Articoli di riviste sul tema "Machinery Manufacturing Division"

In this paper, there are many system analysis and Summary about the green manufacturing processes, the development of profiles in machinery manufacturing, and prospects about the future research of the green manufacturing process.In real terms, green manufacturing processes in the mechanical manufacturing process is a series of decision-making process, which is important about the clear decision-making objectives of this paper, based on existing research of green manufacturing, this paper summed up the target system and decision-making model of the green manufacturing processes in the machinery.The exact division of the decision-making goal and the proper establishment of the decision model has important implications for the future of green manufacturing.

PT Boma Bisma Indra (Persero) is a State-Owned Enterprise (BUMN) which has 3 divisional business units, one of which is the industrial machinery and equipment division (MPI) and the foundry unit located on Jl. Imam Bonjol No. 18 Bugul Lor, Pasuruan City, East Java. The industrial machinery and equipment division and foundry unit (MPI) located in Pasuruan has grown rapidly as a company that focuses on manufacturing machinery and produces products such as Oil & Gas/ Refinery / Petrochemical Industries, Power plans, Iron Casting, and Pressure Vessels. In PT. Boma Bisma Indra, whose orientation is a make-to-order company, where the new company will procure raw materials and run production if there is a request from the customer. Difficulties that are often encountered in make-to-order companies are delays in the arrival of raw materials, and process delays caused by inadequate workers. Therefore, a method called the Master Production Schedule (MPS) is needed where this method will determine the time period that will be required for each process starting from the preparation of documents related to procedures and product specifications to the finishing fabrication process. This research focuses on timeliness analysis in every process in the master production schedule using the master production schedule (MPS) method.

AbstractEmployers are under a legal obligation to provide employees with safe and hygienic conditions of work. These conditions are created by environmental factors that depend on the specifics of the enterprise, production technology and used machinery and equipment. A large number of the risks to which employees are exposed is associated with the use of machinery, equipment and working tools (as confirmed by Statistics Poland). Numerous manufacturing companies increasingly use the practice of involving operators, independently from the maintenance department, in the upkeep and maintenance of machinery and equipment in order to increase efficiency. These activities are undertaken within the scope of Autonomous Maintenance (AM), which is one of the essential elements underpinning the TPM system. The activities performed by operators within AM, such as daily inspections, lubrication or simple repairs, reduce the number of machinery breakdowns. Nonetheless, they could be a potential source of risk for employees. Companies applying the traditional division of tasks entrust the performance of such activities to qualified maintenance staff, so the proper identification of risks that takes into account the specificity of the activities performed by operators and the provision of training in the safe organization of work represent a significant feature of safety improvement. Enterprises may adopt multiple solutions in this regard, including the tools and techniques of the concept of Lean Manufacturing.

Background: Work related accidents are one of the main focused and indicators of the successful implementation of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) aspects in Indonesia. One of the causes of accidents is the worst implementation and supervision of OHS. Based on some research that has done, safety leadership is solution to improve OHS performance and reduce the number of work related accidents. PT. BCD is one of paper manufacturing company in Indonesia that using high-tech machinery and involving many workers who possibly increase risk of work related accidents. Objective: Aims of this to identify safety leadership characteristics of supervisors Production Division at PT. BCD Method: This study uses descriptive qualitative research methods on supervisors in the Production Division of PT. BCD, one of paper manufacturing company in Karawang, West Java Province. Results: It has found that the characteristics of good safety leadership applied by the supervisor production division of PT. BCD is an element of commitment to OHS and communication. While the element of safety leadership characteristics that not well implemented, reflected by the element of safety involvement. Supervisors are not fully involved to safety program that consist of are involved in all corrective actions, and motivate the employee to participate in the OHS program. Conclusion: Safety leadership characteristics of supervisors in the Production Division of PT. BCD has not well implemented to the elements of safety involvement.

The behaviour of firms is still a little understood matter. Why one firm or industry is investing more than the other or what makes a firm enter or exit from the market, what are the psychological factors that go to make a choice of this kind are questions that have not been answered satisfactorily. Concepts like irreversibility, uncertainty, investment, and the value of waiting are very much there in the literature, e.g., McDonald and Siegel (1985, 1986); Nickell (1974); Schmalensee (1972); Hartman (1972); Henry (1974) and LAM (1989) and others. But the psychology of decision-making on the face of losses has not received much attention in the literature. That the Economic Hysteresis1 and Layers of Techniques2, developed by Professor A. Dixit and Professor P. N. Mathur respectively tackle. The former is discussed by Pindyck (1988, 1991, 1992) and Dixit (1989, 1989a, 1991, 1992); while Mathur (1977, 1989, 1990); Law and Azid (1993); Azid and Ghosh (1998) and Rashid (1989,1989a) have discussed the latter.

Purpose: This paper analyzes how the manufacturing supply chain has changed over the past 20 years according to the trilateral division of labor between Korea, China and Japan. Also, by measuring changes in the trade structure and competitiveness between Korea, China and Japan during the same period, the effect on the changes in the supply chain between the three countries is examined. Research design, data, and methodology: This study analyzes the trade structure, export competitiveness, and supply and distribution structure of 10 manufacturing industries in Korea, China and Japan. The analysis period was set from 2000 to 2020. The statistics use the UN Comtrade and the Asian International Input-Output Table. In the analysis of the trade structure between Korea, China and Japan. The Revealed Symmetric Comparative Advantage (RSCA) index was introduced to analyze the trade structure between Korea, China and Japan. And for the supply chain structure between the three countries, the Leontief inverse multiplier decomposition of the International Input-Output Analysis was used. Results: As a result of the analysis, it was observed that the supply chain of the manufacturing industry between Korea, China and Japan has changed to an interdependent structure since 2010, and the reason for this is that the production technology gap between the three countries has been greatly reduced. Accordingly, the supply chain of the manufacturing industry between the three countries has shifted from the past one-way dependence structure to a two-way dependence structure. In terms of industry, the deepening dependence among the three countries centered on electrical/electromechanical machinery, metal products, general machinery, chemical products, transportation machinery, precision machinery and textile products, which are key export industries for both Korea, China and Japan, means that the supply and distribution structure is being strengthened. Implications: Considering the relationship between the supply chain between Korea, China and Japan from 2000 to 2020, institutional integration, such as the trilateral FTA, is delayed, but functional integration is deepening due to interdependence and complementarity and increased production and trade. However, if trade frictions or disputes between Korea, China and Japan occur between specific countries, it is interpreted that this can lead to negative effects, so-called big losses, not only for the country concerned but also for the other country.

The interest in scientific research within the metal finishing sector is growing. The demand for durable metals and adaptable manufacturing processes is increasing across a wide range of applications, from aerospace and automotive to machinery and jewelry. In that respect, alloy plating offers better answers in terms of economic growth and environmental sustainability due to fine-tuning composition, morphology, and crystallinity [1]. Here, current trends in alloy electrodeposition research are reviewed highlighting open challenges and process innovations from an industrial perspective. Combining basic electrochemical techniques with spectroscopic, microscopic, and structural techniques is crucial for characterizing the structure-activity relationship for many different technological devices. Particular attention is devoted to advances in industrial quality control and viable solutions for the reduction of precious metal content in electroplated accessories as well as the replacement of cyanide and nickel baths with non-toxic compounds. Project funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4 Component 2 Investment 1.3 - Call for tender No. 341 of 15 March 2023 of Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR) funded by the European Union - NextGenerationEU - Project code PE_00000004, CUP B83C22004890007, Project title "3A-ITALY - Made-in-Italy circolare e sostenibile". References [1] W. Giurlani, M. Innocenti et all. , Electroplating for Decorative Applications: Recent Trends in Research and Development, Review, Coatings 2018, 8(8), 260.

