• Title/Summary/Keyword: Environmental Industry

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Improving the Contractor-subcontractor Relationship Through Partnering on Construction Projects in Zambia

  • Mudzvokorwa, Tafadzwa;Mwiya, Balimu;Mwanaumo, Erastus M.
    • Journal of Construction Engineering and Project Management
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    • v.10 no.1
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    • pp.1-15
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    • 2020
  • With the increased dependence on subcontracting in the construction industry, the operational relationship between main contractors and subcontractor plays an imperative role in successful project delivery. Consequently, improving this relationship increases the probability of project success and enhancing project performance. A wide range of research has confirmed that partnering improves the main contractor-subcontractor relationship. Though the positive impact of partnering on project performance is supported by a plethora of evidence, the guiding theory on practical partnering process steps is limited. The study aimed at improving subcontracting in the construction industry through a partnering process relevant to Zambia guided by factors obtained from industry expects. Questionnaire surveys and Semi-structured interview were adopted to investigate the perception of construction industry professionals and academics towards the main contractor-subcontractor relationship along with improvement factors. The findings showed that the relationship between main contractors and subcontractors on most projects in Zambia is unsatisfactory therefore justifying attention. Top factors that can enhance the main contractor-subcontractor relationship were identified. From the factors deduced and guidelines on partnering best practices, a project partnering model was developed.

The Current State and Future Directions of Industrial Robotic Arms in Modular Construction

  • Song, Seung Ho;Choi, Jin Ouk;Lee, Seungtaek
    • International conference on construction engineering and project management
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    • 2022.06a
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    • pp.336-343
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    • 2022
  • Industrial robotic arms are widely adopted in numerous industries for manufacturing automation under factory settings, which eliminates the limitations of manual labor and provides significant productivity and quality benefits. The U.S. modular construction industry, despite having similar controlled factory environments, still heavily relies on manual labor. Thus, this study investigates the U.S., Canada, and Europe-based leading modular construction companies and research labs implementing industrial robotic arms for manufacturing automation. The investigation mainly considered the current research scope, industry state, and constraints, as well as identifying the types and specifications of the robotic arms in use. First, the study investigated well-recognized modular building associations, the Modular Building Institute (MBI), and renowned architecture design magazine, Dezeen to gather industry updates. The authors discovered one university lab and a few companies that adopted Switzerland-based robotic arms, ABB. Researching ABB robotics led to the discovery of ABB's competitor, Germany-based KUKA robotic arms. Consequently, research extended to the companies and labs adopting KUKA models. In total, this study has identified seven modular companies and four research labs. All companies employed robotic arms and gantry robot combinations in a production-line-like system for partial automation, and some adopted design standardization for optimization. The common goal among the labs was to achieve greater flexibility and full automation with robotic arms. This study will help companies better implement robotic arm automation by providing recommendations from investigating its current industry status.

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A Study on Repair Process Analysis of Ship Hul Part (선박 선체에 대한 수리작업 공정분석에 관한 연구)

  • Chang-Su Jeon
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
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    • v.26 no.6_3
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    • pp.1305-1314
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    • 2023
  • The global ship repair and modification market is expected to grow up to approximately $ 30 billion by 2025. Korea's shipbuilding industry is leading the world grounded on its international competitiveness in design and production technology. The reality, however, is that the ship repair and modification industry is centered on Gyeongnam, and there are only two to three ship repair workplaces that can repair large ships. Therefore, domestic ship repair companies target small and medium-sized ships mainly. This is because there are few workplaces equipped with a large dock in which large ships like LNG ships can be inspected regularly or repaired, complaints are severe for environmental problems, and related environmental regulations are so strict that it is very hard to obtain government approval for the extension of ship repair and modification workplaces or the opening of new shipbuilding sites. Besides, on account of the workers' high wages, few experts related, and higher ship repair price compared to that of Southeast Asia, most of the volume of repairing large ships including domestic LNG ships is being lost to Southeast Asian or Chinese markets. In this study, the work process and pre-work preparation process for ship hull (winch, windlass, hatch cover, ramp door, cargo gear, anchor chain) repair were analyzed and presented to foster domestic ship repair experts and revitalize related industries.

