"Social network analysis" (SNA - társadalmi háló elemzés) használata az ellátási láncok elemzésében

A „s ocial network analysis ” (SNA) széleskörben elterjedt módszertan az emberek , szervezetek és más információ/tudásközpontok közötti kapcsolatok és folyamatok feltérképez ésére és mérésére . A z adott hálózat csomópontjai ( nod e - jai ) emberek és csoportok, a z ezeket összekötő vonalak ( linkek ) pedig az ezek közötti kapcsola t ok és folyamatok . Az SNA segítségével lehetséges az egyének közötti /szervezeti kapcsolatok vizuális megjelenítés e és matematikai elemzés e . Az SNA az elmúlt években egyre elfogadottabb módszertanná vált a logisztika területén is , mivel interdiszciplináris összekötőkapocsként képes az ellátási hálók változását elemezni és működésük javításával hatékonyabbá tenni azokat. Rámutatunk az SNA lehetséges alkalam azás i lehetősége ire a h álózatos iparág ak ellátási háló i n ak , azo ko n belül is a termelő/ szolgáltató - fogyasztó viszony , elemzésé n keresztül

Managing project interdependencies: exploring new approaches

The interdependencies between projects create complexities for the management of project portfolios within organisations. In times of uncertainty this challenge is even greater due to the difficulties in predicting the flow-on effects from changes to projects in the portfolio. Hence, in times of disruptive change a good understanding of project interdependencies is particularly important. This paper outlines two related studies that aim to improve the understanding and management of interdependencies within project portfolios. The paper first defines project portfolio management (PPM) and highlights its growing importance for optimising organisational outcomes, especially in dynamic environments. Project portfolio complexity and interdependencies between projects in a portfolio are then overviewed, highlighting the challenges that these interdependencies create for effective PPM, and introducing some of the methods used for understanding and managing these interdependencies including the dependency matrix and the related design structure matrix. Network analysis and mapping tools are then introduced and suggested as a novel method for improving understanding and managing project interdependencies. Finally, an example of the use of this type of method is presented and the current research projects are overviewed

Evolution of Information Control and Centralisation Through Stages of Complex Engineering Design Projects

This paper investigates how to identify potential misalignments between actual and expected information flow patterns among activities at each design stage. We develop a dynamic network model that quantifies how much information control each activity has over time and how the overall control of information is distributed among activities. The model is applied to the design of a biomass power plant. As a result we demonstrate an empirical relationship between information control patterns and design process stages that can be used to guide information flow improvements

Evaluation of project interdependency visualizations through decision scenario experimentation

The interdependence between projects in complex portfolios sharpens the challenge of project portfolio decision making. Methods that assist with the evaluation of data can address decision challenges such as information overload and time pressure. A decision simulation in a controlled experiment explored the use of visual representations of project interdependency data to support project portfolio decision making. Dependency matrices and network mapping were compared with non-graphical lists of dependency data. The findings show that the type of tool used may influence the quality of the resulting decision. Using visual tools, particularly network mapping displays, is correlated with the best results.The research provides a practical example of experimentation in project and portfolio management research and illustrates how such studies can complement organization-based research. Findings of interest to management include the importance of ensuring adequate time for decision processes and the potential benefits from using visual representations of project interdependence. © 2012 Elsevier Inc

