Identifying smart design attributes for Industry 4.0 customization using a clustering Genetic Algorithm

Industry 4.0 aims at achieving mass customization at a mass production cost. A key component to realizing this is accurate prediction of customer needs and wants, which is however a challenging issue due to the lack of smart analytics tools. This paper investigates this issue in depth and then develops a predictive analytic framework for integrating cloud computing, big data analysis, business informatics, communication technologies, and digital industrial production systems. Computational intelligence in the form of a cluster k-means approach is used to manage relevant big data for feeding potential customer needs and wants to smart designs for targeted productivity and customized mass production. The identification of patterns from big data is achieved with cluster k-means and with the selection of optimal attributes using genetic algorithms. A car customization case study shows how it may be applied and where to assign new clusters with growing knowledge of customer needs and wants. This approach offer a number of features suitable to smart design in realizing Industry 4.0

How do top- and bottom-performing companies differ in using business analytics?

Purpose Business analytics (BA) has attracted growing attention mainly due to the phenomena of big data. While studies suggest that BA positively affects organizational performance, there is a lack of academic research. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to examine the extent to which top- and bottom-performing companies differ regarding their use and organizational facilitation of BA. Design/methodology/approach Hypotheses are developed drawing on the information processing view and contingency theory, and tested using multivariate analysis of variance to analyze data collected from 117 UK manufacture companies. Findings Top- and bottom-performing companies differ significantly in their use of BA, data-driven environment, and level of fit between BA and data-drain environment. Practical implications Extensive use of BA and data-driven decisions will lead to superior firm performance. Companies wishing to use BA to improve decision making and performance need to develop relevant analytical strategy to guide BA activities and design its structure and business processes to embed BA activities. Originality/value This study provides useful management insights into the effective use of BA for improving organizational performance

What Types of Predictive Analytics are Being Used in Talent Management Organizations?

[Excerpt] Talent management organizations are increasingly deriving insights from data to make better decisions. Their use of data analytics is advancing from descriptive to predictive and prescriptive analytics. Descriptive analytics is the most basic form, providing the hindsight view of what happened and laying the foundation for turning data into information. More advanced uses are predictive (advanced forecasts and the ability to model future results) and prescriptive (“the top-tier of analytics that leverage machine learning techniques … to both interpret data and recommend actions”) analytics (1). Appendix A illustrates these differences. This report summarizes our most relevant findings about how both academic researchers and HR practitioners are successfully using data analytics to inform decision-making in workforce issues, with a focus on executive assessment and selection

Big Data and the Internet of Things

Advances in sensing and computing capabilities are making it possible to embed increasing computing power in small devices. This has enabled the sensing devices not just to passively capture data at very high resolution but also to take sophisticated actions in response. Combined with advances in communication, this is resulting in an ecosystem of highly interconnected devices referred to as the Internet of Things - IoT. In conjunction, the advances in machine learning have allowed building models on this ever increasing amounts of data. Consequently, devices all the way from heavy assets such as aircraft engines to wearables such as health monitors can all now not only generate massive amounts of data but can draw back on aggregate analytics to "improve" their performance over time. Big data analytics has been identified as a key enabler for the IoT. In this chapter, we discuss various avenues of the IoT where big data analytics either is already making a significant impact or is on the cusp of doing so. We also discuss social implications and areas of concern.Comment: 33 pages. draft of upcoming book chapter in Japkowicz and Stefanowski (eds.) Big Data Analysis: New algorithms for a new society, Springer Series on Studies in Big Data, to appea

Linking business analytics to decision making effectiveness: a path model analysis

While business analytics is being increasingly used to gain data-driven insights to support decision making, little research exists regarding the mechanism through which business analytics can be used to improve decision-making effectiveness (DME) at the organizational level. Drawing on the information processing view and contingency theory, this paper develops a research model linking business analytics to organizational DME. The research model is tested using structural equation modeling based on 740 responses collected from U.K. businesses. The key findings demonstrate that business analytics, through the mediation of a data-driven environment, positively influences information processing capability, which in turn has a positive effect on DME. The findings also demonstrate that the paths from business analytics to DME have no statistical differences between large and medium companies, but some differences between manufacturing and professional service industries. Our findings contribute to the business analytics literature by providing useful insights into business analytics applications and the facilitation of data-driven decision making. They also contribute to manager's knowledge and understanding by demonstrating how business analytics should be implemented to improve DM

