INFLUENCE OF LOG LENGTH ON THE PRODUCTIVITY OF WOOD HARVESTING AND TRANSPORTATION

The selection of machines and the development of operating systems are the major challenge for reducing costs in harvesting and forest transportation. This work aimed to carry out a technical analysis of harvesting and forest transport activities in two different log lengths (6 and 7m). The operational cycles of the Harvester, Forwarder and combined road train vehicle in mechanized harvest areas were evaluated. The technical analysis was performed through studies of times and movements, determining the operational efficiency and productivity of the machines. According to the results, processing consumed most of the harvester's operational cycle, while in the forwarder, the most time was consumed 35,2 and 45,2 m³·he-1 and 42,84 and 75,42 m³.he-¹. The larger log size led to an increase in the productivity of the harvester by 28% and the forwarder by 48%. Among the studied models of road train vehicles, the one that showed the best results both in the analysis made with a length of 6 m and 7 m, was the dimensions with 2.35 m in width and 2.85 in height. These vehicles had a total gross weight of 63.52 tonnes for logs with a length of 6m and 69.17 tons for logs of 7m, with an 8.17% higher performance compared to 6m logs. With the obtained results it can be concluded that the increase in the length of the logs increased the productivity and the performance of the harvest and the forest transport.

Industrial Automation Using Internet of Things

This chapter presents a comprehensive view of Industrial Automation using internet of things (IIoT). Advanced Industries are ushering in a new age of physical production backed by the information-based economy. The term Industrie 4.0 refers to the 4th paradigm shift in production, in which intelligent manufacturing technology is interconnected with physical machines. IIoT is basically a convergence of industrial systems with advanced, near-real-time computing and analytics, powered by low cost and low power sensing devices leveraging global internet connectivity. The key benefits of Industrial IoT systems are a) improved operational efficiency and productivity b) reduced maintenance costs c) improved asset utilization, monitoring and maintenance d) development of new business models e) product innovation and f) enhanced safety. Key parameters that impact Industrial Automation are a) Security b) Data Integrity c) Interoperability d) Latency e) Scalability, Reliability, and Availability f) Fault tolerance and Safety, and g) Maintainability, Serviceability, and Programmability.

The role of institutional potential and social entrepreneurship as the main drivers of business opportunity and competitiveness

Institutional potential plays a key role in creating business opportunities. However, past studies did not emphasize on the consistency and the interaction between institutional and entrepreneurial potential-shaping factors. This research aimed to explore the role of these two aspects in spotting market gaps and encouraging competitiveness. Mixed methods were used, with basic concepts focusing on new institutional economic theory. The results showed that standardization, commercialization, technology, productivity, invention, social capital, and human capital strengthened institutional potential and social entrepreneurship. This created more ventures and encouraged competition. However, there is a need to eliminate institutional barriers to improve the efficiency and productivity of the socio-cultural-economic systems.

Dynamic assessment of agro-industrial sector efficiency and productivity changes among G20 nations

In this study, the Group of 20 (G20; excluding EU economies) were selected as the research objects, and the dynamic network slacks-based model (SBM) was used to evaluate the impact of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and forested area on the efficiency and productivity of the industrial and agricultural sectors from 2011 to 2015. Empirical results showed that: (1) The efficiency of the industrial sector was superior to that of the agricultural sector among the G20 countries. Argentina, Australia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, and the US maintained the best industrial sector efficiency values, falling on the efficiency boundary, whereas Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, Indonesia, South Korea, Russia, and the US had the best agricultural sector efficiency values. (2) Argentina, Indonesia, and the US had the best overall efficiency value of G20 countries. Saudi Arabia (0.0303), China (0.2721), and the UK (0.2809) had the lowest efficiency values. (3) Only France and Germany had higher than average total factor productivity, while Indonesia and Saudi Arabia had declining industrial and agricultural sector productivity. (4) The proportion of forested area (546.02%) was the most important variable to be improved due to the influence of desert topography, followed by the proportion of agricultural output values (60.86%) and the proportion of industrial output values (38.02%) in some countries.

Experimental Study and Improving the Productivity of Assembly line Balancing in Teleja Garment Manufacturing in Ethiopia

This study is designed to assess and improve apparel sewing section efficiency and productivity throughout line balancing. Apparel industry is one of the oldest and among the most global industry, being primarily concerned with the design and production of cloth and their supply. The central process in apparel manufacturing is the joining together of components which is known as the sewing process , which is the most labour intensive type of manufacturing process .Proper utilization of resources in garment sewing section is more critical to enhance the performance of the apparel industry by reducing production cost and minimizing wastage. For effective utilization of resources in the sewing section, good line balancing is important to increase productivity and production efficiency. This research was a design to analyse and improve the assembling line in the case of Telaje garment manufacturing and sales plc. The study was first conduct observations in the production floor and start work with the selection of sewing line in the garment production process. Among the nine lines of the factory select one on the production floor and one garment ordered product known as five pocket men’s jeans trousers are selected. For this study, both qualitative and quantitative research approaches were employed. Both primary and secondary data sources are used to detail the collected relevant data to understand the current efficiency scenario of the factory. The main challenges to minimizing line efficiency and productivity with the expected performance measurement are improper utilization of resources and improper implementation of line balancing in sewing section, therefore this thesis work shows that the bottleneck process and consequence solution will be searched, and finally significantly improving the productivity by 418 unit products/ day and, hence the efficiency will increase from 28.83% to 50.04% of the line