WSN based intelligent cold chain management

This paper presents a cold chain monitoring system which is implemented by using ubiquitous computing technologies, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) & Wireless Sensor Network (WSN). In this paper, we discuss how cold supply chain works and how we can monitor and control cold supply chain by using wireless tracking and sensing technologies. We propose a prototype design which will provide a well controlled and transparent cold chain system, which could help the users to manage their products’ environmental data in real time during the life cycle. Moreover, we highlight how the availability of product trace data in combination with historical condition-monitoring data can facilitate decision-making processes enhancing supply chain’s performance. Finally we discuss the integration works of these two technologies together in the cold supply chain management system. Hardware and software platform of WSN used in this system are also described in this paper

Stanford Linear Accelerator Center: A Chemical Management Services Case Study

The Chemical Management Services (CMS) program at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)was launched in August of 2005. In the first six months of the program, there were 170 users in 35 work areas requesting more than 1,600 different chemicals from a central ordering system provided by the CMS provider. The CMS provider exceeded the goals for on-time delivery and the program has reduced scrap and spoilage in inventory. Savings have already been realized in material purchase costs, inventory carrying costs, MSDS management, EHS labor, and annual hazardous material inventory activity

Competitiveness of Indian Manufacturing: Finding of the 2001 National Manufacturing Survey

In this paper we present findings of the second national survey on the competitiveness of Indian manufacturing. The paper develops hypotheses on the competitiveness of firms in the manufacturing sector and addresses some key questions on the characteristics of world class firms in India. We analyze the processes and practices that such firms have adopted to become world class. More important, we highlight firm level practices that are preventing Indian firms from becoming globally competitive. The findings point towards three distinct aspects of manufacturing management that define the capabilities of the firm, i.e., strategies related to dynamic control of shop floors, network linkages and innovation. It is found that firms that build distinctive technological and managerial capabilities in these domains are able to compete globally. The paper provides a comparison with manufacturing capabilities of competitors in China and draws lessons for organizing large scale manufacturing. It also provides an assessment of the changes that have happened in manufacturing priorities and strategies in India since our last survey that was conducted in 1997 and highlights the implications of these changes.

Linking Use Stage Life Cycle Inventories with Product Design Models of Usage

International audienceUsage can have a significant environmental impact on the product life cycle. A precise evaluation and understanding of this impact during design is crucial to support early and adapted feedbacks to design experts to encourage the eco-design practice. Information on usage is spread across different field of expertise, and involves explicit and tacit knowledge. This research aims at improving the link between the available usage information, and the environmental expert’s explicit knowledge on usage. A five steps method is proposed and exemplified in this paper to formalize this link. The paper finally raises the question of how to deal with conflicting usage information during design in industry

Design for Sustainability through a Life Cycle Assessment Conceptual Framework Integrated within Product Lifecycle Management

The need to include sustainable design principles during product realization poses several challenges in need of research. The demand for greener products has increased while competition has shortened product realization processes. Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) provides solutions in accelerating the development process and time to market by managing the information through a full life cycle of a product line. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) provides a way to predict the environmental impacts that should be expected over the complete life cycle of a given product, but LCA methods are not well suited to efficient comparison of product alternatives during early design stages. Customers and other stakeholders demand products that not only comply with regulations and minimize environmental impacts, but also minimize costs and maximize certain performance objectives of a product. Thus, an approach is needed to unify validation of new products compliance with holistic consideration of environmental impacts along with other objectives over a complete life cycle for the selection of the optimal design concept in an efficient manner. This research addresses these matters by proposing the approach of integrating LCA software with a PLM system. A conceptual LCA framework- LCAatPLM (Life Cycle Assessment of assembly tree in PLM) is proposed that allows environmental assessment of assembly tree directly extracted from PLM. Firstly, relevant existing solutions are reviewed and several challenges are identified that prevent integration. By decomposing the structure of both PLM and LCA, a common foundation is identified for the integration. Then, a design methodology is developed to show the use of LCAatPLM within PLM environment. A charcoal grill design case study is detailed to show how evaluations can be made based on achievement of strategic goals, along with verification of compliance and the visibility of LCA and other results. Our findings show that design executions through LCA integrated with PLM reveal environmental criterion at early stages. It can be considered with other design criteria to identify and select optimal alternatives. This research transforms LCA as an evaluation tool used after a design is already completed to one that can guide designs earlier within the PLM environment