In recent years, China’s manufacturing industry has developed rapidly, but numerous studies have shown that China is not a manufacturing powerhouse. In recent years, the division of labor in global value chains has been booming, and the Chinese manufacturing industry has been actively integrated into it with its labor cost advantage and achieved rapid development. There is an urgent need to transform and upgrade to high value-added links in the value chain. This paper measures the upstream degree of China’s manufacturing industry through the world input-output table and uses it as an indicator to measure the global value chain status, focusing on the heterogeneous impact of different types of productive services on the upgrading of China’s manufacturing industry’s global value chain status. This study examines the impact of global value chain boundary lessness and institutional quality on the technological complexity of China’s equipment manufacturing exports, using panel data of six types of Chinese equipment manufacturing industries from 2007 to 2018 as a sample. The findings show that intermediate manufactured goods from intermediate imports and intermediate products from developing economies make the strongest contribution to imported intermediate manufactured goods from developing economies. By industry, the impact areas of Graph Visualization (GV) embedding and institutional quality are different. GV embedding has a stronger contribution to the manufacturing of communication, computer, and other electronic equipment, while institutional quality has a stronger contribution to the manufacturing of special office machinery, and the interaction between the two is the same as that of institutional quality.

The purpose of this study was to obtain empirical evidence of differences in corporate value and financial performance of the three manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. The sample in this study were 60 manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange from 2015 to 2017. Sampling techniques were purposive sampling. The division of sector 1 consists of cement companies, basic chemicals, porcelain and glass, metals, plastics and packaging, animal feed, wood and pulp, for sector 2 consists of machinery and heavy equipment companies, automotive and its components, textiles and garments, bedding feet and cable. Whereas for sector 3 consists of consumer goods, namely tobacco, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and household appliances. Data analysis techniques consist of normality testing and different Paired Sample Test tests.Research results prove that based on Differential Test Paired Sample Test sectors 1 and 2. Manufacturing Companies listed on the Stock Exchange have significant differences in financial performance seen from the Current Ratio and Debt Equity Ratio while from Earning per Share, Net Profit Margin and Expencess On Sales there is no difference . Based on the Different Test Paired Sample Test is seen from the Earning Per Share ratio there is a significant difference in financial performance between Sector 1 and sector 3. Based on the Different Paired Sample Test seen from the Debt Equity Ratio, there are significant differences in financial performance between Sector 1 and sector 3 ... There are also significant differences in the financial performance of sectors 2 and 3 from the point of view of Earning Per Share. Based on the Different Paired Sample Test Test, there was no difference in company values in the three manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange.

The purpose of this study was to obtain empirical evidence of differences in corporate value and financial performance of the three manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. The sample in this study were 60 manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange from 2015 to 2017. Sampling techniques were purposive sampling. The division of sector 1 consists of cement companies, basic chemicals, porcelain and glass, metals, plastics and packaging, animal feed, wood and pulp, for sector 2 consists of machinery and heavy equipment companies, automotive and its components, textiles and garments, bedding feet and cable. Whereas for sector 3 consists of consumer goods, namely tobacco, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and household appliances. Data analysis techniques consist of normality testing and different Paired Sample Test tests.Research results prove that based on Differential Test Paired Sample Test sectors 1 and 2. Manufacturing Companies listed on the Stock Exchange have significant differences in financial performance seen from the Current Ratio and Debt Equity Ratio while from Earning per Share, Net Profit Margin and Expencess On Sales there is no difference . Based on the Different Test Paired Sample Test is seen from the Earning Per Share ratio there is a significant difference in financial performance between Sector 1 and sector 3. Based on the Different Paired Sample Test seen from the Debt Equity Ratio, there are significant differences in financial performance between Sector 1 and sector 3 ... There are also significant differences in the financial performance of sectors 2 and 3 from the point of view of Earning Per Share. Based on the Different Paired Sample Test Test, there was no difference in company values in the three manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange.

A study was aimed at modifying and manufacturing a power weeder at the local workshop using locally available material and evaluating its performance in the condition of Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Rice Research Institute's Farm Machinery and Post-harvest Technology (FMPHT) division (BRRI) took the initiative to fabricate a power weeder using locally available materials. In the wetland of the BRRI research field and farmer's field at Jogitola of Gazipur district, the developed power weeder was tested during the boro season of 2017-2018. The average weeding efficiency of the power weeder was 80.38% and 81.43% at the research and farmers' field respectively. The percent of tiller damage was observed 2.78% and 2.81% respectively. 910 m2 h-1 (0.091 ha h-1) was the average effective field capacity of the power weeder. After 5 days, the percentage of weeds revived for power weeder was observed at 32.26% and 34.90% at the BRRI research and farmers' fields, respectively. Weed biomass was found 35.43 gm m-2 in a farmer’s field and 30.88 gm m-2 in the BRRI research field, Gazipur. This machine can be run by one man/woman easily. The weight of the complete weeder is 18.3 kg. The benefit-cost ratio of the weeder is 1.85. Farmers can use this weeder in wetland conditions. In the line transplanted wetland field conditions, the power weeder was found suitable for controlling weeds with minimum standing water. Bangladesh Rice J.26 (1): 47-57, 2022

The article presents materials on the development of risk-based design methodology as a new stage in the development of the system of design, manufacture, operation, maintenance, repair and disposal of equipment for effective and efficient competitiveness in the global engineering industry. It is shown that traditional design is no longer adequate to global planetary changes accompanied by a reduction in resources, design deadlines, entering the market in a competitive environment and a conflicting global division of labor. It is noted that at present, machinery and technology have become much more complicated, including inconnection with embedded software. Attention is focused on the fact that forecasting and evaluation of behavior, reliability and management of compliance with the requirements of sociotechnical systems in connection with the nonlinear processes of functioning of human-machine systems and degradation for both regular and non-standard conditions require innovative methods and tools. Attention is drawn to the fact that the creation of technology is accompanied by an increase in interrelated man-made, natural and social risks, the primary sources of which are inadequate information both when creating and using technology. For a wide practical application of risk-oriented design, a methodology, methods for risk management at the stages of the life cycle of equipment, state standards are suggested, as well as ways to identify the significance of damages in existing forms of design, technological, and other documentation for products and manufacturing processes, as well as in new types of documents, for example, in terms of risk management. It is noted that further work is currently being planned for the widespread introduction of a risk-based approach in mechanical engineering and related industries of both individual countries and unions to ensure the effective competitiveness of supply chains.

Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) are known to perform versatile roles in disease landscapes, which determine the fate of the cell. Although much has been discussed from the perspective of proliferation, this review focuses on the impact of RTK-mediated signaling and its role in cytoskeletal degradation, the penultimate stage of cellular degeneration. In the case of degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Huntington’s disease (HD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s disease (PD), age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), RTK signaling has been reported to be perturbed in several studies. The implications of downstream signaling via these receptors through canonical and noncanonical pathways alter the status of actin filaments that provide structural integrity to cells. Degenerative signaling leads to the altered status of rat sarcoma (Ras), Ras homologous (Rho), Ras-related C3 botulinum toxin substrate (Rac), and cell division control protein 42 (Cdc42), the best-characterized components of the cytoskeleton remodeling machinery. RTKs, along with their diverse adaptor partners and other membrane receptors, affect the functionality of Rho family guanosine triphosphate hydrolases (GTPases), which are discussed in this review. To conclude, this review focuses on therapeutic strategies targeting RTKs and Rho GTPase-mediated pathways that can be more effective due to their combined multifactorial impact on neurodegenerative cascades.

