Development of a new washing machine in olive oil extraction plant: A first application of usability-based approach

Abstract

This paper suggests an approach based on usability engineering, used to assess the usability of machines and plants in the agrofood industry, aiming to enhance machines efficacy, efficiency and safety with a development focused on users’ needs. Furthermore, the article examines the validation of the suggested approach through its application in a case study regarding a washing machine for the production of extra virgin olive oil. Firstly, it was necessary to identify the target cluster. For this reason, only Tuscan high quality extra virgin olive oil manufacturers were selected. The selected producers are of between 30 and 65 years old, with working experience in the field of at least 10 years. Once the cluster was identified, through brainstorming, the critical phases of the process were identified. According to the results, the washing process was considered the most critical phase. The reached conclusions were analysed and translated into technical aspects through the Quality Function Deployment. The predominant needs to be introduced in the new washing machine were related to the reduction of processing time, the improvement of washing system, the reduction of water consumption, and the increase of worker safety. Successively, a virtual prototype was developed and tested with 8 experts. Afterwards, a usability test was performed with 15 users. Two different olive washing machines were evaluated (traditional vs new machine). The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was utilised for users’ scores interpretation. According to P-values (ranging from P<0.001 to P=0.008) several statistically significant differences emerged between the two washing machines. In particular, remarkable differences regarding efficacy, efficiency, usability, human-machine interaction, reliability and an increase in safety were highlighted. Moreover, the results indicate that the new washing machine is overall perceived as more usable machine. In conclusion, the results are encouraging and give robustness both to the proposed methodological approach and to the improvement of the new washing machine.

Selected Aspects and Determinants of the Slovak Agro-Food Companies' Innovativeness

“…The quality of innovation potential is determined by knowledge of the innovative needs of a company, the existence of innovative opportunities, the level of innovation culture of the company, motivation of workers to innovate, willingness for cooperation, openness, and modernization. Generally, innovation in agro-food sector follow Deming approach (PDCA) (Cappelli et al, 2019). As a result, innovations are usually firstly developed by R&D activities at pilot or laboratory scale (Cappelli et al, 2019(Cappelli et al, , 2020a.…”

“…Generally, innovation in agro-food sector follow Deming approach (PDCA) (Cappelli et al, 2019). As a result, innovations are usually firstly developed by R&D activities at pilot or laboratory scale (Cappelli et al, 2019(Cappelli et al, , 2020a. Successively, according to several factors like operation area, funding opportunities, networks, size, age and target market of the company, these innovations were modified and released in the market.…”

Improving olive mechanical harvesting using appropriate natural frequency

“…The olive crop is considered one of the main crops in the Middle East. In the olive harvest and post-harvest operations, engineering theories and concepts were used to reach a high-quality product; fruits and oil (Leone et al, 2015;Beghi et al, 2017;Tamborrino et al, 2017;Aiello et al, 2019;Cappelli et al, 2019;Karimi et al, 2019). Harvesting is considered a crucial operation in the production of the olive crop.…”

Challenges and Opportunities in Wheat Flour, Pasta, Bread, and Bakery Product Production Chains: A Systematic Review of Innovations and Improvement Strategies to Increase Sustainability, Productivity, and Product Quality

“…In this sense, the most interesting environment-friendly improvement strategies reported in the literature are wheat debranning before milling combined with the stabilization of bran, middlings, and germ [27,[32][33][34][35][36][37]; development and improvement of automatic and adaptive mill plants [27,38]; use of the break, sizing, and reduction systems of the roller mill for improving milling technology, flour differentiation, and reducing the impacts [39]; and the correct management of wheat conditioning before milling, as described in Section 6.1.…”

“…In particular, with respect to large industrial scale mills, the development and use of specific programmable logic controllers, automation units, and adaptive machines able to change, case-by-case, several parameters like the correct amount of water provided during the conditioning stage, differential ratios, wheat feed rate, the distance between rollers, and other essential milling parameters could lead to increased productivity, higher flour and semolina quality, lower energy demand, and to the reduction of by-products and consumption, with an additional benefit for the environment [27]. In this direction, particular attention should be paid to the development of usable machines in the whole mill plant [38] in order to avoid problems related to reliability, productivity, and product quality.…”