Automated Purchase Order - Experiments and Expectations in Mid-sized Manufacturing Companies

Operational processes were originally designed before of large-scale information technology revolution in industries. Based on this fact, it has been argued that by redesigning business processes with help of information technology, efficiencies in operational processes may be achieved. Process integration and automation should save valuable time and resources at the same time. However, in small and medium sized businesses limited resources reduce possibilities to implement both information technology and changes in business processes. The research in this area concentrates whether on large corporations (in depth or on large samples) or on small and medium sized companies based on statistical information. Longitudinal and deep analysis on business process change in small and medium sized companies is scarce. In depth analysis on small and medium sized companies in the area is scarce. This research investigates the savings in labour and capital that are achievable through automating and integrating routine purchase process within a supply chain. This study investigated the area of purchasing and especially routine purchasing of direct production materials. Through the use of action research, quantitative and qualitative analysis, a variety of methods are used in order to give a broader view to the data and results. From the practical point of view, the purchase process of production materials is often repetitive work based on information from diverse information systems and sources. This study investigated the possibility of increasing efficiency through automated routine processes. As an indicator of increased efficiency, change in inventory turns was chosen. Three research questions were set: will purchase order automation have an effect on inventory turns, what are the main contributors to any observed changes in inventory turns and are the observed changes relevant in a larger context of small and medium sized companies? For the two first questions action research methodology was used with participant observation. Two projects of purchase order automation were conducted and effects on inventory turns were measured. The automation projects were conducted in a medium sized electronics manufacturing company and with two of its suppliers. A controlling sample was collected from the company item transaction database. These results were analysed with quantitative analysis methods. Thedata includes three samples of data between years 2000 and 2004. Results showed that automation does not clearly improve inventory turns but the results are mixed. Observed changes result from improved parameter setting and change in business conditions. The third question was treated separately through semi-structured interviews within purchase professionals in medium sized manufacturing companies. Four interviews were conducted in 2014-2015 to verify results from purchase automation projects. The answers were analysed with qualitative methods. It was found that the process of automation and its results are relevant to medium sized manufacturing companies. Special care, however, should be taken while implementing the system and setting its basic parameters. From the theoretical perspective, the research emphasizes the assumption that the benefits of business process changes are not always clearly visible but some positive results may be achieved. In regard of human decision-making biases it is clear that they exist and the effects of these biases may be reduced through process automation. The use of several different methods in data collection and analysis opens a larger picture for a deep analysis of the processes and their results. Through action research insights to the actual phenomenon are gained and a longitudinal analysis gives more than a snapshot to it. From the managerial perspective, process automation is an option to consider but at the same time it should be part of a larger process change initiative to see that it does not result into sub optimisation of processes at the expense of general process optimisation of a company. It is crucial to understand the biases made by individual decision makers in business processes and see, how the negative effects of these biases may be avoided through careful consideration of process automation.Automatisoitu ostotilaus – kokeiluja ja odotuksia keskisuurissa valmistavissa yrityksissä Operatiiviset toimintatavat suunniteltiin ennen suurimittaista tietotekniikan