John Oyekan, Axel Fischer, Windo Hutabarat, Christopher Turner and Ashutosh Tiwari
The purpose of this paper is to explore the role that computer vision can play within new industrial paradigms such as Industry 4.0 and in particular to support production line…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the role that computer vision can play within new industrial paradigms such as Industry 4.0 and in particular to support production line improvements to achieve flexible manufacturing. As Industry 4.0 requires “big data”, it is accepted that computer vision could be one of the tools for its capture and efficient analysis. RGB-D data gathered from real-time machine vision systems such as Kinect ® can be processed using computer vision techniques.
Design/methodology/approach
This research exploits RGB-D cameras such as Kinect® to investigate the feasibility of using computer vision techniques to track the progress of a manual assembly task on a production line. Several techniques to track the progress of a manual assembly task are presented. The use of CAD model files to track the manufacturing tasks is also outlined.
Findings
This research has found that RGB-D cameras can be suitable for object recognition within an industrial environment if a number of constraints are considered or different devices/techniques combined. Furthermore, through the use of a HMM inspired state-based workflow, the algorithm presented in this paper is computationally tractable.
Originality/value
Processing of data from robust and cheap real-time machine vision systems could bring increased understanding of production line features. In addition, new techniques that enable the progress tracking of manual assembly sequences may be defined through the further analysis of such visual data. The approaches explored within this paper make a contribution to the utilisation of visual information “big data” sets for more efficient and automated production.
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Marcus Fischer, Florian Imgrund, Christian Janiesch and Axel Winkelmann
Digital transformation has been changing the economic environment of enterprises in recent years. To remain competitive, they rely on an extensible software architecture, flexible…
Abstract
Purpose
Digital transformation has been changing the economic environment of enterprises in recent years. To remain competitive, they rely on an extensible software architecture, flexible workflow execution, and automated decision management. The concepts of service-oriented architectures (SOA), business process management (BPM), and business rules management (BRM) provide an adequate, yet isolated means of addressing many of these requirements. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adapts from established research frameworks to structure the current state of research on the integration of SOA, BPM and BRM. The authors highlight the current research scope, point to disregarded topics and sketch out multidisciplinary research approaches.
Findings
While the three concepts are often discussed only in isolation or pairwise, approaches that integrate them are scarce. Against this backdrop, this study defines three types of research opportunities and identifies several directions for future research that should be explored from a technological as well as organizational perspective. Given the breadth of open questions, the authors present sources for each area of our research framework, which can serve as starting points for future investigations.
Practical implications
Except for well-established support for separate tasks and technologies, there is a lack of integrated standards, methods and platforms, which for example enable integrated decision-making across BPM and SOA.
Originality/value
Our contribution builds on established frameworks and clearly shows that the discussion on the integration of SOA, BPM and BRM cannot yet be regarded as sufficient. The research agenda highlights which areas explicitly benefit from a more precise consideration.
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TOM ANDERSEN and AXEL GAARSLEV
Based on the expectation of artificial intelligence (Al) the authors established in 1988 an umbrella for research in this area in the construction industry, named the Expert…
Abstract
Based on the expectation of artificial intelligence (Al) the authors established in 1988 an umbrella for research in this area in the construction industry, named the Expert Systems Lab. This paper describes 14 research projects produced since then. For each project a short description is given and the stage and value rating given by industry is reported. It will be seen that the projects generally have been rated very attractive by industry. On the other hand, it is also reported that none of the systems have been implemented in real life. This depressing observation is the main motivation for the paper and possible reasons for the lack of implementation are examined. It is concluded that stand‐alone systems as normally produced are out of harmony with industry, and main emphasis for Al should on the contrary be focused on problems concerning integration, knowledge and information management.
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This chapter is a case study of the valuation of voting rights in France and Italy. New regulations, France’s “Florange Law” as well as Italian Legislative Decree 91/2014, have…
Abstract
This chapter is a case study of the valuation of voting rights in France and Italy. New regulations, France’s “Florange Law” as well as Italian Legislative Decree 91/2014, have created additional voting rights attached to the existing shares of long-term shareholders. The chapter tests whether stock price evolution is consistent with the valuation of voting rights as per existing research.
Results show that stock prices of the float do not factor in the dilution created by loyalty voting rights. The chapter argues that the dilutive effect of the new regulations has a negative impact on stock valuation, but that this is more than offset by taking into account real options. These results address the concern that the new policies would depress stock valuation in France and Italy.
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This chapter provides a critical exploration of the European Union’s impact on the 2016 United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) proceedings and Outcome document…
Abstract
This chapter provides a critical exploration of the European Union’s impact on the 2016 United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) proceedings and Outcome document. It demonstrates that the ability to produce a European ‘common position’ ahead of the UNGASS debates represents a significant step forward in the ability to ‘speak with one voice’ in the global illicit drug policy arena, and has played an important role in ensuring key issues such as human rights and public health remain on the agenda. In highlights, however, a European failure to engage with issues such as the continuing suitability of the international drug conventions to preside over the current climate of drug policy innovation and experimentation, and the unintended consequences of a ‘war on drugs’ approach. Ultimately, therefore, it argues that these failures will hamper the development of a more progressive and effective global drug policy.
