Abstract

Analysis of the relationship between the need to demonstrate compliance and information and records management systems, and how the need can evolve to certification processes. The future development of ISO 15489 on records management and its opportunities and threats are described.

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of the reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) engineering process. RCM is a unique tool used by reliability, safety, and/or maintenance engineers for developing optimum maintenance plans which define requirements and tasks to be performed in achieving, restoring, or maintaining the operational capability of a system or equipment. Implementing the RCM process requires the application of a decision logic that enables systematic analysis of failure mode, rate, and criticality data to determine the most effective maintenance requirements for maintenance-important items. It is through this process that the scheduled maintenance burden and support costs are reduced while sustaining the necessary readiness state. The RCM process is designed to focus engineering attention to the part level in a formal and disciplined manner leading logically to the formulation of a maintenance strategy and plan. RCM benefits include: *The development of high quality maintenance plans in less time and at lower cost. *The availability of a maintenace history for each system; one is able to correlate this experience with specific parts and their failure modes and criticalities. *The assurance that all maintenance-important parts and their failure modes and criticality are considered in the development of maintenance requirements. *The increased probability that the level and content of the maintenance requirement is optimally specified. *The basis for routine, on-line information exchange among the engineering staff and management even in a widely dispersed organization. Document type: Report

Abstract

The RAM package design certification process has two important elements, testing and acceptance. These terms sound very similar but they have specific meanings. Qualification testing in the context of this study is the imposition of simulated accident test conditions upon the candidate package design. (Normal transportation environments may also be included.) Following qualification testing, the acceptance criteria provide the performance levels which, if demonstrated, indicate the ability of the RAM package to sustain the severity of the qualification testing sequence and yet maintain specified levels of package integrity. This study has used Severities of Transportation Accidents as a data base to examine the regulatory test criteria which are required to be met by small packages containing Type B quantities of radioactive material (RAM). The basic findings indicate that the present regulatory test standards provide significantly higher levels of protection for the surface transportation modes (truck, rail) than for RAM packages shipped by aircraft. It should also be noted that various risk assessment studies have shown that the risk to the public due to severe transport accidents by surface and air transport modes is very low. A key element in this study was the quantification of the severity of the transportationmore » accident environment and the severity of the present qualification test standards (called qualification test standards in this document) so that a direct comparison could be made between them to assess the effectiveness of the existing qualification test standards. The manner in which this was accomplished is described.« le Document type: Report

Abstract

RPP-6153, Engineering Task Plan for Hose-in-Hose Transfer System for the Interim Stabilization Program, defines the programmatic goals, functional requirements, and technical criteria for the development and subsequent installation of transfer line equipment to support Hanford's Interim Stabilization Program. RPP-6028, Specification for Hose in Hose Transfer Lines for Hanford's Interim Stabilization Program, has been issued to define the specific requirements for the design, manufacture, and verification of transfer line assemblies for specific waste transfer applications. Included in RPP-6028 are tables defining the chemical constituents of concern to which transfer lines will be exposed. Current Interim Stabilization Program planning forecasts that the at-grade transfer lines will be required to convey pumpable waste for as much as three years after commissioning. Prudent engineering dictates that the equipment placed in service have a working life in excess of this forecasted time period, with some margin to allow for future adjustments to the planned schedule. This document evaluates the effective service life of the Hose-in-Hose Transfer Lines, based on information submitted by the manufacturer and published literature. The effective service life of transfer line assemblies is a function of several factors. Foremost among these are process fluid characteristics, ambient environmental conditions, and the manufacturer's stated shelf life. This evaluation examines the manufacturer's certification of shelf life, the manufacturer's certifications of chemical compatibility with waste, and published literature on the effects of exposure to ionizing radiation on the mechanical properties of elastomeric materials to evaluate transfer line service life. Document type: Report