vallankumousta eri teollisuuden aloilla. Onkin esitetty, että operatiivisten prosessien tehokkuutta voidaan kasvattaa uudistamalla liiketoimintaprosesseja ja käyttämällä niissä tietoteknisiä sovelluksia. Prosessien integroinnilla ja automatisoinnilla voidaan säästää arvokasta aikaa ja resursseja samanaikaisesti. Pienten ja keskisuurten yritysten kohdalla ongelmana ovat resurssien rajallisuus, mikä vaikeuttaa prosessien uudistamista ja tarvittavien tietoteknisten sovellusten käyttöönottoa. Tutkimus aiheesta rajoittuu joko suuryrityksiin (perusteellinen analyysi tai laajempaan otokseen perustuen) tai pieniin ja keskisuuriin yrityksiin tilastolliseen tietoon perustuen. Perusteellinen analyysi pienissä ja keskisuurissa yrityksissä on tällä alueella harvinaista. Tällä tutkimuksella selvitettiin, voidaanko rutiininomaisen ostotyön prosessin automatisoinnilla ja integroinnilla toimittajien kanssa saavuttaa säästöjä toimitusketjun työ- ja pääomakustannuksissa. Tutkimus tehtiin siis ostotyön ja erityisesti suorien tuotannollisten materiaaliostojen alueella. Käyttämällä toimintatutkimusmenetelmää, sekä kvantitatiivisia että laadullisia analyysitapoja, saadaan laajempi näkökulma käsiteltyyn tietoon ja tuloksiin. Käytännöllisestä lähtökohdasta katsoen on tuotannollisten materiaalien ostotoiminta usein toistuvaa, rutiininomaista työtä, joka perustuu tietoon eri järjestelmistä ja lähteistä. Tuottavuuden nostamiseksi oli kiinnostava tutkia saadaanko rutiinityön automatisoinnilla tehostettua kyseistä prosessia. Varaston kierron muutos valittiin tehokkuuden nousun mittariksi. Tutkimuksessa haettiin vastausta kolmeen kysymykseen: onko ostotilauksen automatisoinnilla vaikutusta varaston kiertonopeuteen, mitkä tekijät vaikuttavat havaittuihin muutoksiin varaston kiertonopeudessa ja ovatko tässä tutkimuksessa saadut havainnot merkittäviä suuremmassa joukossa pieniä ja keskisuuria yrityksiä? Kahden ensimmäisen kysymyksen kohdalla käytettiin toimintatutkimusta ja tutkijan osallistumista toimintaan tutkittavassa kohteessa. Kaksi ostotilauksen automatisointiprojektia toteutettiin ja niiden yhteydessä mitattiin varaston kiertonopeuden muutoksia. Automatisointiprojektit toteutettiin keskisuuressa yrityksessä kahden yrityksen tavarantoimittajan kanssa. Vertaileva otos kerättiin yrityksen nimiketapahtumien tietokannasta. Nämä tulokset analysoitiin kvalitatiivisin menetelmin. Materiaali sisältää kolme otosta vuosien 2000 ja 2004 väliseltä ajalta. Tutkimuksessa todettiin, että automatisointi ei selkeästi parantanut varastojen kiertonopeutta vaan tulokset ovat ristiriitaisia. Havaitut muutokset johtuvat pääsääntöisesti parannetusta järjestelmän parametrien asetuksista sekä muista liiketoimintaympäristön muutoksista. Kolmas tutkimuskysymys käsiteltiin erikseen käyttäen puolistrukturoitua haastattelurunkoa, jonka avulla haastateltiin ostotoiminnan ammattilaisia keskisuurissa valmistavissa yrityksissä. Vuosina 2014-2015 toteutettiin neljä haastattelua, jotta voitaisiin tarkistaa automatisointiprojektien tuottamat tulokset. Haastattelujen vastaukset analysoitiin laadullisin menetelmin. Tuloksena havaittiin, että automatisointiprosessi ja sen tulokset ovat merkityksellisiä keskisuurissa valmistavissa yrityksissä. Erityinen huomio tulee kuitenkin kiinnittää käyttöönottoprojektiin ja järjestelmän perustietojen määritykseen. Teoreettisesta näkökulmasta tutkimus vahvistaa näkemystä siitä, että liiketoimintaprosessien muutoksella saadut hyödyt eivät ole aina selvästi näkyvissä, vaikka joitain positiivisia vaikutuksia voidaan havaita. Inhimillisten päätöksentekoprosessien alttius poikkeamille normaalista vaikuttaa myös ostoprosessiin, ja automatisoimalla ostoprosessia sen negatiivisia vaikutuksia varaston kiertonopeuteen voidaan vähentää. Eri menetelmien käyttö tiedon keräämisessä ja tiedon analysoinnissa antaa laajemman kuvan toimintatapoihin ja niiden tuloksiin. Toimintatutkimuksen avulla voidaan päästä lähemmäs asioiden todellisia syitä ja pitkällä tutkimusjänteellä saadaan enemmän kuin yksittäisiä kuvia tilanteesta. Yrityksen johdon näkökulmasta toimintaprosessien automatisointi on yksi mahdollisuus, mutta sen tulisi aina olla seurausta laajemmasta toiminnan arvioinnista jotta vältytään yksittäisten prosessien optimoinnilta koko yrityksen liiketoimintaprosessin optimoinnin kustannuksella. On myös erittäin tärkeää ymmärtää yksittäisen päätöksentekijän aiheuttamat poikkeamat prosessiin, ja se miten nämä poikkeamat voidaan välttää huolellisella valinnalla siitä, mitä prosesseja automatisoidaan.Siirretty Doriast

