Business Process Innovation using the Process Innovation Laboratory

Most organizations today are required not only to establish effective business processes but they are required to accommodate for changing business conditions at an increasing rate. Many business processes extend beyond the boundary of the enterprise into the supply chain and the information infrastructure therefore is critical. Today nearly every business relies on their Enterprise System (ES) for process integration and the future generations of enterprise systems will increasingly be driven by business process models. Consequently process modeling and improvement will become vital for business process innovation (BPI) in future organizations. There is a significant body of knowledge on various aspect of process innovation, e.g. on conceptual modeling, business processes, supply chains and enterprise systems. Still an overall comprehensive and consistent theoretical framework with guidelines for practical applications has not been identified. The aim of this paper is to establish a conceptual framework for business process innovation in the supply chain based on advanced enterprise systems. The main approach to business process innovation in this context is to create a new methodology for exploring process models and patterns of applications. The paper thus presents a new concept for business process innovation called the process innovation laboratory a.k.a. the Ð-Lab. The Ð-Lab is a comprehensive framework for BPI using advanced enterprise systems. The Ð-Lab is a collaborative workspace for experimenting with process models and an explorative approach to study integrated modeling in a controlled environment. The Ð-Lab facilitates innovation by using an integrated action learning approach to process modeling including contemporary technological, organizational and business perspectivesNo; keywords

Benchmarking performance management systems

The Balanced Scorecard and associated performance management approaches, has become a widely practiced and popular management reporting method in recent times. Moreover, enabling technology, which assists in the delivery and personalisation of corporate performance information, is having a deeper and more rapid impact than ever before. This paper presents a brief comparative benchmarking study of leading enterprise performance management systems. Also, the author discusses the merits of bespoke internet technology development and out-of-the-box portal functionalities. An analysis of key business drivers and implementation risks of such approaches is highlighted via a case study example, and concludes the paper

ERP systems facilitating XBRL reporting and regulatory compliance

Today, the global economic environment requires that information is readily available across the supply chain (SC) and value chain and that the information is available in a costeffective manner. The information must be accurate, credible, timely, cost-efficient, reliable, traceable, pertinent, and possess data transparency. The information must be available to members within a particular organization, its vendors and customers, and outside governmental and regulatory agencies. All associated stakeholders and stockholders are entitled to the availability of trustworthy financial information to aid them in decision making, therefore, the controls regarding the data are critical for the compilation of the data. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reviews the financial report data a company submits on a yearly basis and this aids in the validity and credibility of the data, so that the ultimate end-user, who is the stockholder has the afforded protection from deception which is mandated and provided by the government

Supplier Data Analysis and Utilization in Supply Chain Management : Case ABB Smart Power