One of the most suitable methods for the mass production of complicated shapes is injection molding due to its superior production rate and quality. The key to producing higher quality products in injection molding is proper injection speed, pressure, and mold design. Conventional methods relying on the operator’s expertise and defect detection techniques are ineffective in reducing defects. Hence, there is a need for more close control over these operating parameters using various machine learning techniques. Neural networks have considerable applications in the injection molding process consisting of optimization, prediction, identification, classification, controlling, modeling, and monitoring, particularly in manufacturing. In recent research, many critical issues in applying machine learning and neural network in injection molding in practical have been addressed. Some problems include data division, collection, and preprocessing steps, such as considering the inputs, networks, and outputs, algorithms used, models utilized for testing and training, and performance criteria set during validation and verification. This review briefly explains working on machine learning and artificial neural network and optimizing injection molding in industries.

In order to realize high productivity in rough machining processes, a fast simulation system is needed for multi axis controlled machining to predict instantaneous cutting force. The new efficient algorithm to estimate an engagement between the end mill cutter and the machined workpiece in continuous multi axis controlled machining processes is proposed. In order to shorten calculation time for the engagement area, and to improve the real-time prediction of instantaneous cutting force, a new concept is introduced for adapting ultra-parallel processing technology. The proposed method assumes the engagement as a large number of divisions located on the locus of cutting edges. The inclusion estimation process between an estimation point in each division and the machined workpiece volume is resolved into two kinds of simple inclusion estimation – and between the estimation point and tool swept volume and the other between the estimation point and initial workpiece shape. In this paper, a new prototype system based on parallel processing technology known as the general purposed graphic processing unit (GPGPU) is developed and the proposed algorithm is verified with the prototype system. The system shows good performance for complicated NC programs generated by commercial CAM system and realizes real-time simulation of instantaneous cutting force.

В статье рассматривается роль и влияние подразделения Государственного банка Российской империи на развитие Кубанской области в 1860–1914 гг. Хронологические рамки определяются началом банковской и административной реформ и ограничиваются началом Первой мировой войны, изменившей финансово-экономическую политику государства. Трудов о деятельности региональных учреждений Государственного банка Российской империи очень мало, в основном исследования посвящены узким направлениям деятельности (кредитованию по отраслям), либо непосредственной истории учреждений. Однако вопрос влияния деятельности Екатеринодарского отделения на экономику региона в публикациях ранее не рассматривался. Отчасти это связано с ранее проводимой политикой закрытости данных о деятельности Центрального банка Российской Федерации и его истории. В настоящее время ситуация существенно изменилась, и Центральный банк активно участвует в правительственных программах повышения финансовой грамотности, в том числе в части историко-финансового просвещения, и инициирует исследования по соответствующей тематике. В данной статье упор сделан на установление форм работы кредитного органа (совмещавшего элементы регулятора) и количественные финансовые показатели развития экономики региона. Проведена работа по выявлению и анализу статистических данных оборотных средств организации и объемов размещенных средств администрации области, осуществленных переводов, выданных ссуд и принятых вкладов населения, в том числе по спец счетам частных коммерческих кредитных организаций. Определены маркеры экономического роста (объемы и количество кредитов на приобретение сельхозтехники), рост накоплений граждан, коррелирующийся с ростом объемов вкладов. Выделена важное направление работы по передачи частного кредитования на второй уровень – от Государственного банка в учреждения мелкого кредита. The article discusses the role and influence of a division of the State Bank of the Russian Empire on the development of the Kuban region in 1860–1914. The time-frame is determined by the beginning of banking and administrative reforms and is limited by the beginning of the First World War that changed the financial and economic policy of the state. There are very few works on the activities of regional institutions of the State Bank of the Russian Empire, mainly studies are devoted to narrow areas of activity (lending by industry), or just history of institutions. However, the issue of the impact of activities of the Yekaterinodar Branch on the regional economy has not been previously considered in publications. This is partly due to previously pursued policy of secrecy of data on the activities of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and its history. Currently, the situation has changed significantly, and the Central Bank is actively involved in government programs to improve financial literacy, including in the field of historical and financial education, and it initiates research on relevant topics. This article focuses on the establishment of forms of work of the credit authority (which combined the elements of the regulator) and quantitative financial indicators of the development of the region's economy. Work has been carried out to identify and analyze statistical data on the organization's working capital and the amount of funds allocated by the regional administration, transfers made, loans issued and deposits received from the population, including on special accounts of private commercial credit organizations. The markers of economic growth (the volume and number of loans for the purchase of agricultural machinery), the growth of citizens' savings, correlated with the growth of deposits, have been identified. The important direction of work on transferring private lending to the second level – from the State Bank to small credit institutions was highlighted.

This paper provided the manufacturing process planning method of the double main spindles for the turn-mill machine based on model volume. Firstly, the cross section information of the 3D grid data model was obtained by using the algorithms of extracting partitions plane information. Secondly, differentiated the cross section shape to recognize the milling and turning process according to extracting partitions plane information. Then, it computed the treated volume in order to obtain equal division plane by extracting partitions plane information. According to readjusting the equal division plane defined the process machining boundary. The boundary divided the complex process workpiece into main and sub spindle process for the double spindles. At last, the machining experiment verifies the adaptability and accuracy of the process planning method.

With the development of new technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data, Industry 4.0 in manufacturing has been launched. As the core pillar of industrial manufacturing, computer numerical control (CNC) machine tools face significant challenges in data acquisition transmission and storage due to their complex structure, high volume of data points, strong time-series characteristics, and large amounts of data. To address the shortcomings of existing compression algorithms in quantization methods for large amounts of data in the instruction-domain, this paper proposes a quantization method based on distortion rate evaluation and linear fitting entropy reduction transformation, which aims to compress state signals such as the load power and load current while ensuring the availability of the data. This approach provides technical support for the transmission of high-frequency big data and meets the lightweight data acquisition requirements of digital twins for CNC machine tools. Compared to the empirical approach, this approach was more accurate and more computationally efficient.

Product service system is one new production paradigm for manufacturing enterprises to cope with fierce market competition in service economy environment. Product modularization is an important part of product service system development. In this paper, the design process model of product service system is built on the basis of current product service system modeling methods. Guided by lifecycle-oriented modular design idea, the product function is decomposed and the function units are obtained, which correspond to specific parts in the product. Using fuzzy C-means clustering algorithm based on simulated annealing and genetic algorithm for clustering analysis, the division scheme of product modules is got. Lifecycle-oriented product modular design method pays more attention to environmental attributes of the product, and considers the consciousness of environmental protection and sustainability in product design well. Using CNC machine tools as an example, this paper verifies the reliability, rationality and superiority of presented product module division method oriented on CNC machine tools.

Microstrutured surfaces can be manufactured by roll-to-roll process with roller mold in a high precision and high efficient way. The roller mold machined by drum roll lathe has a large cutting area and takes long time, and thus, the machining precision of roller mold is very sensitive to the thermal error of machine tool. This study analyzes the influence of thermal error on the machining horizontal grooves array on roller mold and proposed a processing method to improve the machining precision. First, the thermal error of hydrostatic guideways system in drum roll lathe was analyzed by simulation and measured through experiments, respectively. Given the diamond tool position offset caused by thermal error, the pitch error of horizontal grooves array with sequential cutting method was discussed. And then, multi-divisions cutting method is proposed to average the pitch error to multiple horizontal grooves instead of cumulative error in the seam position of horizontal grooves array, compared with sequential cutting method. Finally, the experiments with Four Divisions Method were carried out to verify the validity of multi-divisions cutting method. The experimental results demonstrate that multi-divisions cutting method can considerably improve the machining precision of horizontal grooves array.