Collaboration and integration through information technologies in supply chains

International audienceSupply chain management encompasses various processes including various conventional logistics activities, and various other processes These processes are supported – to a certain limit – by coordination and integration mechanisms which are long-term strategies that give competitive advantage through overall supply chain efficiency. Information Technology, by the way of collecting, sharing and gathering data, exchanging information, optimising process through package software, is becoming one of the key developments and success of these collaboration strategies. This paper proposes a study to identify the methods used for collaborative works in the supply chain and focuses on some of its areas, as between a company and its suppliers (i.e., inventory sharing) and its customers (i.e., customer demand, forecasting), and also the integration of product information in the value chain

FESTivE: an information system method to improve product designers and environmental experts information exchanges

Effective collaboration between product designers and environmental experts is an important driver for the ecodesign practice in industry. This paper investigates the principal functions required for such an e ective collaboration and aims at facilitating them. Product designers should be able to integrate the environmental parameters into their activities, and to exchange information dynamically with the environmental expert whenever needed during the design process. Therefore, the IT system should be in itself dynamic and exible to the integration of new concepts (knowledge, software). Recent developments in Model Driven Engineering (MDE) are showing some interesting results to gain exibility and dynamism in the IT system. Combining software interoperability using model federation based on MDE with the speci city of ecodesign practice in industry this paper proposes the FESTivE method for Federate EcodeSign Tool modEls. Experimented in two different industrial contexts the practical feasibility of FESTivE has been validated with practitioners. Results on the e ects of using FESTivE in industry shows that product designers and environmental experts are more equipped to anticipate and to respond to each other's needs at each stage of the design process of product or service

Assessing the influence of additive manufacturing and digital inventories on an Oil & Gas company's inventory management strategy

The oil and gas (O&G) industry is increasingly considering using additive manufactured (AM) for spare part management. As O&G companies seek to align their inventory management (IM) strategies, adopting digital inventories (DI) in combination with AM has emerged as a promising solution to current IM challenges in the industry. O&G operators may leverage AM and DI to reduce physical inventories, supply chain risk, inventory-related costs and lead times. However, approaches that describe how companies may implement the DI in operations and existing IM strategies are lacking. As such, this thesis will investigate how Norwegian O&G operators may implement DI to existing IM strategies. Seven companies with experience with AM and currently participate in a DI ecosystem have been interviewed as part of the research for the thesis. The aim of the interviews was to explore the current challenges, best practices, and essential aspects for enabling the successful implementation of DIs. The interview findings are compared against relevant literature to understand the DI ecosystem comprehensively. Key challenges in the ecosystem are unsuitable procurement processes, lack of commercial models, AM spare part (SP) qualification and a lack of demand for AM projects. ERP integration and assessments of AM suitability for stored SP are discussed as key enablers of DI implementation. The benefits and challenges associated with ERP integration will be discussed, thereby providing insight towards how O&G companies may utilise existing ERP systems to maximise the value of DI. A set of frameworks for identifying SP with characteristics suitable for AM is presented. The frameworks may be used to reduce physical inventories. Two decision models visualising critical decisions and stages for a SP ordered through a DI are presented. The first decision model considers decisions and stages for a given SP ordered through a DI. The second model may be adopted by O&G operators aiming to reduce physical inventories. In conclusion, the thesis's main contribution is expanding knowledge of implementing DI as a part of IM strategies for Norwegian O&G operators. The findings highlight a need to address current procurement processes and develop attractive commercial models for all actors in the DI ecosystem. ERP integration and assessment of stored SP suitable for AM are identified as essential enablers of DI implementation