BSH Hausgeräte (Germany)

This paper presents a new metric for describing the sustainability improvements achieved, relative to the company’s initial situation, after implementing a lean and green manufacturing system. The final value of this metric is identified as the Overall Environmental Equipment Effectiveness (OEEE), which is used to analyze the evolution between two identified states of the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) and the sustainability together, and references, globally and individually, the production steps. The OEE is a known measure of equipment utilization, which includes the availability, quality and performance of each production step, In addition to these factors, the OEEE incorporates the concept of sustainability based on the calculated environmental impact of the complete product life cycle. Action research based on the different manufacturing processes of a tube fabrication company is conducted to assess the potential impact of this new indicator. The case study demonstrates the compatibility between green and lean manufacturing, using a common metric. The OEEE allows sustainability to be integrated into business decisions, and compares the environmental impact of two states, by identifying the improvements undertaken within the company’s processes.

Abstract Mutations in the STK11 (LKB1) gene regulate resistance to PD-1/PD-L1 blockade. This study evaluated this association in patients with nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) enrolled in three phase I/II trials. STK11 mutations were associated with resistance to the anti–PD-L1 antibody durvalumab (alone/with the anti-CTLA4 antibody tremelimumab) independently of KRAS mutational status, highlighting STK11 as a potential driver of resistance to checkpoint blockade. Retrospective assessments of tumor tissue, whole blood, and serum revealed a unique immune phenotype in patients with STK11 mutations, with increased expression of markers associated with neutrophils (i.e., CXCL2, IL6), Th17 contexture (i.e., IL17A), and immune checkpoints. Associated changes were observed in the periphery. Reduction of STAT3 in the tumor microenvironment using an antisense oligonucleotide reversed immunotherapy resistance in preclinical STK11 knockout models. These results suggest that STK11 mutations may hinder response to checkpoint blockade through mechanisms including suppressive myeloid cell biology, which could be reversed by STAT3-targeted therapy. Significance: Patients with nonsquamous STK11-mutant (STK11mut) NSCLC are less likely than STK11 wild-type (STK11wt) patients to respond to anti–PD-L1 ± anti-CTLA4 immunotherapies, and their tumors show increased expression of genes and cytokines that activate STAT3 signaling. Preclinically, STAT3 modulation reverses this resistance, suggesting STAT3-targeted agents as potential combination partners for immunotherapies in STK11mut NSCLC. This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 2659

The unique fingerprint spectra of volatile organic compounds for breath analysis and toxic industrial chemicals make an mm-wave (mmW)/THz gas sensor very specific and sensitive. This paper reviews and updates results of our recent work on sensor systems for gas spectroscopy based on integrated transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX), which are developed and fabricated in IHP's 0.13 μm SiGe BiCMOS technology. In this paper, we present an mmW/THz spectroscopic system including a folded gas absorption cell of 1.9 m length between the TX and RX modules. We discuss the results and specifications of our sensor system based on integrated TX and RX. We demonstrate TXs and RXs with integrated antennas for spectroscopy at 238-252 GHz and 494-500 GHz using integer-N phase-locked loops (PLLs). We present a compact system by using fractional-N PLLs allowing frequency ramps for the TX and RX, and for TX with superimposed frequency shift keying or reference frequency modulation. In another configuration, the voltage controlled oscillators of the TX and RX local oscillator are tuned directly without PLLs by applying external voltages. Further developments of our system are aimed at realizing an even wider frequency span by switching between frequency bands, and to use a more compact gas absorption cell.

<div class="htmlview paragraph">Future emission standards for passenger cars are mainly aiming at a stringent reduction of their hydrocarbon <span class="small-caps">(HC)</span> emissions. A key factor to meet these requirements for passenger cars with otto engines and closed-loop three-way catalyst is the improvement of the cold-start behavior of the aftertreatment device. Amongst other concepts HC-adsorber systems have been proposed to cope with this problem.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">In the present paper, results of a fundamental research program on these molecular sieve adsorber systems are discussed.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">Model gas reactor experiments were used to select raw materials for hydrocarbon-adsorption capacity. The materials of choice were used either alone or in combination with state-of-the-art three-way catalysts; the performance of these systems was evaluated on two different vehicles according to the FTP 75 cycle. To get quantitative information about the nature of the stored HC, all investigations were supported by a detailed gas chromatographic HC-analysis.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">It is demonstrated in this study that for well-tuned aftertreatment systems, the introduction of HC-adsorbers allows to achieve a reduction of the HC-emissions during the FTP 75 cycle of 50% as compared to three-way catalysts alone.</div>

