Business Models of Packaging Machinery Manufacturers – Case Study

The goal of the study was to find a proper frame to understand business models and study business models of the chosen companies in packaging machinery manufacturing. Good practices and tips are searched from business models which have helped companies to success. Packaging industry’s future is also examined in front of different kinds of changes and the influence which they have on machinery manufacturer’s business models. In the theory part business models’ history and the best frame suitable for this study are presented. The chosen case companies have been discussed according to the frame, and they have been compared to each other to point out the differences. The good practices noticed in companies and according to information from other sources, new business model has been constructed including things that should be noticed while constructing a new business model. The information sources of this study where interviews, annual reports, companies presentations and web pages. The type of study was an interpretative case study.

Herpes simplex virus DNA packaging sequences adopt novel structures that are specifically recognized by a component of the cleavage and packaging machinery

The product of the herpes simplex virus type 1 UL28 gene is essential for cleavage of concatemeric viral DNA into genome-length units and packaging of this DNA into viral procapsids. To address the role of UL28 in this process, purified UL28 protein was assayed for the ability to recognize conserved herpesvirus DNA packaging sequences. We report that DNA fragments containing the pac1 DNA packaging motif can be induced by heat treatment to adopt novel DNA conformations that migrate faster than the corresponding duplex in nondenaturing gels. Surprisingly, these novel DNA structures are high-affinity substrates for UL28 protein binding, whereas double-stranded DNA of identical sequence composition is not recognized by UL28 protein. We demonstrate that only one strand of the pac1 motif is responsible for the formation of novel DNA structures that are bound tightly and specifically by UL28 protein. To determine the relevance of the observed UL28 protein–pac1 interaction to the cleavage and packaging process, we have analyzed the binding affinity of UL28 protein for pac1 mutants previously shown to be deficient in cleavage and packaging in vivo. Each of the pac1 mutants exhibited a decrease in DNA binding by UL28 protein that correlated directly with the reported reduction in cleavage and packaging efficiency, thereby supporting a role for the UL28 protein–pac1 interaction in vivo. These data therefore suggest that the formation of novel DNA structures by the pac1 motif confers added specificity on recognition of DNA packaging sequences by the UL28-encoded component of the herpesvirus cleavage and packaging machinery.

Multi-axis solutions in packaging machines in Europe

The objective of this thesis was to examine the potential of multi-axis solutions in packaging machines produced in Europe. The definition of a multi-axis solution in this study is a construction that uses a common DC bus power supply for different amplifiers running the axes and the intelligence is centralized into one unit. The cost structure of a packaging machine was gained from an automation research, which divided the machines according to automation categories. The automation categories were then further divided into different sub-components by evaluating the ratio of multi-axis solutions compared to other automation components in packaging machines. A global motion control study was used for further information. With the help of the ratio, an estimation of the potential of multi-axis solutions in each country and packaging machine sector was completed. In addition to the research, a specific questionnaire was sent to five companies to gain information about the present situation and possible trends in packaging machinery. The greatest potential markets are in Germany and Italy, which are also the largest producers of packaging machinery in Europe. The greatest growth in the next few years will be seen in Turkey where the annual growth rate equals the general machinery production rate in Asia. The greatest market potential of the Nordic countries is found in Sweden in 35th position on the list. According to the interviews, motion control products in packaging machines will retain their current power levels, as well as the number of axes in the future. Integrated machine safety features together with a universal programming language are the desired attributes of the future. Unlike generally in industry, the energy saving objectives are and will remain insignificant in the packaging industry.

Automatització d’una màquina de tall rotatiu

Molt sovint, a l’indústria de l’alimentació o de la cosmètica, hi ha promocions on s’afegeixen productes de regal; aquests els embalen amb un sleever (tipus de plàstic força rígid) que després retractilen. Aquestes promocions solen ser esporàdiques i canviants i això fa que no sigui factible la modificació de la línia de producció general per a realitzar-les. Per aquest motiu, moltes empreses disposen d’una petita màquina de tall rotatiu per a poder tallar els sleevers ells mateixos, i així tallar a molta velocitat i precisió aquestes petites produccions. Així doncs, esdevé molt interessant l’adquisició d’aquest tipus de maquinària. L’objectiu del projecte és fer l’automatització d’una màquina que pugui tallar aquest tipus de material ràpidament per fer-lo rentable

