Special Sessions/Tracks

Digital Lean Manufacturing and its Emerging Practices

Description: Digital technologies have given rise to a new era of “digital lean manufacturing” practices, which extends the lean philosophy to the “digital world”. This special track aims to attract papers exploring the new “digital frontier” for lean thinking and its emerging practices in the lean manufacturing domain. In this sense, we define the Digital Lean paradigm as the convergence between the principles and practices of lean thinking and the technology-driven vision of Industry 4.0 in order to support digital transformation initiatives at the shop-floor, combining different digital technologies with lean methods and tools. Furthermore, Digital Lean Manufacturing is defined as a digital lean strategy that builds on new data acquisition, data integration, data processing and data visualization capabilities to create different descriptive, predictive and prescriptive analytics applications to detect, fix, predict and prevent unstable process parameters and/or avoid quality issues inside defined tolerance ranges that may lead to any type of waste within the cyber- and physical- worlds towards higher levels of operational excellence and customer satisfaction1-2. This track welcomes research contributions on, but not limited to, digital waste, cyber-physical waste, digital quality management systems, digital Kanban systems, Jidoka 4.0 systems, digital poka-yokes, etc.
Organizers:

• Daryl Powell, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway, daryl.j.powell@ntnu.no
• David Romero, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico, david.romero.diaz@gmail.com
• Paolo Gaiardelli, University of Bergamo, Italy, paolo.gaiardelli@unibg.it
• Thorsten Wuest, West Virginia University, USA, thwuest@mail.wvu.edu

 

Operations Management in Engineer-to-Order Manufacturing

Description: Engineer-To-Order (ETO) is a manufacturing approach where design and engineering activities are included in the order fulfilment process. ETO manufacturing is used when engineering specifications of products are not known in detail upon receipt of customer order, and is common in mechanical industries, construction, shipbuilding, off shore supplier industries, and other types of project-based manufacturing, industries typically facing several unique challenges as the products are often one-of-a-kind and/or highly customized. This track welcomes research contributions on operations management enabling effective ETO manufacturing, including Industry 4.0 technologies, supply chain management, lean operations, planning and control, production strategies and product platforms.
Organizers:

• Erlend Alfnes, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway, erlend.alfnes@ntnu.no
• Martin Rudberg, Linköping University, Sweden, martin.rudberg@liu.se

 

Digital Transformation Approaches in Production Management

Description: Digital Transformation has disrupted every domain of production management, from products design and engineering to innovations in materials, manufacturing processes and production planning and control approaches. Digital Technologies are influencing all aspects of design, engineering and manufacturing at the emerging smart factories under the promise of being able to support manufacturing enterprises with the challenge of mass-customization and personalization demands at a competitive cost compared to the mass-production costs with shortest possible development time and production time. This market challenge requires production systems to change from more labour-intensive processes to information technology-enabled mechatronic processes. This special session aims to attract practice-oriented papers and real case studies trying to answer the questions of (i) What is the reality of digital transformation in today’s manufacturing enterprises? (ii) Which are the approaches, models, technologies and tools used today for their digital transformations? What are the challenges that manufacturing enterprises are facing when digitally transforming their production systems?
Organizers:

• Bahrudin Hrnjica, Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Bihac, Bosnia & Herzegovina, bahrudin.hrnjica@unbi.ba
• Egon Lüftenegger, IT & Business Informatics, CAMPUS 02 University of Applied Sciences, Austria, egon.lueftenegger@campus02.at
• Ioan Turcin, Automation Technologies, CAMPUS 02 University of Applied Sciences, Austria, ioan.turcin@campus02.at
• Selver Softic, IT& Business Informatics, CAMPUS 02 University of Applied Sciences, Austria, selver.softic@campus02.at
• Vlad Bocanet, Faculty of Machine Building, Technical University Cluj-Napoca, Romania, vlad.bocanet@tcm.utcluj.ro

 

The Future of Lean Thinking and Practice

Description: The session seeks to deepen the academic foundations of lean thinking. In collaboration with IFIP WG5.7 special interest group (SIG) for The Future of Lean Thinking and Practice, we are looking for papers that contribute to our understanding of how to reduce waste, unevenness, and overburden along entire value streams. Areas of interest include lean manufacturing, lean management, lean shop-floor control, lean and green, lean in services, and the role of lean in Industry 4.0. Particularly valuable is research that merges academic rigour with practical applications in industry. Case reports of practical experiences in manufacturing and comparison of manufacturing approaches are also very welcome.
Organizers:

