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Article
Publication date: 1 February 1993

N. Dunning, C. Preece, K.S.H. Sadek, J. Grantham, S. Owen, G.E. Taylor, J.E.L Simmons and D.C. Reedman

In recent years NC controlled lock‐stitch sewing machines operating on shoe upper sub‐assemblies held in flat pallets have become well‐established in shoemaking businesses…

73

Abstract

In recent years NC controlled lock‐stitch sewing machines operating on shoe upper sub‐assemblies held in flat pallets have become well‐established in shoemaking businesses. However, a major problem for manufacturers of high‐quality footwear is that such machines are subject to malformation of the lockstitch when the pallet moves in certain directions with respect to the sewing head. The stitch malformation, known as half‐hitching, results in seams which have an inconsistent and unsightly appearance. Examines the reasons for half‐hitching and strategies for its prevention. One approach involves rotating the stitching head about a vertical axis so that the direction of sewing is always maintained at a tangent to the seam. Systems such as this have been proposed in the past but have been prohibitively complicated and cumbersome. Introduces a stitching machine concept which enables a much simpler demonstration rotating head stitching machine to be built. It is expected that industrially‐developed units using the principle illustrated will find widespread use in the shoemaking industry. They will be relevant not only in conventional pallet loaded NC stitching machines, but also in a new generation of palletless machines.

Details

International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology, vol. 5 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0955-6222

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Article
Publication date: 1 March 1993

D.C. Reedman

The assembly of shoe uppers is a labour‐intensive activity requiring highly developed manipulative and supervisory skills to ensure economic production of adequate quality. A…

64

Abstract

The assembly of shoe uppers is a labour‐intensive activity requiring highly developed manipulative and supervisory skills to ensure economic production of adequate quality. A typical manufacturing unit in the fashion sector might at any instant have in process say 20 – 40 or more shoe styles, each one comprising left and right, each with ten sizes and perhaps as many as 20 components, in the upper alone. Clearly, any form of automation depending on hard tooling is unacceptable in such an environment. Tool changes are too frequent and the cost and logistics of providing and managing the tooling hardware are prohibitive. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule and machinery based on such technology is successful when production runs are long enough. This article describes an aspect of a major project undertaken by British United Shoe Machinery Ltd (BUSM) and a number of universities, with financial support from the ACME Directorate of the Science and Engineering Research Council. The objective of the programme has been to identify and demonstrate automation technologies of sufficient flexibility to be applicable to a broad range of shoemaking environments. This has been successful, and the following discussion describes in particular a product that arises from work at the City University, carried out in the early 1980s and from more recent work at the University of Hull.

Details

Assembly Automation, vol. 13 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-5154

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Article
Publication date: 1 October 2002

Mozafar Saadat and Ping Nan

Flexible materials are used extensively in a wide range of industrial applications including the manufacture and assembly of garment and footwear products, the packaging industry…

2581

Abstract

Flexible materials are used extensively in a wide range of industrial applications including the manufacture and assembly of garment and footwear products, the packaging industry and aircraft manufacturing. These applications are often extremely labour intensive requiring fast and accurate manipulation of materials by skilled human operators. This has resulted in numerous international research and development efforts to automate certain handling and manipulation processes involving flexible materials. Much of the research has been inspired by real industrial problems, and thus has been mainly sponsored by industry. A variety of innovative techniques and methods have emerged either addressing specific industrial problems, or suggesting a number of generic solutions. This paper closely examines the international research effort of automatic manipulation of flexible materials through a classification of workpieces in terms of their broad geometric shape, industrial applications, and individual processes.

Details

Industrial Robot: An International Journal, vol. 29 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-991X

Keywords

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Publication date: 17 March 2022

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Innovative Approaches in Pedagogy for Higher Education Classrooms
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80043-256-7

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Article
Publication date: 18 April 2008

Rupert Tipples

The purpose of this case study is to explore how a relatively economically insignificant business can gain and maintain access to a major supermarket chain on the other side of…

1490

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this case study is to explore how a relatively economically insignificant business can gain and maintain access to a major supermarket chain on the other side of the globe in a world oversupplied with fine wines.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the approach to case studies recommended by Lyons (2005), this case study is built on semi‐structured interviews with key informants, previous experience, observations, documentary and web resources, combined in a process of triangulation to ensure reliability and content validity.

Findings

The nature of the problems facing a small wine producer are described, followed by an account of how access to Tesco was achieved and maintained. Personnel with previous Tesco contact were found to be vital to gaining access. Providing exactly what the supermarket wanted, when it wanted it and with reliability to continue supply over time were found to be critical as was the role of the channel coordinator. Supplier/supermarket loyalty was able to survive opposition. Maintaining good relationships in the supply chain was supported at all levels by active participation of the supplier's principals, in all stages of the chain, both personally and in developing solutions to the supermarket's problems.

Originality/value

The case study describes the first successful export of wine from New Zealand to Britain for sale in Bag‐in‐Box containers and how this is far more efficient in “food miles”.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 110 no. 4/5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

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Article
Publication date: 14 June 2019

Lachlan Urquhart, Dominic Reedman-Flint and Natalie Leesakul

The vision of robotics in the home promises increased convenience, comfort, companionship and greater security for users. The robot industry risks causing harm to users, being…

1724

Abstract

Purpose

The vision of robotics in the home promises increased convenience, comfort, companionship and greater security for users. The robot industry risks causing harm to users, being rejected by society at large or being regulated in overly prescriptive ways if robots are not developed in a socially responsible manner. The purpose of this paper is to explore some of the challenges and requirements for designing responsible domestic robots.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper examines definitions of robotics and the current commercial state of the art. In particular, it considers the emerging technological trends, such as smart homes, that are already embedding computational agents in the fabric of everyday life. The paper then explores the role of values in design, aligning with human computer interaction, and considers the importance of the home as a deployment setting for robots. The paper examines what responsibility in robotics means and draws lessons from past home information technologies. An exploratory pilot survey was conducted to understand user concerns about different aspects of domestic robots such as form, privacy and trust. The paper provides these findings, married with literature analysis from across technology law, computer ethics and computer science.

