Enterprise Engineering and Management at the Crossroads

The article provides an overview of the challenges and the state of the art of the discipline of Enterprise Architecture (EA), with emphasis on the challenges and future development opportunities of the underlying Information System (IS), and its IT implementation, the Enterprise Information System (EIS). The first challenge is to overcome the narrowness of scope of present practice in IS and EA, and re-gain the coverage of the entire business on all levels of management, and a holistic and systemic coverage of the enterprise as an economic entity in its social and ecological environment. The second challenge is how to face the problems caused by complexity that limit the controllability and manageability of the enterprise as a system. The third challenge is connected with the complexity problem, and describes fundamental issues of sustainability and viability. Following from the third, the fourth challenge is to identify modes of survival for systems, and dynamic system architectures that evolve and are resilient to changes of the environment in which they live. The state of the art section provides pointers to possible radical changes to models, methodologies, theories and tools in EIS design and implementation, with the potential to solve these grand challenges.Griffith Sciences, School of Information and Communication TechnologyNo Full Tex

Clúster Virtual: nueva Alternativa a la Competitividad Eficaz en las Empresas

El artículo estudia y analiza la gestión del networking empresarial y la creación de clústeres virtuales de empresas. El propósito principal de la investigación, es indagar acerca de la posibilidad de crear una plataforma de clúster virtual innovador; que pueda ser visto como una innovación práctica que fomente el crecimiento económico, a partir de lo local, mejorando la competitividad empresarial. Durante la investigación, se profundizó en los conceptos de la generación de networking, el cual es una plataforma para mejorar el trabajo colaborativo entre organizaciones y permite consolidar la conformación de clústeres empresariales. Igualmente, se identificaron los beneficios e inconvenientes de crear un clúster virtual. El escenario de clúster virtual permite alcanzar una mayor eficiencia en el logro de objetivos individuales y colectivos; su mayor impacto se observa en la reducción de los costos de transacción internacional y en la ampliación de las cuotas de mercados, motivando una colaboración efectiva de los recursos por parte de cada miembro del clúster. La sinergia del networking y el clúster virtual, favorece la creación de nuevos modelos de negocio innovadores, fortalece las posibilidades de adquirir nuevas tecnologías y genera nuevos conocimientos técnicos, con lo cual se abren nuevas oportunidades de crecimiento a través de clústeres virtuales y empresas innovadoras

ICT-based solution approach for collaborative delivery of customised products

© 2016 Taylor & Francis. Growing interest on business collaboration motivates todays industries, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to establish and manage dynamic and non-hierarchical business networks to respond to market opportunities with added business benefits. This business environment requires concurrent work and real-time information sharing between key business partners in order to design and develop customised products. The use of traditional communication media such as e-mail, phone and fax is not satisfactory to get real-time information and is time-consuming and most often ineffective. In such environments, an Information and Communication Technology (ICT)/Web-based technology supports real-time information sharing among networked SMEs for the collaborative design and manufacturing of customised products. This study proposes an innovative ICT platform supporting SMEs collaboration, through Web and the Internet of Things technologies, which follows the Net-Challenge conceptual approach and methodological guidelines for SMEs to form and operate virtual organisations for the collaborative development and delivery of customised products. The ICT Platform was assessed in three different industry domains, namely the textile and apparel, the footwear and the machine tools, respectively. This ICT solution promotes collaboration, with substantial advantages for SMEs including the reduction of costs and delivery time and improvement of the innovation potential

Collaborative networks: A pillar of digital transformation

UID/EEA/00066/2019 POCI-01-0247-FEDER-033926The notion of digital transformation encompasses the adoption and integration of a variety of new information and communication technologies for the development of more efficient, flexible, agile, and sustainable solutions for industrial systems. Besides technology, this process also involves new organizational forms and leads to new business models. As such, this work addresses the contribution of collaborative networks to such a transformation. An analysis of the collaborative aspects required in the various dimensions of the 4th industrial revolution is conducted based on a literature survey and experiences gained from several research projects. A mapping between the identified collaboration needs and research results that can be adopted from the collaborative networks area is presented. Furthermore, several new research challenges are identified and briefly characterized.publishe

Towards sustainable industrial development - a systems thinking-based approach

Various critical global issues, including global warming and poverty, have been recognized and identified by the United Nations (UN) as drivers for unsustainability. Consequently, the UN established the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with the aim of seeking universal peace and larger freedom by balancing the three dimensions of sustainable development, i.e. economic, social and environmental. A particular attention SDGs pay is in eradicating poverty as this is considered one of the greatest global challenges. Poverty is not only an economic matter as it also has an impact on the social and environmental dimensions. A strategy to tackle poverty is to foster industry development. However, a holistic point of view is necessary by also considering stakeholders otherwise, it becomes a neoliberal solution. Despite the fact that some research has been conducted, e.g. case studies and surveys of sustainable practices, there is a lack of industrial sustainable development as a framework to tackle sustainability issues. Thus, this paper proposes a framework for industrial sustainable development under a socially inclusive approach within the context of the Mexican manufacturing industry. The framework proposal is based on a state-of-the-art literature review conducted in the Web of Science and Scopus databases.N/

