Abstract

Abstract
Portuguese footwear industry has improved dramatically to become one of the main world players. This work is part of a project in cooperation with a large footwear company, operating a new automated assembly equipment, integrating various lines. Balancing such lines implies going from an almost manual preparation executed by experienced operators, to a planning supported by optimisation systems. These complex mixed-model lines have distinctive characteristics, which make balancing a unique problem. The paper proposes the ASBsm – Assembly System Balancing Solution Method, a new method that integrates a constructive heuristic and an improvement heuristic, which takes inspiration from Tabu Search. The solutions obtained, based on real instances, are quite encouraging when compared with other effected factory solutions. Consequently, the balances obtained by ASBsm are now being implemented and articulated with sequencing methods. © IFIP International Federation for Information Processing 2017.

Abstract
In this paper, the impacts of an incentive-based Demand Response, i.e., Ancillary Service DR (ASDR), and a price-based DR, i.e., Time of Use (ToU), are revealed in a restructured power system which has some wind farms. This network is designed based on the pre-emptive market which is a day-ahead market with a balancing market prognosis. It is a proper mechanism to deal with the stochastic nature of non-dispatchable and outage of all units of the network. With Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) method, several scenarios are generated in order to tackle the variability and uncertainties of the wind farms generation. The impacts of merging ASDR and ToU are investigated through running a two-stage stochastic security constrained unit commitment (SCUC), separately

Abstract

Abstract
The multi-facility layout problem involves the physical organization of departments inside several facilities, to allow flexible and efficient operations. This work studies the facility layout problem in a new perspective, considering a group of facilities, and two different concerns: the location of departments within a group of facilities, and the location of departments inside each facility itself. The problem is formulated as a Quadratic Programming Problem with multiple objectives and unequal areas, allowing layout reconfigurations in each planning period. The objectives of the model are: the minimization of costs (material handling inside facilities and between facilities, and re-layout); the maximization of adjacency between departments; and the minimization of the "unsuitability" of department positions and locations. This unsuitability measure is a new objective proposed in this work, to combine the characteristics of existing locations with the requirements of departments. The model was tested with data from the literature as well as with a problem inspired in a first tier supplier in the automotive industry. Preliminary results show that this work can be viewed as an innovative and promising integrated approach for tackling real, complex facility layout problems.

Abstract
Olive oil displays remarkable organoleptic and nutritional features, which turn it into a foodstuff appreciated by consumers, and a basic component of the Mediterranean diet. Indeed, the noticed benefits of including olive oil in the diet have been assigned to the presence of diverse bioactive compounds with different molecular structures. These compounds confer a wide range of biological properties to this food matrix, including the prevention of distinct human diseases as well as the modulation of their severity. The most relevant bioactive compounds present in olive oil correspond to benzoic and cinnamic acids, phenolic alcohols and secoiridoids, and also flavonoids. Over the last decades, several studies, devoted to gaining a further insight into the relative contribution of the separate groups and individual compounds for their biological activities, have been conducted, providing relevant information on structure-activity relationships. Therefore, this paper critically reviews the health benefits evidenced by distinct phenolic compounds found in olive oils, thus contributing to clarify the relationship between their chemical structures and biological functions, further supporting their interest as essential ingredients of wholesome foods.