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The purpose of this paper is to analyse professionals’ competencies in supply chain management (SCM) in the mid-sized supermarket sector in Brazil as a way of broadening the understanding of the importance and the use of competencies in business development.

The survey was conducted with 60 managers from 34 companies in the mid-sized supermarket sector in the metropolitan region of Natal, Brazil. The managers evaluated the importance and use of a set of 24 general and specific competencies related to SCM. The gaps between importance and use were identified and analysed.

The results showed that the level of use was below the level of importance for all competencies, and the general competencies somehow received more attention than specific competencies in the development and execution of SCM activities. Moreover, the overall average of the gaps between levels of use and importance calculated for the general competencies was less than the general average of the gaps calculated for the specific skills.

The research was carried out with a sample of mid-sized supermarkets in a particular region. Therefore, it is recommended that the research be extended to other contexts and supermarket companies of other sizes.

The calculated gaps between managers’ expectations or attributed importance and the perceived levels of competence use in supermarket organisations revealed important lines of action for correcting the course in human resources policy.

The present paper elaborated on an opportunities matrix, gaps × importance, showing how managers can set priorities to fill competence gaps and improve the companies’ human resources. Besides, it compares levels of importance and uses for two groups of competencies, general and specific related to SCM.

Several studies have aimed to develop robotic systems which move in transmission lines. Until this moment, all of them have a high weight and cost associated with the equipment and reduced battery autonomy time. In this context, this paper aims to propose the POLIBOT (POwer Lines Inspection roBOT) with low cost and weight, enabling the movement over the lines and an easier installation and remove.

The designed robot uses the Profiles Manufacturing Methodology (PMM). The construction of the robot mechanical structure uses modularized aluminum parts built through square profiles. Thus, it’s possible a drastic reduction in production time as well as cost reduction and weight when comparing this method with other manufacturing processes like foundry, for example. For hardware and software systems, the use of free and open source software causes a significant reduction in cost and project execution time. The benefits of using open source systems are immeasurable, both from academic and industrial applications.

The POLIBOT platform is one solution to the problem of inspection in power lines. With this robot, more lines are maintained with lower time. In its constructive aspect, the robotic mechanism is designed using principles of bioengineering. The use of this principle was successful, considering that obstacle transposition is performed with stability and low energy consumption.

The suggestion for future researches is to replace the battery for solar energy and construction in polymeric material to avoid high magnetic fields.

The commercial application is evident because manual inspections are inefficient, very expensive and dangerous. Thus, it is growing the number of researches that develop mechatronics systems for this kind of inspection.

The impact is the reduction of accidents because the present procedure requires precision of movements, where the pilot and electrical technician are close to high electrical and magnetic fields. In addition, for some tasks, the worker has to walk on the line to reach some important points. Thus, those tasks involve high risk of death.

The PMM methodology represents an innovation to the state of the art because others robotic mechanisms proposed for inspection tasks present total structure mass between 50 and 100 kg and POLIBOT has only 9 kg. Other fact is its price for implementation as this robot used the robot operating system (ROS) framework, what dispense the use of licenses. Other important features are that the robot performs the tasks autonomously, which reduces errors introduced by the operator and its low manufacturing cost as compared with other projects.

This paper aims to present a new approach, called hybrid model reference adaptive controller or H-MRAC, for the hybrid controller (proportional-integral-derivative [PID + MRAC]) that will be used to control the position of a pneumatic manipulator.

It was developed a McKibben muscle using nautical mesh, latex and high-density polyethene connectors and it was constructed an elbow manipulator with two degrees of freedom, driven by these muscles. Then it was presented the H-MRAC control law based on the phenomenological characteristics of the plant, aiming at fast response and low damping. Lyapunov's theory was used as the project methodology, which ensures asymptotic stability for the control system.

It was developed a precise control system for a pneumatic manipulator and the results were compared to previous research.

In collaborative robotics, human and machine occupy the same workspace. This research promotes the development of safer and more complacent mechatronic systems in the event of collisions.

As a practical implication, the research allows the substitution of electric motors by McKibben muscles in industrial robots with high accuracy.

The pneumatic manipulator will make the human-robot physical interaction safer as it can prevent catastrophic collisions causing victims or equipment breakdown.