Abstract

Despite the spread of automation and new supply chain management paradigms, logistics remains dependent on a rather specific set of skills and competencies, whether for managerial, administrative, or blue-collar jobs, such as trucking or warehousing. This dependence implies that the logistical performance of businesses, industries, and nation states is strongly influenced by the quantity and quality of the workforce. Insufficient resources of a competent and properly trained workforce in logistics adversely affect the quality of service, reduce productivity in sectors dependent on logistics, and ultimately reduce trade competitiveness. While other interventions that affect logistics performance—such as international infrastructures, trade corridors, regulations, and services—have already been reviewed extensively, this report is the first to cover the contributions of human resources and explore how to develop skills and improve competencies, especially in developing countries. The study proposes a framework for the skills needed according to the logistics activity (such as transportation or warehousing) or the type and level of responsibility. Based on several sources, including recent surveys carried out by the World Bank and the Kühne Logistics University, the report uncovers where the skills constraints are according to the type of job or countries. Findings include that logistics is an industry struggling to hire skilled workers, although with differences between developed countries (where trucker shortages are more acute) and developing economies (where managerial shortages are more widespread). Typically, blue-collar logistics jobs have lower status and lower pay than blue-collar jobs in other industries; they are thus less attractive for skilled workers. In developing countries with a potentially available workforce, lack of vocational preparation for careers in logistics means that less-skilled workers are not easily re-skilled. Logistics tasks at the upper end of the occupational hierarchy and those with high information technology content often require an upskilling of employees to keep pace with new technology. Yet the problem is not confined to recruitment. The surveys point to limited resources, money, and staff time allocated to training, especially in developing countries. Realizing the promise of quality jobs from the growth of logistics worldwide requires a coordinated effort by logistics companies, professional associations, training providers, and policy makers. Through a combination of facilitation, regulation, advice, financial instruments, and land use planning, governments can exert significant influence. Document type: Book

Abstract

The World Bank Group, DFAT-Australia, and Carnival Australia have partnered to conduct this study of the economic impact of cruise ship tourism in Vanuatu. Data gathering and analysis for this study was carried out by Net Balance Management Group. Over the past 10 years, Vanuatu’s cruise arrivals have grown by 15 percent per year. Cruising to Vanuatu has been buoyed by an advantageous location within a few days’ sail of Australia, a varied destination offering centered on Port Vila, and consistently positive passenger feedback. In 2013, more than 240,000 people arrived in Vanuatu by cruise ship. This translates into 490,000 passenger days. The goal of this study is to quantify the economic impacts of cruising, and to provide data on the cruise sector’s effect on economic activity. The study then identifies a set of investment opportunities that can help to increase the economic benefits of cruise tourism in Vanuatu. This report therefore seeks to provide a platform that can be used by government, the private sector and donor partners to support further strategic, targeted development of cruising. Data on tourism, and by extension on cruise tourism, is not readily available in Vanuatu. This report is an attempt to capture initial economic information about the cruise industry and to provide a point of departure for additional research into the economic, social and environmental impacts of the cruise sector.

Abstract

For automotive manufacturers and tier-1 suppliers, the upcoming safety standard ISO 26262 results in new requirements for the development of embedded electronics and software. In particular, the variety of driver assistance systems that autonomously influence the driving dynamics of a vehicle may have a high risk potential and require development in accordance with the normative guidelines. But especially for those systems whose function is typically not based solely on hardware but on complex software algorithms, safety certification can be very complex or even impossible. In this paper the problems of development of vehicle systems according to ISO 26262 are described. Finally an approach for a safety-oriented reference architecture is presented that introduces adaptive software safety cages. This architecture enables application of formal verification methods. Supported by multisensor data fusion this allows to reduce safety requirements for vehicle control systems.

Abstract

The non-intrusive coupling method is a local analysis method that aims to separate the macroscopic and local scales both from mesh, operator, and loading viewpoints. This method has demonstrated that it can be used for a large set of problems such as those with local plasticity, and it has been implemented in an industrial code. In order to reduce the complexity of a given problem, a coarse model is defined on the total domain with its properties (geometry, connectivity, operator, solver) and a separated fine model is set locally with its different properties. The solution is obtained iteratively by exchanging data on the interface between the global and local models. However, the issue of certification and optimal driving of such a coupling method has been addressed in very few works until now. In the present work, we tackle this subject using the concept of constitutive relation error (CRE) which is a generic tool able to certify the quality of a numerical solution. The main goal is to control the solution of the non-intrusive global-local algorithm, in terms of global error or error in specific quantities of interest, and to optimally drive the coupling algorithm according to quantitative error indicators on individual error sources (discretization, modelling, iterative scheme). In this context, we will also study the coupling between a global solution raised from the well-known Finite Element Method and a local solution evaluated on-line from a virtual chart [4] constructed offline from a reduced order model in the local area of interest. Such a virtual chart is based on the PGD technique and integrates as variables (i.e. extra-parameters) some features of the local model such as boundary conditions, geometry, or material behavior. Complementing the non-intrusive global-local coupling with local ROM leads to a more flexible exchange between interface quantities, and higher performance in terms of computational efficiency and stability. The talk will start with an overview of the methodology of non-intrusive coupling methods, before presenting the error estimation procedure using the CRE concept and its decomposition into various source contributions for adaptive control. Eventually, the construction and the performance of ROM in the non-intrusive coupling method will be studied and discussed.