Objetivou-se com essa pesquisa analisar o bem-estar animal e o desempenho zootécnico de matrizes suínas nas fases de gestação e maternidade e leitões na fase de maternidade, criadas em sistemas de baias coletivas sem e com acesso a piquete. O experimento foi realizado no setor de suinocultura da PUSP-FC, da Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Campus Fernando Costa, na cidade de Pirassununga, entre os meses de novembro de 2015 e março de 2016, durante a fase reprodutiva das matrizes suínas; gestação e maternidade. Para isso, foram utilizadas 13 matrizes da linhagem TopGen Afrodite® (linhagem formada pelas raças Large White e Landrace), com as mesmas características fisiológicas (segunda ordem de parto), submetidas a um delineamento inteiramente ao acaso. Foram avaliados os índices zootécnicos da cobertura ao desmame (peso; ganho de peso; escore da condição corporal; das matrizes; número de leitões nascidos vivos; número de natimortos; peso inicial dos leitões; peso final dos leitões), indicadores hormonais (coleta do fluido oral - cortisol salivar), fisiológicos de conforto térmico (temperatura de pele nas regiões da cabeça, paleta e lombo), e parâmetros de bem-estar animal (com base no ambiente e em observações do animal). A partir dos resultados constatamos que as avaliações do ambiente físico e incidência de lesão e doença, as concentrações de cortisol e as temperaturas da surperfície corporal não diferiram entre os sistemas (P>0,05); as matrizes e leitões permaneceram a maior parte do tempo inativos com olhos fechados e quando estavam ativos, os animais alojados no sistema de baias coletivas com acesso à piquete externo forragearam mais do que as matrizes alojadas no outro tratamento; em relação ao desempenho zootécnico observou-se que as matrizes tiveram aumento de peso ao longo da gestação (P1; P2), perderam peso durante o período de lactação (P3) e os demais parâmetros não diferiram entre os sistemas de alojamentos (P>0,05). Com isso, conclui-se que as matrizes alojadas em baias coletivas sem e com acesso à piquete externo tiveram um bem-estar e desempenho zootécnico adequado e equivalente. / The objective of this research was to analyze the animal welfare and the zootechnical performance of sows in the gestation and maternity stages, created in group-housed without and with access to external area. The experiment was carried out in no pig industry of PUSP-FC, University of São Paulo (USP), at the Fernando Costa Campus, in the city of Pirassununga, between November 2015 and March 2016, during a reproductive phase of Swine matrices; Pregnancy and maternity. For this, 13 sows of the lineage TopGen Afrodite® (lineage formed by Large White and Landrace races), with the same physiological characteristics, were submitted to a completely random design. The zootechnical indexes of weaning coverage, hormonal weights, hormonal indicators (collection of oral fluid - salivary cortisol), physiological thermal comfort (skin temperature in the heads, palette and loins), and animal welfare parameters (Based on the environment and animal observations). (P> 0.05). From the results obtained in the physical examination and incidence of lesions and diseases, such as cortisol concentrations and body surface temperatures; As permanent sows and piglets in most of the time the products are closed and in which they were found, animals not housed in the system of collective- housed with access to external area foraged more than the matrices housed in the other treatment; (P2), lost weight during the lactation period (P3) and the others did not differ between the housing systems (P> 0.05). Thus, it was concluded that matrices lived in group-housed without and with access to external area had adequate and equivalent welfare and zootechnical performance.

