PhD, EngD, MPhil and MSc by research theses (SAS)
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Browsing PhD, EngD, MPhil and MSc by research theses (SAS) by Supervisor "Ball, Peter"
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Item Open Access Barriers to energy reduction in manufacturing(Cranfield University, 2012-11) Lunt, Peter A. V.; Ball, PeterSustainability has become an important part of the culture of most organisations, with shareholders and customers demanding that companies operate in an environmentally responsible way. This research focuses specifically on one aspect of industrial sustainability: energy reduction in manufacturing. This research explores the management and organisational barriers within a manufacturing organisation, which prevent it from either implementing reductions in energy usage, or from realising the full benefit from them. The existence of these barriers is tested by collecting data on the perceptions of individuals within a UK facility belonging to a large aerospace manufacturing organisation, and by observing the progress of energy reduction projects in this facility. Data is collected through interview, questionnaire and by direct observation of the actors within this facility who are engaged in energy reduction activities. Three case studies are presented focusing on projects to reduce the energy consumed by the surface treatment and machining of aluminium aircraft parts. Building from the literature, a list of twenty barriers to energy reduction is developed and illustrated through these case studies. By analysing the narrative of these case studies it can be seen that these barriers are linked causally. This causality implies that a smaller number of key barriers will act as root causes of the larger list of barriers and is a main contribution of this work. The key barriers are found to be a lack of accountability and a lack of ownership. The causality is exploited by proposing that interventions to overcome these key barriers will remove or diminish the effect of the other barriers. The first intervention proposed is that objectives be set for Manufacturing Operations to ensure that it is functionally accountable for its energy consumption. The second intervention is that a focal point be nominated to own the resulting activities and be given appropriate resources to meet the objectives.Item Open Access Integrating product lifecycle management systems with maintenance information across the supply chain for root cause analysis(Cranfield University, 2014-08) Madenas, Nikolaos; Tiwari, Ashutosh; Ball, Peter; Turner, Christopher J.Purpose: The purpose of this research is to develop a system architecture for integrating PLM systems with maintenance information to support root cause analysis by allowing engineers to visualise cross supply chain data in a single environment. By integrating product-data from PLM systems with warranty claims, vehicle diagnostics and technical publications, engineers were able to improve the root cause analysis and close the information gaps. Methodology: The methodology was divided in four phases and combined multiple data collection approaches and methods depending on each objective. Data collection was achieved through a combination of semi-structured interviews with experts from the automotive sector, by studying the internal documentation and by testing the systems used. The system architecture was modelled using UML diagrams. Findings: The literature review in the area of information flow in the supply chain and the area of root cause analysis provides an overview of the current state of research and reveals research gaps. In addition, the industry survey conducted, highlighted supply chain issues related to information flow and the use of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems. Prior to developing the system architecture, current state process maps were captured to identify challenges and areas of improvement. The main finding of this research is a novel system architecture for integrating PLM systems with maintenance information across the supply chain to support root cause analysis. This research shows the potential of PLM systems within the maintenance procedures by demonstrating through the integration of PLM systems with warranty information, vehicle diagnostics and technical publications, that both PD engineers and warranty engineers were benefited. The automotive experts who validated the system architecture recognised that the proposed solution provides a standardised approach for root cause analysis across departments and suppliers. To evaluate the applicability of the architecture in a different industry sector, the proposed solution was also tested using a case study from the defence sector. Originality/Value: This research addressed the research gaps by demonstrating that: i) A system architecture can be developed to integrate PLM systems with maintenance information to allow the utilisation of knowledge and data across the product lifecycle; ii) Network can be treated as a virtual warehouse where maintenance data are integrated and shared within the supply chain; iii) Product data can be utilised in conjunction with maintenance information to support warranty and product development engineers; iv) Disparate pieces of data can be integrated where later data mining techniques could potentially be applied.Item Open Access Sustainable manufacturing tactics and improvement methodology : a structured and systematic approach to identify improvement opportunities(Cranfield University, 2013-04) Despeisse, Melanie; Ball, PeterGrowing environmental concerns caused by increasing consumption of natural resources and pollution need to be addressed. Manufacturing dictates the efficiency with which resource inputs are transformed into economically valuable outputs in the form of products and services. Consequently it is also responsible for the resulting waste and pollution generated from this transformation process. This research explored the challenges faced by sustainable manufacturing as a concept and as a model for manufacturing systems. The work is strongly based on the concepts of sustainability and industrial ecology applied at factory level. The research objectives were to understand what companies are doing to improve their sustainability performance at operational level (resource productivity) and to help other companies repeating such improvements in their own factory. In other words, the aim is to generalise sustainable practices across the manufacturing industry. The work started with a review of existing theories and practices for sustainable manufacturing and other related fields of research such as industrial ecology, cleaner production and pollution prevention. The concepts, themes, strategies and principles found in the literature provided a strong foundation to approach resource productivity improvements. The industrial cases collected gave an insight into the application of these strategies and principles in a factory. From the analysis of existing theories and practices, generic tactics were developed by translating 1000+ practices into generic rules and by mapping them against strategies and principles for sustainable manufacturing to check the completeness and consistency of the tactics library. To test the tactics and assist the user in their use through factory modelling, an improvement methodology was developed based on the same strategies and principles to provide a structured guide for accessing tactics and systematically identifying improvement opportunities. The research findings were tested with a series of prototype applications. These tests were carried out as part of a wider project (THERM). This project uses a modelling and simulation approach to capture the resource flows (material, energy, water and waste), the interactions within the manufacturing system (manufacturing operations, surrounding buildings and supporting facilities) and the influence of external factors‘ variation (weather conditions, building orientation and neighbouring infrastructures). The outcomes of the prototype applications helped develop and refine the research findings. The contribution to knowledge of this research resides in bridging the gap between high-level concepts for sustainability and industrial practices by developing a library of tactics to generalise sustainable manufacturing practices and an improvement methodology to guide the tactics implementation. From a practical viewpoint, the research provides a structured and systematic approach for manufacturers to undertake the journey towards more sustainable practice by improving resource flows in their factory.