Sustainable service-based business models - Exploring the potential of digital technologies in industrial companies

Industrial companies are continuously looking for solutions to increase their competitive advantage and become sustainable. Many industrial companies have prioritised economic sustainability as means of success. However, recent decades have revealed many external pressures and these have highlighted the need for more sustainable organisations. The growing interest in sustainable alternatives has shed light on various business models which promote balance and support the path towards a more circular economy. This thesis aims to promote sustainable, service-based business models by identifying the challenges and opportunities encountered in this transition. Further, it explores the methods, tools and frameworks available in the literature and identifies the sustainability-related elements and KPIs. The results showcase a list of challenges faced by industrial companies in developing service-based business models. For instance, there is a lack of consensus on terminology for business models, sustainability and digital technologies. Although the studies included in this thesis are from different industry sectors, the challenges found were similar. The increasing availability of digital technologies and engagement of global organisations may support the development of service-based business models. In addition, new technological opportunities, regulations and incentives can promote collaboration and responsibility in companies. This thesis systematises the existing methods, tools and frameworks and shows the extent to which they support companies as they move towards sustainability. It also provides recommendations and relevant considerations for the future development of new methods and tools. This research contributes to the systematisation of knowledge gained from the different terminologies used to refer to service-based business models. It also captures unprecedented experiences from multiple industries, such as recyclers and service providers in the maritime sector. This thesis’ findings can inform and support companies on their path to understanding and implementing service-based business models

MUSEUS E SUSTENTABILIDADE: REFLEXÕES SOBRE EDUCAÇÃO MUSEAL E EMERGÊNCIA CLIMÁTICA

O presente artigo visa refletir sobre o papel dos museus no presente e no futuro sobre diferentes noções de patrimônio e sustentabilidade. Considerando a função educativa dos museus, nos interrogamos sobre o papel dessas entidades no debate e na implantação de medidas e práticas de mitigação e/ou contenção dos danos decorrentes desse processo voltado para ações sustentáveis. Nosso objetivo é discutir sobre diretrizes e ações adotadas pelos museus com vistas a auxiliar no cumprimento dos objetivos da Agenda 2030, levando em consideração as realidades locais. O recorte da análise está centrado nos museus da cidade do Rio de Janeiro e o levantamento de dados partiu da plataforma Museus BR, do Instituto Brasileiro de Museus. Os resultados apontam compromisso com a sustentabilidade na forma de elaboração e implantação de ações socioambientais junto ao plano museológico

Consumers’ values and behaviour in the Brazilian coffee-in-capsules market: Promoting circular economy

Coffee consumption is changing. Monodose, flavoured coffee capsules provide new experiences beyond the traditional custom of brewing coffee. While these pods mean access to a selection of premium coffee worldwide, they create huge quantities of plastic-aluminium packaging waste. This paper examines the novelty of coffee capsule consumption in Brazil in terms of consumers’ perspectives about ethical enterprise and environmental stewardship. We argue for ‘waste to resource’ management and applying reverse logistics to the coffee production supply chain. Based on Circular Economy principles and fuelled by the ‘green’ awareness of Brazilian coffee consumers themselves, we propose a conceptual framework to support business decision-making by adopting a systemic intervention from the consumer viewpoint. To structure and scope the problematic situation, we conducted over 40 interviews, using purposive sampling. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Value Focused Thinking (VFT) and Rich Picture Technique also informed our problem structuring approach. Findings illustrate that the ambition for a reverse supply chain in coffee capsule manufacturing presents real challenges to achieving circular practice. Yet, the eco-values of Brazilian coffee enthusiasts may be partly considered a ‘wealth of information flow’ and a potential driving force for change. This paper should be of interest to researchers and practitioners exploring how consumers may contribute to behavioural change, towards more circular business

A framework for operative and social sustainability functionalities in Human- Centric Cyber-Physical Production Systems

In a near future where manufacturing companies are faced with the rapid technological developments of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) and Industry 4.0, a need arises to consider how this will affect human operators remaining as a vital and important resource in modern production systems. What will the implications of these orchestrated and ubiquitous technologies in production – a concept we call Cyber-Physical Production Systems (CPPS) – be on the health, learning and operative performance of human workers? This paper makes three main contributions to address the question. First, it synthesizes the diverse literature regarding CPS and social sustainability in production systems. Second, it conceptualizes a holistic framework, the CyFL Matrix, and outlines a guideline to analyze how the functionalities of a CPPS relate to operational and social sustainability-related performance impacts at different levels of analysis. Finally, it presents an industrial use case, which the CyFL Matrix and the related guidelines are applied to. In doing so, the study offers first support to researchers and managers of manufacturing companies willing to define suitable operational and social sustainability-related performances for Human-centric Cyber-Physical Production Systems of the future