Molecular beam mass spectrometry has been used for an in situ study of the Pt-catalyzed formation of hydrocyanic acid from methane and ammonia. The goal was to identify transient gas phase intermediates which would indicate homogeneous contributions to the reaction mechanism. A catalytic wall reactor operated at 1300 °C, 1013 mbar, and 74% HCN yield was connected via a molecular beam interface with a quadrupole mass spectrometer, which allowed the measurement of ionization- and appearance potentials by electron impact. Shape and width of the electron energy spread function were determined by analyzing the ionization efficiency curve of helium; the experimental uncertainty of the measured threshold values was found to be 0.6 eV. By use of the threshold ionization technique it could be shown that methylamine (CH3NH2) and methylenimine (CH2NH) are present in the gas phase under reaction conditions. The measured threshold potentials at m/z = 30 u (9.9 ± 0.6 eV) and m/z = 29 u (10.6 ± 0.6 eV) were unambiguously assigned to the appearance potential of CNH4+/CH3NH2 and the ionization potential of CNH3+/CH2NH, respectively. Both molecules dehydrogenate rapidly at reaction temperature to HCN so that they can be considered as true gas phase intermediates.

Abstract. A generalized research strategy is presented for identifying the ecological effects of the physical environment and management in a poorly known region of subtropical, semiarid thornscrub in northeastern Mexico. Vegetation samples were stratified across a small number of climatic subregions, substrate types and topographic situations. Classification analysis and PCo A of the species x site matrix of incidence data after application of the Information Statistic were used. The analyses suggested that the regional variation in climate, substrates and topography was responsible for the major floristic differences in the vegetation. The distributions of most plant species were related to the variation in the physical environment. PCo A of the species x site cover data after application of the Bray‐Curtis dissimilarity metric revealed evidence of vegetation change due to overgrazing in each major floristic group, but not to selective cutting for timber and firewood.

A control system for the temperature of food in a cooking pot is introduced. The cooking pot is heated on a consumer cooking hob. The temperature of the pot side is used as input for the controller. It is measured by an infrared detector. The infrared detector is a thermopile. The sensor signal is evaluated by a rule-based control algorithm. The system is simple, reliable, and very user friendly. An exact temperature settlement in a consumer hob is available for the first time. The system is used for automatic cooking.

This work presents a technique for the study and measurement of the interfacial energies of solid-liquid-gas systems. The instrument and the evaluation method for the measurements obtained by it, allow the analysis of the energy changes of sessile drops submitted to microgravity. A mathematical model based on the thermodynamic of wetting is applied to evaluate the interfacial energies as a function of the drop shape changes due to the effect of the release of gravitation during the experiment. The presented model bases on the thermodynamic equilibrium of the interfaces and not on the balance of bi-dimensional tensors on the contour line. For this reason, the model does not follow Young's equation as the current surface wetting characterization techniques usually do.

<div class="htmlview paragraph">The use of Pd together with Pt/Rh in automotive emission control catalytic converters is discussed. The drawbacks and advantages of Pd are explained for the conversion of CO, HC and NOx. The performance of high loaded Pd-only catalysts is demonstrated in vehicle tests according to the FTP75, ECE and Japan-10-mode procedures. It is shown that the advantageous lean HC-light-off temperature observed with high loaded Pd-only catalyst can also be reached with similar loaded Pt-only catalysts. Various alternative ways to incorporate Pd in multi-brick converters are evaluated in vehicle tests. It is shown that single brick three metal converters with high Pd-content can have advantages over conventional Pt/Rh-three way catalysts. However, the extent of the improvement depends strongly upon the particular application, and with the present trend of increasing Pd-prices these three metal converters might lead to increased precious metal costs over conventional Pt/Rh-catalysts.</div>

Testing is a crucial part in the development of new products. With the rise of test automation methods, companies start relying on an even higher number of tests. Sometimes it is not feasible to run all tests and the goal is to determine which tests are crucial and which are less important. This prioritization problem has just recently gotten into the focus of reinforcement learning. A neural network combined with prioritized experience replay (ER) was used to identify critical tests. We are the first to apply XCS classifier systems (XCS) for this use case and reveal that XCS is not only suitable for this problem, but can also be superior to the aforementioned neural network and leads to more stable results. In this work, we adapt XCS's learning mechanism to the task by introducing a batch update which is based on Monte Carlo control. Further, we investigate if prioritized ER has the same positive effects on XCS as on the neural network for this test prioritization problem. Our experiments show that in general this is not the case for XCS.

