An assembly oriented design framework for product structure engineering and assembly sequence planning

The paper describes a novel framework for an assembly-oriented design (AOD) approach as a new functional product lifecycle management (PLM) strategy, by considering product design and assembly sequence planning phases concurrently. Integration issues of product life cycle into the product development process have received much attention over the last two decades, especially at the detailed design stage. The main objective of the research is to define assembly sequence into preliminary design stages by introducing and applying assembly process knowledge in order to provide an assembly context knowledge to support life-oriented product development process, particularly for product structuring. The proposed framework highlights a novel algorithm based on a mathematical model integrating boundary conditions related to DFA rules, engineering decisions for assembly sequence and the product structure definition. This framework has been implemented in a new system called PEGASUS considered as an AOD module for a PLM system. A case study of applying the framework to a catalytic-converter and diesel particulate filter sub-system, belonging to an exhaust system from an industrial automotive supplier, is introduced to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed AOD methodology

Requirements and Tools for Variability Management

Explicit and software-supported Business Process Management has become the core infrastructure of any medium and large organization that has a need to be efficient and effective. The number of processes of a single organization can be very high, furthermore, they might be very similar, be in need of momentary change, or evolve frequently. If the ad-hoc adaptation and customization of processes is currently the dominant way, it clearly is not the best. In fact, providing tools for supporting the explicit management of variation in processes (due to customization or evolution needs) has a profound impact on the overall life-cycle of processes in organizations. Additionally, with the increasing adoption of Service-Oriented Architectures, the infrastructure to support automatic reconfiguration and adaptation of business process is solid. In this paper, after defining variability in business process management, we consider the requirements for explicit variation handling for (service based) business process systems. eGovernment serves as an illustrative example of reuse. In this case study, all local municipalities need to implement the same general legal process while adapting it to the local business practices and IT infrastructure needs. Finally, an evaluation of existing tools for explicit variability management is provided with respect to the requirements identified.

EU Ecolabel for food and feed products – feasibility study

The environmental impacts of the production and processing of food, feed and drinks make up between 20% and 30% of the total environmental impacts of consumable goods in the EU. In the case of eutrophication (the accumulation of nutrients in water causing a reduction in oxygen availability) they account for as much as 58% of the total impacts. The EU Ecolabel is a voluntary scheme that forms part of overall EU policy to encourage more sustainable consumption and production. To date, the EU Ecolabel scheme has developed criteria for products in the non-food sector. The Regulation that governs the scheme (66/2010) aims to extend the EU Ecolabel into new product categories including food. However, the Regulation stipulates that before extending to the food sector, a feasibility study should be undertaken

The suitability of MSP for engineering infrastructure

This paper arose from empirical investigations of practitioner views of both governance and program definitions together with investigations of practitioner reference documents. These investigations indicated that some confusion had arisen in infrastructure project management as a result of approaches used in IT. This paper contributes to the literature evaluating project standards and methodologies by conducting an examination of the suitability of one such source (MSP) for use in engineering infrastructure program management. A deductive definitional approach is taken to identify features that could cause difficulty. Eight features were examined, and six were found to have difficulty in application to engineering infrastructure. The remaining two were found to be terminology differences that are unlikely to cause too much difficulty. The features causing difficulty include an inappropriate definition of a program, use of a non-generic process flow unsuitable for rolling programs, confusion of transformation projects with programs, the presumption of a board governance model, and confusion of large projects with programs. The paper concludes that MSP is quite poorly suited to managing rolling programs, whether they are in engineering infrastructure or IT. Various changes to MSP and PMI publications are recommended

The suitability of PRINCE2 for engineering infrastructure

The view that PRINCE2 was not suitable for application to infrastructure was identified in a study done for a separate purpose, namely, to examine project governance and methodology, which is not reported in this paper. It was asserted by several participants in interviews conducted with a sample of experienced practitioners across a range of industries and disciplines. This paper follows up on those comments by conducting an examination of PRINCE2 from an engineering infrastructure perspective to investigate the validity of this assertion. It takes a deductive, definitional approach to determine if there are any features in it that would cause difficulty for engineering infrastructure use. Seventeen features were examined, and 15 were found to have difficulty in application to the project management of engineering infrastructure. The remaining two found inconsistencies that were unlikely to cause too much difficulty. The features causing difficulty include non-generic terminology for the terms project, lifecycle and stage, using a product rather than a project-based process, use of an iterative product delivery process unsuited to predictive projects, use of a delivery process for all project phases, assumption of a board governance model with inappropriate accountabilities, lack of clarity around the use of the project plan, and absence of a lifecycle appropriate for engineering infrastructure, with PRINCE2 effectively self-declaring its need for a higher-level project lifecycle/ methodology from somewhere else. The paper concludes that PRINCE2 is quite poorly suited to managing engineering infrastructure projects and identifies that some of the reasons for this are likely to also cause difficulty for many ICT projects as well