The green remanufacturing constitutes a type of recycling form that adapts to ecological and economic requirements and an important part of the advanced manufacturing technology. In order to improve the green remanufacturing capacity of heavy-duty machine tools, in this paper a heavy-duty machine tool module division method for green remanufacturing was proposed. The main lines were based on the four design domains of axiomatic design and innovatively extended to the remanufacturing domain. In the design stage, the process of remanufacturing was considered. The modular clustering algorithm based on atomic theory was employed, which was associated with the correlation and similarity between the design parameters in the structure domain and the remanufacturing domain, for the ideal modules of heavy-duty machine tools to be discovered. Finally, a heavy-duty gantry milling machine is used as an example to verify the validity of the proposed method.

Reverse engineering of free-form surfaces is one of the most challenging technologies in advanced manufacturing. With the development of industry more and more sculptured surfaces, such as molds and turbine blades, are required to measure quickly and accurately. Optical non-contact probes possess many advantages, such as high speed, no measuring force, in comparison with contact ones. The ability of stereovision probe with CCD cameras in gathering a large amount of information simultaneously makes it the most popularly used one in sculptured surface measurements. So based on the laser triangular principle, a measuring and testing device with two CCD cameras was designed, and its accuracy was analyzed. With a virtual 3D target in form of a grid plate, all the intrinsic and extrinsic parameters of CCD camera including the uncertainty of image scale factor and optical center of camera can be readily calibrated. In order to obtain all the required data with high accuracy in a short time, the curvature-based adaptive sampling strategy is presented. Due to huge amount of arbitrary scattered points, the Delaunay triangular division and Bezier interpolation and NURBS interpolation are applied to get a continuous surface.

This research focuses on the minimum process of classifying three upper arm movements (elbow extension, shoulder extension, combined shoulder and elbow extension) of humans with three electromyography (EMG) signals, to control a 2-degrees of freedom (DoF) robotic arm. The proposed minimum process consists of four parts: time divisions of data, Teager–Kaiser energy operator (TKEO), the conventional EMG feature extraction (i.e., the mean absolute value (MAV), zero crossings (ZC), slope-sign changes (SSC), and waveform length (WL)), and eight major machine learning models (i.e., decision tree (medium), decision tree (fine), k-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) (weighted KNN, KNN (fine), Support Vector Machine (SVM) (cubic and fine Gaussian SVM), Ensemble (bagged trees and subspace KNN). Then, we compare and investigate 48 classification models (i.e., 47 models are proposed, and 1 model is the conventional) based on five healthy subjects. The results showed that all the classification models achieved accuracies ranging between 74–98%, and the processing speed is below 40 ms and indicated acceptable controller delay for robotic arm control. Moreover, we confirmed that the classification model with no time division, with TKEO, and with ensemble (subspace KNN) had the best performance in accuracy rates at 96.67, recall rates at 99.66, and precision rates at 96.99. In short, the combination of the proposed TKEO and ensemble (subspace KNN) plays an important role to achieve the EMG classification.

Industrialization is a process which is based on precise and quantitative measurements andcontains different basic changes in the economic structure of a country or region. The structural characteristicsand spatial distribution of the industrial enterprises established during the industrialization processwhich is one of the most important elements of the socio-economic transformation in Turkey withina historical process has been the object of this study. The aim of the study was to establish the positionsand significance of one thousand (1000) large industrial companies in the industry of Turkey by usingthe framework of criteria based on sales from production which have been maintained by the IstanbulChamber of Industry on a regular basis. The workplace and number of employees of the companies ona province basis, sector based division, realized exports and sales from product output, corporate entities,structures, spatial distribution and other characteristics were taken into consideration in the study.Although the thousand large scale companies in Turkey based on production output sales comprised only0.40% of the enterprises active in the industrial sector in 2012, they comprised 12% of the labor force,59.6% of product output sales and 65.2% of all exports. On a regional basis, 54% of these companiesare located in the Marmara region, 13.2% are located in Central Anatolia and 12.4% are located in theAegean region; on a province basis, 63.4% are located in Istanbul, Izmir, Bursa, Kocaeli and Ankara.A sector based division of the companies shows that 21.4% are involved in food, beverage and tobaccoprocessing, 19.6% are involved in the industry of metal goods, machinery, automotive industry, electricaltools and equipment and 16.1% deal with textiles, ready-to-wear, leather and the manufacturingof shoes. In terms of labor force numbers, the figures vary as 18.9%, 27.4% and 17.9% respectively.

The dynamic development of new technologies enables the optimal computer technique choice to improve the required quality in today’s manufacturing industries. One of the methods of improving the determining process is machine learning. This paper compares different intelligent system methods to identify the tool wear during the turning of gray cast-iron EN-GJL-250 using carbide cutting inserts. During these studies, the experimental investigation was conducted with three various cutting speeds vc (216, 314, and 433 m/min) and the exact value of depth of cut ap and federate f. Furthermore, based on the vibration acceleration signals, appropriate measures were developed that were correlated with the tool condition. In this work, machine learning methods were used to predict tool condition; therefore, two tool classes were proposed, namely usable and unsuitable, and tool corner wear VBc = 0.3 mm was assumed as a wear criterium. The diagnostic measures based on acceleration vibration signals were selected as input to the models. Additionally, the assessment of significant features in the division into usable and unsuitable class was caried out. Finally, this study evaluated chosen methods (classification and regression tree, induced fuzzy rules, and artificial neural network) and selected the most effective model.

The wide application of intelligent manufacturing technologies imposes higher requirements for the quality inspection of industrial products; however, the existing industrial product quality inspection methods generally have a few shortcomings such as requiring many inspectors, too complicated methods, difficulty in realizing standardized monitoring, and the low inspection efficiency, etc. Targeting at these problems, this paper proposed an automatic detection and online quality inspection method for workpiece surface cracks based on the machine vision technology. At first, it proposed a vision-field environment calibration method, gave the specific method for workpiece shape feature recognition and size measurement based on machine vision, and achieved the on-line monitoring of workpiece quality problems such as feature defects and size deviations. Then, this study integrated the multi-scale attention module and the up-sampling module that can restore the locations of image pixels based on the high-level and low-level hybrid feature maps, built a workpiece crack extraction network, and realized workpiece crack feature extraction, crack type classification, and damage degree division. At last, experimental results verified the effectiveness of the proposed method, and this paper provided a reference for the application of machine vision technology in other fields.