<p>In order to stay competitive, it is necessary for companies to continuously increase the effectiveness and efficiency of their production processes. High availability has, thus, increased in importance. Therefore, maintenance has gained in importance as a support function for ensuring, e.g., quality products and on-time deliveries. Maintenance, though, is a costly support function. It has been reported that as much as 70% of the total production cost can be spent on maintenance. Further, as much as one-third of the cost of maintenance is incurred unnecessarily due to bad planning, overtime cost, limited or misused preventive maintenance, and so on. In so, condition based maintenance is introduced as one solution for a more effective maintenance.</p><p>In condition based maintenance, critical item characteristics are monitored in order to gain early indications of an incipient failure. Research, though, has shown that condition based maintenance has not been implemented on a wide basis. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to investigate how a condition based maintenance approach can be implemented in an industrial setting, and to develop a method that can assist companies in their implementation efforts. Further, the research has been divided in three research questions. They focus on: constituents of a condition based maintenance approach, decision-making prior implementation of condition based maintenance, and finally, the implementation of condition based maintenance in a company.</p><p>By using a systems approach and a case study process, how condition based maintenance can be implemented as a routine has been investigated. The result is an implementation method in which four suggested phases are presented. The method starts with a feasibility test. It then continues with an analysis phase, an implementation phase, and an assessment phase. The conclusions can be summarized as follows: implementing condition based maintenance consists of many general enabling factors, including management support, education and training, good communication, and motivation etc.</p>

Manufacturing companies are nowadays facing an unprecedented series of challenges to their survival: global competition and product mass-customization are the shaping forces of tomorrow’s business success. The consequent need for agile and sustainable production solutions is the utmost motivation behind the development of innovative approaches which often are not in line with the state of art. It is well documented that companies fail in recognizing how such disruptively innovative approaches can yield an interesting economic output. This, in turn, enhances the risk of leaving the aforementioned promising technologies conceptually and practically underdeveloped.  In the field of automatic production systems the Evolvable Production System paradigm proposes modular architectures with distributed, autonomous control rather than integral design and hierarchical, centralized control. EPS technology is thus disruptive: it refuses the present paradigm of Engineer to Order in industrial automation by proposing an advanced Configure to Order system development logic. This dissertation investigates the possibility of using the recent sophisticated developments of the concept of Business Model as a holistic analytical tool for the characterization and solution of the issue of bringing disruptive and non-fully mature innovation to proficient application in production environments. In order to purse this objective the main contributions in the relevant literature have been extracted and combined to an original definition of business model able to encompass the aspects deemed critical for the problem. Such a construct is composed of three elements: (1) Value Proposition that describe the features of a technology that generates value for a given customer, (2) the Value Configuration and the (3) Architecture of the Revenue which describe the mechanisms that allows to create and capture such value respectively.    The subsequent work has focused on the EPS paradigm as a specific case of the overall problem. The first step has been a full characterization of the related value proposition through an innovative approach based on a bottom-up decomposition in its elementary components, followed by their aggregation into meaningful value offerings: with reference to the EPS paradigm such an approach has disclosed an overall value proposition composed of six potentially independent value offerings. This collection of Value Offerings has then been used as a basis to generate the EPS business models. In particular for each single offering a possible set of necessary activities and resources has been devised and organized in a coherent value configuration. The resulting creation mechanisms have then been linked among each other following a logical supplier-customer scheme for capturing the value: this allowed establishing the architecture of revenue, last element of the overall production paradigm. Finally the results have been validated in a semi-industrial system developed for the (IDEAS, 2010-2013) project through the individuation of the areas of application of such business models. / <p>QC 20121120</p> / FP7-IDEAS- Instantly Deployable Evolvable Assembly System / FP6- EUPASS-Evolvable Ultra-Precision Assembly Systems / XPRES- Initiative for excellence in production research

This thesis has been performed in collaboration with Volvo Cars Engine in Skövde, Sweden and Zhangjia-kou, China in order to receive a bachelor degree in automation engineering from the University of Skövde. The project focuses on analyzing the capacity of a future production line by using discrete event simulation. The production line is built in two different discrete event simulation software, FACTS analyzer and Plant Simulation. The focus of the study will be to compare the output results from the two software in order to give recommendations for which software to use in similar cases. This is done in order for Volvo Cars Corporation to have as a basis for further work in similar cases. The aim of the work is to verify the planned capacity of the new production line and to perform a leadership study with Chinese engineers in order to find out how they view the Swedish leadership and how this can be adapted to China and the Chinese culture and give recommendations for future work. The results of the capacity analysis show that the goals of parts produced can be reached for both planned capacities but also that there are potential constraints that have been identified in the system. The results of the leadership study also show that the overall approach should be slightly adapted to be better suited for the Chinese culture. The comparison of the two simulation software suggests that FACTS Analyzer is suit-able to use when less complex logic or systems are represented, however when building more complex models consisting of more complex logic Plant Simulation is more suitable.

