Classification in e-procurement

Three coupled knowledge transfer partnerships used pattern recognition techniques to produce an e-procurement system which, the National Audit Office reports, could save the National Health Service £500 m per annum. An extension to the system, GreenInsight, allows the environmental impact of procurements to be assessed and savings made. Both systems require suitable products to be discovered and equivalent products recognised, for which classification is a key component. This paper describes the innovative work done for product classification, feature selection and reducing the impact of mislabelled data

Using Fuzzy Neural Networks and Analytic Hierarchy Process for Supplier Classification in e-Procurement

Electronic procurement is frequently defined as the sourcing of goods or services via electronic means, usually through the internet. A major process in the e-procurement decision making is that of supplier selection process. In the real world, the criteria and constraints for such a process are subjective in nature. In this study, the criteria for supplier selection, which already have been established empirically, has been adopted and no new criteria for the same has been proposed. These criteria and constraints have been modeled using fuzzy logic into constraints, which further has been modeled as a multi-objective decision making process, by combining neural networks and analytic hierarchy process. Then the suppliers have been classified into suitable suppliers and unsuitable suppliers, from the viewpoint of the firm

The Singularity, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love AI

Professor Stephen Hawking recently warned about the growing power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to imbue robots with the ability to both replicate them- selves and to increase the rate at which they get smarter - leading to a tipping point or ‘technological singularity’ when they can outsmart humans. In this chapter I will argue that Hawking is essentially correct to flag up an existential danger surrounding widespread deployment of ‘autonomous machines’, but wrong to be so concerned about the singularity, wherein advances in AI effectively makes the human race redundant; in my world AI - with humans in the loop - may yet be a force for good

Investigating e-procurement barriers within six Saudi Arabian SMEs

Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Bedfordshire.This study aims to investigate factors affecting the adoption of e-procurement in Saudi Arabian SMEs. The study adopted the Gunasekaran and Ngai (2009) model as a theoretical framework and foundation for the research to investigate current status and readiness, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, perceived critical success factors and perceived future organisational performance. Through an extensive literature review and detailed data analysis, the study extended the model to incorporate perceived cultural and external factors that were found to be necessary for the adoption of e-procurement in Saudi Arabian SMEs. Through case studies and AHP analysis, the proposed model elements were validated and prioritised in the Saudi Arabian context. Three different methods were adopted for data collection. First, an exploratory study was conducted to understand the current status of e-procurement and provide an overview of the factors that affect the adoption of e-procurement using the Gunasekaran and Ngai (2009) model.Second, a detailed survey was conducted to find the relative importance of various factors related to each of the five elements of the Gunasekaran and Ngai (2009) model. Third, detailed interviews were conducted across four selected SMEs to gain an insight into the factors that affect the adoption of e-procurement. The results of the exploratory study were helpful in identifying perceived factors that affect the adoption of e-procurement. Detailed survey analysis using AHP validated the theoretical framework and the relevance of the factors of the Gunasekaran and Ngai (2009) model. However, some of the factors were found to be more important than in the Gunasekaran and Ngai (2009) model, while others were less important. Results of the qualitative study (interviews) found additional factors that were relevant to each of the five elements of the GN model. They further suggested that “Current e-procurement activities” was an additional factor in the “current status and readiness” element and “Increased transparency” was an additional factor in the “perceived benefits” element. Similarly, the analysis of the qualitative results found two additional factors in the “perceived barriers” element (i.e. absence of e-procurement specific laws and regulations and lack of trust in the electronic transfer of funds), three additional critical success factors (i.e. cost-benefit analysis of the solution, technical maturity of the marketplace and user-friendliness of the solution) and two additional factors in perceived future organisational performance (i.e. strategic alliance and networking and knowledge management and data warehousing). Further, analysis of the qualitative findings revealed two additional elements (i.e. perceived external and perceived cultural factors). The study thus suggests that organisational culture, cultural inertia and business culture of the country are three important cultural factors that are perceived to affect the adoption of e-procurement, while government support, having one’s own postal addresses and delivery services, providing secure and trustworthy online payment options, low cost and high speed internet connection, suppliers’ willingness and readiness, pressure from competitors, policy and regulations are the seven important perceived external factors that affect the adoption of e-procurement in Saudi Arabian SMEs. The results of the qualitative data analysis led to the development of an extended Gunasekaran and Ngai (2009) model to incorporate perceived culture and perceived external factors. The study has significant implications in terms of further e-procurement research for SMEs in Saudi Arabia and also its adoption in the developing world in general