In any machining operation, a major division of energy is converted into heat which creates detrimental effects on tool wear, tool life and surface quality of machined work material. Effective cooling/lubrication in the machining zone is essential to improve friction and temperatures by efficient heat dissipation which increases tool life and surface quality. But adverse health effects caused by use of flood cooling are drawing manufacturers’ attention to develop methods for controlling occupational exposure to cutting fluids. In demanding the improvement of productivity and product quality of machining, use of solid lubricant thin film was suggested as one of the necessary alternative machining techniques to apply lubricants effectively to the high-temperature zone. There is a general concern in the machining process in terms of applying lubricants effectively to the machining zone. Therefore, this research work contributes to the development of a novel approach to apply lubricants effectively to the rake face and flank face of the cutting tool without polluting the environment. Electrostatic high-velocity solid lubricant assisted machining is a novel technique used in the machining process with a very low flow rate (1–20 mL/h) to enhance the process performance of turning difficult-to-cut materials. The performance of electrostatic high-velocity solid lubricant technique is studied in comparison to minimum quantity solid lubricant, minimum quantity lubricant and dry and wet (flood cooling) to assess the performance considering surface roughness, cutting force and tool wear as performance indices. The experimental results revealed that electrostatic high-velocity solid lubricant with MoS2 solid lubricant at low volume and constant flow rate has observed high potential to apply lubricants effectively in the machining zone when compared with the considered environmental conditions. This work is expected to form a scientific basis toward developing electrostatic high-velocity solid lubricant technique for reducing the manufacturing impact in the machining of aerospace components such as Ti–6Al–4V alloy in terms of both machinability and environmental perspectives.

The technology for extracting and discharging coal from an underroof seam uses the so-called gravitational extraction method in which coal is extracted and discharged from under the roof by gravity. Here, coal can be discharged onto the main conveyor (face conveyor, located in the supported area), central conveyor (rear conveyor in Western literature), and tail conveyor (discharge conveyor, located in the unsupported area). The most common facilities used currently are longwall sets of equipment providing discharge onto tail conveyors. The purpose of this study is to measure the performance of a motorised plate feeder supplying coal from the outlet port of a roof support to a conveyor during the extraction of thick seams with discharge onto the face conveyor. To achieve the goal, it is proposed to measure the coal volume using machine vision. Methods for calculating a unit volume in a measuring section using a three-dimensional model were investigated. Laboratory studies were carried out to estimate the relative errors of the methods. The research allowed properly defining: a method for collecting data to calculate the unit volume of coal; a method for calculating the unit volume in the measuring section; a method for calculating the feeder performance using machine vision, and approaches for physically simplifying the video scene examined by machine vision. A relative error of less than 10 % with the existing measurement accuracy for constructing a coal layer surface height map indicates the sufficiency of the proposed calculation method for engineering use. The developed mathematical apparatus for calculating the unit volume of coal at the measuring section and measuring the feeder performance allows creating algorithmic software using the elementary mathematical functions of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. This aspect is important because it lower sights for the software development environment, and therefore expands the range of hardware suitable for calculating the feeder performance.

Abstract. In this paper, the machining principle of variable hyperbolic circular-arc-tooth-trace (VH-CATT) cylindrical gears is analysed, and a modular configuration design of this special machine tool is carried out. Based on the importance of parameter and knowledge dependence of rough set theory, the degree of influence of the index hidden in the data on the decision-making results is mined, and an algorithm for calculating the objective weight of the index is given. The comprehensive weight of the index is then obtained, combining the analytic hierarchy process. After obtaining the results of the index's comprehensive weight and module attribute classification, a module retrieval strategy is formulated using the fuzzy similarity priority ratio algorithm. Based on the modular division of this special gear-making machine tool, the modular configuration sequence of the machine tool using the depth-first search algorithm is determined. According to the module retrieval strategy and configuration sequence, a traversal of module instances is carried out, and a variety of modular configuration schemes of the machine tool is obtained, which provides a practical and efficient method for the rapid design of a special machine tool for VH-CATT cylindrical gears.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to conduct a comprehensive review of the noteworthy contributions made in the area of the Feedforward neural network (FNN) to improve its generalization performance and convergence rate (learning speed); to identify new research directions that will help researchers to design new, simple and efficient algorithms and users to implement optimal designed FNNs for solving complex problems; and to explore the wide applications of the reviewed FNN algorithms in solving real-world management, engineering and health sciences problems and demonstrate the advantages of these algorithms in enhancing decision making for practical operations. Design/methodology/approach The FNN has gained much popularity during the last three decades. Therefore, the authors have focused on algorithms proposed during the last three decades. The selected databases were searched with popular keywords: “generalization performance,” “learning rate,” “overfitting” and “fixed and cascade architecture.” Combinations of the keywords were also used to get more relevant results. Duplicated articles in the databases, non-English language, and matched keywords but out of scope, were discarded. Findings The authors studied a total of 80 articles and classified them into six categories according to the nature of the algorithms proposed in these articles which aimed at improving the generalization performance and convergence rate of FNNs. To review and discuss all the six categories would result in the paper being too long. Therefore, the authors further divided the six categories into two parts (i.e. Part I and Part II). The current paper, Part I, investigates two categories that focus on learning algorithms (i.e. gradient learning algorithms for network training and gradient-free learning algorithms). Furthermore, the remaining four categories which mainly explore optimization techniques are reviewed in Part II (i.e. optimization algorithms for learning rate, bias and variance (underfitting and overfitting) minimization algorithms, constructive topology neural networks and metaheuristic search algorithms). For the sake of simplicity, the paper entitled “Machine learning facilitated business intelligence (Part II): Neural networks optimization techniques and applications” is referred to as Part II. This results in a division of 80 articles into 38 and 42 for Part I and Part II, respectively. After discussing the FNN algorithms with their technical merits and limitations, along with real-world management, engineering and health sciences applications for each individual category, the authors suggest seven (three in Part I and other four in Part II) new future directions which can contribute to strengthening the literature. Research limitations/implications The FNN contributions are numerous and cannot be covered in a single study. The authors remain focused on learning algorithms and optimization techniques, along with their application to real-world problems, proposing to improve the generalization performance and convergence rate of FNNs with the characteristics of computing optimal hyperparameters, connection weights, hidden units, selecting an appropriate network architecture rather than trial and error approaches and avoiding overfitting. Practical implications This study will help researchers and practitioners to deeply understand the existing algorithms merits of FNNs with limitations, research gaps, application areas and changes in research studies in the last three decades. Moreover, the user, after having in-depth knowledge by understanding the applications of algorithms in the real world, may apply appropriate FNN algorithms to get optimal results in the shortest possible time, with less effort, for their specific application area problems. Originality/value The existing literature surveys are limited in scope due to comparative study of the algorithms, studying algorithms application areas and focusing on specific techniques. This implies that the existing surveys are focused on studying some specific algorithms or their applications (e.g. pruning algorithms, constructive algorithms, etc.). In this work, the authors propose a comprehensive review of different categories, along with their real-world applications, that may affect FNN generalization performance and convergence rate. This makes the classification scheme novel and significant.

The behaviour of firms is still a little understood matter. Why one firm or industry is investing more than the other or what makes a firm enter or exit from the market, what are the psychological factors that go to make a choice of this kind are questions that have not been answered satisfactorily. Concepts like irreversibility, uncertainty, investment, and the value of waiting are very much there in the literature, e.g., McDonald and Siegel (1985, 1986); Nickell (1974); Schmalensee (1972); Hartman (1972); Henry (1974) and LAM (1989) and others. But the psychology of decision-making on the face of losses has not received much attention in the literature. That the Economic Hysteresis1 and Layers of Techniques2, developed by Professor A. Dixit and Professor P. N. Mathur respectively tackle. The former is discussed by Pindyck (1988, 1991, 1992) and Dixit (1989, 1989a, 1991, 1992); while Mathur (1977, 1989, 1990); Law and Azid (1993); Azid and Ghosh (1998) and Rashid (1989,1989a) have discussed the latter.

