Web-Based Supply Chain Simulation: an Integrated Approach

This is an era marked by rapid technology development in all different educational arenas. Alongside this growing demand of technology, learning process is getting new forms and hence traditional teaching approaches tend to struggle and lack the requisite qualities to meet new generation expectations. In third level education, this problem is increasing in magnitude and new dimensions, especially when it comes to teaching difficult subjects such as supply chain management. Understanding the complexity of supply chain networks and how to manage them create a considerable level of difficulty for students and professionals. Collaboration between supply chain members is now recognised as an important strategic factor in creating a solution to the complexity of the supply chain system. New technologies are beginning to bring a huge transformation into teaching delivery methods. This paper presents an integrated web-based simulation framework that supports learning supply chain concepts and challenges. Simulation-based learning environment allow participants to examine various management strategies without real disruptions to the current system. Using supply chain simulation creates a vibrant experience and a better understanding to the impact of uncertainty and risks within supply chains. Integrating web technologies to simulation has added an edge to the learning environment with the friendly graphical user interface

Mapping Cloud-Edge-IoT opportunities and challenges in Europe

While current data processing predominantly occurs in centralized facilities, with a minor portion handled by smart objects, a shift is anticipated, with a surge in data originating from smart devices. This evolution necessitates reconfiguring the infrastructure, emphasising computing capabilities at the cloud's "edge" closer to data sources. This change symbolises the merging of cloud, edge, and IoT technologies into a unified network infrastructure - a Computing Continuum - poised to redefine tech interactions, offering novel prospects across diverse sectors. The computing continuum is emerging as a cornerstone of tech advancement in the contemporary digital era. This paper provides an in-depth exploration of the computing continuum, highlighting its potential, practical implications, and the adjustments required to tackle existing challenges. It emphasises the continuum's real-world applications, market trends, and its significance in shaping Europe's tech future

Scenarios for the development of smart grids in the UK: synthesis report

‘Smart grid’ is a catch-all term for the smart options that could transform the ways society produces, delivers and consumes energy, and potentially the way we conceive of these services. Delivering energy more intelligently will be fundamental to decarbonising the UK electricity system at least possible cost, while maintaining security and reliability of supply. Smarter energy delivery is expected to allow the integration of more low carbon technologies and to be much more cost effective than traditional methods, as well as contributing to economic growth by opening up new business and innovation opportunities. Innovating new options for energy system management could lead to cost savings of up to £10bn, even if low carbon technologies do not emerge. This saving will be much higher if UK renewable energy targets are achieved. Building on extensive expert feedback and input, this report describes four smart grid scenarios which consider how the UK’s electricity system might develop to 2050. The scenarios outline how political decisions, as well as those made in regulation, finance, technology, consumer and social behaviour, market design or response, might affect the decisions of other actors and limit or allow the availability of future options. The project aims to explore the degree of uncertainty around the current direction of the electricity system and the complex interactions of a whole host of factors that may lead to any one of a wide range of outcomes. Our addition to this discussion will help decision makers to understand the implications of possible actions and better plan for the future, whilst recognising that it may take any one of a number of forms

Critical Factors for Constructing an Effective Supply Chain Network

Supply Chain Management (SCM) is a source of value creation for stakeholders. There are many influential factors for constructing a partnership in supply chain network. The factors demonstrate different contributions in each phase of supply chain. The purpose of this study is to establish a theoretical framework for constructing an effective supply chain network. A literature review of supply chain studies was employed to identify the influential factors in the process of supply chain development and establish the critical phases for creating effective supply chain network. The framework can be served as a guideline for both academic research and practical applications of SCM

Developing and operating time critical applications in clouds: the state of the art and the SWITCH approach

Cloud environments can provide virtualized, elastic, controllable and high quality on-demand services for supporting complex distributed applications. However, the engineering methods and software tools used for developing, deploying and executing classical time critical applications do not, as yet, account for the programmability and controllability provided by clouds, and so time critical applications cannot yet benefit from the full potential of cloud technology. This paper reviews the state of the art of technologies involved in developing time critical cloud applications, and presents the approach of a recently funded EU H2020 project: the Software Workbench for Interactive, Time Critical and Highly self-adaptive cloud applications (SWITCH). SWITCH aims to improve the existing development and execution model of time critical applications by introducing a novel conceptual model—the application-infrastructure co-programming and control model—in which application QoS and QoE, together with the programmability and controllability of cloud environments, is included in the complete application lifecycle

