Emilio Ferrari

TPM: situation and procedure for a soft introduction in Italian factories

Personalization of products, mix variability and short time to market are the most important factors that have forced companies to a new form of organization during past years. A very common reply to this question is a lean organization based on flexibility of productive lines, reduction of storage and integration among company sections. In this context, quite differently from a traditional system, the maintenance function must work efficiently. Also the maintenance division must contribute to the success of the factory. Aims to introduce a methodology for a soft and tenable application of the principles of total productive maintenance (TPM) in Italian factories. The first step of the study is an explanation of the actual situation, usually based on traditional or on productive maintenance. After a brief introduction, focuses on TPM links with productive maintenance in order to suggest a method for TPM. Concludes with a real application of TPM in a big factory, with a description of a world leader in plant manufacturing for the ceramics industry.

Redesign of the Mozzarella cheese production process through development of a micro-forming and stretching extruder system

Abstract The aim of this paper is the analysis and examination of the industrial processes for Mozzarella pizza cheese (hereafter referred to as pizza cheese). Specific phases and mechanical devices are studied in order to optimise and rationalise the production cycle. This goal is reached by developing a new and innovative forming method. At present pizza cheese is produced in 1–5 kg pats whereas, as this paper intends to highlight, by forming the cheese in smaller-sized dimensions (5–10 g) the processes will benefit in terms of energy consumption and use of resources (equipment, water, time etc.). Another advantage would be that the customer would be provided with a ready-to-use product, without the need for additional cutting. The paper deals with an innovative process for pizza cheese production, by focusing mainly on the forming phase; a double-screw extruder with a productivity of 20 kg/h was designed and tested in order to evaluate its functionality and applicability. The most relevant spin-offs deriving from the new forming device are the elimination of the pre-hardening phase, the reduction of the chilling time of about 10-fold, the reduction of the total processing time of about 25% and the diminution of the refrigerant water consumption.

Lean distribution principles to food logistics: a product category approach

In todays industrial reality distribution network optimisation is one of the most crucial topics and in particular, supply chain management (SCM), is widely studied and discussed. SCM plays an even more critical role within the food industry network, where, both on the manufacturers/wholesalers side and the retailers side, the margins are continuously decreasing and the competition is fierce. How convenient is it to manage the deliveries, inside a food distribution network, with according to customer demand, regarding frequency/quantity? Is it possible and efficient to satisfy the demand with direct deliveries with multi products pallets? These and other relevant questions have inspired this paper together with the desire to integrate the lean principles (pull philosophy, value maximisation, waste elimination, etc.) into an innovative SCM approach based on a linear programming model that focuses on one products category at the time, on its logistic characteristics and on the specific food supply chain (SC) features. To test the proposed model, a real application in a food SC is presented and a sensitive analysis of the lean-keys factors is developed.

Automated entry technologies for confined space work activities: A survey

ABSTRACT Work in confined spaces poses a significant risk to workers and rescuers involved in the emergency response when an accident occurs. Despite several standards and regulations define the safety requirements for such activities, injuries, and fatalities still occur. Furthermore, the on-site inspections after accidents often reveal that both employers and employees fail to implement safe entry procedures. Removing the risk is possible by avoiding the worker entry, but many activities require the presence of the operator inside the confined space to perform manual tasks. The following study investigates the available technologies for hazardous confined space work activities, e.g., cleaning, inspecting, and maintenance tasks. The aim is to provide a systematic review of the automated solutions for high-risk activities in confined spaces, considering the non-man entry as the most effective confined space safety strategy. Second, this survey aims to provide suggestions for future research addressing the design of new technologies. The survey consists of about 60 papers concerning innovative technologies for confined space work activities. The document review shows that several solutions have been developed and automation can replace the workers for a limited number of hazardous tasks. Several activities still require the manual intervention due to the complex characteristics of confined spaces, e.g., to remove the remains of the automatic cleaning process from the bottom of a tank. The results show that available technologies require more flexibility to adapt to such occupational environments and further research is needed.

