Muhammad Ali Memon, Mohamed Hedi Karray, Agnès Letouzey and Bernard Archimède
In difficult geographical zones (mountain, intra-cities areas, etc.), many shippers, from small and medium enterprises to individuals, may demand delivery of different food…
Abstract
Purpose
In difficult geographical zones (mountain, intra-cities areas, etc.), many shippers, from small and medium enterprises to individuals, may demand delivery of different food products (fresh, refrigerated, frozen, etc.) in small quantities. On the other side, carrier companies wish to use their vehicles optimally. Taking into account the perishability constraints (short-shelflife, temperature limits, etc.) of the transported food products and environmental constraints (pollution, carbon impact) while consolidating multiple kinds of food products to use vehicles optimally is not achieved by current transportation planning solutions. The purpose of this paper is to present an interoperable solution of a marketplace, formed by shippers and carriers, dedicated to the schedule of food transport orders.
Design/methodology/approach
This transportation planning system named Interoperable-Pathfinder, Order, Vehicle, Environment and Supervisor (I-POVES) is an interoperable multi-agent system, based on the SCEP (supervisor, customer, environment and producer) model (Archimede and Coudert, 2001). Ontologies are developed to create the planning marketplace comprising demands and offers from different sources (multiple shippers and carriers).
Findings
A hierarchy ontology for food products. A transporter system ontology. A global ontology that contains all shared concepts used by local ontologies of both shippers and carriers. I-POVES an interoperable model, which facilitates collaboration between carriers and their shippers through its active agents.
Practical implications
I-POVES is tested on a case study from the TECCAS Poctefa project, comprising transport and food companies from both sides of the Pyrenees (France and Spain).
Originality/value
There has been much work in the literature on the delivery of products, but very few on the delivery of food products. Work related to delivery of food products focuses mostly on timely delivery for avoiding its wastage. In this paper, constraints related to food products and to environment (pollution and carbon impact) of transport resources are taken into account while planning the delivery.
Details
Keywords
Da Xu, Mohamed Hedi Karray and Bernard Archimède
With the rising concern of safety, health and environmental performance, eco-labeled product and service are becoming more and more popular. However, the long and complex process…
Abstract
Purpose
With the rising concern of safety, health and environmental performance, eco-labeled product and service are becoming more and more popular. However, the long and complex process of eco-labeling sometimes demotivates manufacturers and service providers to be certificated. The purpose of this paper is to propose a decision support platform aiming at further improvement and acceleration of the eco-labeling process in order to democratize a broader application and certification of eco-labels, also to consolidate the credibility and validity of eco-labels.
Design/methodology/approach
This decision support platform is based on a comprehensive knowledge base composed of various domain ontologies that are constructed according to an official eco-label criteria documentation.
Findings
Through standard Resource Description Framework and Web Ontology Language ontology query interface, the assets of the decision support platform will stimulate domain knowledge sharing and can be applied into other applications. A case study of laundry detergent eco-labeling process is also presented in this paper.
Originality/value
The authors present a reasoning methodology based on inference with Semantic Web Rule Language (SWRL) rules which allows decision making with explanation.
Details
Keywords
Mattia Mele, Gregorio Pisaneschi, Giampaolo Campana, Andrea Zucchelli and Michele Ciotti
The body of the literature on the Arburg Plastic Freeforming process is still very limited despite the increasing industrial importance of this technology. This paper aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
The body of the literature on the Arburg Plastic Freeforming process is still very limited despite the increasing industrial importance of this technology. This paper aims to contribute to a better understanding of this technology by investigating relations between characteristic process parameters and part features. Particularly, the effects of nominal dimension, drop aspect ratio, build chamber temperature and part position on accuracy are investigated. The density of manufactured parts is also measured to understand its relation with dimensional error.
Design/methodology/approach
A benchmark part was designed and manufactured in Polycarbonate on an Arburg Plastic Freeformer 2K-3A. The process was repeated with two levels of drop aspect ratio (1.2125 and 1.2150) and two build chamber temperatures (90°C and 120°C). Each build job included five parts in different positions of the chamber. The dimensional accuracy of benchmarks was measured by using a digital caliper, while Archimede’s principle was used for density measurements. All the acquired results were processed through an analysis of variance to investigate the role of experimental factors.
Findings
Results demonstrate that the linear shrinkage occurring at the end of the 3D printing process is the main source of inaccuracy. The higher the building chamber temperature, the most the part accuracy is influenced by the nominal dimension. The drop aspect ratio affects the dimensional error in the XY plane by increasing the overlap of adjacent droplets. On the other hand, this parameter does not influence the accuracy along the Z direction. The position of the parts inside the building chamber exhibited an influence on results, arguably due to the hot airflows.
Research limitations/implications
This research did not allow for a complete understanding of the role of part positioning on part accuracy. Further study is needed to understand the detail of this phenomenon.
Practical implications
The results of this study can aid the users of Arburg Plastic Freeforming technology by uncovering the role of the main process parameters.
Originality/value
This paper expands the body of knowledge on the Arburg Plastic Freeforming process by providing new information on the role of the main process parameters on dimensional accuracy and density. Particularly, the results answer a research question on the role of the drop aspect ratio, demonstrating that its main effect is to vary the droplets overlap, which, in turn, affects the thermal shrinkage.