Supply chain risk management: An exploratory research in Brazilian aerospace industry

This paper aimed to analyse supply chain risk factors in aerospace industry. It was conducted an exploratory research at an important Brazilian aerospace company. This company has a major role at the global aerospace industry. Senior managers assessed risk factors such as quality, productivity, supply chain, business strategy, organisation, environmental and natural political, indicators, product management, and information system. Analytic hierarchy process was applied to prioritise these factors. The most relevant were quality and productivity. Copyright © 2011 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Evaluation of reusable cardboard box designs: Biomechanical and perceptual aspects

Reusable cardboard boxes can be ergonomically designed for internal transportation of dry products in industrial settings. In this study we compared the effects of handling a regular commercial box and two cardboard prototypes on upper limb postures through the evaluation of movements, myoelectrical activity, perceived grip acceptability and capacity for reuse. The ergonomic designs provided a more acceptable grip, safer wrist and elbow movements and lower wrist extensors and biceps activity. Biomechanical disadvantages were observed only for one of the prototypes when handling to high surface. The prototypes were durable and suitable for extensive reuse (more than 2000 handlings) in internal industrial transportation. Despite being slightly more expensive than regular cardboard, the prototypes showed good cost-benefit considering their high durability. Relevance to industry: Cardboard boxes can be efficiently redesigned for allowing safer upper limb movements and lower muscle workload in manual materials handling. New designs can also be extensively reused for internal industrial transportation with good cost-benefit. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.

Analysing green supply chain management practices in Brazil's electrical/electronics industry using interpretive structural modelling

Industries need to adopt the environmental management concepts in the traditional supply chain management. The green supply chain management (GSCM) is an established concept to ensure environment-friendly activities in industry. This paper identifies the relationship of driving and dependence that exists between GSCM practices with regard to their adoption within Brazilian electrical/electronic industry with the help of interpretive structural modelling (ISM). From the results, we infer that cooperation with customers for eco-design practice is driving other practices, and this practice acts as a vital role among other practices. Commitment to GSCM from senior managers and cooperation with customers for cleaner production occupy the highest level. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

Anaerobic digestion of stillage to produce bioenergy in the sugarcane-to-ethanol industry

Stillage is the main wastewater from ethanol production, containing a high chemical oxygen demand in addition to acidic and corrosive characteristics. Though stillage may be used as a soil fertilizer, its land application may be considered problematic due its high polluting potential. Anaerobic digestion represents an effective alternative treatment to reduce the pollution load of stillage. In addition, the methane gas produced within the process may be converted to energy, which can be directly applied to the treatment plant. The objective of this paper was to investigate the energetic potential of anaerobic digestion applied to stillage in the sugarcane ethanol industry. An overall analysis of the results indicates energy recovery capacity (ERC) values for methane ranging from 3.5% to 10%, respectively, for sugarcane juice and molasses. The processes employed to obtain the fermentable broth, as well as the distillation step, represent the main limiting factors to the energetic potential feasibility. Considering financial aspects the annual savings could reach up to US$ 30 million due to anaerobic digestion of stillage in relatively large-scale distilleries (365,000 m3 of ethanol per year). The best scenarios were verified for the association between anaerobic digestion of stillage and combustion of bagasse. In this case, the fossil fuels consumption in distilleries could be fully ceased, such the ERC of methane could reach values ranging from 140% to 890%. © 2013 Taylor & Francis.

Transmission Expansion Planning Via a Constructive Heuristic Algorithm in Restructured Electricity Industry

The transmission expansion planning problem in modern power systems is a large-scale, mixed-integer, nonlinear and non-convex problem. this paper presents a new mathematical model and a constructive heuristic algorithm (CHA) for solving transmission expansion planning problem under new environment of electricity restructuring. CHA finds an acceptable solution in an iterative process, where in each step a circuit is chosen using a sensitivity index and added to the system. The proposed model consider multiple generation scenarios therefore the methodology finds high quality solution in which it allows the power system operate adequacy in an environment with multiple generators scenarios. Case studies and simulation results using test systems show possibility of using Constructive heuristic algorithm in an open access system.

Integrated cutting machine programming and lot sizing in furniture industry

In this paper a mathematical model that combines lot-sizing and cutting-stock problems applied to the furniture industry is presented. The model considers the usual decisions of the lot sizing problems, as well as operational decisions related to the cutting machine programming. Two sets of a priori generated cutting patterns are used, industry cutting patterns and a class of n-group cutting patterns. A strategy to improve the utilization of the cutting machine is also tested. An optimization package was used to solve the model and the computational results, using real data from a furniture factory, show that a small subset of n-group cutting patterns provides good results and that the cutting machine utilization can be improved by the proposed strategy.

Evaluation of maturity levels in the management of product development: case studies in the capital goods industry

In recent approaches to the management of product development process (PDP), maturity levels have attracted the attention of practitioners and researchers. The CMMI model contributes to evaluate the maturity levels and improvement of the product development process management. This paper, based on CMMI model, analyzes the practices adopted in two companies of the capital goods industry, which develop and manufacture equipment upon request. It was observed that on account of market conditioning factors and different practices adapted to PDP management, these companies are at different maturity levels. One company is at the initial level of maturity while the other at the most advanced one. It was also noted that the application of CMMI model can provide improvement to PDP management, as well as present guidelines to achieve higher maturity levels, adequate to companies' needs.