An approach for estimating the end-of-life product disassembly effort and cost

Disassembly is the process of physically separating a product into its parts or subassembly pieces. The overall economics of the disassembly process, and in particular the cost to disassemble, is still not well understood. In this paper our goal is to introduce a methodology that will support and facilitate the economic analysis of the disassembly activity. We present a multi-factor model to compute the disassembly effort index (DEI) score, which is representative of the total operating cost to disassemble a product. The DEI score can then be compared against the projected market value of the disassembled parts and subassemblies to get an economic measure. To develop the DEI model we surveyed a variety of commercial disassembly facilities. Based on these surveys we propose a multifactor weighted estimation scheme. The seven factors are (i) time, (ii) tools, (iii) fixture, (iv) access, (v) instruct, (vi) hazard, and (vii) force requirements. The DEI scale is defined in the 0 to 100 range. This range is assigned on a weighted basis to each of the seven factors. For each factor, an independent utility scale is formulated, using the assigned range as anchors. Using a conversion scale the DEI score is used to derive an estimate of disassembly cost and the disassembly return on investment. An example is presented.     

An integrated architecture for implementing extended producer responsibility in the context of Industry 4.0

Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is a regulatory measure to enforce the life cycle management of electrical and electronic equipment, however, the implementation of EPR programmes is not as effective as expected. In the face of the fourth industrial revolution that commonly labelled as ‘Industry 4.0,’ this paper proposes an integrated architecture to achieve effective and efficient EPR from the manufacturer perspective, and attention is specifically paid on promoting information sharing. On the basis of the selected case study, a smart refrigerator plant of Haier, the architecture integrates information systems and facilitates life cycle management. Particularly, eco-design and end-of-life disposal, the two lasting problems in the current practises of implementing EPR, can be enforced based on product modularisation and high level of information availability that provided by the architecture. The outcomes of this study provide a valuable reference for other sectors that involve EPR or product life cycle management.     

EIAS: An Efficient Identity-Based Aggregate Signature Scheme for WSNs Against Coalition Attack

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are the major contributors to big data acquisition. The authenticity and integrity of the data are two most important basic requirements for various services based on big data. Data aggregation is a promising method to decrease operation cost for resource-constrained WSNs. However, the process of data acquisitions in WSNs are in open environments, data aggregation is vulnerable to more special security attacks with hiding feature and subjective fraudulence, such as coalition attack. Aimed to provide data authenticity and integrity protection for WSNs, an efficient and secure identity-based aggregate signature scheme (EIAS) is proposed in this paper. Rigorous security proof shows that our proposed scheme can be secure against all kinds of attacks. The performance comparisons shows EIAS has clear advantages in term of computation cost and communication cost when compared with similar data aggregation scheme for WSNs.     

System dynamics analytical modeling approach for construction project management research: A critical review and future directions

Building and infrastructure construction projects can be viewed as a complex system consisting of many subsystems. Over the last two decades, considerable researches that use system dynamics (SD) as an analytical and modeling approach exist to address construction project management issues. However, only few critical reviews have been conducted to provide an in-depth understanding of SD application in construction project management. Moreover, many studies have failed to apply SD accurately. Therefore, the present study aims to gain an understanding of the current state of play and future directions in applying SD method in construction project management research, by undertaking a comprehensive review of 105 relevant articles published from 1994 to 2018. These articles are analyzed in terms of annual publication rate, key papers and their contribution, critical issues in SD application, and research topics. A significant increase in the number of publications in the last five years has been observed. When applying SD method to model construction system, the following aspects must be carefully considered: Model boundary, model development, model test, and model simulation. In addition, SD has been applied in a wide range of research topics, including (1) sustainable construction; (2) design error, rework, and change management; (3) risk management; (4) resource management; (5) decision making; (6) hybrid modeling; (7) safety management; (8) PPP project; and (9) organization performance. Based on the review findings, this study discusses three future research directions, namely, integration of SD with other methods, uncertainty analysis, and human factor analysis. This study can help researchers gain an in-depth understanding of the critical issues in the application of SD in construction management and the state-of-the-art of SD research.     

Statistical Methods for Nuclear Materials Safeguards: An Overview

The origins and development of safeguards work are briefly reviewed. A variety of problems commonly encountered and the role of statistics in addressing them are discussed.     

知识地图:知识管理和组织学习的有效工具

知识地图作为一种有效的知识管理工具，应该引起足够的重视。本文系统地介绍了知识地图的概念和知识地图的分类，并通过构建知识地图的实例详细说明了专家图和过程(方法)图的构建形式；还阐述了知识地图对组织知识管理和组织学习的深刻意义，并指出了知识地图未来的发展方向。     

Preparing construction supply chains for blockchain technology: An investigation of its potential and future directions

Blockchain, a peer-to-peer, controlled, distributed database structure, has the potential to profoundly affect current business transactions in the construction industry through smart contracts, cryptocurrencies, and reliable asset tracking. The construction industry is often criticized for being slow in embracing emerging techno-logies and not effectively diffusing them through its supply chains. Often, the extensive fragmentation, traditional procurement structures, destructive competition, lack of collaboration and transparency, low-profit margins, and human resources are shown as the main culprits for this. As blockchain technology makes its presence felt strongly in many other industries like finance and banking, this study investigates the preparation of construction supply chains for blockchain technology through an explorative analysis. Empirical data for the study were collected through semi-structured interviews with 17 subject experts. Alongside presenting a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis (SWOT), the study exhibits the requirements for and steps toward a construction supply structure facilitated by blockchain technology.     