In order to stay competitive, it is necessary for companies to continuously increase the effectiveness and efficiency of their production processes. High availability has, thus, increased in importance. Therefore, maintenance has gained in importance as a support function for ensuring, e.g., quality products and on-time deliveries. Maintenance, though, is a costly support function. It has been reported that as much as 70% of the total production cost can be spent on maintenance. Further, as much as one-third of the cost of maintenance is incurred unnecessarily due to bad planning, overtime cost, limited or misused preventive maintenance, and so on. In so, condition based maintenance is introduced as one solution for a more effective maintenance. In condition based maintenance, critical item characteristics are monitored in order to gain early indications of an incipient failure. Research, though, has shown that condition based maintenance has not been implemented on a wide basis. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to investigate how a condition based maintenance approach can be implemented in an industrial setting, and to develop a method that can assist companies in their implementation efforts. Further, the research has been divided in three research questions. They focus on: constituents of a condition based maintenance approach, decision-making prior implementation of condition based maintenance, and finally, the implementation of condition based maintenance in a company. By using a systems approach and a case study process, how condition based maintenance can be implemented as a routine has been investigated. The result is an implementation method in which four suggested phases are presented. The method starts with a feasibility test. It then continues with an analysis phase, an implementation phase, and an assessment phase. The conclusions can be summarized as follows: implementing condition based maintenance consists of many general enabling factors, including management support, education and training, good communication, and motivation etc.

No description available.

A consequence of antimicrobial use in food production systems is the potential for antimicrobial resistant (AMR) bacteria to develop and transfer to the human population via the food chain. Integrons have been identified as critical factors in the development of AMR. Despite Australia being amongst the world’s largest exporters of beef, there is a general lack of data on the prevalence of AMR in bacteria from Australian beef cattle. Consequently, the aim of this study has been to contribute to research strategies and knowledge of AMR by investigating integron-associated antimicrobial resistance in Australian beef cattle production systems. This study developed a protocol that targets resistance integrons. The protocol was trialled on 50 bovine faecal samples with a total of 39 integron-containing isolates recovered. Characterisation of the integrons was performed and it was determined that the majority of integrons harboured genes encoding resistance to trimethoprim (dfr) and streptomycin / spectinomycin (aad). The protocol provides an opportunity to rapidly interrogate populations of bacteria within a defined sample for resistance integrons. The protocol was used to investigate integron-associated AMR in Australian beef cattle production systems. Each production system was investigated for resistance integrons to determine if production practices were impacting on the prevalence and types of AMR present. The investigation found that the prevalence of integron-containing bacteria was higher in lot-fed cattle than grass-fed cattle which in turn were higher than organically produced cattle. However, the types of AMR differed very little across production systems and suggested that the higher prevalence of integrons in lot-fed samples may be a function of the intensive nature of this type of production system rather than a result of selective pressure caused by antibiotic use. Although there appeared to be no obvious trends in the types of gene cassettes carried by integrons from differing production systems, if lot-fed cattle continually arrive at slaughter with a higher prevalence of integron-containing bacteria then these cattle may be more likely to contribute to contamination of the final product. Samples from lot-fed, grass-fed and organically produced cattle at slaughter were collected. Despite the apparent unrelatedness of the cattle herds, there was little difference in the PCR prevalence of class 1 and class 2 integrase, the gene cassettes harboured by the integrons, and the host organism for the integron. Genes encoding resistance to streptomycin and chloramphenicol (catB8) dominated the majority of arrays regardless of production system, although two novel arrays were identified. One of the arrays, cmlA5-blaoxa-10-aadA1, was found in A. veronii