This thesis' subject is utilizing supplier data analysis for supply chain management at ABB Smart Power. The research problem is the lack of information on the supply chain. Suppliers and materials are divided into three categories based on their relationship to the supply chain. The main information to be learned from this data is material consumption, material spend, material volume, and movement of materials in the supplier network. The Purpose of this thesis is to build a supply data analysis system to calculate and visualize this information for the supply chain management team. This thesis excludes electronic components due to their volatility in the market. In addition, machine learning algorithm k-nearest neighbours is tested for material price forecasting. The thesis focuses on the research question “how can the program Power BI be used for gathering, analysing, and utilizing the supplier data”. The solution proposed is to automate supplier data extraction from SAP ERP utilizing Microsoft Excel with VBA-programming and utilize Microsoft Power BI for data analysis, visualization, and machine learning to provide the information required to solve the research problem. The Development process for the solution to the research problem can be divided into four parts which are data extraction, data analysis, visualization and utilization, and machine learning. This solution is built through multiple prototypes and developed based on theory, testing, and feedback. The end product is released to Power BI Service ABB workspace for use. The thesis is divided into seven chapters according to the constructive research process steps. The first three chapters focus on the background, research question, theory, and technologies utilized in the thesis. The fourth chapter focuses on the research approach and process. The fifth chapter focuses on the solution construct’s development process and the sixth chapter on the results of this solution. The final chapter focuses on the conclusions, discussion, and future development of this research. The development and results of this thesis conclude that the combination of Microsoft Excel with VBA-programming and Microsoft Power BI for data analysis presents an efficient method for gathering, analysing, and utilizing supplier data. Through the data analysis capabilities of Power BI, the data can be analysed, calculated, and visualized efficiently. The Machine learning implementation is possible for Power BI, however utilizing DAX-programming caused technical problems which could not be solved during the thesis.Tämän tutkielman aiheena on toimittajadatan käyttö ja analysointi toimitusketjun hallinnassa ABB Smart Powerilla. Tutkimusongelma on toimittajatiedon puute toimitusketjussa. Toimittajat ja materiaalit on jaettu kolmeen kategoriaan perustuen toimitusketju suhteisiin. Tärkeimmät hyödynnettävät tiedot tästä datasta ovat materiaalien kulutus, materiaalikulut, materiaalimäärät ja materiaalien liikkuminen toimittajaverkostossa. Tämän tutkielman päämääränä on rakentaa järjestelmä toimittajadatan analysoimiseen, laskemiseen sekä visualisointiin toimitusketjun hallintatiimille. Tutkielma poissulkee elektroniset komponentit, johtuen niiden markkinoiden epävakaudesta. Lisäksi koneoppimisalgoritmi k-nearest neighboursia testataan materiaalien hintojen ennustamiseen. Tutkielma keskittyy tutkimuskysymykseen “Kuinka Power BI ohjelmaa voidaan hyödyntää toimittajadatan keräämiseen, analysointiin ja käyttöön”. Ehdotettu ratkaisu on automatisoida toimittajadatan keräys käyttämällä Microsoftin Excel-ohjelmaa VBA-ohjelmoinnin kanssa ja käyttää Microsoft Power BI:tä datan analysointiin, visualisointiin sekä koneoppimiseen tarvittavan informaation saamiseen tutkimuskysymyksen ratkaisemiseksi. Ratkaisun kehitysprosessi voidaan jakaa neljään osaan, jotka ovat datan keräys, data-analyysi, visualisointi ja koneoppiminen. Ratkaisu rakennetaan prototyyppien kautta, jotka kehittyvät teorian, testauksen ja palautteen perusteella. Lopputuote julkaistaan Power BI Servicessa ABB:n workspacessa. Tutkielma on jaettu seitsemään osaan konstruktiivisen tutkimuksen vaiheiden mukaisesti. Ensimmäiset kolme kappaletta keskittyvät taustatietoihin, tutkimuskysymykseen, teoriaan sekä käytettyihin teknologioihin. Neljäs kappale keskittyy tutkimuksen lähestymistapaan sekä prosessiin. Viides kappale keskittyy ratkaisun konstruktion kehitysprosessiin ja kuudes kappale keskittyy tämän ratkaisun tuloksiin. Viimeinen kappale keskittyy lopputuloksiin, pohdintaan sekä kehitykseen. Tutkielman kehityksen ja tuloksien perusteella VBA-ohjelmoinnin käyttö Microsoft Excel ohjelmoinnilla yhdistettynä Power BI:n data analyysin kanssa tuottaa tehokkaan metodin toimittajadatan keräämiseen, analysointiin sekä käyttöön. Power BI:n data-analyysiominaisuuksien avulla data voidaan tehokkaasti analysoida, laskea ja visualisoida. DAX-ohjelmoinnin hyödyntäminen koneoppimisessa aiheutti toisaalta teknisiä ongelmia, joita ei pystytty ratkaisemaan tässä tutkielmassa

A Study Of Data Informatics: Data Analysis And Knowledge Discovery Via A Novel Data Mining Algorithm

Frequent pattern mining (fpm) has become extremely popular among data mining researchers because it provides interesting and valuable patterns from large datasets. The decreasing cost of storage devices and the increasing availability of processing power make it possible for researchers to build and analyze gigantic datasets in various scientific and business domains. A filtering process is needed, however, to generate patterns that are relevant. This dissertation contributes to addressing this need. An experimental system named fpmies (frequent pattern mining information extraction system) was built to extract information from electronic documents automatically. Collocation analysis was used to analyze the relationship of words. Template mining was used to build the experimental system which is the foundation of fpmies. With the rising need for improved environmental performance, a dataset based on green supply chain practices of three companies was used to test fpmies. The new system was also tested by users resulting in a recall of 83.4%. The new algorithm\u27s combination of semantic relationships with template mining significantly improves the recall of fpmies. The study\u27s results also show that fpmies is much more efficient than manually trying to extract information. Finally, the performance of the fpmies system was compared with the most popular fpm algorithm, apriori, yielding a significantly improved recall and precision for fpmies (76.7% and 74.6% respectively) compared to that of apriori (30% recall and 24.6% precision)

Maple Syrup Value Systems and Value Chains - Considering Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal Perspectives

Harvested from both intensive sugar maple stands and diverse mixed forest ecosystems across Ontario, maple syrup is an important rural and Aboriginal non-timber forest product that contributes to social, economic and environmental sustainability. This paper presents our ongoing work to map Ontario’s maple syrup value system from two different perspectives, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal. In the economic sense, analyses of value systems are useful for members to identify the opportunities and challenges they are facing to advance industry growth and innovation. In the social and environmental sense, these analyses provide a window into how different worldviews and belief systems can lead to more effective and sustainable maple production. A value system is the inter-connected network of firms and activities that comprise an industry from the supplier to the consumer that is focused on quality and efficiency rather than costs. In this project, we pushed the boundaries of the traditional business approach, to incorporate sustainable development thinking and re-imagine the mapping according to Aboriginal ways of knowing. We undertook thirty four interviews representing Aboriginal and rural industry members and other key informants. We compare and contrast the rural and Aboriginal models of the value systems and conclude by providing insights useful for community forestry operations

