Search Results (20)

Sustainable development is an opportunity for modern enterprises to build unique market advantages, but it is always a kind of compromise between financial benefits and activities focused on environmental protection. It also requires companies to be able to acquire and process information, the sources of which are both internal and external, and to process it into effective knowledge. Quality management processes are an important element supporting knowledge management as a consequence of similar priorities. There are direct and indirect relationships between quality management, knowledge management and sustainable development. Related issues are an important element of modern research, but there are still some knowledge gaps that need to be filled. The authors, based on the literature analysis, concluded that there are no studies defining the relationship between quality management and knowledge management in the context of sustainable development relating to the Polish metal industry. Therefore, the objective of this study is to identify patterns of company activities in the area of knowledge management relating to the improvement of manufacturing processes in companies operating in the metal industry in Poland. At the same time, it was indicated which aspects of knowledge management are at the centre of management’s concerns. The study was carried out using a survey questionnaire, with 1930 questionnaires collected from employees in 50 companies selected for the study. The study carried out discovered that in the various areas of the Japanese knowledge management model, companies distribute the emphasis differently, which manifests itself in the procedures and ways of operating. At the same time, there are significant differences between large and medium-sized enterprises, indicating that the scale of operation influences the perception of the importance of individual elements of the knowledge management system in the context of sustainable development. Full article

Many manufacturing units make unsuccessful attempts to implement Lean Accountings in their management systems. Hence, such units must eliminate the prevailing lean accounting barriers to accomplish successful lean implementation. Moreover, the contextual relationship of lean accounting barriers must be studied to understand the effect of such barriers. The purpose of this study is to identify and analyze lean accounting implementation barriers. The analysis is going to determine how individual barriers interact to each other. The conclusions of this analysis are necessary for more effective implementation of lean accounting and moreover efficient lean management. The methodology consists of two stages. First it conducted literature review in order to identify barriers to implementing lean accounting in manufacturing companies. Then, analyzed connections between barriers using the DEMATEL method. The DEMATEL lean accounting barrier evaluation method helps companies better understand the barriers and their levels of importance in lean accounting implementation. Based on obtained results, it occurred that manufacturing companies should primarily address the issue of aversion to change to successfully implement lean accounting. This research supports managers in effectively implementing lean accounting in manufacturing companies by identifying implementation barriers and their interconnectedness. This exploratory study initiates a discussion on the barriers to implementing lean accounting in Polish enterprises and their mutual relations. Full article

The article discusses onboarding in Polish enterprises analyzed from the perspective of HR specialists. The subject of consideration in the article falls within the area of broadly understood concern for the sustainable development and well-being of employees adjusting to a new work environment during their adaptation period. Actions taken by HR specialists have a significant impact on the behavior of employees and their well-being and satisfaction in the new workplace, including commitment and care for all stakeholders involved in building a positive psychological climate at the time of starting work. The aim of the article was to identify onboarding practices implemented in selected types of Polish enterprises and selected factors determining the choice of specific practices, such as analyzing the dependencies between the type of an enterprise and the implementation of onboarding practices in it, identifying the perception of these practices by HR male and female specialists at a given age and with given seniority, and determining whether the practice of assigning a buddy to new employees depends on the type of enterprise. The study described in the article was conducted in 178 medium-sized Polish enterprises, of which, 25 were manufacturing companies, 34 were trading companies, and 119 were service companies. In each enterprise, an HR specialist completed a questionnaire on onboarding. The analysis of the dependencies between the type of company and the type of onboarding implemented in it (general, position, or team onboarding) revealed no statistically significant differences between the types of companies participating in the study and the type of onboarding implemented in them. The discrepancies between preferences for particular onboarding practices and the gender, age, and seniority of HR specialists participating in the study turned out to be statistically significant and indicate that manufacturing companies more often assign a buddy to new employees in their onboarding process than trading and service companies. The conclusions obtained from the research, apart from the cognitive value, have an application value, e.g., regarding the recruitment of HR specialists. Full article