• Daryl Powell, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway, daryl.j.powell@ntnu.no
• Torbjørn Netland, ETH Zurich, Switzerland, tnetland@ethz.ch
• Christoph Roser, Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, Germany, christoph.roser@hs-karlsruhe.de

 

The Operator 4.0: New Physical and Cognitive Evolutionary Paths

Description: According to recent studies on the Future of Work, robotization, automation and digitalization are changing human work through three distinct but related channels: substituting human workers, complementarity with humans, and new tasks creation. The role of operators in Industry 4.0 will most probably undergo through these three evolutionary paths. This special track is focused on technology’s complementarity with humans. This track aims to explore newly available physical and cognitive technological means, from exoskeletons and other types of wearables and support systems to collaborative robots to intelligent personal assistants for supporting and aiding the physical and cognitive work of the emerging Operators 4.0* at the Smart Factories of the Future. In this context, the special track welcomes research contributions on, but not limited to, advanced human-machine interfaces, joint cognitive systems, and human cyber-physical systems aiming at the augmentation of human physical and cognitive capabilities.

*The Operator 4.0 is “a smart and skilled operator who performs not only – ‘cooperative work’ with robots – but also – ‘work aided’ by machines as and if needed – by means of human cyber-physical systems, advanced human-machine interaction technologies and adaptive automation towards “human-automation symbiosis work systems” (Romero et al., 2016).

Organizers:

• David Romero, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico, dromero@tec.mx, david.romero.diaz@gmail.com
• Johan Stahre, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden,  johan.stahre@chalmers.se
• Eija Kaasinen, VTT, Finland, eija.kaasinen@vtt.fi
• Thorsten Wuest, West Virginia University, USA, thwuest@mail.wvu.edu
• Åsa Fasth-Berglund, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, asa.fasth@chalmers.se
• Sarbjeet Singh, Luleå University of Technology, Sweden, sarbjeet.singh@ltu.se

 

Data-Driven Applications in Smart Manufacturing and Logistics Systems

Description: Recent advancements in technology infrastructure for capturing and managing real-time data are key enablers of smart production systems and are expected to empower companies to adopt data-driven strategies for more responsive, efficient and sustainable manufacturing and logistics systems. This track explores new technological developments in data-driven applications, such as digital twins, for the planning and operation of smart manufacturing and logistics systems. The track welcomes research contributions and case studies on practical experiences implementing and using data-driven applications in smart manufacturing and logistics systems. Discussions on extended benefits concerning sustainability dimensions are welcome.
Organizers:

• Magnus Wiktorsson, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, magwik@kth.se
• Sang Do Noh, Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Republic of Korea, sdnoh@skku.edu

 

New Reconfigurable, Flexible or Agile Production Systems in the Era of Industry 4.0

Description: Industrial strategies for Factories of the Future (FoF) emphasize the strong need of adaptation of production systems to constantly changing customer requirements and production demands. Reconfigurability and agility of production systems are positioned as key issues to make manufacturing systems adaptable to these constantly higher paces of change. In spite of this crucial importance, Reconfigurable, Flexible or Agile Manufacturing Systems remain unequally or even, in some sectors, low implemented throughout all the levels of the supply chains. This is inducing lack of flexibility of the whole supply chain and production system. At the same time, FoF strategies put forth the integration of recent advances on Manufacturing Systems, which open new opportunities of research for new generation of production systems among which: Digitalisation trend, Servitization strategies, Sustainability Challenges. This track welcomes research contributions which integrate recent advances in digitization, servitization or sustainability for Reconfigurable, Flexible or Agile production systems.
Organizers:

• Xavier Delorme, IMT Mines Saint Etienne, France, delorme@emse.fr
• Alexandre Dolgui, IMT Mines Nantes, France, alexandre.dolgui@imt-atlantique.fr
• Gunther Reinhart, Technical University of Munich, Germany, gunther.reinhart@igcv.fraunhofer.de
• Michael Zäh, Technical University of Munich, Germany, michael.zaeh@iwb.tum.de