A dual perspective towards building resilience in manufacturing organizations

Modern manufacturing organizations exist in the most complex and competitive environment the world has ever known. This environment consists of demanding customers, enabling, but resource intensive Industry 4.0 technology, dynamic regulations, geopolitical perturbations, and innovative, ever-expanding global competition. Successful manufacturing organizations must excel in this environment while facing emergent disruptions generated as biproducts of complex man-made and natural systems. The research presented in this thesis provides a novel two-sided approach to the creation of resilience in the modern manufacturing organization. First, the systems engineering method is demonstrated as the qualitative framework for building literature-derived organizational resilience factors into organizational structures under a life cycle perspective. A quantitative analysis of industry expert survey data through graph theory and matrix approach is presented second to prioritize resilience factors for strategic practical implementation

Dynamic Network Notation: A Graphical Modeling Language to Support the Visualization and Management of Network Effects in Service Platforms

Service platforms have moved into the center of interest in both academic research and the IT industry due to their economic and technical impact. These multitenant platforms provide own or third party software as metered, on-demand services. Corresponding service offers exhibit network effects. The present work introduces a graphical modeling language to support service platform design with focus on the exploitation of these network effects

The Impact of Industry 4.0 on Supply Chain Capability and Supply Chain Resilience: A Dynamic Resource-Based View

Industry 4.0, a collection of emerging intelligent and digital technologies, has been the main interest of both researchers and practitioners in operations management (OM) in recent years. Despite its proclaimed effectiveness in supply chain (SC) management, empirical studies examining the effects of Industry 4.0 adoption on SC resilience have been underrepresented in the current OM literature. In our study, we explore the effects of 16 Industry 4.0 technologies and IT advancement concerning SC resilience through the mediating roles of SC capabilities with respect to SC collaboration and SC visibility. Following the dynamic resource-based view (RBV), we regard Industry 4.0 adoption and IT advancement as two important IT resources with heterogeneity, SC collaboration and SC visibility as essential SC dynamic capabilities, and SC resilience as competitive advantages. We suggest the combination and evolution of IT resources and dynamic SC capabilities helps firms obtain the competitive advantage regarding SC resilience. Using data from a survey of 408 Chinese manufacturing firms, we reveal Industry 4.0 adoption is positively related to IT advancement and that Industry 4.0 has a nonsignificant impact on SC capabilities, whereas IT advancement has a positive impact on SC capabilities. Additionally, both SC collaboration and visibility positively influence SC resilience and significantly mediate the impacts of Industry 4.0 and IT advancement on SC resilience. Our study offers an enhanced understanding of the specific flows between Industry 4.0 and SC resilience and provides nuanced insights for both literature and practice

Ecological and social strategies for managing fisheries using the Resist-Accept- Direct (RAD) framework

Fisheries management is a complex task made even more challenging by rapid and unprecedented socioecological transformations associated with climate change. The Resist-Accept- Direct (RAD) framework can be a useful tool to support fisheries management in facing the high uncertainty and variability associated with aquatic ecosystem transformations. Here, RAD strategies are presented to address ecological goals for aquatic ecosystems and social goals for fisheries. These strategies are mapped on a controllability matrix which explores the ability to guide a system\u27s behaviour towards a desired state based on ecological responsiveness and societal receptivity to change. Understanding and improving the controllability of aquatic systems and fisheries can help managers to maintain the broadest suite of available RAD management strategies

Risks management in the wine supply chain during the Global Pandemic

Treballs Finals del Màster en Oficial en Empresa Internacional / International Business, Facultat d'Economia i Empresa, Universitat de Barcelona. Curs: 2020-2022. Tutor: Xavier Rius PochThe COVID19 pandemic can be considered the worst global crisis since WorldWarII. No one predicted this sudden catastrophe and how it would last until now. In particular, it has greatly impacted companies engaged in import and export. This resear chaims to identify the wine supply chain risks and learn how the wineries mitigate the risks. Provide a reference for supply chain risk management for wineries and small and medium-sized exporters