In the present study, the authors analyze, supported by the use of artificial intelligence, the environmental solutions implemented in selected manufacturing companies using the example of the Great Poland Voivodship. The companies analyzed were selected from different industry sectors and were of different sizes, divided into two groups: small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises (LEs). The authors observed the environmental activities of these two groups of companies, paying particular attention to the differences that were evident. The study is based on a questionnaire survey. All survey questions referred to the life cycle of a product, ranging from design, production, and use to recycling processes. We discuss the environmental solutions proposed by enterprises of different sizes and at different stages of the product’s life cycle. The goal of this study is three-fold: (1) To investigate the differences in the introduction of environmental issues in SMEs and LEs in the Greater Poland Voivodship, Poland; (2) to examine whether companies in this Voivodship are equally aware of the impact of their business activities and their products on the environment; and (3) to discover novel, more rapid, and simpler methods to analyze the environmental sustainability of companies, including efficient models based on artificial intelligence. An analysis based on ANNs (artificial neural networks) was performed. The novelty of the proposed approach lies in the use of a combination of research data and methods using artificial intelligent tools to develop and scalable conclusions. This approach is unique and has no equivalent in the literature. An analysis was conducted via two perspectives: (1) The level of environmental solutions implemented at successive stages of the product’s life cycle and (2) the size of the company. The results show significant differences between the environmental practices of small, medium, and large Polish enterprises, and reveal the emerging trends in enterprise operations, which will be subject to an AI-based analysis. Full article

Demand for automated processes in the manufacturing industry is now shifting toward flexible, human-centered systems that combine productivity and high product quality, thus combining the advantages of automated and robotic systems with the high-value-added skills of operators and craftsmen. This trend is even more crucial for small and medium-sized enterprises operating in the “Made in Italy” fashion industry. The paper presents the study, simulation, and preliminary testing of a collaborative robotic system for shoe polishing that can reduce manual labor by limiting it to the finishing stage of the process, where the aesthetic result is fully achieved, with a benefit also in terms of ergonomics for the operator. The influence of process parameters and design solutions are discussed by presenting preliminary test results and providing hints for future developments. Full article

A high level of innovativeness and technology complexity is most often associated with a faster and more dynamic pace of economic development. In turn, it enables enterprises to achieve better financial results and strengthen their competitive advantage. Despite these potential benefits, in practice, innovation is also associated with the need to take up new challenges, which may be accompanied by a higher risk. The main goal of the research is a comparative analysis of the relationship between innovation and the risk of running a business in traditional and high-tech industries exemplified by the Polish economy. The authors assess the risk in 44 enterprises in the years 2010–2020 based on the proprietary evaluation model that uses the variation of financial parameters associated with innovativeness. The obtained results indicate a higher level of risk in the high-tech group with more complex and modern technologies, in particular in the pharmaceutical and computer games sectors. In the group of traditional enterprises, the risk in the analysed sectors is more diversified, and it is much higher in manufacturing enterprises than in services and trade. The empirical and quite extensive nature of the research allows for a practical assessment of the direction and strength of the relationship between innovation, risk and technology complexity. Full article