The verification of a new product is of major importance for companies. With the rise of test automation, companies start to rely on huge numbers of tests. Often, it is not feasible to run all available tests due to time constraints. Thus, a test suite of critical tests has to be determined. Recent research has shown that reinforcement learning is suitable for this prioritization problem: neural networks and XCS(F) learning classifier systems have been applied to this task. We extend the existing XCSF-based agent by incorporating experience replay (ER) in order to improve learning efficiency. In an experimental evaluation we show that this not only boosts performance but also enables our agent to exceed the aforementioned solutions. For XCSF without ER and neural networks, the most suitable reward function is strongly dependent on the underlying data set. This is in practice a downside as reward functions usually need to be chosen a priori in order to ensure the quality of the chosen test suite. However, for our improved agent this is not the case and we can give a clear recommendation for the reward function.

The presence of asymmetries in the mass distribution of automobile tires causes anomalous forces and torques, which lead to vibrations and to ride disturbances. For this reason, detection of unbalanced masses is fundamental in order to perform a careful balancing, improving both safety and comfort. To this aim, traditional wheel balancers are passive devices that allow one to detect unbalances relying on force sensors. The major drawbacks of this technology are the high production costs and the loss of accuracy of the force sensors during the wheel balancer lifetime. In this article, a new sensors layout for the next generation of wheel balancers is proposed together with a structural modification of the machine that allows us to magnify the information provided by the sensors. Notably, these modifications are quite practical, and allows retrofitting traditional machines. The goal is to prove the effectiveness of accelerometers and gyroscopes, which are low-cost devices requiring minimum calibration effort, for unbalance detection purposes. To this aim, an unbalance detection algorithm is developed. Starting from the amplitudes and phases of the signals acquired by the sensors, the severity and the angular position of the unbalance are determined relying on a regression model. Then, the proposed detection strategy is experimentally tested in different unbalance conditions.

Since perishable food in private households is usually stored in refrigerators, both consumer knowledge of correct storage parameters and food handling have a major impact on food quality retention. Today's refrigerators provide features, such as climate-controlled compartments, to improve chilled storage performance, but former studies have shown a lack of usage and interest in such features. This paper is based on the results of an online survey with 2666 respondents from Germany. The questionnaire focused on consumer behaviour regarding the chilled storage of perishable foods, the perception of quality loss in food and consumer requirements concerning refrigerators. The novelty in the study layout was the focus on seven common refrigerator storage features. The results showed that consumers had a high awareness of food safety, resulting in short storage durations. While it was clearly indicated that the storage features were less well-known, their importance correlated with rates of food waste, underlining the potential for improvement. The survey implied that raising the awareness of storage climate parameters is a tool for nudging consumers into lower rates of food waste.

Abstract This article focuses on the creation of a short version of the User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ). The goal is to reduce the number of 26 items significantly, allowing more efficient measurement of a product’s user experience (UX) while sustaining the high reliability and validity of the original questionnaire. The shortening will be based on a data set from a company in the home appliance industry which included 1534 participants. A reliable short version of the quantitative measuring instrument was developed using factor and reliability analyzes. This new version comprises only 11 items, has a high reliability and covers all dimensions of the original instrument. Correlations between the dimensions of the UX and various questions regarding user satisfaction indicate a high criterion validity of the UEQ short version. This new short version can help prevent participant fatigue during a test session when repeated application of the questionnaire is necessary to account for testing of multiple prototypes.

<div class="htmlview paragraph">Stringent standards for the emission of particulate matter by heavy duty diesel engines will come into effect in the nineties in the US and are anticipated to come into effect in the same period in W-Europe and in Japan. This has lead most of the manufacturers to intensify the evaluation of exhaust aftertreatment devices.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">Although particulate filtering systems proved to be valuable in limited fleet applications, the general introduction did not take place because of complicated and limited durability regeneration. Flow-through catalysts which were introduced for passenger cars in 1989 drew a lot of attention for potential heavy duty diesel applications.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">In this paper the major parameters affecting the performance of these flow-through catalysts and the particularities related to heavy duty diesel application are outlined. The parameters deal with the fuel sulfur content, the test cycles applied, the catalyst formulation and washcoat composition. Much attention is paid to the durability of the diesel catalysts, since they have to match the long service life of the diesel engines. The deactivation processes which occur and their impact on the catalyst efficiency are explained. The evaluation which was conducted on both model gases and engine test benches with different engine types shows sulfate formation depends on the various oxides tested for washcoat preparation and overall efficiency which can be optimized by choosing appropriate platinum group metals.</div> <div class="htmlview paragraph">Furthermore it was demonstrated that with a precious metal based diesel catalyst attached to a 12 1 DI/TCI prototype engine, US-heavy duty diesel emission regulations for MY 1994 were met.</div>