Enterprise modelling : building a product lifecycle (PLM) model as a component of the integrated vision of the enterprise

Enterprise modelling has proved to be an efficient tool to study organisations structure and facilitate decision making. The enterprise is a complex system that is required to use its processes to generate value in a given environment (concurrent, market, suppliers and humanity). We focus on three management disciplines: Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). These business processes are so intertwined that the enterprise has to concentrate on the three to attain its economic objectives. To enhance the development of PLM, SCM and CRM models, the enterprise needs to capitalise the knowledge necessary to adapt and apply modelling techniques. Knowledge Management (KM) is a key factor to give a unified enterprise vision. Firstly, we propose an integrated enterprise model depicting the interactions between PLM, SCM, CRM and KM models. But a state of the art showed that PLM models are scarce. Most of the PLM models found depends strongly on the particular case studied and can not be used with other enterprises. After defining the most important components of the PLM vision, we propose to organise these components into a formalised way. The study of SCM and CRM models proved to be helpful to structure these components. Finally the validation methodology that is to be established in our coming research works is not only to be used with the PLM model presented in this paper but with SCM and CRM models also.Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Enterprise modelling, Enterprise systems

Data in Business Process Models. A Preliminary Empirical Study

Traditional activity-centric process modeling languages treat data as simple black boxes acting as input or output for activities. Many alternate and emerging process modeling paradigms, such as case handling and artifact-centric process modeling, give data a more central role. This is achieved by introducing lifecycles and states for data objects, which is beneficial when modeling data-or knowledge-intensive processes. We assume that traditional activity-centric process modeling languages lack the capabilities to adequately capture the complexity of such processes. To verify this assumption we conducted an online interview among BPM experts. The results not only allow us to identify various profiles of persons modeling business processes, but also the problems that exist in contemporary modeling languages w.r.t. The modeling of business data. Overall, this preliminary empirical study confirms the necessity of data-awareness in process modeling notations in general

What is Product-Service Systems (PSS)? A Review on PSS Researches and Relevant Policies

In order to achieve sustainable society, it is necessary to transform industrial structure to the one that does not reduce the Earth's resources. Under this circumstance, a business model of "not selling goods, but selling services" has been expected as a measure of co-existence of business and the environment. This idea, which is called as "Product-Service Systems: PSS" or "Servicizing" etc., has been studied in Europe, the United States and international organisations, and is now studied in Japan. However, the idea of PSS is still not effectively used for policy development.One of the major reasons is that PSS concept itself is under-developed. Under the unclear concept of PSS, researchers are working towards more scientific understanding while policy makers are trying to develop new policy measures, and there is confusion in those communities. In order to develop policy measures, it is necessary to make clear the position of PSS in socio-economic system. This paper overviews previous PSS researches and relevant policy measures conducted in Japan, the US and EU, and tries to grasp the context of researches and policy activities and to find out the agenda of the current status. The characteristics of PSS rest on the innovative relationship between producer and consumer. However, PSS researches are stuck at measurement of environmental loads, and relevant policies tend to be rest on the ones targeting producers. In order to get out of this situation, it is necessary to ask question what is PSS and to make it clear where PSS can be positioned in socio-economic system. PSS is important, because PSS has an element of creating sufficiency as well as eco-efficiency. It is recommended that PSS concept needs to be examined as a research effort, and environmentally sound product policy needs to be systematically organised

Greening information management: final report

As the recent JISC report on ‘the ‘greening’ of ICT in education [1] highlights, the increasing reliance on ICT to underpin the business functions of higher education institutions has a heavy environmental impact, due mainly to the consumption of electricity to run computers and to cool data centres. While work is already under way to investigate how more energy efficient ICT can be introduced, to date there has been much less focus on the potential environmental benefits to be accrued from reducing the demand ‘at source’ through better data and information management. JISC thus commissioned the University of Strathclyde to undertake a study to gather evidence that establishes the efficacy of using information management options as components of Green ICT strategies within UK Higher Education environments, and to highlight existing practices which have the potential for wider replication