A review of data visualization: opportunities in manufacturing sequence management.

Data visualization now benefits from developments in technologies that offer innovative ways of presenting complex data. Potentially these have widespread application in communicating the complex information domains typical of manufacturing sequence management environments for global enterprises. In this paper the authors review the visualization functionalities, techniques and applications reported in literature, map these to manufacturing sequence information presentation requirements and identify the opportunities available and likely development paths. Current leading-edge practice in dynamic updating and communication with suppliers is not being exploited in manufacturing sequence management; it could provide significant benefits to manufacturing business. In the context of global manufacturing operations and broad-based user communities with differing needs served by common data sets, tool functionality is generally ahead of user application

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

Supply chain control: Trade-offs and system requirements

The official published version can be accessed from the link below.A paper describes the underlying forces which drive change in manufacturing enterprises and supply chains. It sets out the complexities in modern capitalism and global economics and illustrates the trade-offs that can be made. IT systems which are required to assist improvements to both customer service and enterprise manufacturing performance are explained, alluding to the special case for the semiconductor industry. Arguments are presented showing how the new tools being developed with the ESPRIT project 20544, X-CITTIC, will satisfy the control needs for a virtual enterprise. This paper describes the underlying forces which drive change in manufacturing enterprises and supply chains. It sets out the complexities in modem capitalism and global economics and illustrates the trade-offs that can be made. IT systems which are required to assist improvements to both customer service and enterprise manufacturing performance are explained alluding to the special case for the semiconductor industry. Finally it shows how the new tools being developed with the ESPRIT project 20544, XCITTIC, will satisfy the control needs for a virtual enterprise

Genuine lab experiences for students in resource constrained environments: The RealLab with integrated intelligent assessment.

Laboratory activities are indispensable for developing engineering skills. Computer Aided Learning (CAL) tools can be used to enhance laboratory learning in various ways, the latest approach being the virtual laboratory technique that emulates traditional laboratory processes. This new approach makes it possible to give students complete and genuine laboratory experiences in situations constrained by limited resources in the provision of laboratory facilities and infrastructure and/or where there is need for laboratory education, for large classes, with only one laboratory stand. This may especially be the case in countries in transition. Most existing virtual laboratories are not available for purchase. Where they are, they may not be cost friendly for resource constrained environments. Also, most do not integrate any form of assessment structure. In this paper, we present a very cost friendly virtual laboratory solution for genuine laboratory experiences in resource constrained environments, with integrated intelligent assessment

Model-based groupware solution for distributed real-time collaborative 4D planning via teamwork

Construction planning plays a fundamental role in construction project management that requires team working among planners from a diverse range of disciplines and in geographically dispersed working situations. Model-based four-dimensional (4D) computer-aided design (CAD) groupware, though considered a possible approach to supporting collaborative planning, is still short of effective collaborative mechanisms for teamwork due to methodological, technological and social challenges. Targeting this problem, this paper proposes a model-based groupware solution to enable a group of multidisciplinary planners to perform real-time collaborative 4D planning across the Internet. In the light of the interactive definition method, and its computer-supported collaborative work (CSCW) design analysis, the paper discusses the realization of interactive collaborative mechanisms from software architecture, application mode, and data exchange protocol. These mechanisms have been integrated into a groupware solution, which was validated by a planning team in a truly geographically dispersed condition. Analysis of the validation results revealed that the proposed solution is feasible for real-time collaborative 4D planning to gain a robust construction plan through collaborative teamwork. The realization of this solution triggers further considerations about its enhancement for wider groupware applications