During the nineteenth century, U.S. manufacturers shifted away from the “hand labor” mode of production, characteristic of artisan shops, to “machine labor,” which was increasingly concentrated in steam-powered factories. This transition fundamentally changed production tasks, jobs, and job requirements. This paper uses digitized data on these two production modes from an 1899 U.S. Commissioner of Labor report to estimate the frequency and impact of the use of inanimate power on production operation times. About half of production operations were mechanized; the use of inanimate power raised productivity, accounting for about one-quarter to one-third of the overall productivity advantage of machine labor. However, additional factors, such as the increased division of labor and adoption of high-volume production, also played quantitatively important roles in raising productivity in machine production versus by hand.

Indo China trade names for last 3-4 years mainly because of three reasons one; China has become the robust trading partner of India outpacing USA, second; the balance of trade deficit of India is very high almost 60 Billion dollar, three; India and China are face to face on boundary issue and army skirmishes which has led to a boycott China slogan in India. But the issue do not end here. In fact China has become a manufacturing hub of all kind of industries in India. The inputs assembles spares as well as sophisticated machinery in India all Imported from China. In pandemic Covid-19 found that even dominant pharmaceutical companies of India are dependent on Chinese support. The whole consumer durable market of India is in fact only an assembly market. All parts of refrigerator, AC, cameras, microwave and what not are imported and then only assembly is done by Indian companies. Same is true for Electric gadgets, Telecommunication instruments, plastic industry and even handicrafts and handloom sector. Economics call it dependency of development. A Metropolis satellite like relationship in which India’s economic development at present is been conditioned by China. In fact this is an extension of Prebisch singer Centre periphery model where in the International division of labour is such that some group of countries (periphery) output, raw material, agro and mineral-based product to while the other group of countries (Centre) add value and exports them back to periphery. This leads to exploitation of resources of periphery and analogous development of the developed countries. In this research paper the researcher is trying to analyse the Indochina trade through the lens of dependency theory. KEYWORDS: Centre periphery relationship, manufacturing, exports, BOT, Indo China trade

The economic growth of the national economy, first of all, depends on the level of production development. It is production that forms the basis of the economy of any state. Successful functioning of enterprises in modern economic conditions largely depends on various factors of external and internal environment, as well as on how effectively and purposefully the enterprise is engaged in innovation activities. Growth of economy of any country occurs due to two factors only: accumulation of capital (means of production, raw materials) and deepening of division of labor. The creation and accumulation of capital is carried out by entrepreneurs when they invest part of their profits in means of production, raw materials and inputs. The greater the profit of entrepreneurs, the more they invest in the creation of new capital. The development and implementation of innovations at the enterprise should contribute to the growth of the technical and technological base of the enterprise, which is a part of the production capital materialized in buildings, structures, machinery, equipment and other means of labor, which are repeatedly used in production, transferring their value to the finished product. Manufacturing, services, transportation, and even agriculture are using an increasingly wide range of digital technologies. The underlying technologies and processes have far-reaching implications for the organization of work, production and commerce, reinforcing the existing organizational and geographic dispersion of knowledge-intensive production functions and occupational groups. Companies using digital technologies can improve the efficiency of their organizations and gain opportunities to access and serve consumers more easily, accelerate product development, and create new goods and services at lower costs without the need for extensive systems-level expertise or in-house IT staff.

Both Adam Smith and Mencius could be arguably considered as two of the most thought-provoking philosophical intellectual thinkers within the domains of Anglo-Saxon economic and political civilisation over the course of Industrial Revolution and of classical Chinese economic and political civilisation amid the neolithic Warring-State period. In particular, the former one conceptualised moral sentiments and the potential economic secrets to wealth accumulation in a system of division of labour; the latter one critically and constructivistically inherited ideational legacies from the Confucius Doctrine, historically proposing the ideational disposition of humane government, moral priority, civil superiority over the rulers and state and the benign characteristics of an individual at birth. At first glance, both these two economic and political philosophers from two separate civilisational entities have few conceptual, intellectual, political and economic interrelations or overlapped commonality from their heterogeneous geographical characteristics and variables, grand historical circumstances of far distinctive, heterogeneous means of productions: the emergence of technological revolution from manufacturing to machinery in the embryonic stage in the Smith Era and metallurgical and agricultural advancements, metamorphism and transformation in the Mencius Era, and contrastive social structures and architectures between the Smith-inhabiting British society and Mencius-inhabiting Warring-State society in antique Chinese period. Nevertheless, the chief objective of this research analytical manuscript seeks to, with the frameworks of certain international relations theories and comparative philosophy, conduct profound, comprehensive, dialectical contrastive investigations into their implicit reciprocity and trans-sectional, trans-spatial homogeneity and interplay, especially a series of organic associations of their analytical propositions on the nature, implications and implementations of morality of different forms and fashions with the necessity for recalibrating, reconstructing and even re-modeling a more morality-oriented normative international, inter-civilisational development architecture in the contemporary volatile, unpredictable, competitive and ambiguous world between disorder and integration, between amalgamation and fragmentation, between win-win cooperation and zero-sum confrontation upon a firm theoretical roots of Thucydides Traps. Methodologically, this analytical manuscript has sought to take advantage of constructivistic representative sampling of Chinese pandemic-controlling measures, and China’s uniquely active, autonomous participation into the global economic development paradigm and trajectory, in contradiction with the unanticipated demise of Silicon Valley Bank, which may be comparable to Bears Stearns Moment chiefly owning to the withdrawal of governmental regulations, the dismal fiasco of financial and banking regulations and excessive non-performing loans, and unethical misbehaviours by the financial oligarchs within. Moreover, Russia-Ukraine geopolitical dilemma drains the global economic sluggish movement. As a result of must fairly exhaustive, quantitative and qualitative investigation into representative sampling of failed amoral, non-normative institutions and differently up-coming normative initiatives, it could be initially observed that whilst the conditions and contexts for successfully constructing a morality-oriented normative international, inter-civilisational development system and mechanism are divergent because of diverse political, economic, social, cultural and environmental circumstances, the probability index and necessity for doing so can be circumstantial and verifiable and such kinds of international normative institutions and mechanisms should be enforceable in a more civilisational, international society as it should be. Furthermore, Mencius Doctrine and Smithian Doctrine can uphold a supplementary role to play in achieving that kind of prospect of unconventional collective morality and collective norm, which is not unique to Western context alone, that certain mainstream Western-initiating international relations theoretical findings may have fallen short of quantitatively and qualitatively reconstructing, recalibrating and re-evaluating. China’s examples could be the quintessential example worthy of re-learning and abstract inheritance for others who choose to take lessons at an inter-philosophical, cross-sectional level.

PT. MJT is a company engaged in manufacturing that produces various types of plastic tubes for cosmetic packaging. Production activities at PT. MJT uses an intermittent process, which in the printing division requires a longer total setup time because this process produces various types of specifications of goods to order. This has an effect on the amount of engine breakdown. The purpose of this research is to try the method of forecasting the number of breakdowns for offset printing machines at PT. MJT. One of the methods used in this research is the Support Vector Machine method. Support Vector Machine is a method that can help predict the number of breakdowns that will be experienced by the offset printing machine at PT. MJT. Support vector machine is a method that can reduce the error value in forecasting compared to other methods. From this research, it is hoped that it can produce a forecast of the number of breakdowns for offset printing machines at PT. MJT for a period of one year or twelve periods.