Development of hybrid models in phase multiple- criteria for prioritization reliability environment suppliers mining systems

Pravilan izbor dobavljaĉa danas ima izuzetan znaĉaj za poslovanje i za sveukupni uspeh kompanije. Sa sve većim i intenzivnijim razvojem informacionih tehnologija, tj. uvoĊenjem popularnih programa, dolazi do konstantnog poboljšanja u domenu inţenjeringa, logistike i upravljanja proizvodnjom, što zahteva bolje i ĉvršće veze sa dobavljaĉima. Kao rezultat svega toga dolazi do smanjenja potrebnog vremena za nabavku (dobara, usluga ili radova), tj. izvesnijih isporuka taĉno na vreme i povećanja kvaliteta (dobara, usluga ili radova) u lancima snabdevanja proizvodnih sistema. U sluĉaju da je kompanija smanjila broj dobavljaĉa u svojoj bazi dobavljaĉa, a sa manjim brojem dobavljaĉa ispunjava dugoroĉnije ugovore, dolazi do smanjenje ţelje za promenom postojećih dobavljaĉa. Ovo je dodatni imperativ zašto je izbor pouzdanih dobavljaĉa izuzetno vaţna aktivnost u proizvodnim sistemima. Danas, eminentni dobavljaĉi ukljuĉuju mnogobrojne resurse kako bi ocenili performanse dobavljaĉa i njihove sposobnosti u razliĉitim sferama. Sam proces izbora dobavljaĉa je postao toliko znaĉajan da ekspertski timovi bivaju angaţovani za izvršenje ovih zadataka (ocenjivanje i rangiranje dobavljaĉa). Dakle, racionalna odluka o izboru dobavljaĉa moţe umanjiti ili ukloniti mnoge probleme u poslovanju kompanija. Cilj ove doktorske disertacije jeste da ukaţe i objasni mogućnosti unapreĊenja donošenja odluke o izboru poverljivog (pouzdanog) dobavljaĉa u proizvodnim sistemima. Izbor se vrši na osnovu unapred odreĊenih kriterijuma koje obiĉno definiše naruĉilac. Kada kod izbora pouzdanog dobavljaĉa postoji manji broj dobavljaĉa, izbor je jednostavan, jer su utvrĊeni kvantitativni kriterijumi koji se mogu meĊusobno uporeĊivati, ali u situacijama u kojima se nalazi veliki broj dobavljaĉa, kako danas, realan ţivot i praksa nameću, izbor najpoverljivijeg dobavljaĉa vrši se na osnovu kvalitativnih i kvantitativnih kriterijuma i metoda. U disertaciji je predstavljen sistem za podršku odluĉivanju zasnovan na konceptu višekriterijumskog odluĉivanja i teorije fazi skupova. Na osnovu definisanog originalnog integralnog AHP – PROMETHEE/GAIA – AHP –TOPSIS model u fazi okruţenju, kao i fazi set model sa MAX-MIN kompozicijom za prioritizaciju pouzdanosti dobavljaĉa – na bazi njihovih performansi i uĉinka, nakon sprovedenih metoda, došlo se do zakljuĉka da je dobavljaĉ D4,najbolje rangiran.Right choice of supplier have a huge impact on companys business results. Along with present trend in constant increase and growth in IT sector it lead to increase in quality in area of engeneering, logistics and handling production, along with that it demands better and more tight connections with the suppliers. Result is seen as a less time needed to get the supplies of any kind, right on time delivering and higher quality in chains of suppliers. In case that company reduced number of suppliers in its own base of suppliers, but they sign long term contracts with them, it leads to lower chance of changing suppliers. This is additional must have because having a high quality suppliers is very important. Important companies today include a lot of different resources to rate performances of supliers and their skills in different areas. Process of picking right suppliers became so important that companies hire experets to do this task. So, a right decision in picking the supplier can solve a lot of problems in buissnis. Goal of this PhD is to show and explain possibilities of improving decisions in picking a adequate supplier in companies. Choice is made by criteriums that are chosen in advance by company. When choice of supplier is narrowed down to a small number of suppliers then choice is very simple to make but in situations when there is a lot of different suppliers picking the right one cane be very difficult and choice is made based on quality and quantity criteria and methods. In PhD is shown a support system for decision based on multi criteria concept and theory of faze numbers. Based on already defined integral AHP – PROMETHEE/GAIA – AHP –TOPSIS models the fuzzy setting, as they set the fuzzy model with MAX-MIN composition for priorities of reliable suppliers – but based on their performance and work, after using all this methods it came to conclusion that supplier D4 is best ranked supplier