance of the enterprise systems and simulation integration in improving shop floor’s short-term production planning capability. The ultimate objectives are to identify the integration protocols, optimisation parameters and critical design artefacts, thereby identifying key ‘ingredients’ that help in setting out a future research agenda in pursuit of optimum decision-making at the shop floor level. While the integration of enterprise systems and simulation gains a widespread agreement within the existing work, the optimality, scalability and flexibility of the schedules remained unanswered. Furthermore, there seems to be no commonality or pattern as to how many core modules are required to enable such a flexible and scalable integration. Nevertheless, the objective of such integration remains clear, i.e. to achieve an optimum total production time, lead time, cycle time, production release rates and cost. The issues presently faced by existing enterprise systems (ES), if properly addressed, can contribute to the achievement of manufacturing excellence and can help identify the building blocks for the software architectural platform enabling the integration.     

The next decade in industrial relations

This article is based upon a paper presented to a meeting of the Society for Long Range Planning. In it the author considers the future of industrial relations against the backcloth of the existing UK environment.     

A simulation study of performance of MRP based systems under interaction effects

This paper pertains to a study carried out on a typical Material Requirements Planning (MRP) based system. An integrated MRP based system was developed. This integrated package facilitates studying the effects of variations in Master Production Schedules (MPS), Bill of Materials (BOM) structure, inventory supports, lot sizing, capacity planning, scheduling rules and shop floor conditions. The system behaviour is captured using simulation. The direct and interacting roles of uncertainties, capacity variations, scheduling rules and lot sizing rules on the system performance have been studied in detail. The details of the system, the modules and their capabil-iiies and the analyses of results are presented in this paper.     

供应链分销系统优化及仿真

研究多个制造商多个分销商组成的分销系统, 综合考虑库存成本、订货成本、运输成本和 缺货成本, 建立了较为全面的分销网络成本模型, 以分销商满足市场需求时的服务水平作为优 化问题的约束条件, 求解成本优化问题. 然后, 给出了求解上述最优订货量的方法, 并用仿真方 法分析了价格参数及订货比例系数对总成本的影响. 结论表明: 随着运价参数b 的降低, 总成 本下降幅度较大; 分销商在地理位置方面的特征, 会影响分销商在不同供应商之间的最优订货 比例, 该比例不是越大越好, 也不是越小越好, 最优比例是居中的某个数值.     

The emerging medical/industrial complex. The industrialization of medicine

Until recently, the traditional practice of medicine has been thought of as a cottage industry practiced by individuals or small partnership groups. The transition of practice settings to large groups, multi-specialty groups, and corporations has paved the way to industrialization, with even larger health care organizations primarily managed by non-physicians. The similarities of these events to the industrial revolution and its impact on crafts guilds are striking. In order to understand this point of view, this article explores the function and influence of crafts guilds during stages of industrial development and the dynamics of the changes of employment needs and employability in an industrial environment as a comparison to what is happening in the health care field.     

The systems revolution

In this paper the author brings together a number of ideas which are presented more fully in his forthcoming book—Redesigning the Future (John Wiley and Sons, New York): This synthesis amounts to a digest of Part 1 of that book. The article is organized into 5 parts: The Systems Revolution; The Self-Control Problem; The Humanization Problem; The Environmentalization Problem and Science in the Systems Age.     

The application of industrial robots in the Soviet engineering industry

Despite its scale and impressive rate of development the Soviet industrial robotics programme has received little attention in the West. In many respects the economic and social conditions for the application of industrial robots on a wide scale are favourable, but many problems are being experienced in securing their practical adoption and effective use. The paper reviews the Soviet robotics programme, the difficulties being encountered and the manner in which they are being tackled.     

The NFC buy-out—A new form of industrial enterprise

When the Conservative Government's plans for floating the National Freight Company, Britain's biggest road freight business, on the Stock Exchange were delayed by economic factors, senior management in the business put together a scheme to buy NFC. In what became Britain's largest employee buy-out, with over 10,000 employees and pensioners putting up £6·187m of the purchase price, a new form of industrial enterprise was created. In this article Sir Peter Thompson, leader of the buy-out team and now Chairman of the National Freight Consortium plc, describes the background to the buy-out, the complex financial, legal and communications activities involved, and the way in which employee-involvement has become an integral part of the operation of what has proved to be a commercially successful business providing exceptional returns on investment.     

The economic effects of large industrial undertakings on rual economies

This paper uses an adaptation of the input-output method to test the impact of large-scale industrial undertakings on comparatively small and sparsely-populated areas. It explains how, firstly, a model was built based upon a specimen rural area and including a series of vectors which allow local demand to change as incomes change. The model was then generalized so that data could be inserted to simulate any similar area. The paper then explains the results obtained from inserting a large-scale industrial activity into the model.     

The control of industrial discharges to tidal rivers and estuaries

There has been far too much by way of a priori theorizing and far too little by way of empirical research into the economics of pollution both in this country and elsewhere. In this respect, the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution itself cannot claim to be an exception, at least at the present time. Yet, if any real progress in the control of pollution is to be achieved a great deal of complex and time-consuming research of a case-study nature is absolutely essential. This, more than anything else is the message, in the case of industrial discharges to tidal water, to be derived from this paper.