Browsing by Author "Santos, Fernando Charrua"
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- Active Learning “Factory of Boxes” in the Teaching-Learning Processes in Engineering and EntrepreneurshipPublication . Silva, Ricardo; Garcez, Ana; Gomes, Maria; Morais, António; Lima, Tânia M.; Santos, Fernando Charrua; Franco, Mário"Factory of Boxes” is an Active Learning (AL) where concepts related to Industrial Engineering, Mechanics, Mechatronics, Electrotechnics and Entrepreneurial Management can be cultivated. The interconnection of these concepts offers the possibility of developing occupational related skills in the most diverse areas of knowledge. It is the use of AL, simulating the method of a factory which produces cardboard boxes in different layouts and production systems, namely: (a) Classic Taylorist-Fordist Model; (b) Positions’ Enrichment Volvo Model; (c) cell production Toyota Model; and (d) automated line Taylorist-Fordist Classic Model. Data collection was based on observation, counting and recording production in a simulated test at two Universities (UFPB – Brazil and UBI – Portugal) involving master students in Industrial Engineering. The data were analysed from the aspects of productivity and cycle-time. The results showed: (a) It is an economically viable AL since it uses low-cost materials (except for simulating with automated posts which requires some investment) and (b) the Classic Model has the highest cycle-time and the Toyota Model has higher productivity, although these results derive from simulations with a teaching-learning aim and cannot be generalized. With the involvement of students-apprentices, knowledge was absorbed through layout-sharing and analysis of work organisation models’ dynamics, involving activities using Engineering, Industrial Management and Entrepreneurship tools and concepts.
- Assessment of the energy consumption and technologies in the bakery and pastry sectorPublication . Morais, Diogo Cerqueira; Gaspar, Pedro Dinis; Silva, Pedro Dinho da; Santos, Fernando Charrua; Andrade, Luís P.; Nunes, JoséNowadays, all industry, including the agri-food sector, faces the urgent need to increase its competitiveness in order to survive in a global market. In this context, it is vital to ensure a strong, renewed and innovative industrial base throughout all stages of the value chain, capable of competing internationally and differentiating itself by the quality of its products and services. Since wealth generation cannot be dissociated from productivity, which in turn is closely related to the trinomial: processes, technologies and quality, it is concluded that the implementation of this strategy requires a commitment to the qualification of organizational management, operational management, project management and processes and productive systems themselves and associated technologies. This paper presents the characterization of the energy consumption and technologies in bakery and pastry sector, one of the most significant in the Portuguese agri-food sector, by the analysis of the existing knowledge and information as well as from audits conducted in 17 companies distributed along North, Center and Alentejo regions. The results of this characterization aim to support the guidelines for training the SMEs of this sector in energy efficiency and for the adoption of new technologies in the production process based on Information and Communication Technologies & Electronics (ICTE).
- Automatic fruit thinning: perspectives and challengesPublication . Lopes, Marco; Gaspar, Pedro Dinis; Santos, Fernando Charrua; Simões, Maria PaulaA monda manual permanece ainda como sendo a tecnica predominate na monda de frutos. As solucoes alternatives encontradas na literatura baseiam-se num de dois conceitos: veio rotativo com elementos de impacto fleciveis e dispositivo vibratorio, apresentando ambos um carater nao seletivo.Este artigo faz uma breve descricao dessas solucoes, assim como das tecnicas de sensorizacao de productos hotofruticolas investigadas e aplicadas ate a data no campo e em ambiente industrial. Com base nos problemas, possibilidades observadas e o suporte de literatura adicional, surgerem-se possiveis linhas de desenvolvimento de sistemas e configuracoes de atuacao e sensorizacao, evidenciando as vantagens e os desafios das respetivas implementacoes.
- Challenges and Opportunities Towards an Industry 4.0 ProductionPublication . Santos, Beatrice Paiva; Santos, Fernando Charrua; Lima, Tânia M.Industry 4.0 (the fourth industrial revolution) encapsulates future industry development trends to achieve more intelligent manufacturing processes, including reliance on Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), construction of Cyber-Physical Production Systems (CPPS), and implementation and operation of smart factories. This paper introduces relevant aspects of Industry 4.0 in relation to strategic planning, key technologies, opportunities, and challenges. Strategic planning includes construction of a CPS network, discussion of two major themes which are based on the smart factory and intelligent production, achieving three integrations (horizontal integration, vertical integration and end-to-end integration) and achieving eight plans which consist of the formulation of system standardization, efficient management etc. Finally, it referred to the enlightenment for China's manufacturing industries, to build China's Industry 4.0.
- Cognitive Manufacturing in Industry 4.0 towards Cognitive Load reduction: A Conceptual FrameworkPublication . Carvalho, Adriana Raquel Ventura; Chouchene, Amal; Lima, Tânia M.; Santos, Fernando CharruaCognitive manufacturing utilizes cognitive computing, the industrial Internet of things (IoT), and advanced analytics to upgrade manufacturing processes in manners that were not previously conceivable. It enables associations to improve major business measurements, for example, productivity, product reliability, quality, and safety, while decreasing downtime and lowering costs. Considering all the facts that can prejudice the manufacturing performance in Industry 4.0, the cognitive load has received more attention, since it was previously neglected with respect to manufacturing industries. This paper aims to investigate what causes cognitive load reduction in manufacturing environments, i.e., human–computer interaction technologies that reduce the identified causes and the applications of cognitive manufacturing that use the referred technologies. Thus, a conceptual framework that links cognitive manufacturing to a reduction of the cognitive load was developed.