When compared to results in the literature, the present research showed a 37.51% and 36.74% lower global error in position tracking than MRAC and Adaptive proportional-integral-derivative (A-PID), respectively, validating its effectiveness.

Streamlining automated processes is currently undertaken by developing optimization methods and algorithms for robotic manipulators. This paper aims to present a new approach to improve streamlining of automatic processes. This new approach allows for multiple robotic manipulators commonly found in the industrial environment to handle different scenarios, thus providing a high-flexibility solution to automated processes.

The developed system is based on a spatial discretization methodology capable of describing the surrounding environment of the robot, followed by a novel path-planning algorithm. Gazebo was the simulation engine chosen, and the robotic manipulator used was the Universal Robot 5 (UR5). The proposed system was tested using the premises of two robotic challenges: EuRoC and Amazon Picking Challenge.

The developed system was able to identify and describe the influence of each joint in the Cartesian space, and it was possible to control multiple robotic manipulators safely regardless of any obstacles in a given scene.

This new system was tested in both real and simulated environments, and data collected showed that this new system performed well in real-life scenarios, such as EuRoC and Amazon Picking Challenge.

The new proposed approach can be valuable in the robotics field with applications in various industrial scenarios, as it provides a flexible solution for multiple robotic manipulator path and motion planning.

This paper aims to address a mobile robot localization system that avoids using a dedicated laser scanner, making it possible to reduce implementation costs and the robot’s size. The system has enough precision and robustness to meet the requirements of industrial environments.

Using an algorithm for artificial beacon detection combined with a Kalman Filter and an outlier rejection method, it was possible to enhance the precision and robustness of the overall localization system.

Usually, industrial automatic guide vehicles feature two kinds of lasers: one for navigation placed on top of the robot and another for obstacle detection (security lasers). Recently, security lasers extended their output data with obstacle distance (contours) and reflectivity. These new features made it possible to develop a novel localization system based on a security laser.

Once the proposed methodology is completely validated, in the future, a scheme for global localization and failure detection should be addressed.

This paper presents a comparison between the presented approach and a commercial localization system for industry. The proposed algorithms were tested in an industrial application under realistic working conditions.

The presented methodology represents a gain in the effective cost of the mobile robot platform, as it discards the need for a dedicated laser for localization purposes.

This paper presents a novel approach that benefits from the presence of a security laser on mobile robots (mandatory sensor when considering industrial applications), using it simultaneously with other sensors, not only to guarantee safety conditions during operation but also to locate the robot in the environment. This paper is also valuable because of the comparison made with a commercialized system, as well as the tests conducted in real industrial environments, which prove that the approach presented is suitable for working under these demanding conditions.

Sterilization is endorsed as a method of family planning by international governmental organizations; abortion is not. Focusing on policy development for these two issues in a single country, Peru, we ask how power and inequality operate under conditions of global consensus or dissensus. The case of sterilization unfolded the way many previous research studies would predict, with Peruvian state actions corresponding to a global diffusion process. We find that global consensus provided cover for top-down actions that violated the human rights of indigenous women in the country, who were predominantly poor, non-Spanish speakers, and residents of the mountainous, sparsely populated parts of the country. With respect to abortion in Peru, in the absence of global consensus, the state resisted calls for change, advocacy networks have worked at cross-purposes, and a powerful local actor, the Catholic Church, has effectively blocked liberalization efforts. As with sterilization, however, marginalized indigenous women and their interests were rendered invisible.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the functioning of the rural credit market of Lima from 1825 to 1865, paying special attention to the effect of information asymmetries on the access to rural credit.

The article relies on primary sources for the study of the early credit market of Lima. In particular, the study relies on a sample of notarized loans for 1825–1865 and on property tax reports, collected from the National Archives of Peru, to determine the effect of information asymmetries, collateral and regional lending on access to credit. The article also analyzes the legal system of Peru during this period to determine whether property rights were well protected and so collateral could be used in the rural credit market.

