CIDEM - Centro de Investigação e Desenvolvimento em Engenharia Mecânica

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Publications

Lean and Ergonomics decision support tool assessment in a plastic packaging company

Publication . Brito, Marlene; Vale, M.; Leão, J.; Ferreira, Luís Pinto; Silva, Francisco J. G.; Gonçalves, Maria Antónia

This paper intends to apply and improve a workstation assessment tool called ErgoSafeCI. Lean manufacturing methods and guidelines, together with safety and ergonomics aspects, were thoroughly researched with the ultimate objective of finding a way to improve the workplace by considering the efficiency and well-being of workers. The assessment tool was applied in the plastics packaging sector, in a process which relied on both practical and theoretical ideas. This tool originates in the notion that for a successful Lean implementation, managers should start the Lean process with a Lean assessment which is then repeated on a regular basis. In addition, it is also important to integrate ergonomic conditions in this journey because ergonomic risks can sometimes result in Lean wastes and vice versa, so workplace ergonomics and Lean manufacturing are to a great extent inter-related. This tool aids practitioners in the assessment of the implementation of Lean principles and safety matters in their processes.

2020Conference object

Open access

ErgoSMED: A Methodology to Reduce Setup Times and Improve Ergonomic Conditions

Publication . Brito, Marlene; Gonçalves, Maria Antónia

The Lean manufacturing philosophy has been adopted by many different companies with the goal of responding to the economic recession which took place at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Two major motivators for this trend were reducing costs and improving customer satisfaction. Other than the known Lean methods, Human Factors and Ergonomics methods are also able to contribute to this emphasis. Thus, the creation of safe, effective workplaces emphasizing a human oriented approach, and the implementation of Ergonomics in business process management, represent two of the main conditions for the sustainable development of a company. Pinpointing the connections between Ergonomics and LPS enables us to address both at the same time. Besides, synergism between Lean and Ergonomics can be attained. The aim of this paper is to develop a tool in the form of a flowchart which will include the steps for integrating the single-minute exchange of die (SMED), a Lean tool, while considering Ergonomics. This flowchart (named “ErgoSMED”) has been validated by several case studies. We were able to demonstrate that synergism between Lean and Ergonomics can be reached. The ErgoSMED flowchart developed in this study is innovative because it combines Ergonomics with a SMED tool and is ready to be used in any production area by professionals or researchers

2019Conference object

Restricted access

A Model for the Multi-depot Online Vehicle Routing Problem with Soft Deadlines

Publication . Silva, Álvaro; Ferreira, Luís Pinto; Pereira, Maria Teresa; Neves-Moreira, Fábio

In many companies in the automotive industry there are challenges in some key processes in their logistic departments, mainly in internal logistics. These challenges happen due to poorly defined rules for the transportation of goods, resulting in a great cost associated with the time lost in the process. Also, the optimization of these processes, incrementing the efficiency of internal logistics can bring competitive advantages to the companies. For that matter, this study was developed at a major tire manufacturing company and proposes a model for the optimization of in-bound logistics, viewed as an online vehicle routing problem with soft deadlines (OVRPSD), using multiple depots. The main goal of this study is the increase of efficiency in logistic, optimizing the number of vehicles to supply the machines in order to reduce the stopping time of machines due to the lack of tires to consume.

2019Book part

Restricted access

One Dimensional Trim Loss Decision Support Tool

Publication . Ferreirinha, Luís; Baptista, Sara; Pereira, Ângela; Pinto Ferreira, Luís; Pereira, Maria Teresa Ribeiro

The topic Cutting & Packing (C & P) has been published in many papers, and its importance within many industrial sectors is undeniable. For these reasons, several studies have been carried out on the optimization of the cutting process in order to improve the utilization of the useful area or the useful length of the raw material. Thus, this work aims to develop a computational tool that resolves the problem of minimizing losses in one-dimensional cuts. This problem is often encountered in industrial processes, where the beginning of the transformation and production of the raw material corresponds to the cutting process. To do so, the cutting problem will be formulated, and the Open Solver supplement will be used to obtain the solution.

2019Book part

Restricted access