Introduction: improving manufacturing performance through technology diffusion, implementation and management

The role of technology management in achieving improved manufacturing performance has been receiving increased attention as enterprises are becoming more exposed to competition from around the world. In the modern market for manufactured goods the demand is now for more product variety, better quality, shorter delivery and greater flexibility, while the financial and environmental cost of resources has become an urgent concern to manufacturing managers. This issue of the International Journal of Technology Management addresses the question of how the diffusion, implementation and management of technology can improve the performance of manufacturing industries. The authors come from a large number of different countries and their contributions cover a wide range of topics within this general theme. Some papers are conceptual, others report on research carried out in a range of different industries including steel production, iron founding, electronics, robotics, machinery, precision engineering, metal working and motor manufacture. In some cases they describe situations in specific countries. Several are based on presentations made at the UK Operations Management Association's Sixth International Conference held at Aston University at which the conference theme was 'Achieving Competitive Edge: Getting Ahead Through Technology and People'. The first two papers deal with questions of advanced manufacturing technology implementation and management. Firstly Beatty describes a three year longitudinal field study carried out in ten Canadian manufacturing companies using CADICAM and CIM systems. Her findings relate to speed of implementation, choice of system type, the role of individuals in implementation, organization and job design. This is followed by a paper by Bessant in which he argues that a more a strategic approach should be taken towards the management of technology in the 1990s and beyond. Also considered in this paper are the capabilities necessary in order to deploy advanced manufacturing technology as a strategic resource and the way such capabilities might be developed within the firm. These two papers, which deal largely with the implementation of hardware, are supplemented by Samson and Sohal's contribution in which they argue that a much wider perspective should be adopted based on a new approach to manufacturing strategy formulation. Technology transfer is the topic of the following two papers. Pohlen again takes the case of advanced manufacturing technology and reports on his research which considers the factors contributing to successful realisation of AMT transfer. The paper by Lee then provides a more detailed account of technology transfer in the foundry industry. Using a case study based on a firm which has implemented a number of transferred innovations a model is illustrated in which the 'performance gap' can be identified and closed. The diffusion of technology is addressed in the next two papers. In the first of these, by Lowe and Sim, the managerial technologies of 'Just in Time' and 'Manufacturing Resource Planning' (or MRP 11) are examined. A study is described from which a number of factors are found to influence the adoption process including, rate of diffusion and size. Dahlin then considers the case of a specific item of hardware technology, the industrial robot. Her paper reviews the history of robot diffusion since the early 1960s and then tries to predict how the industry will develop in the future. The following two papers deal with the future of manufacturing in a more general sense. The future implementation of advanced manufacturing technology is the subject explored by de Haan and Peters who describe the results of their Dutch Delphi forecasting study conducted among a panel of experts including scientists, consultants, users and suppliers of AMT. Busby and Fan then consider a type of organisational model, 'the extended manufacturing enterprise', which would represent a distinct alternative pure market-led and command structures by exploiting the shared knowledge of suppliers and customers. The three country-based papers consider some strategic issues relating manufacturing technology. In a paper based on investigations conducted in China He, Liff and Steward report their findings from strategy analyses carried out in the steel and watch industries with a view to assessing technology needs and organizational change requirements. This is followed by Tang and Nam's paper which examines the case of machinery industry in Korea and its emerging importance as a key sector in the Korean economy. In his paper which focuses on Venezuela, Ernst then considers the particular problem of how this country can address the problem of falling oil revenues. He sees manufacturing as being an important contributor to Venezuela's future economy and proposes a means whereby government and private enterprise can co-operate in development of the manufacturing sector. The last six papers all deal with specific topics relating to the management manufacturing. Firstly Youssef looks at the question of manufacturing flexibility, introducing and testing a conceptual model that relates computer based technologies flexibility. Dangerfield's paper which follows is based on research conducted in the steel industry. He considers the question of scale and proposes a modelling approach determining the plant configuration necessary to meet market demand. Engstrom presents the results of a detailed investigation into the need for reorganising material flow where group assembly of products has been adopted. Sherwood, Guerrier and Dale then report the findings of a study into the effectiveness of Quality Circle implementation. Stillwagon and Burns, consider how manufacturing competitiveness can be improved individual firms by describing how the application of 'human performance engineering' can be used to motivate individual performance as well as to integrate organizational goals. Finally Sohal, Lewis and Samson describe, using a case study example, how just-in-time control can be applied within the context of computer numerically controlled flexible machining lines. The papers in this issue of the International Journal of Technology Management cover a wide range of topics relating to the general question of improving manufacturing performance through the dissemination, implementation and management of technology. Although they differ markedly in content and approach, they have the collective aim addressing the concepts, principles and practices which provide a better understanding the technology of manufacturing and assist in achieving and maintaining a competitive edge.

