Inaugural Addresses (Industrial Engineering)

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Browsing Inaugural Addresses (Industrial Engineering) by Subject "Industrial engineering"

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    Estimating the remaining useful lifetime of a vertical gripper by using prognostics and health management
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-02) Mert, Serkan; Jooste, Wyhan; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Industrial Engineering. Engineering Management (MEM).
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Industrial systems are becoming extremely complex in order to meet the increasing requirements in production environments. The use of flexible end effectors helps to support humans in the context of industrial evolution. Grippers are one of the most widely used groups of end effectors. Like all other systems that execute transferring work, grippers exhibit degradation behavior. The property of degradation must be counteracted with appropriate maintenance work to enable a reliable production process. One field of research within prognostics and health management is the estimation of the remaining useful lifetime for such industrial systems and their components. Many successful applications have already been published, but research is striving to extend this to as yet untreated industrial systems and components. In this context, this research study introduces a method to estimate the remaining useful lifetime for a vertical robotic gripper. For the development of the method, a literature study is conducted, which lists and explains the existing approaches. Based on the selection of an individual vertical gripper, an experimental setup is developed. The experimental setup obtains data in regards to the gripper force. The obtained data is then used to indicate degradation and determine the failure thresholds. With the support of a prediction model, further degradation is forecasted and compared to the failure thresholds. This approach concludes the estimation about the remaining useful lifetime. The overall objective of this information is to support a demand-oriented adjustment of the maintenance measures.
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    The interaction of human, information and technology components in real time physical asset management
    (Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch, 2007-03) Grove, Christiaan; Von Leipzig, Konrad; University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Industrial Engineering.
    The last untapped margin of improvement in the manufacturing process is believed to be the improvement of physical asset maintenance. The latest opportunity is to move this process to a real time system. Although in recent years it has become somewhat of a cliché, the successful management of the human factor is one of the most critical components, and also one of the most difficult to manage, in all improvement projects. By combining the groundbreaking opportunity in Asset Performance Management with an enthusiasm for people and process improvement, the focus of this research is found. The motivation stems from a realization that Asset Performance Management will undergo radical changes and that it would not be sufficient to apply the traditional methods of managing change to the younger generations, that are currently entering the workforce and that would have to run this improved system. The industry trend was studied in order to better facilitate a solution that would suit this natural evolution. Specifically, trends were studied on Human, Information and Technology levels since background studies have shown that these three components are key to the Physical Asset Performance Management scenario. Through an in-depth literature study, the answers to the predetermined research questions were determined. To guide companies through the transition towards the real time enterprise as well as improve overall machine performance (research origin), the HIT Interaction model for real time Physical Asset Performance Management is proposed. A structure is also facilitated by which companies can be evaluated in terms of the stages of readiness for real time operation. This enables them to establish where they currently are and what strategic steps to take in order to reach the next level.