The research and development activity of a company determines the innovativeness of enterprises and economies. This kind of activity simultaneously influences the pace of their development and the level of competitiveness. With this in mind, the article—against the background of the characteristics of research and development activities—defines a framework for R&D&I activities for the steel industry in the conditions of popularization of the concept of Industry 4.0 and analyzes expenditures on R&D&I activities in Poland in 2010–2019. This topic is important because steel is one of the most important materials for the construction and the manufacture of steel products. It is very important to adjust the steel industry to the new market condition using research and development activities. The analysis was performed on the basis of data on expenditures on R&D&I activities by internal expenditures on R&D, expenditures on product and business process innovations and outlays on fixed assets for environmental protection through investments. The target of the paper is to find response on the three research questions formulated in the paper: what is the dynamics of the changes in the R&D expenditures in the Polish steel industry in 2010–2019 in comparison with the total industry in the country; what is the dynamics of changes in investment expenditures on new products and business process innovations in the Polish steel industry in 2010–2019; what is the level (dynamics) of investment outlays in environmental innovations in the Polish steel industry in 2010–2019? To conduct this analysis, we used the following methods: critical literature analysis, secondary data analysis, statistical methods. Industry 4.0 implementation in the steel industry has a strong, positive influence on the innovativeness of the company and on spending on innovations. On the basis of the data analyzed in the paper we observed that the increase of expenditure on R&D in the Polish steel industry was similar to that of other industries. As a result of the research, it was found that the dynamics of R&D expenditure in the Polish steel industry was consistent with the dynamics of expenditure calculated for the entire Polish Industry. At the same time, the sharp increase in R&D expenditure since 2018 was related to the implementation of the Industry 4.0 concept in the Polish industry. An interesting result of our research is the observed time lag in the form of a postponement of the growth of R&D expenditure after the emergence of the Industry 4.0 concept. We also observed that environmentally fixed capital expenditures may show fluctuating dynamics due to business cycles and legal restrictions to protect the environment. The added value of the publication is the framework of R&D&I activities for the steel industry and an in-depth analysis of R&D&I expenditures on the example of the metal producers in Poland in the last decade of growing interest in the concept of Industry 4.0 (I 4.0). Full article

The aim of the article is to present the author’s concept of steel market enterprises’ maturity for functioning in Industry 4.0. The model is based on the assessment of key technologies or pillars of the new industrial concept. The proposed assessment includes five levels of investment maturity under the conditions of the fourth industrial revolution (a five-point assessment scale was used to measure the degree of maturity of developed enterprises by implemented projects of smart manufacturing (SM). The maturity assessment proposal is based on direct research. The research was carried out in the segment of enterprises from the Polish steel sector. The tool used for the research was a questionnaire survey. The research was carried out with 79 selected steel enterprises in Poland for the pilot study. On the basis of the research, it was established that the segment of enterprises in the Polish steel market are at the third level of maturity in the five-level scale of the model, where level 1 is the “preliminary” level, and 5 represents the optimal maturity level. Within particular pillars of Industry 4.0, according to all respondents, the biggest changes in terms of implementing the industrial concept took place in connection with the use of Internet and mobile technologies in the process of customer service, including EDI, an e-invoicing system. The second position belonged to investments in production automation with the use of individual machines (installation of sensors on devices and sensors for collecting data on the state of the machine). In addition, similar and relatively higher answers were given by respondents to questions about the development and compatibility of IT systems for production support, such as CAx, MRP, MES. The remaining technological pillars, such as data processing from machines, installations of real-time data; network and chain integration (end -to -end engineering); production automation with the use of interoperating machines (production nests); expansion of databases (Big Data) and visualisation of processes together with their optimisation using IoT were found to be initiated as activities in very large and large enterprises. The lowest rated scope of investment changes concerned the block chain in the steel sector. The research of investment of enterprises can be used to assess the maturity of enterprises in this segment of industry in Poland. Full article

For the past decade, Industry 4.0 has become the basis for building competitive advantage for business operations. The key technologies of Industry 4.0 are implemented in enterprises of various industries. This paper focuses on presenting the results of research on the influence of the Industry 4.0 concept on the operations of enterprises that are implementing smart manufacturing (SM) projects. The paper analyses the following areas of influence of projects on the enterprises’ operations: productivity, agility and speed, quality, competitiveness and enterprise value, profitability, staff reduction, delivery improvements, vertical and horizontal integration, resource savings, reduction of operating costs, technology adaptability and quality of machine operations. The paper belongs to the research paper category. The research tool was a questionnaire. The research was carried out in the segment of steel enterprises in Poland. The results of the presented research belong to pilot research of a segment of steel industry in Poland. The main conclusion of the study is that implementation of Industry 4.0 in the Polish steel sector had a positive influence on many factors strictly connected with the innovativeness of the company. Especially, the implementation of this conception in the steel sector leads to an increase in the quality of the product and the possibility to achieve a good level of customization of the product. Those factors are very important for the steel sector potential to succeed on the competitive market. The individual SM projects that were evaluated were a form of case study. The participants of the research were employees in managerial positions and operating technological installations in steel sector enterprises. In the opinion of the surveyed (79 people), depending on the type and scope of changes implemented in the company in the direction of Industry 4.0, decision-makers expect a higher quality of processes and products, the ability to meet customer requirements—the direction of the personalization of products and services, agility and flexibility of performed operations with the use of smart technology and accuracy and precision of performance higher than in the case of manual human activities. Full article