Green Supply Chain Management to Promote Environmental Awareness of Consumers in the Fashion Design Industry

  • Jieun KIM;Junhyuck SUH;Eungoo KANG
    • Journal of Distribution Science
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    • v.22 no.3
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    • pp.93-104
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    • 2024
  • Purpose: Using green supply chain management (GSCM), the current study focuses on the fashion design industry as a central player in promoting an eco-conscious consumption culture by creating awareness of the need to produce and consume eco-friendly fashion products instead of only capitalizing on the shifting consumer tastes, preferences, and expectations. Research design, data and methodology: This study selected a PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) checklist as a research methodology. The purpose is the detailed and disinterested evaluation of all the published information related to the topic of the research. Results: This study suggests brief solutions of the GSCM based on the five categories of sustainable fashion activities that contribute to the development of eco-friendly fashion designs and marketing strategies. This strategy employed by firms to promote sustainable production and consumption is a major factor in enhancing consumers' environmental awareness. Conclusions: The study delves into how brands in the fashion design industry provide a platform for collective action by investing in educational campaigns and transparent communication, collaborating with various stakeholders to maximize awareness of the need for eco-conscious consumption and the availability of green fashion products. Practitioners should consider developing a comprehensive framework to assess the feasibility of different awareness strategies and purchase stimulation approaches.

Challenges for implementing smart construction in Korean construction industry using MICMAC-ISM approach

  • Junhak Lee;Jinwoo Won;Seung H. Han
    • International conference on construction engineering and project management
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    • 2024.07a
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    • pp.917-924
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    • 2024
  • Despite various government and institutional movements to promote implementation of smart construction, the utilization of smart technologies in the construction industry is still low compared to other industries. To take a systemic look at the impediments in the implementation of smart construction, this study identifies and analyzes the challenging factors of smart construction within the Korean construction industry. Through content analysis of relevant literature, including official documents, research reports, databases, 19 challenging factors have been identified. The intricate relationships among these challenging factors have been examined based on a hierarchy structure established by using the Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) approach. Furthermore, factors are classified into four distinct clusters by using the MICMAC analysis: driving factors, dependent factors, autonomous factors, and linkage factors. This classification delineates the interrelationships among the challenging factors and identifies the key factors that drive the system, which is different from that in traditional studies where the relative importance is generally given between factors. The findings will provide crucial information for policy designers and top-level authorities, indicating which challenging factors to prioritize limited resources and efforts. It will aid in formulating effective policies, standards, and regulations to foster the implementation of smart construction in the Korean construction industry.

Perceived Consumption Value, Pro-Environmental Belief, Attitude, eWOM, and Purchase Intention Toward Upcycling Fashion Products (업사이클링 패션제품에 대한 지각된 소비가치, 환경친화적 신념, 태도, 온라인 구전의도 및 구매의도에 관한 연구)

  • Chun, Eunha;Jiang, Wei;Yu, Jihye;Ko, Eunju
    • Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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    • v.20 no.2
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    • pp.177-190
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    • 2018
  • Fashion industry constantly produces and consumes, which leads to huge waste piles of perfectly usable textiles in landfills, as well as other negative effects of an exploitative and excessively rapid fashion process. Pollution created by making and dyeing clothes has pitted fashion industry and environmentalists against each other. In this context, upcycling is seen as an optimal way to solve the growing problem of waste in fashion industry. The first purpose of the study was to analyze the relationships between upcycling fashion products' perceived value, pro-environmental beliefs, attitudes, electronic word of mouth (eWOM) intention, and purchase intention. The second purpose is to verify the difference of perceived consumption value among the consumers' awareness level and purchase experience. A total of 258 valid responses obtained from a group of 20-30-year-old participants were collected through an online survey. SPSS 23.0 and Amos 18.0 programs were used for data analysis. The results of the present study suggest that there are significant effects of upcycling fashion products' perceived value on pro-environmental belief; furthermore, pro-environmental belief was found to positively influence attitude, eWOM intention, and purchase intention. In addition, there are differences of perceived consumption value among the consumers' awareness level and purchase experience. Taken together, the results of this study provide researchers and practitioners with a deeper understanding of consumers' values, beliefs, attitudes, and behavioral intentions towards upcycling fashion products.