The article describes a human-machine tool shop management system based on the developed models and algorithms of production division management tasks. The calculation of the economic efficiency of the developed management system is carried out. The developed online management system increases the economic efficiency of managing a modern production unit. This management system, as shown by its operation, has the ability to form management decisions, making extensive use of the ability of operational shop staff to navigate in informal situations due to their experience, intuition, and forecasting the development of the production situation. With this approach to the management process, it is possible to involve hidden reserves and other resources in the production sphere on the basis of the development of creative initiative of the heads of production units and site management personnel. In addition, having the ability to quickly respond to changes in the production environment, the dialog control system allows you to more effectively than with batch information processing systems to stabilize the course of the production process when it is affected by various random factors. The ability to synchronize in real time the interaction of all workplaces (WP) of production sites is implemented, thereby significantly reducing the duration of production cycles for manufacturing products, work in progress, improving the rhythm of production, increasing labor productivity.

When George Orwell encountered ideas of a technological utopia sixty-five years ago, he acted the grumpy middle-aged man Reading recently a batch of rather shallowly optimistic “progressive” books, I was struck by the automatic way in which people go on repeating certain phrases which were fashionable before 1914. Two great favourites are “the abolition of distance” and “the disappearance of frontiers”. I do not know how often I have met with the statements that “the aeroplane and the radio have abolished distance” and “all parts of the world are now interdependent” (1944). It is worth revisiting the old boy’s grumpiness, because the rhetoric he so niftily skewers continues in our own time. Facebook features “Peace on Facebook” and even claims that it can “decrease world conflict” through inter-cultural communication. Twitter has announced itself as “a triumph of humanity” (“A Cyber-House” 61). Queue George. In between Orwell and latter-day hoody cybertarians, a whole host of excitable public intellectuals announced the impending end of materiality through emergent media forms. Marshall McLuhan, Neil Postman, Daniel Bell, Ithiel de Sola Pool, George Gilder, Alvin Toffler—the list of 1960s futurists goes on and on. And this wasn’t just a matter of punditry: the OECD decreed the coming of the “information society” in 1975 and the European Union (EU) followed suit in 1979, while IBM merrily declared an “information age” in 1977. Bell theorized this technological utopia as post-ideological, because class would cease to matter (Mattelart). Polluting industries seemingly no longer represented the dynamic core of industrial capitalism; instead, market dynamism radiated from a networked, intellectual core of creative and informational activities. The new information and knowledge-based economies would rescue First World hegemony from an “insurgent world” that lurked within as well as beyond itself (Schiller). Orwell’s others and the Cold-War futurists propagated one of the most destructive myths shaping both public debate and scholarly studies of the media, culture, and communication. They convinced generations of analysts, activists, and arrivistes that the promises and problems of the media could be understood via metaphors of the environment, and that the media were weightless and virtual. The famous medium they wished us to see as the message —a substance as vital to our wellbeing as air, water, and soil—turned out to be no such thing. Today’s cybertarians inherit their anti-Marxist, anti-materialist positions, as a casual glance at any new media journal, culture-industry magazine, or bourgeois press outlet discloses. The media are undoubtedly important instruments of social cohesion and fragmentation, political power and dissent, democracy and demagoguery, and other fraught extensions of human consciousness. But talk of media systems as equivalent to physical ecosystems—fashionable among marketers and media scholars alike—is predicated on the notion that they are environmentally benign technologies. This has never been true, from the beginnings of print to today’s cloud-covered computing. Our new book Greening the Media focuses on the environmental impact of the media—the myriad ways that media technology consumes, despoils, and wastes natural resources. We introduce ideas, stories, and facts that have been marginal or absent from popular, academic, and professional histories of media technology. Throughout, ecological issues have been at the core of our work and we immodestly think the same should apply to media communications, and cultural studies more generally. We recognize that those fields have contributed valuable research and teaching that address environmental questions. For instance, there is an abundant literature on representations of the environment in cinema, how to communicate environmental messages successfully, and press coverage of climate change. That’s not enough. You may already know that media technologies contain toxic substances. You may have signed an on-line petition protesting the hazardous and oppressive conditions under which workers assemble cell phones and computers. But you may be startled, as we were, by the scale and pervasiveness of these environmental risks. They are present in and around every site where electronic and electric devices are manufactured, used, and thrown away, poisoning humans, animals, vegetation, soil, air and water. We are using the term “media” as a portmanteau word to cover a multitude of cultural and communications machines and processes—print, film, radio, television, information and communications technologies (ICT), and consumer electronics (CE). This is not only for analytical convenience, but because there is increasing overlap between the sectors. CE connect to ICT and vice versa; televisions resemble computers; books are read on telephones; newspapers are written through clouds; and so on. Cultural forms and gadgets that were once separate are now linked. The currently fashionable notion of convergence doesn’t quite capture the vastness of this integration, which includes any object with a circuit board, scores of accessories that plug into it, and a global nexus of labor and environmental inputs and effects that produce and flow from it. In 2007, a combination of ICT/CE and media production accounted for between 2 and 3 percent of all greenhouse gases emitted around the world (“Gartner Estimates,”; International Telecommunication Union; Malmodin et al.). Between twenty and fifty million tonnes of electronic waste (e-waste) are generated annually, much of it via discarded cell phones and computers, which affluent populations throw out regularly in order to buy replacements. (Presumably this fits the narcissism of small differences that distinguishes them from their own past.) E-waste is historically produced in the Global North—Australasia, Western Europe, Japan, and the US—and dumped in the Global South—Latin America, Africa, Eastern Europe, Southern and Southeast Asia, and China. It takes the form of a thousand different, often deadly, materials for each electrical and electronic gadget. This trend is changing as India and China generate their own media detritus (Robinson; Herat). Enclosed hard drives, backlit screens, cathode ray tubes, wiring, capacitors, and heavy metals pose few risks while these materials remain encased. But once discarded and dismantled, ICT/CE have the potential to expose workers and ecosystems to a morass of toxic components. Theoretically, “outmoded” parts could be reused or swapped for newer parts to refurbish devices. But items that are defined as waste undergo further destruction in order to collect remaining parts and valuable metals, such as gold, silver, copper, and rare-earth elements. This process causes serious health risks to bones, brains, stomachs, lungs, and other vital organs, in addition to birth defects and disrupted biological development in children. Medical catastrophes can result from lead, cadmium, mercury, other heavy metals, poisonous fumes emitted in search of precious metals, and such carcinogenic compounds as polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxin, polyvinyl chloride, and flame retardants (Maxwell and Miller 13). The United States’ Environmental Protection Agency estimates that by 2007 US residents owned approximately three billion electronic devices, with an annual turnover rate of 400 million units, and well over half such purchases made by women. Overall CE ownership varied with age—adults under 45 typically boasted four gadgets; those over 65 made do with one. The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) says US$145 billion was expended in the sector in 2006 in the US alone, up 13% on the previous year. The CEA refers joyously to a “consumer love affair with technology continuing at a healthy clip.” In the midst of a recession, 2009 saw $165 billion in sales, and households owned between fifteen and twenty-four gadgets on average. By 2010, US$233 billion was spent on electronic products, three-quarters of the population owned a computer, nearly half of all US adults owned an MP3 player, and 85% had a cell phone. By all measures, the amount of ICT/CE on the planet is staggering. As investigative science journalist, Elizabeth Grossman put it: “no industry pushes products into the global market on the scale that high-tech electronics does” (Maxwell and Miller 2). In 2007, “of the 2.25 million tons of TVs, cell phones and computer products ready for end-of-life management, 18% (414,000 tons) was collected for recycling and 82% (1.84 million tons) was disposed of, primarily in landfill” (Environmental Protection Agency 1). Twenty million computers fell obsolete across the US in 1998, and the rate was 130,000 a day by 2005. It has been estimated that the five hundred million personal computers discarded in the US between 1997 and 2007 contained 6.32 billion pounds of plastics, 1.58 billion pounds of lead, three million pounds of cadmium, 1.9 million pounds of chromium, and 632000 pounds of mercury (Environmental Protection Agency; Basel Action Network and Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition 6). The European Union is expected to generate upwards of twelve million tons annually by 2020 (Commission of the European Communities 17). While refrigerators and dangerous refrigerants account for the bulk of EU e-waste, about 44% of the most toxic e-waste measured in 2005 came from medium-to-small ICT/CE: computer monitors, TVs, printers, ink cartridges, telecommunications equipment, toys, tools, and anything with a circuit board (Commission of the European Communities 31-34). Understanding the enormity of the environmental problems caused by making, using, and disposing of media technologies should arrest our enthusiasm for them. But intellectual correctives to the “love affair” with technology, or technophilia, have come and gone without establishing much of a foothold against the breathtaking flood of gadgets and the propaganda that proclaims their awe-inspiring capabilities.