Intelligent systems in manufacturing: current developments and future prospects

Global competition and rapidly changing customer requirements are demanding increasing changes in manufacturing environments. Enterprises are required to constantly redesign their products and continuously reconfigure their manufacturing systems. Traditional approaches to manufacturing systems do not fully satisfy this new situation. Many authors have proposed that artificial intelligence will bring the flexibility and efficiency needed by manufacturing systems. This paper is a review of artificial intelligence techniques used in manufacturing systems. The paper first defines the components of a simplified intelligent manufacturing systems (IMS), the different Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques to be considered and then shows how these AI techniques are used for the components of IMS

The internationalisation of South African enterprises : a focus on international market selection

ORIENTATION : The selection of attractive foreign markets has been identified as one of the most important decisions in an enterprise's internationalisation process RESEARCH PURPOSE : The primary objective of this study was to determine which international market selection (IMS) processes, if any, South African enterprises follow when selecting international markets for expansion MOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY : Whilst a significant effort has been made to close the gap in knowledge regarding the IMS processes followed by enterprises from emerging markets, little is known about the IMS processes of South African enterprises. RESEARCH DESIGN, APPROACH AND METHOD : This qualitative descriptive study collected data through semistructured interviews conducted with senior managers who have been or are involved in IMS at 12 South African enterprises. The collected data was analysed using thematic analysis. MAIN FINDINGS : The study found that the majority of enterprises who participated in this study use a systematic, four-step IMS process. However, the process is more flexible than that proposed by some theoretical models. In particular, the selection criteria used when analysing a market are considered flexibly and, in some cases, even in parallel instead of sequentially as proposed by some models PRACTICAL/MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS : Research shows that mistakes related to the inappropriate and inadequate evaluation of markets are almost always more expensive than the costs associated with conducting a systematic IMS. Therefore, this research provides guidelines to enterprises on how to conduct such an IMS. CONTRIBUTION/VALUE-ADD : This study contributes to the extant IMS literature by broadening our understanding of the IMS processes followed by South African enterprises and in doing so, answers the call to close the emerging market knowledge gap.http://www.actacommercii.co.zaam2023Business Managemen

THE IMPACT OF IDEA MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS ON INTELLECTUAL RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT

Topicality/Problem. Idea management systems (IMS) are manageable, systematic tools, tool kits or complex systems that helps to generate and evaluate ideas and are an important element of organizational development. Many well-known organizations (e.g. Volkswagen, Microsoft, GE Healthcare, Procter and Gamble, Boeing, Siemens, etc) are successfully applying web-based IMS. But there is no research that explores the impact of web-based IMS on intellectual resources development. Research aim – to research the impact of IMS on intellectual resources development and to provide recommendations to practitioners for its broader assistance in enterprises to ensure innovation acceleration. Methodological approach. The empirical research was based on 447 enterprise survey applying. The research results show the following results: IMS application has resulted in a new intellectual resource, in a patents and improved innovation acceleration.Research limitations. Survey research may limit the generalisability of the result, because the survey target group is commercially available web-based IMS applied enterprises.Originality/value.  The research based on the empirical data analysis contributes to understanding the directions and significance of IMS impact on intellectual resources development.

Integrated management systems and workflow-based electronic document management: an empirical stud

Purpose: Many global organizations have aligned their strategy and operation via the ISO-based framework of integrated management system (IMS) that allows them to merge quality, environment, health and safety management systems. In such context, having a robust electronic document management system (EDMS) is essential, especially at global enterprises where a large amount of documents generated by processes flows through different work cultures. However, there is no "one-size-fits-all" design for EDMS because it depends on organizations' needs, size and resource allocation. This article discusses the interrelation between EDMS and IMS in order to suggest a best practice. Design/methodology/approach: This article methodologically based upon a qualitative, interpretivistic, longitudinal empirical study in a wind turbine factory. Findings and Originality/value: IMS improvement and effectiveness has been overlooking EDMS as a key factor in establishing appropriate technological support of the IMS processes. Rightful application of EDMS can further contribute to organizational learning, precision of documentation and cross-organisational collaboration. Research limitations/implications: Theorising on IMS needs a stronger perspective of the technological limitations and potentials of basing IMS on EDMS. Practical implications: IMS are complex systems involving a large number of administrative functions. EDMS provides a formal representation with automation potentials both heightening and securing document trustworthiness. Social implications: IMS has a tendency to stay with professionals, e.g. line managers and QA/QC/QMS professionals. The EDMS line of discussion suggests a broader inclusion. Originality/value: Researching IMS as a technological implementation is giving a better platform of aligning the IMS with other business processes and is bringing IMS closer to the operational activities within the enterprise.Peer Reviewe