- Computational tool to foster systematic thinking and sustainable environmental conscience in the selection of energy sources systems in agrifood companiesPublication . Zocca, Renan Oliveira; Lima, T.M.; Gaspar, Pedro Dinis; Santos, Fernando CharruaThe agrifood sector is mainly composed by small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The large majority of these companies does not have the resources, either financial or human, to develop or use with tailored computational systems aimed to improve the organizational management of the company. There are undeniable advantages of the extended use of real-time software systems like Enterprise Resources Management (ERP) or Customer Relationship Management (CRM) devoted to practices, strategies and technologies in the integrated management and interaction between all sectors of companies. However, these SMEs have limited resources to implement and use the abovementioned solutions, which in turns may reflect on the competitiveness. This paper describes an easy and expedite computational tool to help the decision-making concerning the selection of energy sources systems in agrifood companies. The tool provides an overview of types of energy sources used in specific agrifood sectors, as well as their major sources of pollution. Several scenarios (balance between energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions) are predicted to help decision-making on these topics. These scenarios results are compared with the average results of the specific agrifood sector. The results are also provided graphically to help an easy and expedite analysis. The use of this tool aims to foster systematic thinking and sustainable environmental conscience, promoting the energy efficiency and consequently improving the competitiveness by reducing one of today’s largest fixed costs of companies: energy consumption. Additionally, this tool also provides a prediction of the greenhouse gas emissions, to help a more sustainable and responsible commitment with the environment. The main goal of this tool is to provide the opportunity to perform individualized analysis of scenarios of energy-sources mix leading to the improvement of the performance of companies, and implementing a new thinking of continuous improvement, in order to increase competitiveness.
- Concurso de Pontes de Esparguete: Engenho e CriatividadePublication . Guerman, Anna; Gaspar, Pedro Dinis; Fael, Paulo; Fernandes, Carlos; Espírito Santo, António; Ribeiro, Bruno; Santos, Fernando CharruaO principal objectivo do concurso de Pontes de Esparguete promovido pelos Departamentos de Engenharia Electromecânica e de Engenharia Civil é incentivar as capacidades criativas dos alunos aplicando os conhecimentos adquiridos no projecto de uma ponte executada com um material tão comum como o esparguete. Este evento visa aumentar o interesse dos alunos pela criatividade/investigação e pela procura de soluções engenhosas para os problemas propostos. Trata-se de um concurso já com nove edições, tendo sido o precursor em Portugal de eventos similares promovidos por outras instituições de Ensino Superior, Secundário e Básico. Neste artigo é apresentada a evolução do evento desde a sua génese, tanto ao nível das soluções encontradas pelos alunos para consecutivamente quebrarem os recordes de resistência, como pela motivação demonstrada na participação neste tipo de concursos didácticos destinados ao ensino da engenharia.
- Decision support system for the use of energy sources and pollutant emissionsPublication . Druczkoski, João Carlos Matos; Dias, Marco; Barandier, Pedro; Lima, Tânia M.; Gaspar, Pedro Dinis; Santos, Fernando CharruaNowadays, the energy demand presents a progressive and incessant growth, therefore it is crucial to design a program that balances the population’ energy need and the independence of non-renewable sources, which present increasingly scarce projections. Moreover, to assure a more sustainable energy production in search of attenuation of the concentration of pollutants emitted. To this end, a proposal is presented for Portugal, through a quantitative data analysis that can both safeguard the Portuguese population from energy shortages in the coming years, as well as the entire ecosystem, both locally and globally.
- Decision support system to assign food price rebates on the basis of quality declinePublication . Maciel, Vinicius Biasutti Pitol; Matos, Cláudia; Lima, Tânia M.; Gaspar, Pedro Dinis; Santos, Fernando CharruaIn order to reduce food waste, fruits and vegetables in special, in small and medium markets sizes, caused by loss of quality at the end of shelf life, an appropriate pricing method was created to maximize profit of seller. The method it was based on an acquisition of primary data, through questionnaires appropriate to the theme, and, subsequently, these primary data was used for mathematical modeling using a pricing dynamic method. As a last step this work, was development a spreadsheet application, where the seller can found a ideal point of order, size of stock and best price to sell. This way, using the application, the goal of reduction of food waste in fruit products is expected.
- Decision-making computationally aided in the management of energy sources used in agrifood industriesPublication . Zocca, Renan Oliveira; Gaspar, Pedro Dinis; Silva, Pedro Dinho da; Santos, Fernando Charrua; Andrade, Luís P.; Nunes, JoséIn an increasingly competitive society with an unfavourable economic environment, it is necessary for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to update themselves, thereby increasing their efficiency. Companies increasingly use computational tools to support the development of predictive scenarios in order to facilitate decision-making. However, the tools developed for SMEs are not always expedite and simple to use. The tool presented in this article intends to support the management of energy sources used by agro-industrial companies. It aims to facilitate and promote the implementation of a new culture of business management, in this sector so important at national level. The computational part is directed to support the decision-making on the selection of fossil or renewable energy sources to be used in a particular agroindustry, by presenting the average values of the energy consumption, cost and emissions associated with each selected energy source.