Environmental Impacts Assessment of the Wheat Flour Production Process Using the Life Cycle Assessment Method (LCA 기법을 이용한 소맥분 생산 공정의 환경 영향 평가)

  • Chu, Duk-Sung;Kwon, Hyuk-Ku;Kim, Jong-Geu;Lee, Jang-Hoon
    • Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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    • v.34 no.1
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    • pp.62-69
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    • 2008
  • The life cycle assessment method for environmental impact assessment was used, in this study, to assess the production process of wheat flour which is the most important material in the food industry. Environmental impact assessments were compared between that of the Ministry of Environment, Republic of Korea (method I) with that of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (method II). Life cycle inventories (LCI) was performed using internal and external databases and the production statistics database of company S. The procedure of life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) was followed in terms of classification, characterization, normalization and weighting to identify the key issues. The impact categories of method I were divided into 8 categories with consideration of : abiotic resources depletion, global warming, ozone depletion, photochemical oxidant creation, acidification and eutrophication. The impact categories of method II were divided into 10 categories with consideration of: abiotic resources depletion, global warming, ozone depletion, photochemical oxidant creation, acidification, eutrophication, human toxicity, freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity, marine aquatic ecotoxicity and terrestrial ecotoxicity.

Reliability Assessment of Industrial Wastewater Treatment Plant (특정제조업 폐수처리시설에 대한 신뢰성 평가)

  • Yang, Hyung-Jae;Kim, Jae-Hoon;Lee, Sung-Jong
    • Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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    • v.22 no.4
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    • pp.1-9
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    • 2007
  • A wastewater treatment plant, operating process is physico-chemical/biological activated sludge attached sand filtration, was selected to evaluate effluent quality and pollutants removal efficiencies consideration for deriving the technology-based effluent limitation for petroleum refining industry discharge. The results of influent and effluent analysis were as follows: Average effluent quality were 0.076mg/l of copper, 0.084mg/l of lead, 0.036mg/l of zinc, 0.005mg/l of nickel and 0.004mg/l of cadmium, and the range of coefficient of reliability from 0.007 of copper to 1.0 of lead. Also, 95% of reliability, 0.112, 0.15, 0.063, 0.015 and 0.009mg/l, respectively, were remarkably lower than their effluent limitations. And to reach 95% reliability of effluent limitation at cleanness area, designed effluent quality of copper, lead, zinc and cadmium should be 0.268, 0.099, 0.526 and 0.008mg/l, respectively.

Emergy Analysis of Korean Agriculture (우리나라 농업의 Emergy 분석)

  • Lee, Han-Na;Lee, Woo-Kyun;Kim, Jeong-Gyu
    • Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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    • v.24 no.2
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    • pp.169-179
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    • 2005
  • With the industrialization in Korea, the economy has invested more resources on industry and less on agricultural production. However, agriculture is still an important industry, since the whole nation depends on rice for their living. And the proportion of agricultural land is relatively large, which leads issuing environmental aspects of agriculture in this country. This study was conducted to evaluate the environmental and economical aspects of agriculture in Korea, using system ecological concept, Emergy. The total Emergy inflow of Korean agriculture was $336.57{\times}10^{20}\;sej{\cdot}yr^{-1}$ in 2003. Emergy yield ratio, the ratio of non-renewable and imported Energy use to renewable Emergy use, was 5.21, which shows the agriculture in Korea has such a value as that of the world oil resources in 1986. Also, total agricultural product was $13.55{\times}10^{16}\;J{\cdot}yr^{-1}$ in 2003 and the Energy inflow was $121.09{\times}10^{20}\;sej{\cdot}yr^{-1}$. From these data, solar transformity of Korean agriculture was estimated as $8.68{\times}10^4\;sej{\cdot}J^{-1}$.

Life Cycle Assessment and Eco-efficiency Analysis for the Resource-circulation Network of Waste Heat Generated from Industrial Process (공정폐열의 자원순환 네트워크 구성을 위한 전과정 평가 및 생태효율성 분석)

  • Shin, Choon-Hwan;Park, Do-Hyun;Kim, Ji-Won
    • Journal of Environmental Science International
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    • v.22 no.3
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    • pp.281-289
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    • 2013
  • For the purpose of evaluating the eco-efficiency(EE) on surplus heat generated from industrial process, techniques of life cycle assessment are adopted in this study. Because it can be indicated both environmental impacts and economic benefits, EE is well known as a useful tool for symbiosis network on the sustainable development of new projects and businesses. To evaluate environmental impacts, the categories were divided into two areas of resource depletion and global warming potential. It can be seen that environmental impact increased a little but much higher economic benefit on the company, environmental performance and economic value were improved on the apartment by the district heating, respectively. In result, eco-industrial park(EIP) project on surplus heat should be found sustainable new business because the EE was in the area of fully positively eco-efficiency and, moreover resource depletion was taken place than the reduction of greenhouse gas.