The purpose of this study was to utilize NIR spectrometry to develop a novel method to detect and determine concentrations of different soils in dishwashing liquor during automatic dishwashing in real-time. If it is possible to differentiate between soils, this could be an opportunity to react specifically to them (e.g. by increasing the water temperature if fat components are not sufficiently emulsifying). The possibility of an automatic adaptation of the dishwashing process to different soils and soil levels could lead to a shorter, more environmentally friendly and cost-reducing process. In a first approach, an emulsion containing three soil types (oatmeal, egg-yolk and butterfat), water and detergent were used to develop NIR spectrometry prediction models. Transmittance spectra obtained with an Fourier transform near infrared (FT-NIR) spectrometer of testing standards of 76 automatic dishwashing cycles with seven samples per cycle were taken at various times during the main washing process for calibration (and validation) of the NIR spectrometry prediction models. The spectra were pretreated to develop NIR spectrometry prediction models for each type of soil using the partial least squares regression method with cross-validation. Overall, the coefficients of determination in cross-validation are R 2 > 0.92 for all NIR spectrometry prediction models developed. The results of the prediction models developed show that NIR spectrometry technology is a promising method to predict different levels of predefined soils in dishwashing liquor. The NIR spectrometry models were applied to an automatic dishwashing process with soiled dishes instead of emulsions containing soils to test their applicability. The resulting dishwashing process could be tracked in real-time by the dissolved soil concentrations, observed in the dishwashing liquor.

This article explores the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) journey to strategic agility through successively shifting to three different strategic alignments over the last six decades and suggests that logical incrementalism may be an unappreciated driver of this process. Three successive alignment models exhibit important shifts in technology strategy, competencies, and values of the organization. The three phases of incremental changes in shifting from one alignment model to the next are the emergence of new approaches, the embeddedness of these approaches in particular contexts, and their expansion to other organizational contexts.

Measuring circularity is a hot topic and has gained a lot of attention among policy makers, companies and academia. Such indicators are often applied to assess the implementation level of more circular supply chains. Although life cycle assessment (LCA) will remain important to ensure our industrial activities contribute to an economic system with an overall lower environmental burden, existing characterization methods for the use of abiotic resources have been heavily debated and criticized by the scientific community and by industry. Due to these limitations in current LCA methods, circularity metrics are useful to evaluate the performance of systems in terms of resource effectiveness. BSH Hausgeräte GmbH (BSH) is the largest manufacturer of home appliances in Europe and one of the leading companies in the sector worldwide. BSH is seeking a new Key Performance Indicator (KPI) to measure their progress in implementing circular strategies such as product service system and improving post-consumer material recycling. This KPI will be used in combination with other indicators already monitored by BSH such as the environmental impact of their products using LCA. In this paper, the suitability of the Product Circularity Indicator (PCI) developed by the KU Leuven as a KPI for circularity within a manufacturing company of household products is investigated. The PCI is a novel circularity indicator that aims to measure the circularity of product at micro-level. Based on the baseline results, the main hotspots that contribute to a low PCI are identified. A sensitivity analysis allows to better understand the potential of specific system parameters to improve the circularity performance of the assessed products and services. The PCI has proven to be suitable for application in an industrial company because it captures all relevant factors influencing the circularity of a product.

Testing is a crucial part in the development of a new product.Due to the change from manual testing to automated testing, companies can rely on a higher number of tests.There are certain cases such as smoke tests where the execution of all tests is not feasible and a smaller test suite of critical test cases is necessary.This prioritization problem has just gotten into the focus of reinforcement learning.A neural network and an XCS classifier system have been applied to this task.Another evolutionary machine learning approach is the XCSF which produces, unlike XCS, continuous outputs.In this work we show that XCSF is superior to both the neural network and XCS for this problem.

The story of amino acid production started in Japan in 1908 when the chemist, Dr K. Ikeda, was working on the flavouring components of kelp. The specific taste of the kelp preparations, kombu and katsuobushi, is traditionally very popular with the Japanese (Fig. 14.1). After acid hydrolysis and fractionation of kelp, Dr Ikeda discovered that one specific fraction he had isolated consisted of glutamic acid which, after neutralization with caustic soda, developed an entirely new delicious taste. This was the birth of the use of monosodium glutamate as a flavour-enhancing compound. The production of monosodium glutamate (MSG) was soon commercialised by the Ajinomoto Co. Ltd based on its isolation from vegetable proteins such as soy or wheat protein. However, with this process the waste fraction was high, and also the chemical synthesis of d,l-glutamate was of little use since the sodium salt of the d-isomer is tasteless.