The Use of Ozone as an Eco-Friendly Strategy against Microbial Biofilm in Dairy Manufacturing Plants: A Review

Managing spoilage and pathogenic bacteria contaminations represents a major challenge for the food industry, especially for the dairy sector. Biofilms formed by these microorganisms in food processing environment continue to pose concerns to food manufacturers as they may impact both the safety and quality of processed foods. Bacteria inside biofilm can survive in harsh environmental conditions and represent a source of repeated food contamination in dairy manufacturing plants. Among the novel approaches proposed to control biofilm in food processing plants, the ozone treatment, in aqueous or gaseous form, may represent one of the most promising techniques due to its antimicrobial action and low environmental impact. The antimicrobial effectiveness of ozone has been well documented on a wide variety of microorganisms in planktonic forms, whereas little data on the efficacy of ozone treatment against microbial biofilms are available. In addition, ozone is recognized as an eco-friendly technology since it does not leave harmful residuals in food products or on contact surfaces. Thus, this review intends to present an overview of the current state of knowledge on the possible use of ozone as an antimicrobial agent against the most common spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms, usually organized in biofilm, in dairy manufacturing plants.

Knowledge Transfer through Computer-based Systems in Manufacturing Networks: A Study on Albanian Plants

This study shows a general view about knowledge transfer between manufacturing plants in developing countries like Albania, which are part of multinational companies’ network (MCN). Part of this goal is the study of computer-based systems from conference calls and intranets to more advanced ones like data warehouses, management information systems (MIS) and executive information systems (EIS), as enablers of knowledge flow and absorptive capacity. The paper examines four case studies based on semi-structured interviews, where the data collected highlight a good coverage of computer-based systems in function of knowledge sharing. In half of the cases, this is done internally in the plant and not over the network of plants. We propose to upgrade where possible the systems used in a distributed way to have data and information connections across the network. In some cases, emerge barriers such as lack of time, lack of tolerance for errors, or the need for assistance. Conclusions show that staff training related to computer-based systems in the optics of knowledge enablers is important for the companies, while the incentives are not considered as a key factor for knowledge transfer. Received: 15 July 2021 / Accepted: 23 September 2021 / Published: 3 January 2022

Collaborative Workplace Design: A Knowledge-Based Approach to Promote Human–Robot Collaboration and Multi-Objective Layout Optimization

The innovation-driven Industry 5.0 leads us to consider humanity in a prominent position as the center of the manufacturing field even more than Industry 4.0. This pushes us towards the hybridization of manufacturing plants promoting a full collaboration between humans and robots. However, there are currently very few workplaces where effective Human–Robot Collaboration takes place. Layout designing plays a key role in assuring safe and efficient Human–Robot Collaboration. The layout design, especially in the context of collaborative robotics, is a complex problem to face, since it is related to safety, ergonomics, and productivity aspects. In the current work, a Knowledge-Based Approach (KBA) is adopted to face the complexity of the layout design problem. The framework resulting from the KBA allows for developing a modeling paradigm that enables us to define a streamlined approach for the layout design. The proposed approach allows for placing resource within the workplace according to a defined optimization criterion, and also ensures compliance with various standards. This approach is applied to an industrial case study in order to prove its feasibility. A what-if analysis is performed by applying the proposed approach. Changing three control factors (i.e., minimum distance, robot speed, logistic space configuration) on three levels, in a Design of Experiments, 27 layout configurations of the same workplace are generated. Consequently, the inputs that most affect the layout design are identified by means of an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The results show that only one layout is eligible to be the best configuration, and only two out of three control factors are very significant for the designing of the HRC workplace layout. Hence, the proposed approach enables the designing of standard compliant and optimized HRC workplace layouts. Therefore, several alternatives of the layout for the same workplace can be easily generated and investigated in a systematic manner.

The State of Cybersecurity in Smart Manufacturing Systems: A Systematic Review

With the advent of the so-called 4th Industrial Revolution, personified in the globally commented Industry 4.0, there is a change in progress in manufacturing systems, provided by the development of communication and information technologies, adding an intelligence component in manufacturing plants, through the possibility connectivity and interaction throughout the production chain (intelligent manufacturing systems or cyber-physical systems). However, this new paradigm has an extremely sensitive component, which is the question of the security of the data that is transferred and of the production processes itself. Due to this premise, this article proposed to bring, through a systematic literature review, research about the academic works related to security in these new manufacturing structures (smart manufacturing systems), analyzing which strategies, methodologies, techniques, and technologies have currently used to learn about their vulnerabilities and mitigate possible attacks.

REVIEW: TEKNOLOGI PEMBUATAN SORBITOL DARI TEPUNG TAPIOKA

Sugar alcohol or sorbitol is a derivative product of carbohydrates, namely glucose through the hydrogenation process with hydrogen gas. The glucose used comes from flour, because the carbohydrate content in tapioca flour is considered the highest compared to other flour ingredients. Before the hydrogenation process is carried out, tapioca flour is enzymatically hydrolyzed so that the starch is broken down into glucose. The process of making sorbitol can be done in two ways, namely the electrolysis reduction process and the hydrogenation process with the help of a nickel catalyst. This literature study aims to determine the technology for making sorbitol and its advantages and disadvantages, both in terms of product and process, so that it can be used as a reference in selecting processes in sorbitol manufacturing plants. The catalytic hydrogenation process has advantages, namely the resulting yield is greater and the operating costs are relatively cheaper. The catalytic hydrogenation process also has several disadvantages, namely that it requires good safety handling because it requires high pressure in the process.

