Improving Information Flow within the Production Management System with Web Services

The efficiency of the production planning and control process in construction depends significantly on the reliability and timely availability of resource information. The Last Planner system for production control mandates that a construction task should not be started unless all the seven resource prerequisites are in satisfactory condition. Failure to do so results in wasteful processes. However, this information is not readily available due to the lack of systems integration that prevails within the industry. Current implementations of the last planner system mostly rely on the team leaders‘ and foreman‘s ability to gather the required information for the weekly planning meetings and also for the look-ahead planning. However, much time is wasted chasing relevant information due to the above-mentioned problems. Also, the reliability of planning could be much improved if there is a system available, which aggregates resource information from various project stakeholders in one place. In such a situation, web services could provide an ideal platform for integration as they provide a flexible way to integrate disparate systems, with choreography based on identified business processes drawn from Last Planner and implemented using BPMN/BPEL. With the improvement in connectivity as a result of better availability of high speed Internet through mobile and fixed networks, there is a better opportunity for information integration through web services. A conceptual framework based on web services is put forward which aims to improve the information flow within the industry and provide the right information at the right time to enable better planning and control within the production system

Addressing information flow in lean production management and control in construction

Traditionally, production control on construction sites has been a challenging area, where the ad-hoc production control methods foster uncertainty - one of the biggest enemies of efficiency and smooth production flow. Lean construction methods such as the Last Planner System have partially tackled this problem by addressing the flow aspect through means such as constraints analysis and commitment planning. However, such systems have relatively long planning cycles to respond to the dynamic production requirements of construction, where almost daily if not hourly control is needed. New solutions have been designed by researchers to improve this aspect such as VisiLean, but again these types of software systems require the proximity and availability of computer devices to workers. Given this observation, there is a need for a communication system between the field and site office that is highly interoperable and provides real-time task status information. A High-level communication framework (using VisiLean) is presented in this paper, which aims to overcome the problems of system integration and improve the flow of information within the production system. The framework provides, among other things, generic and standardized interfaces to simplify the “push” and “pull” of the right (production) information, whenever needed, wherever needed, by whoever needs it. Overall, it is anticipated that the reliability of the production control will be improve

Integration of decision support systems to improve decision support performance

Decision support system (DSS) is a well-established research and development area. Traditional isolated, stand-alone DSS has been recently facing new challenges. In order to improve the performance of DSS to meet the challenges, research has been actively carried out to develop integrated decision support systems (IDSS). This paper reviews the current research efforts with regard to the development of IDSS. The focus of the paper is on the integration aspect for IDSS through multiple perspectives, and the technologies that support this integration. More than 100 papers and software systems are discussed. Current research efforts and the development status of IDSS are explained, compared and classified. In addition, future trends and challenges in integration are outlined. The paper concludes that by addressing integration, better support will be provided to decision makers, with the expectation of both better decisions and improved decision making processes

Providing value to a business using a lightweight design system to support knowledge reuse by designers

This paper describes an alternative approach to knowledge based systems in engineering than traditional geometry or explicit knowledge focused systems. Past systems have supported product optimisation rather than creative solutions and provide little benefit to businesses for bespoke and low volume products or products which do not benefit from optimisation. The approach here addresses this by supporting the creativity of designers through codified tacit knowledge and encouraging knowledge reuse for bespoke product development, in particular for small to medium sized enterprises. The implementation and evaluation of the approach is described within a company producing bespoke fixtures and tooling in shorter than average lead times. The active support of knowledge management in the company is intended to add value to the business by further reducing the lead times of the designs and creating a positive impact to business processes. The evaluation demonstrates a viable alternative framework to the traditional management of knowledge in engineering, which could be implemented by other small to medium enterprises

Learning from AI : new trends in database technology

Recently some researchers in the areas of database data modelling and knowledge representations in artificial intelligence have recognized that they share many common goals. In this survey paper we show the relationship between database and artificial intelligence research. We show that there has been a tendency for data models to incorporate more modelling techniques developed for knowledge representations in artificial intelligence as the desire to incorporate more application oriented semantics, user friendliness, and flexibility has increased. Increasing the semantics of the representation is the key to capturing the "reality" of the database environment, increasing user friendliness, and facilitating the support of multiple, possibly conflicting, user views of the information contained in a database

Intelligent ERPS: a guide to incorporate artificial intelligence into enterprise resource planning systems

Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Information Management, specialization in Knowledge Management and Business IntelligenceIntelligent ERPs (Enterprise Resource Planning) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are two emerging subjects in the academic and organizational spaces. The simple fact of using intelligent tools into ERPs or around it is something that happens a long time. However, in this dissertation, we analyze the new concept of Intelligent Enterprises, most specifically Intelligent ERPs. This new idea aims to be a kind of approach capable of joining different concepts like RPA (Robotic Process Automation), Machine Learning, UX (User Experience), Advanced Analytics, and Dark Analytics in a single integrated information system. Through the use of Design Science Research (DSR) methodology, this research aims to identify the most acceptable definition of an Intelligent ERP, the relation of this concept with Intelligent Enterprises, and the contribution of Artificial Intelligence to the systems. Besides that, we will analyze the actual scenario and propose new kinds of approaches and architectures to add features that can enhance the systems and make it more useful and related to cognitive and intelligent systems.ERPs inteligentes (Planejamento de Recursos Empresariais) e Inteligência Artificial (IA) são dois assuntos emergentes nos espaços acadêmicos e empresariais. O simples fato de usar ferramentas inteligentes nos ERPs ou em torno destes é algo que acontece há muito tempo. No entanto, nesta dissertação, analisamos o novo conceito de Empresas Inteligentes, mais especificamente os ERPs Inteligentes. Essa nova idéia visa ser um tipo de abordagem capaz de unir diferentes conceitos como RPA (Automação de Processo Robótico), Aprendizado de Máquina, UX (Experiência do Usuário), Análises Avançadas e Análises Profundas em um único sistema de informação integrado. Com o uso da metodologia de Desenho de Pesquisa Científica (DSR), esta tese tem como objetivo identificar a definição mais aceitável de um ERP Inteligente, a relação desse conceito com as Empresas Inteligentes e a contribuição da Inteligência Artificial para os sistemas. Além disto, analisaremos o cenário atual e proporemos novos tipos de abordagens e arquiteturas para adicionar recursos que podem aprimorar os sistemas e torná-los mais úteis e relacionados a sistemas cognitivos e inteligentes