Standardization is a key element in the effective use of lean manufacturing methodologies and tools for achieving process sustainability. Their combination is conducive to eliminating waste and improving the efficiency of production processes and guarantees the company that employees use the most efficient tools and do not waste time on unnecessary activities. These activities can be further improved by using digital solutions, in accordance with the concept of Industry 4.0. Therefore, the authors have developed the e-Lean system, whose task is to digitize selected lean manufacturing tools. The subject of this work is analysis of the functionality and effectiveness of the essential part of the e-Lean system in the form of specialized TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) software as an application. During implementation in a construction production company, the TPM application was tested by lean manufacturing and maintenance specialists. The research consisted of assessing the functionality and efficiency of processes in relation to conventional TPM solutions. Additional functionalities of the e-Lean system have been confirmed, such as systemic approval of machinery inspection, which requires passing all necessary steps at individual inspection points, direct access for supervisors to the results of inspection activities and their status, direct and easy access to photographic documentation of machines added during inspection both in optimization of working time and its course (e.g., the optimal number of steps taken by the employee during the inspection), as well as an efficient system of motivating employees (collecting points). The improvement in the effectiveness of processes was determined by measuring the control times for three control points (polymerization furnace, packing area, and defibering machines). The average control time was reduced from 16,200 to 13,923 s. Thus, thanks to the use of the application, it was found that the efficiency of using the TPM tool was increased by approx. 15% compared to previously used non-digital solutions.

Integrated process planning and scheduling in networked manufacturing systems plays a crucial role nowadays and in the forthcoming context of Industry 4.0 to enable effective and efficient decisions, and to improve the business market, based on collaboration, along with computer-based distributed manufacturing and management functions. In this paper some insights regarding a literature review carried out about this main subjects analysed are presented and discussed. Moreover, a framework for integrated process planning and scheduling in networked manufacturing systems is proposed and briefly described, along with some main underlying issues, which are further discussed. Thus, the main purpose of this research consists on presenting a proposed methodology, based on the study conducted, to enable to further assist either academia or industry to develop new tools, techniques and approaches for integrated process planning in networked manufacturing environments. The findings and contributions of this research can help in the implementation and improvement in distributed manufacturing environments, to be linked with small and medium enterprises, to further expand their potentialities through well suited integrated process planning and scheduling decision making processes.

Globalisation and increased competition pushes companies to grow outside political and geographical boundaries, frequently forcing them to increase product diversification and optimise their relation with potential and effective partners and customers. In this scenario, implementing agile collaboration networks with business partners is a requirement. In this article the authors propose a collaborative framework based on a model for Historical, Present and Future evaluations, which in turn is based on a Dynamic Multi-criteria Decision Method using software agents and the Cloud for Collaborative Networked and Virtual Organization Synthesis. The model uses a dynamic decision approach for supplier and business partner evaluation, enabling software agents to autonomously capture business opportunities, select business partners/suppliers, award and process associated orders.

Reliability is extremely important for control systems of energy distribution and generation. The IEC 61850 standard specifies an open architecture and communication protocols for such applications. The standard defines an open control architecture for networked control systems composed by intelligent electronic devices, stating some requirements that must be accomplished when developing reliable controllers for such systems. In this paper, we present a systematic and formal methodology to be adopted to achieve the correct implementation of the communication requirements of this standard. The methodology consists in five steps: modeling of real-time communication requirements defined by the standard; simulation of the obtained model; formal verification of the model, improved in the previous step; translation of the global model (simulated and verified) into the input language of the real controller; and finally, application of conformance testing technique to the computational routine implemented in the real controller. Presented research deals with the proposition of a strategy to synthesize and validate models of systems developed under IEC61850 real-time requirements (GOOSE and SMV) through simple operational conditions cases that, once validated, can be used in performance and conformance testing of more complex systems. The proposed methodology allows designers to synthesize reliable systems under IEC61850 real-time communication requirements.