OLEDs AND E-PAPER. Disruptive Potential for the European Display Industry

DG ENTR and JRC/IPTS of the European Commission have launched a series of studies to analyse prospects of success for European ICT industries with respect to emerging technologies. This report concerns display technologies (Organic Light Emitting Diodes and Electronic Paper - or OLEDs and e-paper for short). It assesses whether these technologies could be disruptive, and how well placed EU firms would be to take advantage of this disruption In general, displays are an increasingly important segment of the ICT sector. Since the 1990s and following the introduction of flat panel displays (FPDs), the global display industry has grown dramatically. The market is now (2009) worth about ¿ 100 billion. Geo-politically, the industry is dominated by Asian suppliers, with European companies relegated to a few vertical niches and parts of the value chain (e.g. research, supply of material and equipment). However, a number of new technologies are entering the market, e.g. OLEDs and electronic paper. Such emerging technologies may provide an opportunity for European enterprises to (re-)enter or strengthen their competitive position. OLEDs are composed of polymers that emit light when a current is passed through them. E-paper, on the other hand, is a portable, reusable storage and display medium, typically thin and flexible. Both OLEDs and e-paper have the potential to disrupt the existing displays market, but it is still too soon to say with certainty whether this will occur and when. Success for OLEDs depends on two key technical advances: first, the operating lifetime, and second, the production process. E-paper has a highly disruptive potential since it opens the door to new applications, largely text-based, not just in ICTs but also in consumer goods, pictures and advertising that could use its key properties. It could also displace display technologies that offer text-reading functions in ICT terminals such as tablet notebooks. There are three discrete segments in the OLED value chain where any discontinuity could offer EU firms the opportunity to play a more significant part in the displays sector: (1) original R&D and IPR for devices and for the manufacturing process and material supply/verification; (2) bulk materials for manufacture and glass; and (3) process equipment:. For the e-paper value chain, we can see that the entry of EU suppliers is perhaps possible across more value chain segments than for OLEDs. Apart from the ones mentioned for OLEDs, there are opportunities to enter into complete devices and content provision. In terms of vertical segments, the point of entry in OLED FPDs for Europe is most likely to be in the mass production of smaller FPDs for mobile handsets. In conclusion, OLEDs and e-paper have the potential to disrupt current displays market and in so doing they may enable EU companies to enter at selected points in the value chain to compete with the Asian ICT industry.JRC.J.4-Information Societ