A revision of the legislation shows that the legal system had some deficiencies, but allowed landlords and tenants to use their assets as collateral. Tax reports show that landlords and tenants owned valuable capital that could be used as collateral. Evidence from notarized loans shows that information asymmetries severely restricted inter-regional lending. In Lima, however, notaries played a role as financial intermediaries, providing the information about potential borrowers and allowing landlords and tenants to access credit. As a result, access to credit was significant for landlords and tenants.

This paper is one of the few historical studies on the role of information asymmetries in the allocation of rural credit in Latin America. It contributes to our understanding of credit markets prior to the creation of banks.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of political instability on rural credit in Lima between 1835 and 1865. In particular, it explores the effects of wars on interest rates for the agricultural sector.

The paper relies on primary sources for the study of the early credit market of Lima. In particular, the study relies on a sample of more than 800 notarized loans for 1835–1865, collected from the National Archives of Peru, to determine the effect of wars on the cost of credit.

The evidence shows that wars increased interest rates on rural loans and that the impact of wars on the cost of credit was greater when the State lacked fiscal resources. Political instability made funding more costly for landlords and farmers, especially in the late 1830s and early 1840s.

This paper is one of the few historical studies on the role of wars on rural credit in Latin America. It contributes to our understanding of the linkages between political instability and financial development.

The purpose of this paper is to report a literature review on sustainability funding in higher education and an analysis of the theoretical influence on academic research. The theoretical contribution and the most influential authors were examined to better understand the intellectual structure that links the theories and authors that have researched this topic. This study not only allows comprehension of the current research scenario but also, based on the gaps identified, provides guidelines for future studies on sustainability in higher education.

Citations and co-citations were analyzed in a sample of 745 papers, published between 1994 and 2018 in international journals, found in the Web of Science database on the topic of sustainability in higher education. Using the co-citations map, multidimensional scaling (MDS) and exploratory factor analysis (EFA), the conceptual and theoretical relations in these studies were identified.

It was possible to identify five clusters of the topics investigated, namely, sustainability competences; campus greening; co-creation and transfer of knowledge; sustainability science; and sustainability in university courses and curricula. A considerable number of studies were found in the areas of sustainability competencies and campus greening that focus on sustainability aspects. The clusters co-creation and transfer of knowledge, and sustainability science are related to the management of sustainability in higher education. The sustainability in university courses and curricula cluster focuses on actions within the scope of the courses and academic training.

Although there are limitations related to the choice of a single database (Web of Science), as the study was limited to 745 papers, the analysis of the citations and co-citations provides important information on the study of sustainability in high education. The results are also limited to the presentation of the data grouped according to the factors extracted in the period analyzed, as it is not the objective of this study to examine in depth the characteristics of each of the 745 papers and their relationship with the theoretical dimensions identified.

This paper is original, as it identifies by applying MDS and EFA to scientific papers, the topic of sustainability in higher education and the clusters that constitute this field of study. The main contribution of this research is the finding that, although there are five different theoretical dimensions of sustainable financing, they are not treated separately. This study also contributes to increasing the knowledge on the main topics, concepts and relations, which can guide future research.

Shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) is a typical manual process with many important but dangerous applications for the welder. The purpose of this paper is to present a methodology developed for execution time trajectory generation for robotic SMAW which offers greater safety and improved weld quality and repeatability.

The study presents a methodology developed for execution time trajectory generation for the robotic SMAW. In this methodology, while the electrode is melted the robot makes the diving movement, keeping the electric arc length constant. The trajectory is generated during execution time as a function of melting rate and independent of the welding speed, given by the welding parameters. The proposed methodology uses a variable tool center point (TCP) model where the covered electrode is considered a prismatic joint, whose displacement is determined by the melting rate.

The proposed methodology was implemented in a KUKA robot. The electrode melting rate was determined by measuring the arc voltage and the electrode holder trajectory was determined during the weld, keeping the arc length and the welding speed constant. All the obtained weld beads have the same aspect, showing the process repeatability.

Owing to its low productivity, robotic SMAW is only suitable to certain applications.

With this methodology, the TCP will always be located at the tip of the electrode (melting front), allowing one to program the welding speed independently of the electrode diving speed. The diving movement is automatically performed by the robot during the welding.

Robotic SMAW allows dangerous applications such as underwater welding and hot tapping of pipes without human intervention during the weld.