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Publications

Publications by Paulo Ávila

2022

Manufacturing and Management Paradigms, Methods and Tools for Sustainable Industry 4.0-Oriented Manufacturing Systems

Authors
Varela, L; Avila, P; Castro, H; Putnik, GD; Fonseca, LMC; Ferreira, L;

Publication
SUSTAINABILITY

Abstract
In the current Industry 4 [...]

2021

Open Science Laboratory for Manufacturing: an education tool to contribute to sustainability

Authors
Castro, H; Pinto, N; Pereira, F; Ferreira, L; Avila, P; Putnik, G; Felgueiras, MC; Bastos, J; Cunha, M;

Publication
TEEM'21: NINTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON TECHNOLOGICAL ECOSYSTEMS FOR ENHANCING MULTICULTURALITY

Abstract
This paper presents a Cyber Physical System (CPS) laboratory based on Open Design, called Open Science Laboratory for Manufacturing (OSLab4Man), with educational and research purpose and the potential contribute and (direct and indirect) effects regarding the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A short introduction describing the 17 SDG, the education for sustainability role, and the relevance of the framed CPS. A literature review of CPS laboratories that are addressed to sustainability is presented. The OSLab4Man is describe in the educational purpose lens. Then, the contribute of the OSLab4Man as an education tool for sustainability regarding the 17 SDGs is reflected. Finally, the conclusions of this work and future works are highlighted.

2021

Lean Practices Adoption in the Portuguese Industry

Authors
Martins, D; Fonseca, L; Avila, P; Bastos, J;

Publication
JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT-JIEM

Abstract
Purpose: The study purpose was to analyse the excellence and operational efficiency of Portuguese industrial companies through the measurement of lean practices implementation. Additionally, it intended to propose a new model to assess the lean production system. Design/methodology/approach: The research presents an in-depth lean literature review that served as a basis for the creation of a questionnaire. The survey was addressed to Portuguese industrial companies to obtain data about their lean implementation success. Collected data were analysed, resorting descriptive and exploratory statistics. A principal component analysis was applied to reduce the amount of data and define a new model that characterizes the lean practices adoption level. Some Chi-square tests were used to assess the independence of some variables. Findings: The results indicate that a significant percentage of organizations use lean practices within their activity. Concerning the lean implementation maturity, a plus side revealed by the study concerns the adoption of the teamwork, internal information shared principles, increase of process capability to produce conforming products, and reduction in set up times. On the other hand, responsibilities decentralization, more employees acting as team leaders, implementation of employees' suggestions, and interconnection with suppliers, are some of the principles that need to be given greater attention by the Portuguese industrial organizations. The key contribution consists of a new model for lean determinants based on three dimensions: work method, productive process elements, and work efficiency. Originality/value: The present research provides a new Lean determinants model that allows understanding the importance of the operational efficiency provided by a mature lean production system, being the key to the competitiveness in the global business market.

2015

PROPOSAL OF AN EMPIRICAL MODEL FOR SUPPLIERS SELECTION

Authors
Avila, P; Mota, A; Putnik, G; Costa, L; Pires, A; Bastos, J; Cruz Cunha, MM;

Publication
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR QUALITY RESEARCH

Abstract
The problem of selecting suppliers/partners is a crucial and important part in the process of decision making for companies that intend to perform competitively in their area of activity. The selection of supplier/partner is a time and resource-consuming task that involves data collection and a careful analysis of the factors that can positively or negatively influence the choice. Nevertheless it is a critical process that affects significantly the operational performance of each company. In this work, trough the literature review, there were identified five broad suppliers selection criteria: Quality, Financial, Synergies, Cost, and Production System. Within these criteria, it was also included five sub-criteria. Thereafter, a survey was elaborated and companies were contacted in order to answer which factors have more relevance in their decisions to choose the suppliers. Interpreted the results and processed the data, it was adopted a model of linear weighting to reflect the importance of each factor. The model has a hierarchical structure and can be applied with the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method or Simple Multi-Attribute Rating Technique (SMART). The result of the research undertaken by the authors is a reference model that represents a decision making support for the suppliers/partners selection process.

2021

Value Analysis as a Mechanism to Reduce the Complexity of the Selection of the Resources System for Agile/Virtual Enterprises in the Context of Industry 4.0

Authors
Avila, PS; Pires, AM; Putnik, GD; Bastos, JAS; Cruz Cunha, MM;

Publication
FME TRANSACTIONS

Abstract
The selection of the resources system (SRS) is an important element in the integration/project of Agile/Virtual Enterprises (A/V E) because its performance is dependent of this selection, and even of its creation. However, it remains a difficult matter to solve because is still a very complex and uncertain problem. We propose that using Value Analysis (VA) in the pre-selection of resources phase represents a significant improvement of the SRS process. The current literature fails to formally address the pre-selection phase and none of the resource selection models incorporate the resources value and its consequence in the complexity of the selection process. Whereby, ours developed model with VA constitutes an innovative approach towards greater sustainability in the configuration of A/V E in the context of Industry 4.0, where a massive interconnection among enterprises is expected and consequently the increase of the selection process complexity. After the construction of a demonstrator tool for a set of the problem formulations, this paper verifies by computational results the thesis regarding the benefits of applying VA to the SRS process: VA reduces the complexity of the SRS process, even ensuring that the final system of resources achieve higher quality/value grade.

2021

A Framework for Time-Cost-Quality Optimization in Project Management Problems Using an Exploratory Grid Concept in the Multi-Objective Simulated-Annealing

Authors
Mota, A; Avila, P; Albuquerque, R; Costa, L; Bastos, J;

Publication
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & DECISION MAKING

Abstract
Time, cost, and quality are the three indispensable factors for the realization and success of a project. In this context, we propose a framework composed of a multi-objective approach and multi-criteria decision-making methods (MCDM) to solve time-cost-quality trade-off optimization problems. A multi-objective Simulated Annealing (MOSA) algorithm is used to compute an approximation to the Pareto optimal set. The concept of the exploratory grid is introduced in the MOSA to improve its performance. MCDM are used to assist the decision-making process. The Shannon entropy and AHP methods assign weights to criteria. The first methodology is for the inexperienced decision-makers, and the second concedes a personal and flexible weighting of the criteria weights, based on the project manager's assessment. The TOPSIS and VIKOR methods are considered to rank the solutions. Although they have the same purpose, the rankings achieved are different. A tool is implemented to solve a time-cost-quality trade-off problem on a project activities network. The computational experiments are analyzed and the results with the exploratory grid in Simulated Annealing (SA) are promising. Despite the framework aims to solve multi-objective trade-off optimization problems, supporting the decisions of the project manager, the methodologies used can also be applied in other areas.

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