Findings

By drawing together both empirical observations and conceptual analysis, this paper concludes that user centric design is needed to create responsible domestic robotics in the future.

Originality/value

This multidisciplinary paper provides conceptual and empirical research from different domains to unpack the challenges of designing responsible domestic robotics. In doing this, the paper seeks to bridge the gap between the normative dimensions of how responsible robots should be built, and the practical dimensions of how people want to live with them in context.

Details

Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, vol. 17 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-996X

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Book part
Publication date: 17 March 2022

Jill Haldane and Philip Davies

This chapter presents a discussion of innovations in pedagogic approaches for high-achieving, pre-degree pathway program students at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.The

Abstract

This chapter presents a discussion of innovations in pedagogic approaches for high-achieving, pre-degree pathway program students at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.

The question under discussion in the academic language classroom is the extent to which dynamic cohorts of multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary students are being enabled to fulfill individual learning goals as well as the institution’s expectations of pathway learners and academic language users. Wingate (2015) argues that in the absence of an epistemological and socioculturally embedded literacy instruction, students are not equitably prepared for success in the discipline or the wider institution. The chapter reviews critiques of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and Academic Literacies by addressing “the best of both worlds” (Wingate & Tribble, 2012, p. 492) approach.

The chapter continues with a case study into the Academic Vocabulary in Literacy strand of the Foundation EAP course on the International Foundation Programme at Edinburgh University. There then follows close analysis of innovation by course designers to adapt the “best of both traditions” model (Wingate & Tribble, 2014, p. 2) into an integrated academic language and literacy approach. It is posited that this approach could enable attempts at transition for high-achieving foundation students by experiencing language in dynamic and multi-modal genres.

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Article
Publication date: 1 October 2000

A.J. Crispin, B. Pokric, M. Rankov, D. Reedman and G.E. Taylor

The paper describes work relating to the laser line triangulation technique which has been used to inspect the edges of overlapping shoe components prior to the sewing operation…

434

Abstract

The paper describes work relating to the laser line triangulation technique which has been used to inspect the edges of overlapping shoe components prior to the sewing operation. The laser line triangulation technique involves projecting a laser line on to a surface which can be viewed using an area camera. A surface height transition (edge) causes a discontinuity in the observed laser line. Different approaches for extracting the edge positions in the image co‐ordinate system have been investigated based on the Hough transform, the spatial histogram, polynomial regression and the discrete first derivative. These edge detection algorithms are compared in terms of speed and precision performance. Three‐dimensional scans of typical shoe component parts are presented.

Details

International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology, vol. 12 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0955-6222

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Article
Publication date: 8 June 2010

Rupert Tipples

The purpose of this paper is to explore the fragile link between a medium sized New Zealand wine business and a major overseas supermarket chain, and how a smaller business can…

1341

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the fragile link between a medium sized New Zealand wine business and a major overseas supermarket chain, and how a smaller business can survive market disappointments such as reduced supply contracts.

Design/methodology/approach

This case study is built on semi‐structured interviews with key informants, previous experiences, observations, documentary and web resources, combined in a process of triangulation to optimize reliability and content validity.

Findings

Establishing a successful long distance supply chain for a New Zealand wine does not guarantee long term business success. When that success was threatened by the supermarket reducing its order unilaterally the company concerned responded by restructuring its business operations to overcome a performance gap. A further chain has been developed to another UK based supermarket chain, ASDA, to move bulk wine and significant inroads have been made into the US market place through Total Wine & More, a US distributor/retailer. Long term relationships played key parts in all these developments. Establishing and maintaining customer contact and loyalty through regular interpersonal contact and close monitoring of the supply situation has had a central role.

Research limitations/implications

This is only a single case of a Canterbury, New Zealand, enterprise, but it corroborates Beverland and Lindgreen's research, which examined the evolving patterns of relationships over time among New Zealand wineries, importers, retailers and customers.

Practical implications

This paper highlights the value of investing in and maintaining long term business relationships.

Originality/value

Previous articles have described the establishment of the original chain with Tesco. This one reviews how that chain has been rescued and other chains developed as part of a strategy of not “having all one's eggs in one basket”. The major innovation for this exporter has been gaining satisfactory access to the US market. Together with his UK chains this now provides assured markets for the majority of his production of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, by far the most important New Zealand varietal wine produced.

Details

International Journal of Wine Business Research, vol. 22 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1751-1062

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Article
Publication date: 4 October 2021

Rangga Handika

This paper offers an alternative approach to assessing contagions in price and load in the Australian interconnected power markets. This approach enabled us to identify a…

83

Abstract

Purpose

This paper offers an alternative approach to assessing contagions in price and load in the Australian interconnected power markets. This approach enabled us to identify a high-risk region and assess the direction of contagions from both buyers' and sellers' perspectives.

Design/methodology/approach

The author used a multinomial logit method to measure contagions. Having identified the exceedance and coexceedances, the author estimated the multinomial logit coefficients of the covariates explaining the probability of a certain number of coexceedances.

Findings

Market participants should recognize the presence of contagion risk and scrutinize price and load dynamics in the NSW and VIC regions to anticipate any simultaneous extreme changes. Regulators need to stabilize the demand and supply sides in those regions to minimize any possible contagions.

Originality/value

This paper presents a pioneering study investigating contagion in the Australian interconnected power markets.

Details

The Journal of Risk Finance, vol. 22 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1526-5943

Keywords

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