Correlated Storage Assignment and Iso-Time Mapping Adopting Tri-Later Stackers. A Case Study from Tile Industry

The process of picking products from storage locations to fill customer orders is a very critical and labour-intensive logistic activity, especially in the presence of many orders made of a few orderliness. The storage strategy is one of the main factors affecting the order picking system performance. Object of this chapter is the development and application of an original and systematic procedure for the minimisation of the variable travelling cost in a picker-to-part high-level order picking system with tri-lateral stackers. This procedure takes inspiration from a correlated storage assignment strategy developed and applied by the authors, and is based on the introduction of similarity indices, as measures of correlation between products, the application of hierarchical clustering algorithms and positioning rules. The authors propose different storage allocation/positioning rules supported by an iso-time mapping of the storage area. A case study from tile industry is illustrated and the results of a what-if analysis are discussed.

A Closed-Loop Traceability System to Improve Logistics Decisions in Food Supply Chains: A Case Study on Dairy Products

Abstract Global markets increase the relevance of the related functions of the food supply chain, not only cultivation and food processing, but also the packaging, storage, distribution, and control and monitoring of the product quality across its entire life cycle. These processes result in more complex supply networks, which emphasize the distance between production and consumption and significantly affect the quality of distributed product. The development of an ex post monitoring system is an effective way to identify the most critical steps of food distribution and aid operative decisions to improve the control of food safety and quality along storage and transportation. This chapter introduce an ex post monitoring protocol based on temperature sensors to track the environmental stresses experienced by dairy products during milk-run delivery tours. The collected shipping profiles are illustrated and discussed, and the simulation of the collected thermal stresses in properly designed climate rooms is postponed to further researches.

Design and control of food job-shop processing systems: A simulation analysis in the catering industry

The food processing industry is growing with retail and catering supply chains. With the rising complexity of food products and the need to address food customization expectations, food processing systems are progressively shifting from production line to job-shops that are characterized by high flexibility and high complexity. A food job-shop system processes multiple items (i.e. raw ingredients, toppings, dressings) according to their working cycles in a typical resource and capacity constrained environment. Given the complexity of such systems, there are divergent goals of process cost optimization and of food quality and safety preservation. These goals deserve integration at both an operational and a strategic decisional perspective. The twofold purpose of this paper is to design a simulation model for food job-shop processing and to build understanding of the extant relationships between food flows and processing equipment through a real case study from the catering industry.,The authors designed a simulation tool enabling the analysis of food job-shop processing systems. A methodology based on discrete event simulation is developed to study the dynamics and behaviour of the processing systems according to an event-driven approach. The proposed conceptual model builds upon a comprehensive set of variables and key performance indicators (KPIs) that describe and measure the dynamics of the food job-shop according to a multi-disciplinary perspective.,This simulation identifies the job-shop bottlenecks and investigates the utilization of the working centres and product queuing through the system. This approach helps to characterize how costs are allocated in a flow-driven approach and identifies the trade-off between investments in equipment and operative costs.,The primary purpose of the proposed model relies on the definition of standard resources and operating patterns that can meet the behaviour of a wide variety of food processing equipment and tasks, thereby addressing the complexity of a food job-shop. The proposed methodology enables the integration of strategic and operative decisions between several company departments. The KPIs enable identification of the benchmark system, tracking the system performance via multi-scenario what-if simulations, and suggesting improvements through short-term (e.g. tasks scheduling, dispatching rules), mid-term (e.g. recipes review), or long-term (e.g. re-layout, working centres number) levers.

A Methodology for the Identification of Confined Spaces in Industry

Work in confined space is a high-risk activity posing a serious life-threatening hazard to workers who perform it. Accidents in confined spaces frequently lead to multiple fatalities. The cause of accidents and fatalities due to confined space work is related to the lack of awareness about the presence and the risks of such hazardous workplaces. This paper introduces a methodology for the identification of confined spaces in industry. The aim is to provide a useful tool for helping researchers and practitioners to recognize of confined spaces in industry. Four different characteristics of confinement are investigated: geometric features, access, internal configuration, and atmosphere and environment. The proposed methodology includes the definition of the Confined Space Risk Index (CSRI) for the analysis of the risk related to the investigated confined space. Finally, two case studies show the application of the proposed methodology to two suspected confined spaces in industry.