Internet-Enabled Co-Production: Partnering or Competing with Customers?

The Internet is democratizing commerce by turning economic models that were based on a strict separation between providers and consumers into models where this distinction is increasingly blurred. This implies significant opportunities and challenges for organizations, particularly with respect to the role that their customers play in the generation of economic value. Are customers partners or competitors? While firms typically strive to implement business models that leverage the customers as a resource (i.e., customer co-production), models in which customers are competitors (i.e., peer production) are frequently met with attempts to co-opt these customers (i.e., hybrid co-production). The purpose of this panel, presented at the 2006 International Conference on Information Systems, is to explore the range of Internet-enabled co-production models (i.e., customer and hybrid co-production) and the opportunities and challenges that they present for firms

Modelling information flow for organisations delivering microsystems technology

Motivated by recent growth and applications of microsystems technology (MST), companies within the MST domain are beginning to explore avenues for understanding, maintaining and improving information flow, within their organisations and to/from customers, with a view to enhancing delivery performance. Delivery for organisations is the flow of goods from sellers to buyers and a classic approach to understanding information flow is via the use of modelling techniques. Cont/d

Development and Characterization of Antimicrobial Food Coatings Based on Chitosan and Essential Oils

The objectives of this research were (1) to evaluate antimicrobial effects of essential oils incorporated in chitosan edible films against Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli O157:H7, (2) to evaluate effectiveness of the films on a meat product, (3) to characterize physical properties of chitosan films enriched with essential oils, and (4) to determine whether the addition of oregano essential oil to bologna can influence consumer liking of the product. Anise, basil, coriander, and oregano essential oils were tested for antimicrobial activity by paper disc diffusion test with concentration of 1 to 24 ml/disc. Chitosan films incorporated with those essential oils with concentration of 1 to 3 % (3 to 9 ml/disc) were tested for antimicrobial property by film disc diffusion test. Oregano essential oil – chitosan films were applied on thick bologna slices to determine antimicrobial efficacy on a real food product. Solvent extraction and GC/MS analysis were performed to identify and quantify the dominant compounds in oregano essential oil incorporated into the chitosan films before and after application on bologna. Physico–chemical properties of oregano essential oil enriched chitosan films were characterized for thickness, water vapor permeability (WVP), puncture strength, tensile strength, and elongation. The influence of additional oregano EO (45 ppm and 90 ppm) to bologna slices on consumer liking was tested with computerized hedonic scales and just about right scale. Results showed that oregano essential oil exhibited the strongest antimicrobial activity towards L. monocytogenes and E. coli O157:H7 compared to other tested essential oils (oregano \u3e\u3e coriander \u3e basil \u3e anise). Although both tested pathogens were affected, Listeria monocytogenes appeared to be more sensitive to oregano essential oil than Escherichia coli O157:H7. Application of pure chitosan films reduced pathogen counts on meat product (bologna) from 1 to 3 logs and chitosan films enriched with 1 and 2 % oregano essential oil were sufficient for 4 logs reduction of L. monocytogenes and E. coli O157:H7 on bologna slices stored at 10 °C for 5 days. Results of physico–chemical tests showed that addition of oregano essential oil to chitosan films resulted in increased thickness, higher elasticity, reduced puncture and tensile strength, and lower WVP. Application of the films on bologna resulted in increased thickness, higher WVP, higher elasticity, and reduced puncture and tensile strength of the films. Bologna slices covered with chitosan films with 1 % oregano essential oil and stored 5 days at 10 oC absorbed 60 ppm of the EO. Addition of 45 ppm oregano EO did not affect the consuming liking of the product compared to control

Industrial Applications: New Solutions for the New Era

This book reprints articles from the Special Issue "Industrial Applications: New Solutions for the New Age" published online in the open-access journal Machines (ISSN 2075-1702). This book consists of twelve published articles. This special edition belongs to the "Mechatronic and Intelligent Machines" section

The CHEMARTS cookbook

How can we make flexible and transparent wood-based materials? What kinds of materials can we derive from trees, while still respecting the preciousness of nature? Could the innovative use of renewable cellulosic materials change our material world? The CHEMARTS Cookbook gives both simple and more advanced ideas and recipes for hands-on experiments with wood-based materials. The book showcases the most interesting explorations focusing on raw materials that are processed either chemically or mechanically from trees or other plants: cellulose fibres, micro- or nano-structured fibrils, cellulose derivatives, lignin, bark and wood extractives. Get inspired, test our recipes either at workshops or chemistry labs, and develop your own experiments

TRACKING AND TRACING PORTAL FOR PROJECT LOGISTICS. A Review on the Interconnectivity of EDI, ERP and Cloud-based Systems

Tracking and tracing is becoming an essential factor for the success of project logistics. The safety and on-time arrival of shipments has become the primary concerns for manufacturing companies. The paper has introduced an overall approach to track and trace their deliveries from the starting point to the end-customer. Detail implementation of the whole solution will not be presented, yet each component in the system will be analyzed and discussed. Electronic Data Exchange (EDI) has been around for the last 30 years and is known for providing logistics companies a fast, reliable way to exchange information electronically. EDI, together with Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), are considered as one of the remarkable emerging technologies which play an important role in supply chain management tracking network. Although the implementation of EDI and ERP systems is not straight forward and not easy to established, many logistics companies are still seeing this as a vital factor which can help companies to establish a sustainable development, increase productivity and reduce costs. In this paper, the interconnectivity of EDI, ERP, and cloud-based systems in tracking and tracing portal will be analyzed in business perspective in order to define what benefits it could achieve for logistics and supply chain management tracking network. A case study of Logistics Tracking Network (LogTrack) project is presented and examined with the view to implement, evaluate and manage the interconnectivity of EDI, ERP, and cloud-based systems in a practical point of view. Information collected from this research project will be analyzed to provide a list of mapping attributes between these systems and used as a basic for the further development of tracking and tracing portal. The impacts and implications of such system for managing the business logistics are discussed and presented in conclusion.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format