A Preliminary Overview of Ramp-Up Management Practices in Crisis Context

International audienceProduction ramp-up is a key stage in the product life cycle since it can determine whether a product’s launch into the market or the increase of production capacity succeeds or fails. Ramp-up as a phase of value creation, begins with the completion of a product’s design and ends with the reach of maximum production capacity. In today’s world, there is a significant advance in technology but simultaneously there is an increasing uncertainty as we have experienced with the Covid-19 crisis. Within this context, the importance of ramp-up management become more than ever evident. Whilst some products like face masks saw their demand increase drastically, some other companies had to shut off their production or switch to manufacture new products like hand sanitizers. Hence, it is critical today to have a successful ramp-up management in order to predict and meet clients’ demand in terms of quality and quantity. This paper aims to provide a set of guidelines for ramp-up management considering crisis context. The paper relies on an exploratory research coupling literature analysis and interviews among practitioners. The insights drawn from the literature and from the interviews are expected to provide decision makers with valuable guidance with regard to ramp-up management

Extra Wide Band MIMO Antenna with High Isolation and Low Correlation at 38 GHz mm-Wave Frequency Band for 5G Applications

A compact wide-band Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) antenna having highest isolation and least correlation for millimeter-wave 5G communications is proposed in this paper. Firstly, a single antenna was designed and simulated to be working at 38 GHz, a potential target band for 5G applications. It consists of a 5-shaped radiating patch, with partial ground plane. Its length is adjusted and a wide bandwidth is obtained. Then, the two antenna elements are closely positioned with edge-to-edge spacing of 1 mm (0.55 λ, with λ is the free space wavelength at resonance). Thanks to the technique of spatial diversity, a high degree of isolation is attained; more than 25 dB in the whole bandwidth. Moreover, correlation value is under 0.0002 in the working band. The prototype antennas are fabricated and measured. The result indicates that this antenna shows a reflection coefficient under -10 dB over a range of frequencies from 32.3 to 54.6 GHz (BW=22.3 GHz, 58.68% fractional bandwidth). The antenna presents a high realized gain of 7.12 dBi and radiation efficiency of about 82.46% at the desired frequency. Due to these results, our antenna may be regarded a suitable candidate for mm-wave 5G MIMO applications

Extra Wide Band MIMO Antenna with High Isolation and Low Correlation at 38 GHz mm-Wave Frequency Band for 5G Applications

A compact wide-band Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) antenna having highest isolation and least correlation for millimeter-wave 5G communications is proposed in this paper. Firstly, a single antenna was designed and simulated to be working at 38 GHz, a potential target band for 5G applications. It consists of a 5-shaped radiating patch, with partial ground plane. Its length is adjusted and a wide bandwidth is obtained. Then, the two antenna elements are closely positioned with edge-to-edge spacing of 1 mm (0.55 λ, with λ is the free space wavelength at resonance). Thanks to the technique of spatial diversity, a high degree of isolation is attained; more than 25 dB in the whole bandwidth. Moreover, correlation value is under 0.0002 in the working band. The prototype antennas are fabricated and measured. The result indicates that this antenna shows a reflection coefficient under -10 dB over a range of frequencies from 32.3 to 54.6 GHz (BW=22.3 GHz, 58.68% fractional bandwidth). The antenna presents a high realized gain of 7.12 dBi and radiation efficiency of about 82.46% at the desired frequency. Due to these results, our antenna may be regarded a suitable candidate for mm-wave 5G MIMO applications.</jats:p

Evaluation of Particles Removal Efficiency in Rapid Sand Filters by Changing Particle Concentration and Media Grain Size

Removal of particles by filter is a complex water treatment process. Several factors are involved that include shape and size of filter grains, particle concentration, filtration velocity, and filter depth. The objective of this study was to evaluate particle removal efficiency (η)  by changing particle concentration and media grain size in a rapid sand filter. Five concentrations (100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 ppm) of Kaolin particles and three mean media sizes (0.51, 1, and 1.41 mm) were used. The filter depth and the filtration velocity were 25 cm and 0.086 cmsec-1, respectively. Silica sand was used as the filter medium in all the experiments. The results showed that for the filter medium with an average grain size of 0.51 mm, removal efficiency increased with increasing influent particle concentration during the initial hours of filtration. Generally, suspended solids removal efficiency was higher at low particle concentrations. No significant differences were observed in removal efficiency for the three media sizes and particle concentrations of up to 300 mg/L, but for concentrations above 300 mg/L, removal efficiency decreased, especially for filter media with an average grain size of 1.41 mm. Removal efficiency decreased in filter media with average grain sizes of 1 and 1.41 mm at high particle concentrations from the very initial hours of filtration. The highest removal efficiency was observed in the filter medium with an average grain size of 0.51 mm. Differences in removal efficiencies between the filter media with average grain sizes of 0.51 and 1 mm were much greater than those between filter media with average grain sizes of 1 and 1.41 mm. In other words, the critical grain size for the filter medium was 1 mm

High Isolation and Ideal Correlation Using Spatial Diversity in a Compact MIMO Antenna for Fifth-Generation Applications

This paper presents a compact Multiple Input Multiple Output antenna with high isolation and low envelope correlation (ECC) for fifth-generation applications using spatial diversity technique. The proposed MIMO antenna consists of two single antennas, each having size of 13 × 12.8 mm2, symmetrically arranged next to each other. The single and MIMO antennas are simulated and analyzed. To verify the simulated results, the prototype antennas were fabricated and measured. A good agreement between measurements and simulations is obtained. The proposed antenna covers the 28 GHz band (27.5–28.35 GHz) allocated by the FCC for 5G applications. Moreover, the isolation is more than 35 dB and the ECC is less than 0.0004 at the operating band, which means that the mutual coupling between the two elements is negligible. The MIMO parameters, such as diversity gain (DG), total active reflection coefficient (TARC), realized gain, and efficiency, are also studied. Thus, the results demonstrate that our antenna is suitable for 5G MIMO applications.</jats:p

High Isolation and Ideal Correlation Using Spatial Diversity in a Compact MIMO Antenna for Fifth-Generation Applications

This paper presents a compact Multiple Input Multiple Output antenna with high isolation and low envelope correlation (ECC) for fifth-generation applications using spatial diversity technique. The proposed MIMO antenna consists of two single antennas, each having size of 13 × 12.8 mm2, symmetrically arranged next to each other. The single and MIMO antennas are simulated and analyzed. To verify the simulated results, the prototype antennas were fabricated and measured. A good agreement between measurements and simulations is obtained. The proposed antenna covers the 28 GHz band (27.5–28.35 GHz) allocated by the FCC for 5G applications. Moreover, the isolation is more than 35 dB and the ECC is less than 0.0004 at the operating band, which means that the mutual coupling between the two elements is negligible. The MIMO parameters, such as diversity gain (DG), total active reflection coefficient (TARC), realized gain, and efficiency, are also studied. Thus, the results demonstrate that our antenna is suitable for 5G MIMO applications