How can SMEs benefit from big data? Challenges and a path forward

Big data is big news, and large companies in all sectors are making significant advances in their customer relations, product selection and development and consequent profitability through using this valuable commodity. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have proved themselves to be slow adopters of the new technology of big data analytics and are in danger of being left behind. In Europe, SMEs are a vital part of the economy, and the challenges they encounter need to be addressed as a matter of urgency. This paper identifies barriers to SME uptake of big data analytics and recognises their complex challenge to all stakeholders, including national and international policy makers, IT, business management and data science communities. The paper proposes a big data maturity model for SMEs as a first step towards an SME roadmap to data analytics. It considers the ‘state-of-the-art’ of IT with respect to usability and usefulness for SMEs and discusses how SMEs can overcome the barriers preventing them from adopting existing solutions. The paper then considers management perspectives and the role of maturity models in enhancing and structuring the adoption of data analytics in an organisation. The history of total quality management is reviewed to inform the core aspects of implanting a new paradigm. The paper concludes with recommendations to help SMEs develop their big data capability and enable them to continue as the engines of European industrial and business success. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

An Exploratory Study of Patient Falls

Debate continues between the contribution of education level and clinical expertise in the nursing practice environment. Research suggests a link between Baccalaureate of Science in Nursing (BSN) nurses and positive patient outcomes such as lower mortality, decreased falls, and fewer medication errors. Purpose: To examine if there a negative correlation between patient falls and the level of nurse education at an urban hospital located in Midwest Illinois during the years 2010-2014? Methods: A retrospective crosssectional cohort analysis was conducted using data from the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI) from the years 2010-2014. Sample: Inpatients aged ≥ 18 years who experienced a unintentional sudden descent, with or without injury that resulted in the patient striking the floor or object and occurred on inpatient nursing units. Results: The regression model was constructed with annual patient falls as the dependent variable and formal education and a log transformed variable for percentage of certified nurses as the independent variables. The model overall is a good fit, F (2,22) = 9.014, p = .001, adj. R2 = .40. Conclusion: Annual patient falls will decrease by increasing the number of nurses with baccalaureate degrees and/or certifications from a professional nursing board-governing body

Innovation in a Complex, Uncertain World: Clarifying the Questions, Seeking the Answers

Innovation has at least 40 definitions, many of which can lay claim to being reliable and valid guidelines for organizations to make improvements by doing something new and different. Towards the goal of providing insights to facilitate fruitful pursuit of supply chain, the Third Annual World Class Supply Chain Summit focused on the theme of Innovation in a Complex, Uncertain World. At this invitation-only summit on May 9th, 2018 in Milton, Ontario, executives, scholars, and students discussed a range of innovation topics. The core of those discussions sought clarity on the following: The complexities, uncertainties, and challenges that are prompting the need for innovation in contemporary supply chains Effective ways for tapping into the potential to innovate New ideas from the next generation of researchers and practitioners Questions that demand rigorous research about innovation in supply chains The summit addressed those four issues with two keynote presentations, a panel discussion, and three-minute lightning talk presentations by five students (from the doctoral through to the undergraduate level). In addition to giving voice to the next generation (via the students’ 3-minute presentations), the summit was also designed to uncover perspectives from business disciplines outside of supply chain management (SCM). This was reflected mainly in the inclusion of panelists whose expertise on the subject of innovation was built in the field of entrepreneurship. Incorporating perspectives from the next generation and from beyond the traditional scope of SCM proved useful in generating some insightful conclusions. Among those conclusions, four of the main ones are: Effective usage of supply chain analytics has the potential to yield meaningful returns for transportation services providers The creativity necessary for innovation can be learned so employers should invest in cultivating creativity and its application to challenges of interest, particularly for new and young employees Though seemingly bewildering, the complexity and challenges in modern supply chains represent opportunity for innovation Innovations need not be revolutionary in order to be of real value to an organization firm and its stakeholders This white paper reports on (a) the underlying details of those points (e.g., specific real world examples presented to reinforce those points), (b) some critical unanswered questions that surround those points, and (c) potential research projects to address those questions. These helped to solidify the summit as a valuable contributor to industry-academia deliberations of relevance to the SCM field