Plant Factory: An Indoor Vertical Farming System for Efficient Quality Food Production, Second Edition presents a comprehensive look at the implementation of plant factory (PF) practices to yield food crops for both improved food security and environmental sustainability. Edited and authored by leading experts in PF and controlled environment agriculture (CEA), the book is divided into five sections, including an Overview and the Concept of Closed Plant Production Systems (CPPS), the Basics of Physics and Physiology – Environments and Their Effects, System Design, Construction, Cultivation and Management and Plant Factories in Operation. In addition to new coverage on the rapid advancement of LED technology and its application in indoor vertical farming, other revisions to the new edition include updated information on the status of business R&D and selected commercial PFALs (plant factory with artificial lighting). Additional updates include those focused on micro and mini-PFALs for improving the quality of life in urban areas, the physics and physiology of light, the impact of PFAL on the medicinal components of plants, and the system design, construction, cultivation and management issues related to transplant production within closed systems, photoautotrophic micro-propagation and education, training and intensive business forums on PFs. Includes coverage of LED technology Presents case-studies for real-world insights and application Addresses PF from economics and planning, to operation and lifecycle assessment

Plant Factory Basics, Applications, and Advances takes the reader from an overview of the need for and potential of plant factories with artificial lighting (PFALs) in enhancing food production and security to the latest advances and benefits of this agriculture environment. Edited by leading experts Toyoki Kozai, Genhua Niu, and Joseph Masabni, this book aims to provide a platform of PFAL technology and science, including ideas on its extensive business and social applications towards the next-generation PFALs. The book is presented in four parts: Introduction, Basics, Applications, and Advanced Research. Part 1 covers why PFALs are necessary for urban areas, how they can contribute to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, and a definition of PFAL in relation to the term "indoor vertical farm." Part 2 presents SI units and radiometric, photometric, and photonmetric quantities, types, components, and performance of LED luminaires, hydroponics and aquaponics, and plant responses to the growing environment in PFALs. Part 3 describes the indexes and definition of various productivity aspects of PFAL, provides comparisons of the productivity of the past and the present operation of any given PFALs, and compares PFALs with one another from the productivity standpoint by applying the common indexes. Part 4 describes the advances in lighting and their effects on plant growth, breeding of indoor and outdoor crops, production of fruiting vegetables and head vegetables, and concluding with a focus on a human-centered perspective of urban agriculture. Providing real-world insights and experience, Plant Factory Basics, Applications, and Advances is the ideal resource for those seeking to take the next step in understanding and applying PFAL concepts. Provides the most in-depth assessment of PFAL available Compares PFAL to “indoor vertical farming and provides important insights into selecting optimal choice Presents insights to inspire design and management of the next generation of PFALs

Plant Factory Using Artificial Light: Adapting to Environmental Disruption and Clues to Agricultural Innovation features interdisciplinary scientific advances as well as cutting-edge technologies applicable to plant growth in plant factories using artificial light. The book details the implementation of photocatalytic methods that ensure the safe and sustainable production of vegetables at low cost and on a commercial scale, regardless of adverse natural or manmade influences such as global warming, climate change, pollution, or other potentially damaging circumstances. Plant Factory Using Artificial Light is an essential resource for academic and industry researchers in chemistry, chemical/mechanical/materials engineering, chemistry, agriculture, and life/environmental/food sciences concerned with plant factories. Presents an interdisciplinary approach to advanced plant growth technologies Features methods for reducing electric energy costs in plant factories and increasing LED efficiency Considers commercial scale operation

This book describes the concept, characteristics, methodology, design, management, business, recent advances and future technologies of plant factories with artificial lighting (PFAL) and indoor vertical farms. The third wave of PFAL business started in around 2010 in Japan and Taiwan, and in USA and Europe it began in about 2013 after the rapid advances in LED technology. The book discusses the basic and advanced developments in recent PFALs and future smart PFALs that emerged in 2016. There is an emerging interest around the globe in smart PFAL R&D and business, which are expected to play an important role in urban agriculture in the coming decades. It is also expected that they will contribute to solving the trilemma of food, environment and natural resources with increasing urban populations and decreasing agricultural populations and arable land area. Current obstacles to successful PFAL R&D and business are: 1) no well-accepted concepts and methodology for PFAL design and management, 2) lack of understanding of the environmental effects on plant growth and development and hydroponics among engineers; 3) lack of understanding of the technical and engineering aspects of PFAL among horticulturists; 4) lack of knowledge of the technical challenges and opportunities in future PFAL businesses among business professionals, policy makers, and investors and 5) lack of a suitable textbook on the recent advances in PFAL technologies and business for graduate students and young researchers. This book covers all the aspects of successful smart PFAL R & D and business.

A Savage Factory is a true memoir straight from the factory floor of an automotive giant losing the global auto war to smaller, weaker, less experienced foreign competitors that beat us at our own game on our own turf. It gives an inside look, up close, at incompetent management at war with the labor force that created a quality nightmare and caused the car buying public to lose trust and faith in American cars. It is a true story of the inner workings of Ford's largest automatic transmission plant: the people, the machines, and the never ending war between management and labor that produced low quality cars that opened the door for foreign competitors to come to our country and take our auto market. It gives real life examples of the battlefield like conditions in the auto plants that caused alcoholism, drug addition, sexual harassment, and family breakdown, while producing transmissions that received the largest recall in automotive history and would have caused Ford Motor Company to go bankrupt had the Federal Government not intervened.

Based on the competition of international production networks, the pressure to - crease the efficiency of production systems has increased significantly. In ad- tion, the number of technical components in many products and as a consequence also the requirements for corresponding assembly processes and logistics pr- esses increases. International logistics networks require corresponding logistics concepts. These requirements can be managed only by using appropriate Digital Factory tools in the context of a product lifecycle management environment, which allows reusing data, supports an effective cooperation between different departments, and provides up-to-date and relevant data to every user who needs it. Simulating the complete material flow including all relevant production, st- age, and transport activities is recognized as a key component of the Digital F- tory in the industry and as of today widely used and accepted. Cutting inventory and throughput time by 20–60% and enhancing the productivity of existing p- duction facilities by 15–20% can be achieved in real-life projects.

A step-by-step guide to planning new factories and plant rearrangements, this book describes proven analytical methods for: Calculating space requirements, Activity-pair relationships, Materials handling analysis, Generating alternative layout. This proven strategy masterfully weaves together the very best elements of layout methods for manufacturing cells, JIT, demand-flow and constraint-based flow manufacturing philosophies, in addition to traditional job shop and assembly line operations. Learn how to methodically reduce or totally rid a design of profit eroders during the plan/design of a cost efficient manufacturing layout.