Lineaarisen hammashihnaservokäytön tilasäätö

Tuotantotehokkuus näyttelee yhä suurempaa roolia teollisuudessa, minkä vuoksi myös pakkauslinjas­toille joudutaan asettamaan suuria vaatimuksia. Usein leik­kaus- ja kappaleensiirtosovelluksissa käyte­tään lineaarisia ruuvikäyttöjä, jotka voitaisiin tietyin edellytyksin korvata halvemmilla ja osittain suori­tuskykyisimmillä hammashihnavetoisilla johteilla. Yleensä paikkasäädetty työsolu muodostuu kahden tai kolmen eri koordinaatisto­akselin suuntaan asen­netuista johteista. Tällaisen työsolun paikoitustarkkuuteen vaikuttavat muun muassa käytetty säätöra­kenne, moottorisäätöketjun viiveet, sekä laitteiston eri epälineaarisuudet, kuten kitka. Tässä työssä esitetään lineaarisen hammashihnaservokäytön dynaamista käytöstä kuvaava matemaatti­nen malli ja laaditaan mallin pohjalta laitteen simulointimalli. Mallin toimivuus varmistetaan käytän­nön identifiointitesteillä. Lisäksi työssä tut­kitaan, kuinka hyvään suorituskykyyn lineaarinen hammas­hihnaservokäyttö kyke­nee, jos teollisuudessa paikoitussäätörakenteena tyypillisesti käytetty kaskadira­kenne tai PID-rakenne korvataan kehittyneemmällä mallipohjaisella tilasäädinra­kenteella. Säädön toi­mintaa arvioidaan simulointien ja koelaitteistolla suoritetta­vien mittaus­ten perusteella.

Tuotantokoneiden pitoajat meijerialan yrityksessä

Diplomityön tavoitteena on tutkia, millaisia ovat Valion tuoretuotemeijerien tuotantokoneiden toteutuneet pitoajat suhteessa kirjanpidon pitoaikaan ja mikä pitoaikoihin eniten vaikuttaa. Tuotantokoneiksi luetaan tässä tutkimuksessa valmistus- ja pakkauskoneet sekä pakkauskoneiden jälkikäsittelylaitteet. Tavoitteena on selvittää myös eroja eri laiteryhmien ja meijerien välillä, ja mitkä syyt aiheuttavat nämä erilaiset pitoajat. Tutkimus toteutettiin sekä haastattelututkimuksena että taseeseen ja erillisiin konetietoihin tutustumalla. Tärkeimpinä käytettävinä teorioina on hyödynnetty erilaisten pitoaikojen määritelmiä sekä koneiden korvausmalleja sekä muita tutkimuksia pitoajoista. Vanhimmat valmistuskoneet olivat Tampereella ja uusimmat Jyväskylässä. Pakkauskoneista vanhimmat ovat Riihimäellä ja uusimmat vastaavasti Jyväskylässä sekä Tampereella. Jälkikäsittelylaitteista vanhimmat laitteet olivat Tampereella ja uusimmat Riihimäellä. Kokonaisuudessaan laitoksista nuorin on Jyväskylän meijeri, mihin merkittävin syy on koko prosessin uusiminen vuonna 2003. Tutkimuksessa kokonaispitoaika tuotantokoneille oli 10,8 vuotta. Yleisimpiä syitä jonkin laitteen vaihtamiseen meijereillä olivat pelko hygienian riittämättömyydestä, laitteen huonontunut kunto ja varaosien huono saatavuus. Tutkittujen Valion laitoksien tuotantokoneet ovat hyvin samanikäisiä verrattuna muiden tutkimuksien tuloksiin. Jatkossa Valion kannattaisi kehittää pitoaikojen seurantaa ja vuosittaisia tarkastuksia meijereillä.

Automatització d’una màquina de tall rotatiu

Molt sovint, a l’indústria de l’alimentació o de la cosmètica, hi ha promocions on s’afegeixen productes de regal; aquests els embalen amb un sleever (tipus de plàstic força rígid) que després retractilen. Aquestes promocions solen ser esporàdiques i canviants i això fa que no sigui factible la modificació de la línia de producció general per a realitzar-les. Per aquest motiu, moltes empreses disposen d’una petita màquina de tall rotatiu per a poder tallar els sleevers ells mateixos, i així tallar a molta velocitat i precisió aquestes petites produccions. Així doncs, esdevé molt interessant l’adquisició d’aquest tipus de maquinària. L’objectiu del projecte és fer l’automatització d’una màquina que pugui tallar aquest tipus de material ràpidament per fer-lo rentable

Modulare Logistiksysteme in der Prozessindustrie unter Einbeziehung von Industrie 4.0

Zur Gewährleistung einer kundenindividuellen, flexiblen Produktion, welche auch kleine Losegrößen kostengünstig produzieren kann, werden zukünftig Fabriken der Prozessindustrie nicht nur modular sondern darüber hinaus mobil sein. Zur Erreichung dieses Zieles werden neben Produktionselemente, auch sämtliche Logistikkomponenten in Containern zu Modulen zusammengefasst. Hierfür ist es notwendig Lager, aber auch komplexe Verpackungsmaschinen, zu konzipieren welche sich zusammen mit Produktionsmodulen, nach dem Plug-and-Produce-Prinzip, zu kompletten Produktionslinien verknüpfen lassen. Die Steuerung und Organisation erfolgt nach den Gedanken von Industrie 4.0.