Speed of entry as a new competitive asset in late-industrialization

Thesis (Ph. D. in Technology Economics and Policy)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2008.Includes bibliographical references (p. 125-144).The object of this dissertation is to gain an understanding of the speed of entry into high-tech industries by "latecomers," private and national firms from late-industrializing countries. While entry is traditionally measured with R&D performance, we have approached it from the perspective of skill formation. Accordingly, we have investigated how some latecomers have quickly learned new skills and connected their existing technical knowledge with a new stock of knowledge, defining the speedy (latecomer) entrant as the first latecomer (for an initial entry) and the first-to-market (for subsequent entries), respectively. Specifically, we have conceptualized that a fast entry requires a continuous search for new markets and adaptation to a new environment. In this regard, the speed of entry into the high-tech industries, based on the experience in the mid-tech industries, indicates of dynamic capability and, accordingly, becomes a competitive asset in the context of late-industrializing countries. Theories in economics, management, or geography, which our hypotheses for speed of entry are drawn from, have explained factors or mechanism that enable a firm to perform better. We have first examined how literature envisages the effects of business groups, a form of firms prevalent particularly in late-industrializing countries, in association with speed of entry. However, relevant theories tend to compete and the overall theoretical predictions are not clear. Second, we have further reviewed literature in technology management and expected integration to occur both externally and internally when entry is executed. Third, given that the relevant theories highlight geographic proximity for generating externalities, we have suggested different measurements of geographic proximity for international learning, a distance from the headquarters of the partner firm and an international joint venture.(cont.) Based on the literature review, we have postulated that business groups, integration capability, and geographic proximity are significantly associated with the speed of entry by latecomers and have constructed three hypotheses: H1. Speed of entry by latecomers is related to business groups; H2. Speed of entry by latecomers is related to integration capability; and H3. Speed of entry by latecomers is moderated by the relationship between their integration capability and geographic proximity. In order to test these hypotheses, we have adopted two methodologies, which are case study and regression analysis. Next, we have selected the thin film transistor liquid crystal diode (TFT-LCD) and wireless handsets industries. The TFT-LCD and wireless handset industries tend to have complementary features: TFT-LCD has a relatively short history compared to other electronics industries and is capital-intensive. In contrast, the wireless handsets are consumer goods and connected with the telecommunication service industry. Reviewing the histories of both industries, we have identified latecomer entrants and have subsequently collected their data by accessing available archives and interviewing managers and engineers. From the case studies, we have found in the fast latecomers several interesting points regarding entry dynamics: first, the owners of these latecomers continuously tried to upgrade their industrial technologies into more sophisticated ones by closely benchmarking the Japanese firms. Second, the fast latecomers mobilized managerial know-how from their firms and properly redeployed it to the necessary posts. Third, while managerial knowledge was possible to acquire within a firm, technical knowledge had to be externally supplied; but acquisition of the updated technical knowledge was extremely difficult. Fourth, due to the difficulties, latecomers accessed whatever sources they could and used whatever channels were available.(cont.) Therefore, no single path to acquiring the necessary knowledge was dominant. Unique aspects in skill formation and knowledge acquisition by latecomers have also been observed: while acquiring technical knowledge from outside sources, both the first latecomer and the first-to-market successfully relocated their skills from prior industries to the new ones quickly, for example, from semiconductor manufacturing to TFT-LCD or from beeper/car phone/cordless phone manufacturing to wireless handsets. Finally, in the TFT-LCD industry, the first latecomer and the first-to-market took advantage of business cycles and aggressively increased capital investment during downturns. In the wireless handset industry, these latecomers, associated with the government research institute, developed an alternative communication technology and quickly mass-produced it. However, not all counter-cycle investment strategies by latecomers in the TFT-LCD industry succeeded. Similarly, not all governmental efforts to incubate technologies were successful. Based on findings from case studies, we have also empirically tested our hypotheses. A brief summary of our regression analysis is that our first hypothesis is partially supported. The factors related to business groups are not necessarily significantly related to becoming the first latecomer or to making subsequent entries (the first-to-market performance) fast. In contrast, our second hypothesis is supported. The result indicates that the first latecomer performance and the first-to-market performance require different types of integration capability. Specifically, becoming the first latecomer is determined by efficiency in external learning, while the speed of subsequent product entries is driven primarily by internal efficiency.(cont.) We interpret that the relative weight of external learning may decrease over time, once a latecomer has entered. Finally, our third hypothesis is partially supported. Geographic proximity to the headquarters of the partner firm increases speed of entry, perhaps by facilitating communication and diffusing best practices, but international joint venture between a latecomer and a leading incumbent firm does not necessarily enhance integration with sources and does not expedite speed of entry.by Jooyoung Kwak.Ph.D.in Technology Economics and Polic

A review of discrete-time optimization models for tactical production planning

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published in International Journal of Production Research on 27 Mar 2014, available online: http://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2014.899721[EN] This study presents a review of optimization models for tactical production planning. The objective of this research is to identify streams and future research directions in this field based on the different classification criteria proposed. The major findings indicate that: (1) the most popular production-planning area is master production scheduling with a big-bucket time-type period; (2) most of the considered limited resources correspond to productive resources and, to a lesser extent, to inventory capacities; (3) the consideration of backlogs, set-up times, parallel machines, overtime capacities and network-type multisite configuration stand out in terms of extensions; (4) the most widely used modelling approach is linear/integer/mixed integer linear programming solved with exact algorithms, such as branch-and-bound, in commercial MIP solvers; (5) CPLEX, C and its variants and Lindo/Lingo are the most popular development tools among solvers, programming languages and modelling languages, respectively; (6) most works perform numerical experiments with random created instances, while a small number of works were validated by real-world data from industrial firms, of which the most popular are sawmills, wood and furniture, automobile and semiconductors and electronic devices.This study has been funded by the Universitat Politècnica de València projects: ‘Material Requirement Planning Fourth Generation (MRPIV)’ (Ref. PAID-05-12) and ‘Quantitative Models for the Design of Socially Responsible Supply Chains under Uncertainty Conditions. Application of Solution Strategies based on Hybrid Metaheuristics’ (PAID-06-12).Díaz-Madroñero Boluda, FM.; Mula, J.; Peidro Payá, D. (2014). A review of discrete-time optimization models for tactical production planning. International Journal of Production Research. 52(17):5171-5205. doi:10.1080/00207543.2014.899721S51715205521