Performance Measurement in the Product Development Process

The intention of the programme was to evaluate Product Development (PD) strategies within the automotive industry and to identify areas in which improvements could be made in PD project performance that would also provide a business opportunity for the author’s employer RLE INTERNATIONAL (RLE). The research is principally concerned with the automotive industry but also has broader applications within similar industries. The research was undertaken via three projects. Project 1 involved a study of the structure, drivers and trends within the automotive industry. The aim was to assess the implications for PD in the automotive industry and identify significant issues where opportunities for improvement existed. The outcome was a portrayal of an industry under extreme competitive pressure and waiting for something to change but without a clear future state. What was apparent was that the competitive pressures, and thus the need to deliver more products without significantly increased resources, were not going to abate in the near future. PD has to ‘deliver more with less’ but a definition of success and its associated measures in terms of the PD process is difficult to frame. Therefore, the aim of project 2 focused on performance measurement of the PD process by assessing four internationally diverse development projects carried out by the author’s employer with four discrete customers. The projects were all different in their content and were carried out in different countries, i.e. USA, Germany, India and Sweden. Whilst customer specific and cultural aspects of the projects differed, the significant issue identified via the research was common across all the projects. Traditional Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of cost, time and scope were used but failed to predict issues in project delivery. The key finding was that if project information did not flow as originally planned then resources were wasted resulting in time and cost over-runs. Project 3 researched alternative solutions to the issue of monitoring information flow and proposes a specific method of indicating the likelihood of success in a project by identifying new PD measurement techniques to be used within the automotive PD process. This new measurement criterion of information flow provides a predictive tool that significantly enhances the project control process. The predictive method of information flow tracking developed is new to the automotive PD profession. It was trialled on an existing project and was shown to identify specific issues with the Work-in-Progress (WIP) not found by traditional project management methods. The resulting indication of issues enabled the organisation’s management to have a substantially different insight and understanding of project performance at a given point in time and therefore enabled immediate changes in resource allocation to improve project performance. The implementation of these changes as a result of the adoption of information flow monitoring resulted in significantly improved project KPI performance. The contribution of this new PD management method has the potential to significantly impact the competitiveness of any company involved in the design and development process. Its benefits include improved understanding of project performance indicators, powerful predictive attributes resulting in better utilisation of company resources and reductions in both project costs and lead times

Characterizing Design Process Interfaces as Organization Networks: Insights for Engineering Systems Management

The engineering design literature has provided guidance on how to identify and analyze design activities and their information dependencies. However, a systematic characterization of process interfaces between engineering design activities is missing, and the impact of structural and compositional aspects of interfaces on process performance is unclear. To fill these gaps, we propose a new approach that characterizes process interfaces as organization networks consisting of people and their interactions when performing interfacing activities. Furthermore, we provide guidance on how to test and interpret the effect of those characteristics on interface problems. As a result, we show how structural and compositional aspects of the organization networks between information-dependent activities provide valuable insights to better manage complex engineering design processes. The proposed approach is applied to the development of a power plant, analyzing 79 process interfaces. The study reveals a relationship between the structure and composition of the process interfaces and reported interface problems. Implications of this approach include the integration of information about process and organization architectures, the systematic identification of key performance metrics associated with interface problems, and improved support for engineering managers by means of a better overview of information flows between activities

Modelling change with an integrated approach to manufacturing system design

This paper proposes a model that integrates information from product, process and organisation domains with a view to help manage these complex interrelationships with multiple layers of interaction. This model incorporates an integrated mechanism that simulates change effects during the design of complex manufacturing system by populating a Multi-layered Domain Matrix (MDM) and applying a Change Prediction Model (CPM) propagation mechanism to interconnected elements

An Experimental Study on the Influence that Failure Number, Specialization, and Domain have on Confidence in Predicting System Failures

Design reviews are typically used for three types of design activities: 1) identifying errors, 2) assessing the impact of the errors, and 3) suggesting solutions for the errors. This experimental study focuses on understanding the second issue as it relates to the number of errors considered, the existence of controls, and the level of domain familiarity of the assessor. A set of design failures and associated controls developed for a completed industry sponsored project is used as the experimental design problem. Non-domain individuals (psychology class students), domain generalists (first year engineering students), and domain specialists (graduate mechanical students) are provided a set of failure modes and asked to estimate the likelihood that the system would still successfully achieve the stated objectives. Primary results from the study include the following: the confidence level for all domain population decreased significantly as the number of design errors increased (largest p-value=0.0793) and this decrease in confidence is more significant as the design errors increase. The impact on confidence is less when solutions (controls) are provided to prevent the errors (largest p-value=0.0334), the confidence decreased faster for domain general engineers as compared to domain specialists (p= The research presents a study on how estimations are made in design reviews. It answers the question on how individuals assess the performance of systems which is necessary to be addressed in order to evaluate the importance of methods such as design reviews and design review tools (FMEA, DFMEA, FTA) used in design engineering. It addresses the challenges faced by the impact of design errors in the design process and how they affect assessment by different types of designers in predicting successful system performance