 

Production Ramp-up Strategies for Product Variety Management

Description: Changing customers’ preferences towards more customized and individualized products lead to an increasing offering variety. Product variety management may occur at different moments throughout the product lifecycle. For instance, when moving from product development to a full scale production process, decisions on how to manage production ramp-up depend heavily on variety and complexity levels. Several research works have addressed production ramp-up management; however, frameworks for supporting decision-making in selecting and fine-tuning ramp-up strategies in high variety production environments are scarce. This session welcomes papers dealing with concepts, methods and tools in the broad areas of product variety management and production ramp-up management and on their cross. Papers dealing with concepts such as additive manufacturing and digital twins in the context of product customization and variety management are much welcomed.
Organizers:

• Khaled Medini, Mines Saint Etienne, France, khaled.medini@emse.fr
• David Romero, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico, david.romero.diaz@gmail.com
• Thorsten Wuest, West Virginia University, USA, thwuest@mail.wvu.edu
• Stefan Wiesner, Bremer Institut für Produktion und Logistik GmbH at the University of Bremen, Germany, wie@biba.uni-bremen.de
• Thomas Ditlev Brunø, Aalborg University, Denmark, tdp@mp.aau.dk

 

Data-Driven Services: Characteristics, Trends and Applications

Description: Technological innovation and new digital technologies are radically changing the world of services and manufacturing. This transformation is amplified by the introduction of smart solutions in industry and society to control and optimize product and machine behaviours, improve customer value, provide new forms of knowledge, and enable new business models. In particular, the ability to collect and record a large quantity of data about how the products are used and how the services are delivered is believed to dramatically change how the services and the product-service systems should be designed, engineered, managed, and delivered along the entire lifecycle. This special track aims to gather valuable and innovative contributions related to the engineering and management of innovative Services and Product Service Systems (PSSs) enabled by the so-called Industry 4.0 technologies. In particular, the special track is looking for contributions reporting how the introduction of modern technologies can support the design, engineering, management, and delivery of services and PSSs for fulfilling in an intelligent way the users’ needs. The session invites both theoretical contributions and industrial case applications, promoting joint research efforts that successfully merge qualitative and quantitative approaches.
Organizers:

• Paolo Gaiardelli, University of Bergamo, Italy, paolo.gaiardelli@unibg.it
• Giuditta Pezzotta, University of Bergamo, Italy, giuditta.pezzotta@unibg.it
• Xavier Boucher, Mines Saint-Etienne, France, boucher@emse.fr
• Vittal Prabhu, Penn State University, USA, prabhu@engr.psu.edu

 

IFIP WG5.7 Research Workshop on Advances in Production Management Systems

Description: The aim of this workshop is to provide an extended forum for technical discussions of innovative research activities among the IFIP WG5.7 members and invited guests. The workshop organizers will invite their fellow colleagues to put forward proposals for extended presentations of their ongoing research activities on advances in production management systems. The presentations will be passed on to two members of the APMS Conference Scientific Committee for review and discussion. One of the members will act as a discussant of the presentation during the research workshop.
Organizers:

• Hermann Lödding, Hamburg University of Technology, Germany, loedding@tuhh.de
• Gregor von Cieminski, ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Chairperson of IFIP WG 5.7, gregor.cieminski@zf.com
• Erlend Alfnes, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway, erlend.alfnes@ntnu.no

 

Production Management in Food Supply Chains

Description: This special session has the objective of discussing the processes and actions related to the production management within food supply chains. The topics may also consider the integrated expansion of private and governmental policy towards reducing the environmental impacts of food supply chains. Topics: national strategies, policy initiatives, and incentives; government regulations and standards; logistics in agribusiness; networking and partnership; technology transfer and innovation opportunities; corporative governance and sustainability… in the context of smart food supply chains.
Organizers:

• Irenilza de Alencar Nääs, Paulista University-UNIP, Brazil, irenilza@gmail.com
• João Gilberto Mendes Reis, Paulista University-UNIP, Brazil, betomendesreis@msn.com
• Oduvaldo Vendrametto, Paulista University-UNIP, Brazil, oduvaldov@uol.com.br