[i] There is a peculiar enchantment with the seeming magic of wireless communication, touch-screen phones and tablets, flat-screen high-definition televisions, 3-D IMAX cinema, mobile computing, and so on—a totemic, quasi-sacred power that the historian of technology David Nye has named the technological sublime (Nye Technological Sublime 297).[ii] We demonstrate in our book why there is no place for the technological sublime in projects to green the media. But first we should explain why such symbolic power does not accrue to more mundane technologies; after all, for the time-strapped cook, a pressure cooker does truly magical things. Three important qualities endow ICT/CE with unique symbolic potency—virtuality, volume, and novelty. The technological sublime of media technology is reinforced by the “virtual nature of much of the industry’s content,” which “tends to obscure their responsibility for a vast proliferation of hardware, all with high levels of built-in obsolescence and decreasing levels of efficiency” (Boyce and Lewis 5). Planned obsolescence entered the lexicon as a new “ethics” for electrical engineering in the 1920s and ’30s, when marketers, eager to “habituate people to buying new products,” called for designs to become quickly obsolete “in efficiency, economy, style, or taste” (Grossman 7-8).[iii] This defines the short lifespan deliberately constructed for computer systems (drives, interfaces, operating systems, batteries, etc.) by making tiny improvements incompatible with existing hardware (Science and Technology Council of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 33-50; Boyce and Lewis). With planned obsolescence leading to “dizzying new heights” of product replacement (Rogers 202), there is an overstated sense of the novelty and preeminence of “new” media—a “cult of the present” is particularly dazzled by the spread of electronic gadgets through globalization (Mattelart and Constantinou 22). References to the symbolic power of media technology can be found in hymnals across the internet and the halls of academe: technologies change us, the media will solve social problems or create new ones, ICTs transform work, monopoly ownership no longer matters, journalism is dead, social networking enables social revolution, and the media deliver a cleaner, post-industrial, capitalism. Here is a typical example from the twilight zone of the technological sublime (actually, the OECD): A major feature of the knowledge-based economy is the impact that ICTs have had on industrial structure, with a rapid growth of services and a relative decline of manufacturing. Services are typically less energy intensive and less polluting, so among those countries with a high and increasing share of services, we often see a declining energy intensity of production … with the emergence of the Knowledge Economy ending the old linear relationship between output and energy use (i.e. partially de-coupling growth and energy use) (Houghton 1) This statement mixes half-truths and nonsense. In reality, old-time, toxic manufacturing has moved to the Global South, where it is ascendant; pollution levels are rising worldwide; and energy consumption is accelerating in residential and institutional sectors, due almost entirely to ICT/CE usage, despite advances in energy conservation technology (a neat instance of the age-old Jevons Paradox). In our book we show how these are all outcomes of growth in ICT/CE, the foundation of the so-called knowledge-based economy. ICT/CE are misleadingly presented as having little or no material ecological impact. In the realm of everyday life, the sublime experience of electronic machinery conceals the physical work and material resources that go into them, while the technological sublime makes the idea that more-is-better palatable, axiomatic; even sexy. In this sense, the technological sublime relates to what Marx called “the Fetishism which attaches itself to the products of labour” once they are in the hands of the consumer, who lusts after them as if they were “independent beings” (77). There is a direct but unseen relationship between technology’s symbolic power and the scale of its environmental impact, which the economist Juliet Schor refers to as a “materiality paradox” —the greater the frenzy to buy goods for their transcendent or nonmaterial cultural meaning, the greater the use of material resources (40-41). We wrote Greening the Media knowing that a study of the media’s effect on the environment must work especially hard to break the enchantment that inflames popular and elite passions for media technologies. We understand that the mere mention of the political-economic arrangements that make shiny gadgets possible, or the environmental consequences of their appearance and disappearance, is bad medicine. It’s an unwelcome buzz kill—not a cool way to converse about cool stuff. But we didn’t write the book expecting to win many allies among high-tech enthusiasts and ICT/CE industry leaders. We do not dispute the importance of information and communication media in our lives and modern social systems. We are media people by profession and personal choice, and deeply immersed in the study and use of emerging media technologies. But we think it’s time for a balanced assessment with less hype and more practical understanding of the relationship of media technologies to the biosphere they inhabit. Media consumers, designers, producers, activists, researchers, and policy makers must find new and effective ways to move ICT/CE production and consumption toward ecologically sound practices. In the course of this project, we found in casual conversation, lecture halls, classroom discussions, and correspondence, consistent and increasing concern with the environmental impact of media technology, especially the deleterious effects of e-waste toxins on workers, air, water, and soil. We have learned that the grip of the technological sublime is not ironclad. Its instability provides a point of departure for investigating and criticizing the relationship between the media and the environment. The media are, and have been for a long time, intimate environmental participants. Media technologies are yesterday’s, today’s, and tomorrow’s news, but rarely in the way they should be. The prevailing myth is that the printing press, telegraph, phonograph, photograph, cinema, telephone, wireless radio, television, and internet changed the world without changing the Earth. In reality, each technology has emerged by despoiling ecosystems and exposing workers to harmful environments, a truth obscured by symbolic power and the power of moguls to set the terms by which such technologies are designed and deployed. Those who benefit from ideas of growth, progress, and convergence, who profit from high-tech innovation, monopoly, and state collusion—the military-industrial-entertainment-academic complex and multinational commandants of labor—have for too long ripped off the Earth and workers. As the current celebration of media technology inevitably winds down, perhaps it will become easier to comprehend that digital wonders come at the expense of employees and ecosystems. This will return us to Max Weber’s insistence that we understand technology in a mundane way as a “mode of processing material goods” (27). Further to understanding that ordinariness, we can turn to the pioneering conversation analyst Harvey Sacks, who noted three decades ago “the failures of technocratic dreams [:] that if only we introduced some fantastic new communication machine the world will be transformed.” Such fantasies derived from the very banality of these introductions—that every time they took place, one more “technical apparatus” was simply “being made at home with the rest of our world’ (548). Media studies can join in this repetitive banality. Or it can withdraw the welcome mat for media technologies that despoil the Earth and wreck the lives of those who make them. In our view, it’s time to green the media by greening media studies. 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Historian Mario Biagioli explains how the sublime permeates everyday life through technoscience: "If around 1950 the popular imaginary placed science close to the military and away from the home, today’s technoscience frames our everyday life at all levels, down to our notion of the self" (818). [iii] This compulsory repetition is seemingly undertaken each time as a novelty, governed by what German cultural critic Walter Benjamin called, in his awkward but occasionally illuminating prose, "the ever-always-the-same" of "mass-production" cloaked in "a hitherto unheard-of significance" (48).