Dispersed concentration of high-tech jobs in the new economy : the paradox of new information and communication technologies

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2006.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-103).More high-tech firms are conducting their business over long distances due to the use of new information and communication technologies (ICT). However, regional scientists articulate that geographic proximity is still important, at least, to the high-tech industry and the knowledge-related business activities. My research offers a ground work for understanding the paradox - more dispersed high-tech business practices and higher geographic concentration of high-tech jobs in the new economy than before. Drawing from diverse regional and economic literatures, I suggest a paradox of new information communication technology regarding the location pattern of high knowledge-generating jobs. From this perspective, I found a dispersed concentration pattern of high knowledge-generating jobs due to less transitory tacit knowledge than codified knowledge and implicit communication; and business organization change. Both my longitudinal empirical analysis and interviews suggest that the jobs in the high knowledge-generating production industries in the United States became further concentrated during the 1990s.(cont.) During the same period, the jobs in the high knowledge-generating customer-oriented industries dispersed. In the former industries, producers are the major knowledge generators, while in the latter industries, tacit knowledge is derived mostly from the interaction between firms and customers. In consequence, the jobs in the former industries tend to agglomerate with each other, but the jobs in the latter industries tend to disperse in order to be close to customers. Furthermore, five out of the six high-knowledge generating production industries show a "winner-takes-all" kind of spatial monopolization of jobs. For example, in the computer industry, the ratio of the job share of Silicon Valley, the top share holder, and the job share of the Boston metro area, the second highest job share holder, increased from 1.6 in 1990 to 2.9 in 2000. However, this finding fails to explain the phenomenon of R&D units of advanced multinational high-tech production firms locating in remote developing and middle-income countries.(cont.) To answer this puzzle, I identify their actual activities and compare multinational and local R&D operations in Korea. Interviews reveal that they are closer to being customer-relations intensive units, although the R&D units of the multinational firms in Korea are labeled "R&D." They are conduits of outreach to local customers, which conduct (1) the flexible customization of their products to meet local customers' demands and (2) customer management and marketing in the highly competitive global market.by Myounggu Kang.Ph.D

The Use of Intervention Approach in Individual and Aggregate Forecasting Methods for Burger Patties: A Case in Indonesia

The Indonesian beef consumption increases sharply during Ramadan and made a difference between supply and demand. The research aimed to study the demand pattern of burger patties and determine a suitable forecasting method compared between quantitative and intervention forecasting methods. The actual demand was intervened by experts based on reasons such as supply shortage, holidays, promotion, and government projects. The daily sales of burger patties were collected for a year. Then, the data were divided into training and testing data. Later, time-series forecasting was performed by software. Then, the best forecasting method for daily data was selected between Individual forecasting and Top-Down forecasting. Similarly, for weekly data, the best forecasting method was compared between aggregate forecasting and Bottom-Up forecasting. Then, repeat the process for the intervened sales data. The result revealed that the mean absolute percentage error was improved after intervention by about 3.64%-58.83%. The combination of quantitative and qualitative approaches improved forecast accuracy. In addition, the aggregate level or weekly sales forecast had higher forecast accuracy than the disaggregated level. The Bottom-Up forecast performs better than the aggregate forecast. Hence, we recommended the company plans based on weekly data and implement Every Low Price to reduce the demand fluctuation

Assessing the Relative Efficiency and Productivity Growth of the Taiwan LED Industry: DEA and Malmquist Indices Application

[[abstract]]With the rapid acceleration of global competition the need has arisen for a more systematic performance evaluation system. This research develops a two-stage performance evaluation system to help maximize performance evaluation success. The performance evaluation is an important approach for enterprises to give incentives and restraint to their operators. It is also an important channel for enterprise stakeholders to obtain performance information. This study analyzes the current evaluation system for the Taiwan LED industry. This research measures the performance of ten LED companies in Taiwan for the period 2003–2009. The proposed method is practical and useful. The evaluation model indicates that proposed method is more reasonable and easier to grasp than other methods. As a result, it is easier to popularize this evaluation method in enterprises. The proposed method presents a complete assessment model that helps managers identify items for improvement, while simultaneously promoting cost and time efficiencies in the LED industry.[[incitationindex]]SCI[[booktype]]紙