Combining World Class Manufacturing system and Industry 4.0 technologies to design ergonomic manufacturing equipment

In the era of the fourth industrial revolution, human has still a central role. Manufacturing industries have to deal with human sustainability in order to guarantee workers’ health and well-being. Several studies have proved the importance of ergonomics in workplace design and the benefits related to the adoption of the human-centered approach. The enabling technologies of Industry 4.0 are changing the role of the operator and can support him from a physical and cognitive point of view. On the other hand, companies are increasingly implementing lean philosophies, such as World Class Manufacturing, to maintain their competitiveness by reducing wastes and costs. However, the need arises for a comprehensive methodology to support the design of manufacturing equipment considering human factors by integrating Industry 4.0 technologies and World Class Manufacturing elements. It aims at improving both ergonomic and efficiency aspects of the workstation. The proposed methodology allows identifying and in-depth analyzing the problem, thus finding and implementing a solution that complies with all the requirements and constraints defined. Each step of the methodology can be strengthened by Industry 4.0 technologies. The methodology has been experimented in a real case study with a global company of agriculture and industrial vehicles, leading to the design and implementation of a new equipment. Relevant benefits in terms of ergonomics, efficiency, and process standardization have been achieved.

Diseño de una metodología para generar un plan de mantenimiento a través de la integración de RCM, WCM y Lean Manufacturing aplicable en procesos de trefilado de alambrón

Se presenta el desarrollo de cinco fases basadas en el Design Thinking (Empatizar, Definir, Idear, Prototipar, Evaluar) con el propósito de diseñar una metodología integrando herramientas de Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM), World Class Manufacturing (WCM) y Lean Manufacturing, la cual permita generar un plan de mantenimiento aplicable en procesos de trefilado de alambrón particularmente en una empresa mexicana del sector del acero. En las fases “Empatizar, Definir e Idear”, se identifican los problemas principales en procesos del sector del acero de empresas colombianas y una en México, planteando alternativas de solución basadas en las necesidades y realidades, considerando los Key Perfomance Indicators (KPI) esperados. Posteriormente se seleccionan herramientas acordes al problema y a las alternativas de solución planteadas. En las fases “Prototipar y Evaluar”, se integran las herramientas seleccionadas generando un plan de mantenimiento el cual es descrito y representado por un diagrama como evaluación de la metodología diseñada.

Industry 4.0 and World Class Manufacturing Integration: 100 Technologies for a WCM-I4.0 Matrix

In the last decade, technological progress has profoundly influenced the industrial world and all industrial sectors have been confronted with a change in technological paradigms. In such a context, this study aims to analyze the synergies between the technological world of Industry 4.0 and the purely organizational and managerial domain of World Class Manufacturing, a model of Operational Excellence. The objective is relating the driving dimensions of the World Class Manufacturing (WCM) system to the technological macrocategories of Industry 4.0: this would allow the identification of which technological solution to leverage on, aiming at optimization in a given World Class Manufacturing pillar. The result is a “WCM-I4.0 matrix”: a proposal to reconcile, exploit and trace the relations between the two complex concepts. The WCM-I4.0 matrix includes, by now, 100 Industry 4.0 technologies that best suits with the World Class Manufacturing pillars.

Designing a Sustainable World Class Manufacturing Model in the Automotive Industry in Iran

This study is functional in terms of purpose and descriptive-exploratory in terms of doing research. The method of data collection is library and field studies using a questionnaire tool. Those with relevant postgraduate qualifications and at least ten years of working experience, especially management experience in the automotive industry with a sufficiently motivated executive background to participate were chosen. In the quantitative section, the experts include nine executives and senior experts in the automotive industry who were selected through snowballing. The most important dimensions and criteria of a sustainable world class manufacturing model are identified by a theoretical literature review and interviews with the experts, and they were then screened and localized with expert opinions and fuzzy Delphi techniques. After collecting data through a paired comparisons questionnaire, the data were analyzed by using a fuzzy-dimensional network analysis process hybrid technique. The findings of fuzzy DEMATEL indicated that the dimensions of "environmental", "economic" and "social" sustainability help in achieving sustainable world class manufacturing.