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The burden social theorists must be willing to accept, respond to, and act upon pertains to the difficulties that predictably accompany all efforts to convey to nontheorists the…
Abstract
The burden social theorists must be willing to accept, respond to, and act upon pertains to the difficulties that predictably accompany all efforts to convey to nontheorists the unwelcome fact of heteronomy – that as actors, we are not as autonomous as we were told and prefer to assume – and to spell out what heteronomy in the form in which it has been shaping the developmental trajectory of modern societies means for professional theorists. I introduce the concept of “vitacide,” designed to capture that termination of life is a potential vanishing point of the heteronomous processes that have been shaping modern societies continuing to accelerate and intensify in ways that prefigure our future, but not on our human or social terms. Heteronomy pointing toward vitacide should compel us as social theorists to consider critically both the constructive and destructive trajectory that social change appears to have been following for more than two centuries, irrespective of whether the resulting prospect is to our liking or not. In this context, the classical critical theorists of the early Frankfurt School, especially Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno, pursued what turned out to be an evolving interest in rackets, the authoritarian personality, and the administered society – concepts that served as foils for delineating the kind of theoretical stance that is becoming more and more important as we are moving into an increasingly uncertain future.
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My response to the thoughtful and insightful critical discussions of my book, The End of Progress, offered by Reha Kadakal, George Steinmetz, Karen Ng, and Kevin Olson, restates…
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My response to the thoughtful and insightful critical discussions of my book, The End of Progress, offered by Reha Kadakal, George Steinmetz, Karen Ng, and Kevin Olson, restates its motivation and rationale to defend my interpretive claims regarding Adorno, Foucault, Habermas, Honneth, and Forst by applying standards drawn from the first two theorists that are consonant with postcolonial critical theory to the perspectives, claims, and theoretical contributions of the latter three theorists. Habermas, Honneth, and Forst presume a historical present that has shaped the second, third, and fourth generations of the Frankfurt School they represent – a present that appears to be characterized by relative social and political stability – a stability that only applies in the context of Europe and the United States. Elsewhere, anti-colonial struggles, proxy wars, and even genocides were related to the persistent legacies of European colonialism and consequences of American imperialism. Yet, critical theory must expand its angle of vision and acknowledge how its own critical perspective is situated within the postcolonial present. The essays of Kadakal and Ng express concerns about my metanormative contextualism and the question of whether Adorno’s work can be deployed to support it. Steinmetz challenges my “process of elimination” argument for metanormative contextualism and asks why I assume that constructivism, reconstructivism, and problematizing genealogy exhaust the available options for grounding normativity. Olson calls for a methodological decolonization to complement the epistemic decolonization I recommend. Critical theory should produce critical theories of actually existing societies, rather than being preoccupied with meta-theory or disputes over clashing paradigms.
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Gordon Wills, Leonard Magrill and Allen Cooper
Efficient, or seemingly efficient, distribution of goods and services is something most of us take for granted most of the time in western advanced economic systems. Yet, as…
Abstract
Efficient, or seemingly efficient, distribution of goods and services is something most of us take for granted most of the time in western advanced economic systems. Yet, as catastrophes and wars have repeatedly shown, a distribution system is a sophisticated and often fragile institutional phenomenon. In the face of such fragility and sophistication we tend to over‐compensate; we tend to generate excess capacity to meet almost any demand. Our understanding of channels of distribution and the complex relationships within them is accordingly adolescent rather than mature. During the coming decade, as the economies of the nine E.E.C. countries seek to adapt to their rapidly changing environments, there seems little room for doubt that greater maturity will be necessary and that it will emerge. Here we seek to discuss two conceptual constructs as the basis for understanding movement from adolescence to early maturity. Firstly, we explore the total systems approach; then we shall take a look at the use of comparative analytical method.
John F.P. Bridges, Joshua P. Cohen, Peter G. Grist and Axel C. Mühlbacher
Purpose – Although the US has lagged behind international developments in health technology assessment (HTA), renewed interest in HTA in the US has been fueled by the…
Abstract
Purpose – Although the US has lagged behind international developments in health technology assessment (HTA), renewed interest in HTA in the US has been fueled by the appropriation of $1.1 billion comparative effectiveness research (CER) in 2009 and the debate over health care reform.
Approach – To inform CER practices in the US, we present case studies of HTA from England/Wales and Germany: contrasting methods; relevance to the US; and impact on innovation.
Findings – The National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) was established in 1999 to inform trusts within the National Health Service of England and Wales. It uses cost-effectiveness analysis to guide the allocation resource across preventative and curative interventions. In Germany, the Institut für Qualität und Wirtschaftlichkeit im Gesundheitswesen (IQWiG) was established in 2004 to inform reimbursement and pricing policies for the statutory sickness funds set by the Gemeinsamer Bundesausschuss (G-BA). IQWiG evaluates competing technologies within specific therapeutic areas, placing more weight on clinical evidence and the relative efficiency of competing therapies.
Practical implications – Although having deep political and cultural antecedents, differences between NICE and IQWiG can be explained by perspective: the former guiding resource allocation across an entire system (macro-evaluation), the latter focusing on efficiency within the bounds of a particular therapeutic area (micro-evaluation). Given the decentralized nature of the US health care system, and the relative powers of different medical specialties, the IQWiG model presents a more suitable case study to guided CER efforts in the US.