 

Digital Transformation for more Sustainable Supply Chains

Description: Nowadays, the pervasiveness of innovative digital technologies is profoundly transforming our societies as well as the way products and services are conceived, realized and delivered to customers. This special session calls for new business and management models for supply chains in all industry sectors. At the same time, a more conscious and sustainable way of operating industrial systems is becoming the new requirement for companies all over the world. The ‘Triple Bottom Line’ (TBL) concept has expanded the scope of business activities to include social and environmental performance along with economic/financial ones and pushes toward a radical rethinking of entire supply chains and their operations. With these premises, the aim of this special session is to solicit contributions investigating the role and potential of the new digital technologies as well as their integration for the advancement of sustainable development, TBL, and circular economy. Contributions, coming from both researchers and practitioners, may include mathematical models, theoretical approaches and frameworks, as well as successful implementations and applications of these concepts.
Organizers:

• Davide Castellano, Department of Chemical, Materials and Production Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Italy, davide.castellano@unina.it
• Piera Centobelli, Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Italy, piera.centobelli@unina.it
• Mosè Gallo, Department of Chemical, Materials and Production Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Italy, mose.gallo@unina.it

 

Product and Asset Life Cycle Management in the Circular Economy

Description: Production systems directly impact the environment and society and the management of operations needs to consider practices and management models to guarantee sustainability. The Circular Economy concept that entails achieving more sustainable industrial systems, it can frame extant approaches and the adoption of new technologies with consistent effort towards sustainable manufacturing. To this regard, this special session promoted by the IFIP WG5.7 SIG on PALM focuses on the role of lifecycle management as a cornerstone for the development, coordination and control of various activities undertaken on products and assets to support the strategies for Circular Economy with concrete operational means. The session encourages contributions exploring circular lifecycle management of products and assets, building on advanced management methodologies, digital technologies, and new management concepts oriented to lifecycle risks, performance and costs. Topics of interest include but are not limited to: Management approaches for increased operating life of production systems; End of life management strategies, methods and tools; Cascade use, remanufacturing, and data-driven design for upgradability; Lifecycle data management for circular economy; Zero-defect manufacturing strategies, methods and tools; Prognostics and Health Management systems to support sustainable operations; Manufacturing intelligence for innovative and sustainable Product-Service support along the lifecycle; and Cyber-Physical Product Lifecycle Management for services augmenting a product/asset lifecycle.
Organizers:

• Marco Macchi, Politecnico di Milano, Italy, marco.macchi@polimi.it
• Irene Roda, Politecnico di Milano, Italy, irene.roda@polimi.it
• Dimitris Kiritsis, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, dimitris.kiritsis@epfl.ch
• Maria Holgado, University of Sussex, UK, m.holgado@sussex.ac.uk
• Thorsten Wuest, West Virginia University, USA, thwuest@mail.wvu.edu

 

Gastronomic Service System Design

Description: Improving productivity and added value in the gastronomic service system field are urgent issues. The application range of gastronomic service is wide. The scope of application is to improve productivity and added value in a series of value chains through food manufacturing, distribution, sales, and service provision, and to develop food, cooking recipes, and menus using human preference and sensitivity data. Also, research and business utilization using artificial intelligence technology, such as the introduction of robots at cooking and serving sites, interactive customer service, demand forecasting, and application to agriculture, forestry and fisheries fields, are progressing. Furthermore, from the viewpoint of gastronomic service system design, healthcare and community revitalization have also attracted attention, such as the creation of a new community and healthcare data collaboration that takes advantage of extended healthy life expectancy and relationships with people. Eating is a fundamental act of human beings, and gastronomic sciences are closely related to not only engineering and science but also to multiple disciplines such as medicine, culture, and history, so it is desirable to study with a multidisciplinary approach from various perspectives. Therefore, this session deals with a wide range of service system design research from basics to applications in the field of food systems.
Organizers:

• Tomomi Nonaka, College of Gastronomy Management, Ritsumeikan University, Japan, nonaka@fc.ritsumei.ac.jp
• Nobutada Fujii, Graduate School of System Informatics, Kobe University, Japan, nfujii@phoenix.kobe-u.ac.jp