Abstract:

One of the key characteristics of Mondragon Unibertsitatea is the close relationship with the companies stated as one of the main objectives of the institution. This is materialized in the implementation of university developments within the industry fabrics through applied research projects in cooperation with different companies. The university also collaborates with Research Centers, as Tecnalia Research and Innovation, who contributes to fill the gap between research oriented structures towards the solutions for the needs of companies dealing with the more and more competitive markets. These common efforts shape a collaborative approach in the search of solutions for the company’s needs: once the need is detected by the company, the objectives, planning and resources are collaboratively decided among the RTDs and the company or companies working in the project. On one hand the RTDs contribute with their research and knowledge transfer capabilities and on the other hand the company helps the RTDs to bring the research results close to the industrial reality. At the end, the consortium gets the objective of converting knowledge into applied effective solutions in an industrial environment.
To achieve a real and efficient research it has to be soundly stated in the identification of the company`s real needs. This identification is possible both from the need of new and innovative product development, to wide or change the company market niche, and from the identification of the need of improvement in any process in order to get an optimized management or to get a new standard or regulation implemented. Once the need is identified, the corresponding objectives are fixed among the partners, a detailed planning and schedule with deliverables and milestones is agreed and the project is then developed and implemented in the company.
This article deals with the results of the EFFECTIWORK project: Integrated ict-based solution for Enhanced manufacturing efficiency and safety (European transnational project MANUNET-2010-PRO-EFFECTIWORK, 2011-2012) developed in a European framework. The project was launched under the MANUNET umbrella and it is funded by local and national administrations in Spain (Eusko Jaurlaritza/Gobierno Vasco - GAITEK IG-2012/01102) and Slovakia. The project is industry driven and it is headed by Fagor Electrodomésticos S.Coop., white goods manufacturer. Other companies in the consortium are Tajo SCoop. a business group specializing in developing and manufacturing plastic components and sub-assemblies for vehicles and household appliances, Sisteplant S.A, with the goal of providing solutions for manufacturing and maintenance processes optimization and ZTS VVU KOSICE a.s., a private joint-stock company operating in the field of engineering (machinery) and electro technical products. RTDs are Tecnalia Research and Innovation, Mondragon Unibertsitatea, and Slovac University of Technology.
EFFECTIWORK has developed a new concept based in a wireless-based tool for monitoring of working performance parameters and real-time worker status control, achieving a system able to identify, calculate and communicate rapidly critical issues in manufacturing processes in terms of productivity, inefficiencies, safety and legal aspects, while supporting continuous improvement and innovation to benefit the company.

Keywords:

Performance, Overal Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), safety, legal aspects, innovation, continuous improvement.