In smart manufacturing, human-cyber-physical systems host digital twins and IoT-based networks. The networks weave manufacturing enablers such as CNC machine tools, robots, CAD/CAM systems, process planning systems, enterprise resource planning systems, and human resources. The twins work as the brains of the enablers; that is, the twins supply the required knowledge and help enablers solve problems autonomously in real-time. Since surface roughness is a major concern of all manufacturing processes, twins to solve surface roughness-relevant problems are needed. The twins must machine-learn the required knowledge from the relevant datasets available in big data. Therefore, preparing surface roughness-relevant datasets to be included in the human-cyber-physical system-friendly big data is a critical issue. However, preparing such datasets is a challenge due to the lack of a steadfast procedure. This study sheds some light on this issue. A state-of-the-art method is proposed to prepare the said datasets for surface roughness, wherein each dataset consists of four segments: semantic annotation, roughness model, simulation algorithm, and simulation system. These segments provide input information for digital twins’ input, modeling, simulation, and validation modules. The semantic annotation segment boils down to a concept map. A human- and machine-readable concept map is thus developed where the information of other segments (roughness model, simulation algorithm, and simulation system) is integrated. The delay map of surface roughness profile heights plays a pivotal role in the proposed dataset preparation method. The successful preparation of datasets of surface roughness underlying milling, turning, grinding, electric discharge machining, and polishing shows the efficacy of the proposed method. The method will be extended to the manufacturing processes in the next phase of this study. Full article

The issue of the efficiency of food processing enterprises is ever-present because of the continuous process of improving the quality standards of raw materials, complying with the procedures in food production, introducing modern production technology, and, above all, due to the large number of actors who are competing for customers in the domestic and foreign food market. In the coming years, the Polish food processing sector will be facing significant challenges with the inevitable slow and gradual decrease in the cost advantages of raw material prices as well as ready-to-eat products. Manufacturing businesses, in the long run, will need to determine the efficiency, and hence the competitiveness of the Polish food processing sector. The aim of this paper was to review the domestic and foreign literature in terms of the classification and systematization of the concept of eco-efficiency and to find the most optimal set of eco-efficiency measures based on the research in chosen food processing enterprises in Poland. In the theoretical part of the study, methods of descriptive, comparative, deductive, and synthetic analysis were used. In the practical part of the study, appropriately selected qualitative methods, such as a questionnaire, were presented. The results of the analysis were based on the results of the authors’ own calculations, as well specific findings from business practice, both from inland and abroad. Full article

Combining the knowledge about additive manufacturing technologies available in the literature with the results of empirical research in Polish manufacturing enterprises, regarding the implementation of AM, using the Bayesian network, will allow the recent demand for AM technologies to be defined in the context of an industry’s needs. The main purpose of the study is to build a new model that integrates: (1) knowledge about the implementation of AM in manufacturing companies, gained from the literature, (2) knowledge about the demands and state of the use of AM from 250 Polish metal and automotive manufacturing enterprises, and (3) Bayesian networks. The results reveal that the model developed is able to accurately detect the key determinants of the implementation process of AM technologies within a manufacturing company and identify the specific requirements for the further implementation of additive technologies. The freshness of our work is defining the demand for AM technology based on the knowledge gained from literature and knowledge received through empirical study. The possibilities of using the results of research in economic practice were demonstrated. This new approach can be treated as a solution, which will both direct and help mangers to take the decision to implement AM technologies. Full article