biovar Sobria isolates from organic cattle thereby confirming the ability of multi-resistant integrons to persist in environments that have no obvious antimicrobial selection. The abattoir study revealed an unusually high prevalence of Aeromonas isolates carrying integrons. It appeared to implicate the abattoir environment as a direct contributor to the presence of integron-containing bacteria in each herd. Characterisation of each Aeromonas isolate determined that the isolates were not clonal in nature and not a result of persistent contamination at the abattoir. It seemed more probable that the Aeromonas isolates were present in the cattle prior to arrival and may have been acquired from the environment. To explore this further, soil samples from cattle associated and non-cattle associated areas were tested for the presence of resistance integrons. The prevalence of class 1 integrons was higher in cattle-associated soil samples than in non-cattle-associated soil samples, however the diversity of gene cassettes harboured by the integrons was greater in non-cattle-associated samples than cattle-associated samples. An array harbouring blaoxa-30 was isolated from a non-cattle-associated soil sample. Its presence continues to highlight the potential for multi-resistant integrons to exist in environments with no obvious antimicrobial selection pressure.The detection of seldom reported class 1 integron arrays in this study indicates the potential of the developed protocol to interrogate populations of bacteria for resistance integrons. This is highlighted further by the isolation of a novel class 2 integron. This novel class 2 integron from Providencia stuartii possesses a class 2 integrase that is predicted to be fully functional and has a variable region comprising nine ORFs that do not encode AMR genes. Overall, this study demonstrated that integrons are present in all cattle production systems employed in Australia and although the prevalence of integrons appeared to align with the anticipated use of antimicrobials in each system, differences in the integrons from each production system were not evident. As the similarities observed between integrons extend to isolates from organically produced cattle and from non-cattle associated soil samples it is suggested that the majority of integrons identified in this study are not present as a direct result of antimicrobial use in cattle production. Nevertheless, the potential of integrons to capture AMR genes remains and their presence in beef cattle highlights the need for the continued prudent use of antimicrobials.

This work investigates the flexibility of manufacturing systems and the introduction of flexibility considerations into the change management of manufacturing systems. The change drivers that make flexibility important for manufacturing systems are analyzed and the definition and dimensions of flexibility as they have been approached in the literature are discussed. In order to measure flexibility, a Flexibility Evaluation Toolbox comprised of five individual measures is proposed in the thesis. The Flexibility Evaluation Toolbox enables the responsible engineer to select the most appropriate measure to be used in each case under study. Furthermore, each of the measures requires different data providing the opportunity to the engineer to use the Flexibility Evaluation Toolbox in a wide range of situations. A classification table of the five measures in relation to a set of usability criteria has been included. A methodology supporting the user to select the most appropriate measure according to the case under study and the user’s preferences is also provided. The Flexibility Evaluation Toolbox has been integrated in a software platform able to handle the required data, automate the calculations, provide quantitative results and eventually drive the change management directions. The software architecture and the individual modules of the software platform are described. The three basic modules of the platform are the Flexibility Evaluation Toolbox, the Data Collector and the Change Management Component. The solution proposed in this thesis can be used in small, medium or large enterprises and in different industrial sectors. This is demonstrated in the provided four case studies where flexibility evaluation has been used to support change management decisions in the commercial refrigerators sector in local and world-wide scale, the pharmaceutical/cosmetics sector and the mobile communications sector. / Στην παρούσα εργασία διερευνάται η ευελιξία στα συστήματα παραγωγής και o τρόπος εξέτασης της ευελιξίας κατά τη διαχείριση αλλαγών σε συστήματα παραγωγής. Αναλύονται οι λόγοι για τις απαιτούμενες αλλαγές που κάνουν την ευελιξία σημαντική για τα συστήματα παραγωγής και συζητούνται οι διάφορες παράμετροι της ευελιξίας, όπως παρουσιάζονται στην βιβλιογραφία. Στοχεύοντας στην μέτρηση της ευελιξίας, μια ‘εργαλειοθήκη’, αποτελούμενη από πέντε διαφορετικά ‘εργαλεία’ για την μέτρηση της ευελιξίας, προτείνεται στην εργασία. Η εργαλειοθήκη μέτρησης της ευελιξίας επιτρέπει στον ενδιαφερόμενο μηχανικό να επιλέξει το πιο κατάλληλο μέτρο για την κάθε κατάσταση που μελετάται. Επιπλέον, κάθε ένα από τα μέτρα χρησιμοποιεί διαφορετικές πληροφορίες για την αξιολόγηση δίνοντας την ευκαιρία στον μηχανικό να τα χρησιμοποιήσει σε πολλές διαφορετικές καταστάσεις. Παρέχεται ένας πίνακας ταξινόμησης των πέντε αυτών μέτρων σε σχέση με τις εφαρμογές και ιδιότητες τους, όπως και μία μεθοδολογία που μπορεί να ακολουθηθεί για την επιλογή του καταλληλότερου μέτρου. Στην εργασία προτείνεται επίσης και η ενσωμάτωση της εργαλειοθήκης των μέτρων αξιολόγησης της ευελιξίας σε μια πλατφόρμα λογισμικού η οποία είναι ικανή να διαχειριστεί τα απαιτούμενα δεδομένα, να αυτοματοποιήσει τους υπολογισμούς, να παράσχει αριθμητικά αποτελέσματα και τελικά να οδηγήσει προς την σωστή κατεύθυνση τις απαραίτητες αλλαγές. Αντίστοιχα, περιγράφονται η αρχιτεκτονική του λογισμικού και κάθε υποσύστημά της. Τα τρία κύρια υποσυστήματα της πλατφόρμας είναι η εργαλειοθήκη των μέτρων αξιολόγησης της ευελιξίας, ο συλλέκτης δεδομένων και ο διαχειριστής των αλλαγών. Η προτεινόμενη προσέγγιση μπορεί να χρησιμοποιηθεί σε μικρές, μεσαίες και μεγάλες επιχειρήσεις που μπορεί να ανήκουν σε διαφορετικούς βιομηχανικούς τομείς. Αυτό αποδεικνύεται και από τις τέσσερις περιγραφόμενες περιπτώσεις πιλοτικής χρήσης, όπου η μέτρηση της ευελιξίας πραγματοποιείται ώστε να υποστηρίξει τη διαχείριση και να βοηθήσει την επιλογή των κατάλληλων αλλαγών στη βιομηχανία κατασκευής επαγγελματικών συστημάτων ψύξης σε τοπικό και διεθνές επίπεδο, στην φαρμακευτική βιομηχανία και στην βιομηχανία παραγωγής συσκευών κινητής τηλεφωνίας.

No contexto global, a competição entre as organizações mudou de perfil nos últimos anos. De forma geral, no passado as empresas buscavam melhorar seu desempenho considerando apenas o seu papel e as suas relações com o mercado. Entretanto, a mudança nos parâmetros competitivos passou a demandar uma visão integrada dentro e fora das empresas. As cadeias de suprimentos e as redes produtivas, para tanto, tornaram-se as estruturas de governança mais indicadas para a gestão das relações entre clientes e fornecedores. Entretanto, as considerações acerca do desempenho de uma empresa isolada passaram a não fazer mais sentido, uma vez que a integração entre empresas tem como principal foco a otimização da rede ou cadeia em detrimento do desempenho local. Assim, o desdobramento de um sistema de medição de desempenho que considere de forma acertada os elementos competitivos que devem ser mensurados e que possibilite a sua integração pode contribuir para a gestão dos processos entre empresas. Esta dissertação propõe, a partir da definição de uma empresa focal, uma sistemática para avaliar o desempenho de cadeias de suprimentos fundamentada em indicadores de competitividade empresarial. Apoiando-se no método Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), as diversas métricas são agrupadas em subgrupos e é realizada a hierarquização das mesmas com o objetivo de verificar o seu comportamento integrado. A interação dos subgrupos de indicadores é então realizada através da função preferência, proporcionando uma análise crítica de desempenho sob a ótica agregada e desagregada. A sistemática proposta é aplicada em uma indústria do setor siderúrgico, permitindo a identificação de desajustes e de oportunidades potenciais de melhoria na avaliação de sua cadeia de suprimentos. / Competitiveness profile between organizations has changed over the last years. As a general rule, companies used to improve performance considering only their role and relation with market. However, recent changes due to competitiveness have required an integrated approach within and outside the enterprise. Supply chains and productive networks became suitable governance structures for modern management, especially to deal with relationships between customers and suppliers. However, considerations about performance of a single company turned out to be senseless in that integration between companies started a focused approach to optimize network performance. Thus, the development of a performance measurement system relying on measurable competitive elements and enabling integrated analysis of performance became vital for precise supply-chain management evaluation. This dissertation proposes, from the perspective of a central company, a system to evaluate performance of supply chain based on competitiveness related metrics. Based on Analytical Hierarchy Process, metrics are hierarchically grouped to promote their integration. Next, interaction of groups of metrics is performed, enabling a critical performance analysis. The proposed methodology is illustrated on a case study in the steel industry in order to improve supply-chain management.