Model-Based Planning and Delivery of Mass Vaccination Campaigns against Infectious Disease: Application to the COVID-19 Pandemic in the UK

Vaccination plays a key role in reducing morbidity and mortality caused by infectious diseases, including the recent COVID-19 pandemic. However, a comprehensive approach that allows the planning of vaccination campaigns and the estimation of the resources required to deliver and administer COVID-19 vaccines is lacking. This work implements a new framework that supports the planning and delivery of vaccination campaigns. Firstly, the framework segments and priorities target populations, then estimates vaccination timeframe and workforce requirements, and lastly predicts logistics costs and facilitates the distribution of vaccines from manufacturing plants to vaccination centres. The outcomes from this study reveal the necessary resources required and their associated costs ahead of a vaccination campaign. Analysis of results shows that by integrating demand stratification, administration, and the supply chain, the synergy amongst these activities can be exploited to allow planning and cost-effective delivery of a vaccination campaign against COVID-19 and demonstrates how to sustain high rates of vaccination in a resource-efficient fashion.

The usefulness of extended input–output tables incorporating firm heterogeneity

This study examines the usefulness of an extended input–output table (EIOT) incorporating the heterogeneity of Japanese firms based on differences in ratios of imported intermediate goods to total output. Using an EIOT, the vertical specialization indicator of Japan was calculated, which corresponds to the foreign value added included in exports. In this process, differences in intermediate input ratios were measured examining different types of firms using firm-level microdata from the Basic Survey of Japanese Business Structure and Activities. The results indicate that distinguishing between exporting and non-exporting firms is relevant for assembly industries such as electronics and automobiles, as widely discussed in the literature. In contrast, for primary materials industries, such as paper, chemical, and metal industries, other distinctions appear to be more relevant. For example, for the chemical industry, wherein firms tend to have large, integrated manufacturing plants, the differences in intermediate import ratios are largest when distinguishing large firms from small and medium firms. For paper and metal industries, which rely on foreign raw materials, the difference is largest when distinguishing between firms with and without foreign affiliates. By incorporating such heterogeneity, the vertical specification indicator increases by 70%; thus, the EIOT captures the foreign value added more comprehensively.

Changes in Risk in Medium Business Plating and Paint Manufacturing Plants following the Revision of the Korean Chemical Accident Prevention System

Chemical accidents can occur anywhere. The need for chemical management in Korea was realized following the 2012 Gumi hydrofluoric acid accident in 2012. The Chemicals Control Act was enacted in 2015. This system evaluates the risks (high, medium, low) and consequent safety management at all plants that handle hazardous chemical substances. However, the system was criticized as excessive when most plants were designated high-risk without considering their size. Thus, laboratories and hospitals handling very small quantities were subject to regulation. Accordingly, in 2021 Korea revised the system to include off-site consequence analyses and a Korean-style risk analysis. Plants handling very small quantities, such as laboratories and hospitals, were exempt from regulation. In this study, changes in risk were examined for four medium-sized plating and paint manufacturing plants. Under the previous system, all four factories were judged as high-risk groups. In particular, the paint manufacturing plant A, which has an underground storage tank, received a medium risk like the plating plant C, although the possibility of a chemical accident was lower than that of other plants. However, in the changed system, all plants were changed to the low-risk group. In the Korean-style risk analysis, it is possible to see at a glance what is lacking in the plants, such as cooperation between local residents and local governments and the construction of safety facilities according to the type of accident scenario. The revised system is a reasonable regulation for medium business plants.

Collaborative Workplace Design: a Knowledge-Based Approach to Promote Human-Robot Integration and Multi-Objective Layout Optimization

The innovation driven Industry 5.0, in agreement with Industry 4.0, leads to consider human in a prominence position as the center of manufacturing field. This pushes towards the hybridization of manufacturing plants promoting a fully collaboration between human and robot. Furthermore, the new paradigm of "human centred design" and "anthropocentric design" allows enabling a synergistic combination of human and robot skills. However, properly collaborative workplaces are currently very few. Industry is still not confident, and systems integrators hesitate to venture into Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC). Despite the effort in collaborative robotics, a general solution to overcome the current limitations in designing of collaborative workplaces still misses. In the current work, a Knowledge-Based Approach (KBA) is adopted to face collaborative workplace designing problem. The framework resulting from the KBA allows developing a modelling paradigm that enable to define a streamlined approach for the layout designing of a collaborative workplace. Finally, a what-if analysis and a ANOVA analysis are performed to generate and evaluate a set of scenarios related to a collaborative workplace for quality inspection of welded parts. Facing the high complexity and multidisciplinary of HRC can be conveyed to develop a general design approach aimed at overcoming the difficulties that limit the spread of HRC in the manufacturing field.