Industrial Internet-enabled Resilient Manufacturing Strategy in the Wake of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Conceptual Framework and Implementations in China

COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the re-shaping of globalized manufacturing industry.Achieving a high level of resilience is thereby a recognized,essential ability of future manufacturing systems with the advances in smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0.In this work,a conceptual framework for resilient manufacturing strategy enabled by Industrial Internet is proposed.It is elaborated as a four-phase,closed-loop process that centered on proactive industry assessment.Key enabling technologies for the proposed framework are outlined in data acquisition and management,big data analysis,intelligent services,and others.Industrial Internet-enabled implementations in China in response to COVID-19 have then been reviewed and discussed from 3Rs’perspective,i.e.manufacturer capacity Recovery,supply chain Resilience and emergency Response.It is suggested that an industry-specific and comprehensive selection coordinated with the guiding policy and supporting regulations should be performed at the national,at least regional level.

Design and Manufacturing Strategies for Fused Deposition Modelling in Additive Manufacturing:A Review

Although several research works in the literature have focused on studying the capabilities of additive manufacturing(AM) systems, few works have addressed the development of Design for Additive Manufacturing(DfAM) knowledge,tools, rules, and methodologies, which has limited the penetration and impact of AM in industry. In this paper a comprehensive review of design and manufacturing strategies for Fused Deposition Modelling(FDM) is presented.Consequently, several DfAM strategies are proposed and analysed based on existing research works and the operation principles, materials, capabilities and limitations of the FDM process. These strategies have been divided into four main groups: geometry, quality, materials and sustainability. The implementation and practicality of the proposed DfAM is illustrated by three case studies. The new proposed DfAM strategies are intended to assist designers and manufacturers when making decisions to satisfy functional needs, while ensuring manufacturability in FDM systems.Moreover, many of these strategies can be applied or extended to other AM processes besides FDM.

Exploration and Understanding of Manufacturing Networks:From Manufacturing Centres Towards Global Inter-firm Relationships

The boundaries of manufacturing system have been ex te nded from factory to the international manufacturing network, supply network, va lue network and virtual network in recent decades, driven by intensified competi tion, fragmented market, globalised collaboration, and advanced technology. However, as the manufacturing system evolves into more and more complicated net work relationship, the fundamental concepts of manufacturing strategy focusing o n a product family and bridging its market, competition and factory system have rarely been adapted to face new challenges from extended system, although the st rategy formation processes are widely discussed from both perspectives in terms of top-down and bottom-up. Coming into the new economy, as manufacturing industry and system have changed their role in both company and society, manufac turing, especially physical fabrications and assembly, has become less critical than ten years ago, and the compatible manufacturing strategy has been also chal lenged by the new rules based on knowledge development and by the new business m odel based on value creation. Manufacturing strategy has to find a position and mechanism contributing itself to the corporate strategy and competitive advanta ge. This paper seeks to answer the question what networked manufacturing systems can imply to the manufacturing strategy, by clarifying some key challenges to the c lassical manufacturing strategy theory, especially from networked manufacturing system and value-based manufacturing strategy perspectives. The paper is based on some preliminary case observations in several multinationa l corporations in aerospace, automotive, engineering and electronics industries. Original objectives are targeted on an evolutionary process of manufacturing system from factory-based system towards globally collaborated inter-firm netw ork, seeking to explain why manufacturing companies evolve into more and more un controllable relationship. The preliminary findings are seriously challenging t he traditional concept of firm and the theory manufacturing strategy developed b y Skinner (1969). Some key findings from the preliminary work include: - value creation is more dependent upon a proposition in the value net than crea tion of competitive edge for existing product line-which ask manufacturing stra tegy should focus more on a higher value - in manufacturing system, leveraging other companies resources seems to be more important than owning these resources - which implies networked virtual enterpr ise is preferred architecture - in inter-firm collaboration, understanding the dynamics and keeping a balance are more and more critical in the spectrum of collaboration from one end of cor porate hierarchy towards another end of free market-which means that a cont ingency picture is more needed than a single supply or virtual network model - from evolution perspective, deeply understandings about internally vertical in tegration, outsourcing, sub-contracting, and manufacturing hollowing-out are n ow more and more important than the single competence knowing how to do them-wh ich means an up-grading towards know-why These new challenges ask new solutions for industry. They imply not only new sy stem architecture of manufacturing system based on an inter-firm relationship b ut new strategy process with a context-based contingency framework. The paper summaries some existing researches and develops a theoretical framework for the new networked manufacturing system. As a preliminary case study, the paper also suggests a further research plan in the future.

Fuzzy analytic network process(FANP)approach in formulating infrastructural decisions of sustainable manufacturing strategy

This paper explores a fuzzy analytic network process(FANP)approach in identifying the content of manufacturing strategy infrastructural decisions that integrates sustainability and classical manufacturing strategy framework with firm size component.The findings are as follows:(1)firms must ensure highquality product requirements with a make-to-order production system;(2)large firms must prioritize decentralization of functional areas but they must also provide higher systems integration of all production-related information to mobilize better communication channels;(3)large firms must employ highly skilled human resources in order to provide strong support on functional areas;and(4)small and medium enterprises must focus on product introduction to the market as a strategy priority area.The main contribution of this paper is the decision-making framework under uncertainty that holistically identifies the decisions that comprise a sustainable manufacturing strategy which may serve as guidelines in improving existing sustainable manufacturing practices or in creating new ones.

Electrolytic alloy-type anodes for metal-ion batteries

Alloy-type metals/alloys hold the promise of increasing the energy density of metal-ion batteries(MIBs)because of their theoretical high gravimetrical capacities.Semimetals and semimetal-analogs are typical alloy-type anodes.Currently,the large-scale extraction of semimetals(Si,Ge)and semimetal-analogs(Sb,Bi,Sn)by traditional metallurgical routes highly relies on using reducing agents(e.g.,carbon,hydrogen,reactive metals),which consumes a large number of fossil fuels and produces greenhouse gas emissions.In addition,the common metallurgical methods for extracting semimetals involve relatively high operating temperatures and therefore produce bulk metal ingots solidified from the liquid metals.However,the commonly used electrode materials in batteries are fine powders.Thus,directly producing semimetal powders would be more energy efficient.In addition,semimetals are good candidates to host alkali/alkaline-earth ions through the alloying process because the electronegativity of semimetals is high.Therefore,preparing semimetal powders via an environment-sound manner is of great interest to provide sustainable anode materials for MIBs while reducing the ecological footprint.Low-cost and high-output capacity anode powder materials,as well as straightforward and environmental-benign synthetic methods,play key roles in enabling the energy conversion and storage technologies for real applications of MIBs.Electrochemical technologies offer new strategies to extract semimetals using electrons as the reducing agent that comes from renewable energies.Besides,the morphologies and structures of the electrolytic products can be rationally tailored by tuning the electrode potentials,electrolytes,and operating temperatures.In this regard,using the one-step green electrochemical method to prepare high-capacity and cheaper alloy-type metalloids for MIB anodes can fulfill the requirements for developing MIBs.This review critically overviews recent developments and advances in the electrochemical extraction of semimetals(Si,Ge)and semimetal-analogs(Sb,Bi,Sn)for MIBs,including basic electrochemical principles,thermodynamic analysis,manufacture strategies and applications in lithium-ion batteries(LIBs),sodium-ion batteries(SIBs),potassium-ion batteries(PIBs),magnesium-ion batteries(Mg-ion batteries),and liquid metal batteries(LMBs).It also presents challenges and prospects of employing electrochemical approaches for preparing alloy-type anode materials directly from inexpensive ore-originated feedstocks.