Convergent evolution of PICIs-mediated phage interference

Staphylococcal pathogenicity islands (SaPIs), the prototype members of the family of phage inducible chromosomal islands (PICIs), are extremely mobile phage satellites, which are transferred between bacterial hosts after their induction by a helper phage. The intimate relationship between SaPIs and their helper phages is one of the most studied examples of virus satellite interactions in prokaryotic cells. SaPIs encode and disseminate virulence and fitness factors, representing a driving force for bacterial adaptation and pathogenesis. Many SaPIs encode a conserved morphogenetic operon, including a core set of genes whose function allows them to parasitize and exploit the phage life cycle. One of the central mechanisms of this molecular piracy is the specific packaging of the SaPI genomes into reduced sized capsid structures derived from phage proteins. Pac phages were classically thought to be the only phages involved in the mobilisation of phage-mediated virulence genes, including the transfer of SaPIs within related and non-related bacteria. This study presents the involvement of S. aureus cos phages in the intra- and intergeneric transfer of cos SaPIs for the first time. A novel example of molecular parasitism is shown, by which this newly characterised group of cos SaPIs uses two distinct and complementary mechanisms to take over the helper phage packaging machinery for their own reproduction. SaPIbov5, the prototype of the cos SaPIs, does not encode the characteristic morphogenetic operon found in pac SaPIs. However, cos SaPIs features both pac and cos phage cleavage sequences in their genome, ensuring SaPI packaging in small- and full-sized phage particles, depending on the helper phage. Moreover, cos-site packaging in S. aureus was shown to require the activity of a phage HNH nuclease. The HNH protein functions together with the large terminase subunit, triggering cleavage and melting of the cos-site sequence. In addition, a novel piracy strategy, severely interfering with the helper phage reproduction, was identified in cos SaPIs and characterised. This mechanism of piracy depends on the cos SaPI-encoded ccm gene, which encodes a capsid protein involved in the formation of small phage particles, modifying the assembling process via a scaffolding mechanism. This strategy resembles the ones described for pac SaPIs and represents a remarkable example of convergent evolution. A further convergent mechanism of capsid size-reduction was identified and characterised for the Enterococcus faecalis EfCIV583 pathogenicity island, another member of the PICI family. In this case, the self-encoded CpmE conducts this molecular piracy through a putative scaffolding function. Similar to cos SaPIs, EfCIV583 carries the helper phage cleavage sequence in its genome enabling its mobilisation by the phage terminase complex. The results presented in this thesis show how two examples of non-related members of the PICI family follow the same evolutionary convergent strategy to interfere with their helper phage. These findings could indicate that the described strategies might be widespread among PICIs and implicate a significant impact of PICIs mediated-virulence gene transfer in bacterial evolution and the emergence of pathogenic bacteria.

Detection of faults in a high speed packaging machine using a multilayer perceptron (MLP)

In high speed manufacturing systems, continuous operation is desirable, with minimal disruption for repairs and service. An intelligent diagnostic monitoring system, designed to detect developing faults before catastrophic failure, or prior to undesirable reduction in output quality, is a good means of achieving this. Artificial neural networks have already been found to be of value in fault diagnosis of machinery. The aim here is to provide a system capable of detecting a number of faults, in order that maintenance can be scheduled in advance of sudden failure, and to reduce the necessity to replace parts at intervals based on mean time between failures. Instead, parts will need to be replaced only when necessary. Analysis of control information in the form of position error data from two servomotors is described.

DNA packaging by L1 and L2 capsid proteins of bovine papillomavirus type 1

Encapsidation of circular DNA by papillomavirus capsid protein was investigated in Cos-1 cells. Plasmids carrying both an SV40 origin of replication (or) and an E. coli on were introduced into Cos-1 cells by DNA transfection. PV capsid proteins were supplied in trans by recombinant vaccinia viruses. Pseudovirions were purified from infected cells and their packaged DNA was extracted and used to transform E. coil as an indication of packaging efficacy. VLPs assembled from BPV-1 L1 alone packaged little plasmid DNA, whereas VLPs assembled from BPV-1 L1+L2 packaged plasmid DNA at least 50 times more effectively. BPV-1 L1+L2 VLPs packaged a plasmid containing BPV-1 sequence 8.2 +/- 3.1 times more effectively than a plasmid without BW sequences. Using a series of plasmid constructs comprising a core BPV-1 sequence and spacer DNA it was demonstrated that BW VLPs could accommodate a maximum of about 10.2 kb of plasmid DNA, and that longer closed circular DNA was truncated to produce less dense virions with shorter plasmid sequences. The present study suggests that packaging of genome within PV virions involves interaction of L2 protein with specific DNA sequences, and demonstrates that PV pseudovirions have the potential to be used as DNA delivery vectors for plasmids of up to 10.2 kb. (C) 1998 Academic Press.

A new chemorheological analysis of highly filled thermosets used in integrated circuit packaging

Chemorheology (and thus process modeling) of highly filled thermosets used in integrated circuit (IC) packaging has been complicated by their highly filled nature, fast kinetics of curing, and viscoelastic nature. This article summarizes a more thorough chemorheological analysis of a typical IC packaging thermoset material, including novel isothermal and nonisothermal multiwave parallel-plate chemorheology. This new chemorheological analysis may be used to optimize existing and design new IC packaging processes. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.