Material flow

About: Material flow is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3050 publications have been published within this topic receiving 36844 citations. The topic is also known as: material stream.

Supply Chain Finance: Concept and Modeling

Abstract: In an era of globalization, it is almost impossible for a company to stay competitive with its supply chain locating in a single country ( A. Sabbaghi & N. Sabbaghi, 2004 , Global supply-chain strategy and global competitiveness. International Business & Economics Research Journal, 3 (7), 63–76). On the other hand, increasing global sourcing and selling brings substantial challenges on the material flow, information flow, and financial flow along lengthened supply chains. Many researches in the past decades have illustrated the benefits of supply chain visibility by streamlining information flow ( Eppen, 1979 , Effects of centralization on expected costs in a multilocation newsboy problem. Management Science, 25 (5), 498–501; Lee & Whang, 2000 , Information sharing in a supply chain. International Journal of Manufacturing Technology and Management, 1 (1), 79–93; Vickery, Jayaram, Droge, & Calantone, 2003 , The effects of an integrative supply chain strategy on customer service and financial performance: An analysis of direct versus indirect relationships. Journal of Operations Management, 21 (5), 523–539; Zhang & Zipkin, 1990 , A queueing model to analyze the value of centralized inventory information. Operations Research, 38 (2), 296–307). It is well known that an informational centralized supply chain outperforms its decentralized counterpart through reducing bullwhip effect (Chen, Drezner, Ryan, & Simchi-Levi, 2000, Qualifying the bullwhip effect in a simple supply chain: The impact of forecasting, lead times, and information. Management Science, 46 (3), 436–443; Lee, Padmanabhan, & Whang, 1997 , Information distortion in a supply chain: The bullwhip effect. Management Science, 34 (4), 546–558).

Tracing the fate of lithium--The development of a material flow model

Abstract: Developments in electric mobility are strongly focussed on lithium-ion batteries entailing a rising interest in lithium by science, industry, and politics. As several studies forecast a strong increase of demand, controversial statements are circulating about the element's future availability. This indicates that a more comprehensive understanding of the global lithium cycle is necessary. Therefore, a study was carried out to describe the global lithium flows by means of a material flow analysis. A static material flow model of lithium comprehending key processes and flows was developed based on data about production, manufacture, and use for the year 2007. The work provides the first global lithium model and shows how supply and demand of lithium as well as flows into the environment are connected on a global scale. Whilst the different data sets used are subject to some inaccuracies, a noticeable discrepancy between production and consumption could be identified, which needs further explanation. The stationary global lithium model developed allows both to explore the recycling possibilities for lithium products and their resulting material flows and to identify important influencing parameters along the lifecycle, which can be used to increase the resource efficiency of lithium. This, in turn, is crucial to improving the resource security for future technologies of such a strategic metal as lithium.

3D finite element method for the simulation of the filling stage in injection molding

Abstract: During the molding of industrial parts using injection molding, the molten polymer flows through converging and diverging sections as well as in areas presenting thickness and flow direction changes. A good understanding of the flow behavior and thermal history is important in order to optimize the part design and molding conditions. This is particularly true in the case of automotive and electronic applications where the coupled phenomena of fluid flow and heat transfer determine to a large extent the final properties of the part. This paper presents a 3D finite element model capable of predicting the velocity, pressure, and temperature fields, as well as the position of the flow fronts. The velocity and pressure fields are governed by the generalized Stokes equations. The fluid behavior is predicted through the Carreau Law and Arrhenius constitutive models. These equations are solved using a Galerkin formulation. A mixed formulation is used to satisfy the continuity equation. The tracking of the flow front is modeled by using a pseudo-concentration method and the model equations are solved using a Petrov-Galerkin formulation. The validity of the method has been tested through the analysis of the flow in simple geometries. Its practical relevance has been proven through the analysis of an industrial part.

Zero carbon manufacturing facility — towards integrating material, energy, and waste process flows

Abstract: The increasing pressure on material availability, energy prices as well as emerging environmental legislation is leading manufacturers to adopt solutions to reduce their material and energy consumption as well as their carbon footprint, thereby becoming more sustainable. Ultimately manufacturers could potentially become zero carbon by having zero net energy demand and zero waste across the supply chain. Literature on zero carbon manufacturing, and the technologies that underpin it, is growing but there is little available on how a manufacturer undertakes the transition. Additionally, the work in this area is fragmented and clustered around technologies rather than around processes that link the technologies together. There is a need to better understand material, energy and waste process flows in a manufacturing facility from a holistic viewpoint. With knowledge of the potential flows, design methodologies can be developed to enable zero carbon manufacturing facility creation. This paper explores the challenges faced when attempting to design a zero carbon manufacturing facility. A broad scope is adopted from legislation to technology and from low waste to consuming waste. A generic material, energy and waste flow model is developed and presented to show the material, energy and waste inputs and outputs for the manufacturing system and the supporting facility and, importantly, how they can potentially interact. Finally the application of the flow model in industrial applications is demonstrated to select appropriate technologies and configure them in an integrated way.