M-Hafazan: aplikasi mudah alih untuk pengajian tahfiz

Pendidikan tahfiz secara formal telah berkembang pesat serta mendapat perhatian istimewa dari masyarakat Islam di Malaysia. Perkembangan ini disebabkan oleh kesedaran dan permintaan ibu bapa dalam menerapkan al-Quran kepada anak-anak melalui hafazan. Pada masa kini, terdapat banyak aplikasi yang dapat menyokong pembelajaran tahfiz. Namun begitu, tiada aktiviti pengukuhan disediakan bagi membolehkan penghafaz al-Quran menguji tahap ingatan mereka terhadap ayat-ayat yang telah dihafaz. Aplikasi m-Hafazan ini dibangunkan dengan tujuan menyokong pengajian tahfiz dengan lebih baik. Aplikasi ini dibangunkan dengan menggunakan metodologi Multimedia Mobile Content Development. Metodologi ini dipilih kerana ia dapat mempercepatkan proses pembangunan aplikasi serta mengurangkan penggunaan pemprosesan data peranti mudah alih. Pengujian aplikasi telah dijalankan terhadap pelajar-pelajar dan guru dari Sekolah Rendah Islam Tahfiz, Parit Raja. Hasil pengujian menunjukkan 78.3% pelajar sangat bersetuju aplikasi m-Hafazan sesuai digunakan sebagai medium alternatif dalam pengajian hafazan al-Quran. Selain itu, 85% pelajar sangat bersetuju bahawa aplikasi ini dapat membantu pengukuhan hafazan mereka. Kesimpulannya, walaupun kaedah talaqqi (bersemuka) merupakan pendekatan yang terbaik dalam pengajian hafazan, namun implementasi aplikasi m-Hafazan berpotensi untuk dijadikan kaedah alternatif dalam pembelajaran hafazan bagi pelajar tahfiz mahupun bukan

URBAN INFORMAL MANUFACTURING SECTOR IN ORISSA - A CASE STUDY OF CUTTACK CITY

Promotion of the urban informal sector has become the new strategy of development in the developing economies. This paper attempts a study of some of the important characteristics of this sector in the city of Cuttack and compares it with that of the formal sector. The major strengths of this sector are its low capital requirement, higher employment generation capacity with lower amount of capital base and flexibility. Important weaknesses of this sector are, (i) its segmentation on the basis of industrial activities, employment size, capital base, pattern of linkages, and productivity levels and, (ii) its skewed employment structure of being an absolute domain for males. Specific policies for specific sectors of the IMS may be formulated to tackle the former. To overcome the latter, state can undertake some positive measures in the field of credit, training, skill formation and marketing to encourage more entry of women.Urban; informal sector;manufacturing;Orissa, India; Cuttack;Employment; training; skill; credit; marketing; capital; finance; linkage; productivity

Informal Manufacturing Sector in India: Pre and Post Reform Growth Dynamics

The informal manufacturing sector (IMS) in India has been a major part of the economy. Whether its growth is due to entry of people in distress, or whether it is a vibrant and growth oriented sector is debatable. In this paper, the growth dynamics of IMS in India over the period 1984 to 2000 is explored with special reference to the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) and plausible factors determining the growth pattern are sought to be identified. This growth is observed to be neither smooth nor uniform. The IMS cannot be labelled either a distress driven sink or a dynamic alternative economic avenue in blanket term as existence of both the segments are detected. While sustainability of the distress driven segment is questionable, the dynamic segment is likely to act as the engine of future growth. Distinctly different sets of policies are recommended for the two different segments of IMS.Informal Sector; Regional Development; Unorganised Manufacturing

Problems and Prospects of Informal Manufacturing Sector: A Case Study of Durgapur City

Even in presence of a dominant factory sector, informal manufacturing sector can play a very vital role in shaping the development profile of a region through its diverse interaction and complementarities with the organised sector. This paper, based on a field survey at the industrial city of Durgapur explores the problems and prospects of informal manufacturing units therein. A gradual shift in composition of this sector is evident, which is mainly in response to changing economic scenario of the region. Appropriate policies for the sector's optimum development should include, among others, well co-ordinated formal-informal linkage and streamlining of credit availability. These steps are likely to bring about integrated development of the region.Informal Sector; Regional Development; Unorganised Manufacturing

Exploring metadata standards for competence descriptions in the business & management domain

This paper explores the development and use of competency metadata standards. As there has recently been a surge of a number of standards to address the challenge of representing competencies and there is a rising need to develop a common methodology, as well as methods and tools for developing, reusing, adapting, integrating such standards, this research is now becoming important and timely. We explore this within the context of the OpenScout project, which is building a federation of repositories with content in the areas of business and management. Thus this study is limited to metadata standards for competencies in the business and management fields, but it is aimed that the lessons from this domain can transfer to other fields and will inform the wider debate on the development and use of such standards. The paper revisits a set of standards for competence descriptions and provides recommendations as to which standard would suit better the nature of the repository, the requirements of stakeholders, and the Open Content resources. In particular, the paper proposes an adaptation and extension of the IEEE-RCD model, employing an application profiling approach, and taking into account the granularity of the European Qualifications Framework and the requirements of Open Content resources.OpenScout project (Contract no.: 428016, “Skill based scouting of open user-generated and community-improved content for management education and training”