Due to limited resources, the implementation of Industry 4.0 solutions is a big challenge in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Therefore, it is important to identify the factors that facilitate such implementation. However, empirical research in this area is insufficient. The purpose of this article is to investigate whether open-mindedness culture, knowledge-sharing, and financial performance have a significant impact on willingness to implement Industry 4.0 in SMEs. To achieve the purpose of the article, quantitative research was conducted. Data from 562 Polish manufacturing SMEs were collected and analyses were performed using partial least squares path modeling (PLS-PM). The study results reveal that open-mindedness culture has both a direct and indirect (through knowledge sharing) impact on willingness to implement Industry 4.0 in SMEs. Results suggest that in terms of micro-enterprises, open-mindedness is more important and knowledge-sharing is less important for willingness to implement Industry 4.0 than in larger enterprises. Moreover, regardless of the company size, financial performance is positively related to willingness to implement Industry 4.0. The research results provide SME managers with guidelines on what activities within the company should be strengthened if the goal of the company is to implement Industry 4.0 solutions. Full article

In recent years, more reports and articles have been published on the necessity of implementing changes to manufacturing processes in the context of sustainable development (SD). The use of IT systems in manufacturing companies creates the opportunity to support changes implemented in the context of adaptation to the concept of SD. This paper proposes and explores a Sustainable Development Card (SDC) within an enterprise, the use of which will enable knowledge about the enterprise’s development level to be gained in the context of SD through the data and information collected from the information system, namely, the Enterprise Resource Planning system (ERP) implemented within a company. This research uses studies from the literature on the subject and also the case study in order to determine the SDC integrated with the ERP system. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method is used, which uses validity indicators to allow a manufacturing company’s development to be evaluated within the context of SD. The results were verified by a real case study of a Polish manufacturing company. It was determined that the proposed approach allows SD to be assessed in a manufacturing company and enables the implementation process of SD strategy to be constantly monitored. This paper contributes to theory and practice at the interface of the development and sustainability of a manufacturing company, whereby assessing sustainability is associated with the development of strategy and information systems that are associated with the development of an organisation. The possibilities of using the results of research, in practice, are demonstrated convincingly. Full article

Singulation of components determining the innovative activity of enterprises is a complex issue as it depends on both microeconomic and macroeconomic factors. The purpose of this article is to present the results of research on the impact of the mutual interactions between ownership and the size of companies on the achievement of the objectives of innovative activity by Polish industrial processing enterprises in changing cyclical conditions. The importance of innovation barriers was also assessed. Empirical data came from three periods that covered different phases of the business cycle: prosperity 2004–2006, global financial crisis 2008–2010, and recovery 2012–2014. The research used a cybernetic approach based on feedback loops presenting interactions between variables. In addition, two statistical methods were used: the Pearson’s ${\chi }^2$ independence test and correspondence analysis. The following discoveries were made during the research: (1) consideration of the combined impact of ownership and the size of companies on their innovation activities makes it possible to study phenomena that may be overlooked if the impact of these factors is considered separately; (2) public enterprises achieve significantly worse results in terms of innovation than companies from other ownership sectors; (3) the Red Queen effect, which assumes that the best innovative enterprises exert selection pressure on all other companies, applies to industrial processing companies, and in particular public enterprises; (4) the industrial processing section is more sensitive to secular trends than to cyclical fluctuations; (5) confirmation of occurrence of the Polish Green Island effect, which assumes that companies achieve good results in terms of innovation, irrespective of the phases of the business cycle; and (6) statistical evidence is provided that the global financial crisis may be associated with the turn of the Fifth and Sixth Kondratieff waves. Most likely, the role of the communication channel between the world economy and the Polish manufacturing section is fulfilled by foreign ownership, whose percentage of share capital of this section is estimated at 50%. Full article