The environmental impacts of technical change

The thesis is concerned with relationships between profit, technology and environmental change. Existing work has concentrated on only a few questions, treated at either micro or macro levels of analysis. And there has been something of an impasse since the neoclassical and neomarxist approaches are either in direct conflict (macro level), or hardly interact (micro level). The aim of the thesis was to bypass this impasse by starting to develop a meso level of analysis that focusses on issues largely ignored in the traditional approaches - on questions about distribution. The first questions looked at were descriptive - what were the patterns of distribution over time of the variability in types and rates of environmental change, and in particular, was there any evidence of periodization? Two case studies were used to examine these issues. The first looked at environmental change in the iron and steel industry since 1700, and the second studied pollution in five industries in the basic processing sector. It was established that environmental change has been markedly periodized, with an apparently fairly regular `cycle length' of about fifty years. The second questions considered were explanatory - whether and how this periodization could be accounted for by reference to variations in aspects of profitability and technical change. In the iron and steel industry, it was found that diffusion rates and the rate of nature of innovation were periodized on the same pattern as was environmental change. And the same sort of variation was also present in the realm of profits, as evidenced by cyclical changes in output growth. Simple theoretical accounts could be given for all the empirically demonstrable links, and it was suggested that the most useful models at this meso level of analysis are provided by structural change models of economic development.

A dynamic model for the activated sludge treatment of coke oven effluents

This is an Inter-Disciplinary Higher Degree (IHD) thesis about Water Pollution Control in the Iron and Steel Industry. After examining the compositions, and various treatment methods, for the major effluent streams from a typical Integrated Iron and Steel works, it was decided to concentrate investigative work on the activated-sludge treatment of coke-oven effluents. A mathematical model of this process was developed in an attempt to provide a tool for plant management that would enable improved performance, and enhanced control of Works Units. The model differs from conventional models in that allowance is made for the presence of two genera of microorganisms, each of which utilises a particular type of substrate as its energy source. Allowance is also made for the inhibitive effect of phenol on thiocyanate biodegradation, and for the self-toxicity of the bacteria when present in a high substrate concentration environment. The enumeration of the kinetic characteristics of the two groups of micro-organisms was shown to be of major importance. Laboratory experiments were instigated in an attempt to determine accurate values of these coefficients. The use of the Suspended Solids concentration was found to be too insensitive a measure of viable active mass. Other measures were investigated, and Adenosine Triphosphate concentration was chosen as the most effective measure of bacterial populations. Using this measure, a model was developed for phenol biodegradation from experimental results which implicated the possibility of storage of substate prior to metabolism. A model for thiocyanate biodegradation was also developed, although the experimental results indicate that much work is still required in this area.

Estudo do aproveitamento de resíduos PAE no desenvolvimento de materiais cerâmicos

This work presents a new ceramic material obtained through the incorporation of solid waste from the steel industry and known as dedusting powder PAE - in ceramic formulations based on clay, potassium and sodium feldspars, kaolin and talc. Formulations were prepared with ceramic residue levels of 0% (basic mass - MB), 2%, 4% and 8%, subjected to firing at temperatures of 1000 ° C, 1050ºC, 1100ºC and 1150ºC for periods of 15 min. and 120 min. The physicchemical and mechanical properties of these ceramic formulations were determined based on the firing temperature, residence time in the oven and the percentage of waste. Since the physicochemical and mechanical properties of the sintered materials were evaluated by chemical analysis techniques (fluorescence X-rays - FRX), particle size distribution, specific surface area, apparent density, structural analysis by diffraction of X-rays (DRX) and characterization of surface by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The magnetic response characteristics and the pattern of magnetic ferrites of the samples were analyzed in the assay conditions, having noticed that the saturation magnetic susceptibility depend on the sintering temperature of the material and it is associated with its crystal structure. From the analysis results, it was concluded that the ceramic material with better physical and mechanical properties is obtained when the 8% from PAE residue is added to standard formulation under the burn time of 15 minutes and temperature of 1150ºC.

