Realising Future Internet Potentials for Food Chain SMEs: A Hierarchy of Needs

The EC funded FI‐PPP programme is currently elaborating a large set of enabling technologies that shall help to overcome challenges towards a sustainable networked society of tomorrow. This up‐front investment can highly facilitate access to such Internet potentials by food chain SMEs. Nevertheless, SMEs require a systematic support for being able to decide on which technological enablers are relevant at which moment of their business evolution. To characterise a decision reference, a hierarchy of needs of food chain SMEs is presented that can serve asbaseline when aiming at the usage of the FI‐PPP results in an SME environment

Practitioner requirements for integrated Knowledge-Based Engineering in Product Lifecycle Management.

The effective management of knowledge as capital is considered essential to the success of engineering product/service systems. As Knowledge Management (KM) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) practice gain industrial adoption, the question of functional overlaps between both the approaches becomes evident. This article explores the interoperability between PLM and Knowledge-Based Engineering (KBE) as a strategy for engineering KM. The opinion of key KBE/PLM practitioners are systematically captured and analysed. A set of ranked business functionalities to be fulfiled by the KBE/PLM systems integration is elicited. The article provides insights for the researchers and the practitioners playing both the user and development roles on the future needs for knowledge systems based on PLM

An integrated model driven approach in support of next generation

Shortened product life cycles and globalization have induced dynamism and uncertainty into world markets. Hence manufacturing enterprises (MEs) can gain competitive advantage from being reconfigurable. But appropriate application of agile and lean Manufacturing philosophies must complement the application of reconfiguration techniques. However, choosing and applying the best philosophies and techniques are far from being well understood and well structured processes because most MEs deploy complex and unique configurations of processes and resource systems, and seek economies of scope and scale in respect of a number of distinctive product flows. It follows that systematic methods of achieving model driven configuration of component based manufacturing systems are required to design, engineer and change next generation MEs. This paper discusses research aimed at developing and prototyping a model-driven environment for the design, optimization and control of reconfigurable manufacturing enterprises with an embedded capability to handle various types of change. The developed environment supports the engineering of common types of strategic, tactical and operational process found in many MEs. Also reported are initial findings of manufacturing case study work in which coherent multi-perspective models of a specific ME have facilitated process reengineering and associated resource system configuration. The paper outlines key areas for future research including the need for research into unified modelling approaches and interoperation of partial models in support of complex organisation design and change (OD&C)

The impact of organisational culture on WiMax adoption by Saudi SMEs

Although there is some research that examines Worldwide Inter-operability for Microwave Access (WiMax) adoption, the role of the organisational culture by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) has not been studied in the context of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). This paper presents the outcome of a study carried out to examine the impact of organisational culture on the WiMax adoption by SMEs in the KSA. Based on Cameron and Quinn's Organisational Culture Assessments Instrument (OCAI), 63 questionnaires were distributed to different SMEs in Saudi Arabia. The results showed that there is a relatively low level of WiMax adoption by Saudi SMEs. Findings stated that Saudi SMEs are dominated by the clan culture where people are less innovative than the people in adhocracy culture

Integrated modelling approach in support of change-capable PPC strategy realisation

The increasing demand for customization, reduced time to market and globalization are the real challenges for today’s manufacturing enterprises (MEs). Therefore MEs can reduce these competitive pressures by becoming more and more change-capable. The agile and lean manufacturing philosophies must complement the application of reconfiguration techniques. However, choosing and applying the best philosophies and techniques are far from being well understood and well structured processes because most MEs deploy complex and unique configurations of processes and resource systems, and seek economies of scope and scale in respect of a number of distinctive product flows. It follows that systematic methods of achieving model driven reconfiguration and interoperation of component based manufacturing systems are required to design, engineer and change next generation MEs. This paper discusses research aimed at developing and prototyping a model-driven environment for the design, optimization and control of enterprises with an embedded capability to handle various types of change in an example of a production planning and control (PPC) scenario. The developed environment supports the engineering of common types of strategic, tactical and operational process found in many MEs. Also reported are initial findings of manufacturing case study work in which coherent multi-perspective models of a specific ME have facilitated process reengineering and associated resource system configuration and interoperation. In order to understand the system prior to realisation of any PPC strategy, multiple process segments of organisations need to be modelled. The paper considers key PPC strategies and describes a novel systematic approach to create coherent sets of unified models that facilitate the engineering of PPC strategies. Case study models are presented with capability to enable PPC decision making processes in support of complex organisation design and change (OD&C). The paper outlines key areas for future research including the need for research into unified modelling approaches and interoperation of partial models in support of complex OD&C