Defining strategies to improve success of technology transfer efforts: An integrated tool for risk assessment

Science Based Innovation relies on effective Technology Transfer efforts. Defining strategies that increase high-technology projects success in the market is a necessary and challenging activity. This comprises elements like market uncertainty and the need for timely decision making within an environment of limited resources (economic, time, human, among others). In this context, Technology Intelligence (TI) generates useful knowledge to reduce risk and improve decision making. This work provides a tool to identify and qualitatively measure different risks; highlighted by previous TI activities. Such risks, their level and mitigation alternatives are also discussed. Furthermore, we create a simple, yet useful tool to calculate a risk score for technology projects at early stages of development. This tool was developed in a Technology Transfer Office to foster the development of entrepreneurial ventures.     

I-VFRP: An interval-valued fuzzy robust programming approach for municipal waste-management planning under uncertainty

In this study, an interval-valued fuzzy robust programming (I-VFRP) model has been developed and applied to municipal solid-waste management under uncertainty. The I-VFRP model can explicitly address system uncertainties with multiple presentations, and can directly communicate the waste manager's confidence gradients into the optimization process, facilitating the reflection of weak or strong confidence when subjectively estimating parameter values. Parameters in the I-VFRP model can be represented as either intervals or interval-valued fuzzy sets. Thus, variations of the waste manager's confidence gradients over defining parameters can be effectively handled through interval-valued membership functions, leading to enhanced robustness of the optimization efforts. The results of a theoretical case study indicate that useful solutions for planning municipal solid-waste-management practices can be generated. The waste manager's confidence gradients over various subjective judgments can be directly incorporated into the modeling formulation and solution process. The results also suggest that the proposed methodology can be applied to practical problems that are associated with complex and uncertain information.     

An empirical investigation of knowledge management competence for enterprise resource planning systems success: insights from Jordan

The primary objective of the study reported herein is to empirically test the implicit, positive relationships between ERP-related Knowledge Management Competence (KM-competence; knowledge creation, knowledge retention, knowledge transfer, and knowledge application) dimensions and the extended Enterprise Resource Planning System Success construct (ERP system success; individual impact, workgroup impact, organisational impact, information quality, system quality, and vender/consultant quality). Data were collected from 173 of business and IT managers in 455 organisations in Jordan. Statistical techniques employed included confirmatory factor analysis to examine validity of the measurement model, and structural equation modelling using AMOS 16.0 is also utilised to test the hypotheses. The results of analysis show there is a positive significant impact of ERP knowledge creation on ERP success. Also, ERP knowledge retention positively and significantly affects ERP system success. Moreover, ERP knowledge transfer positively and significantly influence ERP system success. Furthermore, ERP knowledge application has positive effect on ERP system success. The results also indicate that ERP success construct is robust since all six observed variables are strongly loaded to the latent variable. Research limitations as well as implications for practice and research are discussed.     

An AHP-based multi-criteria model for assessment of the social sustainability of technology management process: A case study in banking industry

The abrupt development of technology has confronted different industries' managers with crucial decision points. The scope of their decisions' impact goes beyond their companies' borders. Sustainable assessment of technology investigates the economic, environmental, and social effects of technologies on firms and their environment. Nonetheless, the technology management process includes different steps (such as technology acquisition and exploitation) which need a comprehensive decision-making tool toward sustainable development targets. This paper aims to propose an integrated decision-making model to investigate the social sustainability of the technology management process. Considering three main steps of the technology management process (technology selection, technology acquisition, and technology exploitation), we constructed our model utilizing the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) as one of the most popular decision-making tools. In order to evaluate the efficiency of the model, we implemented it for E-banking technologies in one of the oldest banks of Iran (Iran's AgriBank). The results indicated that internet banking, internal R&D, and internal exploitation are the best decision alternatives among the technology management process from the social sustainability perspective. The results were validated by calculating the Consistency Rate (CR) and performing scenario-based sensitivity analysis.     

A system of safety management practices and worker engagement for reducing and preventing accidents: An empirical and theoretical investigation

Objective

The overall research objective was to theoretically and empirically develop the ideas around a system of safety management practices (ten practices were elaborated), to test their relationship with objective safety statistics (such as accident rates), and to explore how these practices work to achieve positive safety results (accident prevention) through worker engagement.

Method

Data were collected using safety manager, supervisor and employee surveys designed to assess and link safety management system practices, employee perceptions resulting from existing practices, and safety performance outcomes.

Results

Results indicate the following: there is a significant negative relationship between the presence of ten individual safety management practices, as well as the composite of these practices, with accident rates; there is a significant negative relationship between the level of safety-focused worker emotional and cognitive engagement with accident rates; safety management systems and worker engagement levels can be used individually to predict accident rates; safety management systems can be used to predict worker engagement levels; and worker engagement levels act as mediators between the safety management system and safety performance outcomes (such as accident rates).

Implications

Even though the presence of safety management system practices is linked with incident reduction and may represent a necessary first-step in accident prevention, safety performance may also depend on mediation by safety-focused cognitive and emotional engagement by workers. Thus, when organizations invest in a safety management system approach to reducing/preventing accidents and improving safety performance, they should also be concerned about winning over the minds and hearts of their workers through human performance-based safety management systems designed to promote and enhance worker engagement.     

An integrated decision support system for strategic supply chain optimisation in process industries: the case of a zinc company

We introduce a menu-driven user-friendly decision support system (DSS) for supply chain planning based on optimisation. The DSS is based on a multi-source (supplier), multi-destination (warehouse) network having multiple manufacturing facilities, with multiple materials and multiple storage areas. This integrated supply chain model performs multiple period planning. The use of this DSS requires little knowledge of management sciences tools. We discuss the need for an integrated approach towards supply chain modelling for the process industry. We present the integrated model in the form of a database structure. We validate the model with the real data of a zinc company and demonstrate the impact of optimisation in terms of percentage improvement. The result shows that it is possible to improve unit contribution to profit from 1.89 to 4.66%.