Dust recovery practice at blast furnaces; an evaluation of settleable solids formation and recovery at mills in the Ohio Valley and a suggested proceedure [sic] for defining performance of wastewater clarifiers.

"Reference data publication."

Relación entre los riesgos percibidos por los trabajadores en minería subterránea y los accidentes de trabajo y enfermedades laborales

Introducción: La minería es considerada uno de los sectores económicos más importantes por su capacidad para generar recursos en su propio sector y en otros sectores como metalmecánica, agricultura e informática entre otros, y por su contribución al desarrollo socioeconómico sostenible de las poblaciones. Objetivo: Determinar la relación entre los riesgos percibidos por los trabajadores que laboran en minería subterránea en 3 departamentos de Colombia y los Accidentes de Trabajo (AT) y Enfermedades Laborales (EL). Materiales y Métodos: Estudio de corte transversal en 476 trabajadores de minería subterránea. Se incluyeron variables independientes (características sociodemográficas y laborales y percepción del riesgo) y variables dependientes (enfermedad laboral y accidente de trabajo), obtenidas a través de una entrevista directa aplicada por profesionales de la salud previamente capacitados. Para el análisis estadístico se utilizó la Prueba Exacta de Fisher, el Odds Ratio (OR) con el Intervalo de Confianza (IC) del 95%. Resultados: En los trabajadores de minería subterránea en los departamentos de Boyacá, Cundinamarca y Santander, se encontró relación estadística significativa entre la accidentalidad con la percepción de riesgo por iluminación (OR= 2.059, IC= 95%: 1.116, 3.798, p=0.013), percepción de riesgo por movimientos repetitivos (OR= 1.951, IC= 95%: 0.998, 3.815, p=0.034), percepción de riesgo por ruido (OR= 2.275, IC= 95%: 0.974, 5.312, p=0.039) y percepción de riesgo por manejo de cargas (OR= 1.778, IC= 95%: 0.969, 3.264, p=0.041). Conclusión: se encontró que existe una relación significativa entre la percepción de riesgo de los trabajadores de minería subterránea con accidentes de trabajo y que no existe relación entre esta percepción y las enfermedades laborales.

Hydrogen embrittlement in an AISI 1045 steel component of the sugarcane industry

This paper will present a failure analysis of a chain component, manufactured with AISI 1045 steel and used for sugarcane transport. During the fabrication process, this component is submitted to induction hardening, just on one surface, before the galvanizing process. The occurrence of surface cracks, during storage, disables the usage of these components. Chemical and metallographic analyses, tensile, fracture toughness, and hardness tests, and fractography were conducted in order to determine the causes of failure. The steel chemical composition was in accordance with AISI 1045. The metallographic analyses and fractography did not exhibit the presence of zinc into the cracks; this is an indication that the cracks occurred after the galvanizing process. Tensile and fracture toughness test results are as expected. The crack surface and the fracture toughness specimen surfaces showed two different fracture micromechanisms: dimples and intergranular. The delayed fracture associated with the predominance of intergranular fracture micromechanism at the induction hardened layer and the high hardness level is a clear indication of the hydrogen embrittlement. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

MICROSTRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION OF CP STEEL USED IN AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

This study aims to characterize the microstructure of the complex phase steel (CP). Using the conventional and colored metallographic analysis with 3% Nital etchant, sodium metabisulfite 10% and LePera. Techniques were applied in this work of optical microscopy, using, besides the lighting in bright field, dark field illumination of the reverse contrast in bright field illumination, the method of polarized light, which generates colorful contrast, providing a complementary identification phases present in the microstructure, and the system by differential interference contrast (DIC). The results obtained by metallography CP indicates that the steel has a microstructure composed of ferrite, retained austenite, bainite and martensite and precipitates arranged in a refined and complex morphology. Besides bright field illumination others' optical microscopy's techniques such as dark field illumination were applied.