From Computer Integrated Manufacturing to Cloud Manufacturing

Until not much time ago, Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) was considered as a key philosophy to increase the capability and quality of production, increase the ability to produce according to the diverse customer requirements, as well as decrease of delivery times, while retaining the revenues in a highly competitive global market. However, in the last two decades, the CIM philosophy has lost importance. With the advent of communications and application developments to promote the interaction of different actors in manufacturing enterprises, other philosophies have emerged. One of them is Cloud Manufacturing (CM) that is supported by the latest advances in communications, computing and applications developments. According to Wu et al. (2013) CM is "a customer-centric manufacturing model that exploits on-demand access to a shared collection of diversified and distributed manufacturing resources to form temporary, reconfigurable production lines which enhance efficiency, reduce product lifecycle costs, and allow for optimal resource loading in response to variable-demand customer generated tasking". This paper analyses similarities and differences between the concepts of CIM and CM. In addition, the work shows the current state of the concepts and their potential and limitations for the future.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativ

From Computer Integrated Manufacturing to Cloud Manufacturing

Until not much time ago, Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) was considered as a key philosophy to increase the capability and quality of production, increase the ability to produce according to the diverse customer requirements, as well as decrease of delivery times, while retaining the revenues in a highly competitive global market. However, in the last two decades, the CIM philosophy has lost importance. With the advent of communications and application developments to promote the interaction of different actors in manufacturing enterprises, other philosophies have emerged. One of them is Cloud Manufacturing (CM) that is supported by the latest advances in communications, computing and applications developments. According to Wu et al. (2013) CM is "a customer-centric manufacturing model that exploits on-demand access to a shared collection of diversified and distributed manufacturing resources to form temporary, reconfigurable production lines which enhance efficiency, reduce product lifecycle costs, and allow for optimal resource loading in response to variable-demand customer generated tasking". This paper analyses similarities and differences between the concepts of CIM and CM. In addition, the work shows the current state of the concepts and their potential and limitations for the future.Sociedad Argentina de Informática e Investigación Operativ

Business strategy driven IT systems for engineer-to-order and make-to-order manufacturing enterprises

This thesis reports research into the specification and implementation of an Information Technology (IT) Route Map. The purpose of the Route Map is to enable rapid design and deployment of IT solutions capable of semi-automating business processes in a manufacturing enterprise. The Map helps structure transition processes involved in “identification of key business strategies and design of business processes” and “choice of enterprise systems and supporting implementation techniques”. Common limitations of current Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are observed and incorporated as Route Map implications and constraints. Scope of investigation is targeted at Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) that employ Engineer-To-Order (ETO) and Make-To-Order (MTO) business processes. However, a feature of the Route Map is that it takes into account contemporary business concerns related to “globalisation”, “mergers and acquisitions” and “typical resource constraint problems of SMEs”. In the course of the research a “Business Strategy Driven IT System Concept” was conceived and examined. The main purpose of this concept is to promote the development of agile and innovative business activity in SMEs. The Road Map encourages strategy driven solutions to be (a) specified based on the use of emerging enterprise engineering theories and (b) implemented and changed using componentbased systems design and composition techniques. Part-evaluation of the applicability and capabilities of the Road Map has been carried out by conducting industrial survey and case study work. This assesses requirements of real industrial problems and solutions. The evaluation work has also been enabled by conducting a pilot implementation of the thesis concepts at the premises of a partner SME