Improving Material Utilisation in E2E Upstream Supply Chain Operations: A Multiple Case Study

The increasing cost of manufacturing and the constant need for organisations to remain competitive and profitable is garnering unprecedented attention of supply chain practitioners and academia. Several approaches are being employed in minimising raw material losses within supply chain networks. The study of effective utilisation of raw materials are therefore of great importance to manufacturing organisations seeking to increase the efficiency of their operations while reducing material related losses. By improving the utilisation of raw material, huge cost savings is achievable within the supply chain operations that are focused on the radical reduction of raw material wastes during its transportation and transformation processes. This study makes uses a multiple case approach to investigate MU in the upstream supply chain operations, and utilises a mixed research method to explore the process approaches utilised by the case organisations in minimising MU losses and improving their manufacturing system.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

Vertical Integration of Business News from the Internet within the Scope of Strategic Enterprise Management (SAP SEM)

In order to improve decision support through knowledge management it is becoming increasingly important to link Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems with data warehouses, business intelligence and knowledge management applications. In the context of efficient definition and execution of strategies it is furthermore a key issue to combine internal and external as well as quantitative and qualitative information. The Internet is already one of the most important media for accessing external data and it might continue to grow in significance. In the research project MINT (Management Information from the INTernet) supported by SAP AG and the Bavarian Research Center for Knowledge-based Systems the prototype of an Editorial Workbench has been developed. This system helps to manage knowledge spread in internal and external sources in order to distribute the right information to the responsible manager in time. SAP decided to use the prototype for the development of their new product Strategic Enterprise Management (SEM)TM

Information Technology Platforms: Definition and Research Directions

The concept of an information technology (IT) related platform is broad and covers phenomena ranging from the operating system Linux to the Internet. Such platforms are of increasing importance to innovation and value creation across many facets of industry and daily life. There is, however, a lack of common understanding in both research and industry about what is mean by the term platform when related to IT. This lack of consensus is detrimental to research and knowledge development. Thus, the aims of this study are to: (i) provide a sound definition of the IT-platform concept by identifying its distinguishing dimensions; and (ii) identify important current research directions for the IT-platform concept. To achieve these aims a systematic literature review was undertaken with 133 relevant articles taken from major information systems journals, conferences, and business publications. The study contributes by providing a sound base for future research into IT-platforms.Comment: Research-in-progress ISBN# 978-0-646-95337-3 Presented at the Australasian Conference on Information Systems 2015 (arXiv:1605.01032

Integration of e-business strategy for multi-lifecycle production systems

Internet use has grown exponentially on the last few years becoming a global communication and business resource. Internet-based business, or e-Business will truly affect every sector of the economy in ways that today we can only imagine. The manufacturing sector will be at the forefront of this change. This doctoral dissertation provides a scientific framework and a set of novel decision support tools for evaluating, modeling, and optimizing the overall performance of e-Business integrated multi-lifecycle production systems. The characteristics of this framework include environmental lifecycle study, environmental performance metrics, hyper-network model of integrated e-supply chain networks, fuzzy multi-objective optimization method, discrete-event simulation approach, and scalable enterprise environmental management system design. The dissertation research reveals that integration of e-Business strategy into production systems can alter current industry practices along a pathway towards sustainability, enhancing resource productivity, improving cost efficiencies and reducing lifecycle environmental impacts. The following research challenges and scholarly accomplishments have been addressed in this dissertation: Identification and analysis of environmental impacts of e-Business. A pioneering environmental lifecycle study on the impact of e-Business is conducted, and fuzzy decision theory is further applied to evaluate e-Business scenarios in order to overcome data uncertainty and information gaps; Understanding, evaluation, and development of environmental performance metrics. Major environmental performance metrics are compared and evaluated. A universal target-based performance metric, developed jointly with a team of industry and university researchers, is evaluated, implemented, and utilized in the methodology framework; Generic framework of integrated e-supply chain network. The framework is based on the most recent research on large complex supply chain network model, but extended to integrate demanufacturers, recyclers, and resellers as supply chain partners. Moreover, The e-Business information network is modeled as a overlaid hypernetwork layer for the supply chain; Fuzzy multi-objective optimization theory and discrete-event simulation methods. The solution methods deal with overall system parameter trade-offs, partner selections, and sustainable decision-making; Architecture design for scalable enterprise environmental management system. This novel system is designed and deployed using knowledge-based ontology theory, and XML techniques within an agent-based structure. The implementation model and system prototype are also provided. The new methodology and framework have the potential of being widely used in system analysis, design and implementation of e-Business enabled engineering systems