The main goal of every production is an optimally set and stable production process with the lowest possible costs. Such settings can only be achieved through many years of experience or very specific research, which focuses on several critical factors. An example of such factors can be the size and use of available space or the location of the production line and the logistical location of individual production sites, which is individual for each production process. Specific research can be carried out, for example, by means of the TX Plant simulation application, which was used in the present article for the production process of making fiber from pellets. The output of this research is the effective use of the so-called “Digital factory” to make the process in the already created conditions more efficient. This was achieved by the TX Plant simulation application, resulting in a reduced production time and increasing overall productivity. An intuitive interaction with factory equipment is possible with this approach, which allows users to immerse themselves in the virtual factory environment. As a result, a layout’s efficiency of surface use, flow of martial, and ergonomics can be assessed in real time. This paper aims to demonstrate how virtual reality (VR) can be used to simulate a digital factory to aid in decision making and enhance factory efficiency.

Maintenance management is connected with two opposing aspects, management costs and operational efficiency. With the implementation of new technology within the Industry 4.0 (I4.0) concept, new technical solutions are being created. These solutions (mainly robotic workplaces) must reach a maximum performance rate, production quality, and, of course, high availability. Their operation, during the whole life cycle, is expected to be absolutely safe with minimum maintenance costs. These trends, even though they seem to be optimistic, face a lot of problems. The conducted research follows up on the results of previous research aimed at the initial assessment Slovak industrial company readiness status for the I4.0 conception between 2017 and 2019. The aim of the ongoing research was to assess the readiness status in more than 70 industrial organizations in the selected area for the new concept of maintenance management (eMaintenance) and its relation to machinery integrated safety. The research was carried out by questioning, with the structure of individual questions and closed answers stemmed from the self-evaluation according to the new European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model (2020). The results of the research were presented to managements of questioned organizations and confirmed the assumptions about a low level of maintenance management transformation to eMaintenance.

Continuously growing needs of society brings with it the development of industry, new technologies and use of new types of hazardous substances. Each transport of hazardous substance entails some risk of incident. This article deals with problems of transporting of dangerous goods by rail. The paper describes the Directive, which forms the basis of the transport of dangerous goods. In the next chapter, article describes of procedure for international rail transport of dangerous goods (RID) and the system of risk identification for railway transport. The conclusion of the article describes the advantages and disadvantages of transporting of dangerous goods by rail.

In the process of our research, we have identified new methods of processing ultra-wide-band (UWB) radar signals and possibilities of the UWB radar use in aviation security systems. We paid our main attention to finding new algorithms for tracking the movement of a person behind an obstacle using the UWB radar. Such UWB radar application is typical for tracking the movement of people behind obstacles in case of security forces intervention at an airport. In the research process, we used methods of analysis, synthesis, and measured data from the performed experiment. The main contribution of the paper is the development of new algorithms for locating the movement of a person behind an obstacle using a straight- line method in the case of using two independent UWB radar systems. The article did not examine the accuracy of determining the position of a person behind the obstacle. We found that when applying the Kalman filter after signal processing by the straight-line method, the trajectory of the person’s movement behind the obstacle was smoother. The results of processing the measurement signals of UWB radar by the linear method have shown that this method is applicable to tracking a person behind an obstacle and can be used in aviation security systems.

Human errors are a natural part of human behaviour. With the implementation of digital technologies, the analysis and simulation of the human factor in work processes is acquiring a brand new meaning. The use of novel approaches in innovative technologies, such as ergonomic analysis tools in the digital environment, contributes to achieving continuous improvement in the management of quality while searching for reserves in managing human factor reliability. This paper describes the method and principles of using a software support system of the product lifecycle management (PLM) digital factory solutions by SIEMENS, in particular Tecnomatix JACK.