O setor agrícola é constantemente influenciado pelas conjunturas de mercado, as sazonalidades dos preços tanto de insumos quanto da produção afetam cada vez mais o produtor rural. O orizicultor domina as técnicas produtivas e as tecnologias, estando cada vez mais suscetível aos riscos da comercialização. Essa maior percepção dos riscos de mercado influencia diretamente sua tomada de decisão quanto à diversificação de cultivos. Nesse contexto os sistemas integrados de produção agropecuária ganham representatividade, reduzindo os riscos associados ao monocultivo de arroz, através da maior estabilidade da renda agrícola. Os objetivos deste trabalho são analisar as relações entre retorno e risco de diferentes sistemas produtivos de lavoura e pecuária, assim como sua integração; avaliar a importância relativa de cada atividade produtiva na formação da renda agrícola; criar cenários de aumentos de custos de produção e de valor da produção, avaliando seu impacto sobre os diferentes sistemas; analisar brevemente eficiência econômica, de uso da mão de obra própria e do uso da terra. Os sistemas produtivos analisados são: tradicional binômio arroz-pecuária (1), sistema pecuário (2), sistema similar ao tradicional com a inserção de soja (3), sistema mais diversificado e rotacionado no tempo (4), sistemas diversificados com menor uso da cultura do arroz (5 e 6). A análise do comportamento diferenciado dos sistemas permite a construção de relações Retorno x Risco, indicando que os sistemas 1, 3 e 4 possuem melhor relação retorno risco no cenário atual da propriedade, ou seja, possuem maior retorno, mas também maior risco, sendo recomendados para produtores menos avessos ao risco. Para produtores descapitalizados ou avessos ao risco o sistema 2 é o mais recomendado. Nas análises de sensibilidade para cenários futuros, a diversificação dos sistemas reduziu o impacto do aumento nos custos. A eficiência econômica, de uso de mão de obra e da terra, a cada ano-safra mostra as diferenças entre as atividades, sendo a pecuária a mais eficiente economicamente e ao mesmo tempo a que possui menor valor de cultivo por hectare. O arroz é a cultura dominante nos custos totais de produção por safra, já na formação do lucro total vêm perdendo espaço para a soja. Não existe, portanto, a recomendação de um sistema único, e sim a necessidade da formação de estratégias frente às condições do mercado. A interação de diferentes sistemas produtivos, dentro de uma propriedade, pode ser a resposta às mudanças do mercado no futuro. / The agricultural sector is constantly influenced by market, the seasonality of prices, of both inputs and the final product, are increasingly affecting the farmers. The rice producer mastered the production techniques and technologies, but are more and more susceptible to marketing risks. This increased perception of market risk directly influences their decision making regarding to crop diversification. In this context the integrated crop-livestock production systems gain representativity as a viable and attractive alternative, bringing benefits in the productive, environmental and economic spheres, reducing the risks associated with rice monoculture, through the greater stability of agricultural income. The aims of this study is to analyze the relations between return and risk of different production systems of agriculture and livestock, as well as their integration; evaluate the relative importance of each productive activity in the formation of agricultural income; create scenarios of increases in production costs and in the value of production, evaluating their impact on different systems; briefly analyze economic efficiency, use of labor and land. The production systems analyzed are: traditional rice-livestock binomium (1), livestock system (2), similar to traditional system with soy insert (3), more diversified system and rotated in time (4), diversified systems with lower use of rice (5 and 6). The analysis of the behavior of the systems allows the construction of Return x Risk relationships, indicating that the systems 1, 3 and 4 have better risk return relationship for the current situation of the property, ie have higher returns but also greater associated risk, being recommended for less aversive to risk producers. To decapitalized producers or more aversive to risk, System 2 is the most recommended. In sensitivity analysis to production costs the diversification reduced the impact of increased costs. Economic efficiency, use of work and soil use, for each harvest year, shows the differences between the activities, being livestock the most economically efficient and at the same time the one with lower crop value per hectare. Rice is the dominant culture in the total production costs, in the formation of the total profit, however, has been losing ground for soybeans. There is no recommendation of a single system, but the necessity of setting strategies to market conditions. The interaction of various production systems may be the answer to market changes in the future.