Web Services Support for Dynamic Business Process Outsourcing

Outsourcing of business processes is crucial for organizations to be effective, efficient and flexible. To meet fast-changing market conditions, dynamic outsourcing is required, in which business relationships are established and enacted on-the-fly in an adaptive, fine-grained way unrestricted by geographic distance. This requires automated means for both the establishment of outsourcing relationships and for the enactment of services performed in these relationships over electronic channels. Due to wide industry support and the underlying model of loose coupling of services, Web services increasingly become the mechanism of choice to connect organizations across organizational boundaries. This paper analyzes to which extent Web services support the dynamic process outsourcing paradigm. We discuss contract -based dynamic business process outsourcing to define requirements and then introduce the Web services framework. Based on this, we investigate the match between the two. We observe that the Web services framework requires further support for cross - organizational business processes and mechanisms for contracting, QoS management and process-based transaction support and suggest ways to fill those gaps

Cloud-based Virtual Organization Engineering

Nowadays we may notice that SOA arrived to its maturity stage and Cloud Computing brings the next paradigm-shift regarding the software delivery business model. In such a context, we consider that there is a need for frameworks to guide the creation, execution and management of virtual organizations (VO) based on services from different Clouds. This paper will introduce the main components of such a framework that will innovatively combine the principles of event-driven SOA, REST and ISO/IEC 42010:2007 multiple views and viewpoints in order to provide the required methodology for Cloud-based virtual organization (Cloud-VO) engi-neering. The framework will consider the resource concept found in software architectures like REST or RDF as the basic building block of Cloud-VO. and will make use of resources’ URIs to create the Cloud-VO’s resource allocation matrix. While the matrix is used to declare activity-resources relationships, the resource catalogue concept will be introduced as a way to describe the resource in one place, using as many viewpoints as needed, and then to reuse that description for the creation or simulation of different VOs

Opportunities of industry 4.0 for SMEs in the area of rebar steel distribution within the construction industry –a PPC potential analysis

Industry 4.0coins a global trend towards applying digital technologies to manufacturing. However, the openness towards related innovations varies among different industries. Whilst for instance many manufacturers within automotive or logistics industries have optimized their factories already, the German construction sector falls back regarding adaptation. Reinforcement steel distributors reflect a fundamental part of this sector and are broadly hesitant to initiate their factory transformation. This research provides an overview of the opportunities of Industry 4.0 in the area of reinforcement steel trade and processing. It analyzes how to derive an innovative factory design leveraging on state-of-the-art production planning methods, by aggregating market information and technology

Seafloor characterization using airborne hyperspectral co-registration procedures independent from attitude and positioning sensors

The advance of remote-sensing technology and data-storage capabilities has progressed in the last decade to commercial multi-sensor data collection. There is a constant need to characterize, quantify and monitor the coastal areas for habitat research and coastal management. In this paper, we present work on seafloor characterization that uses hyperspectral imagery (HSI). The HSI data allows the operator to extend seafloor characterization from multibeam backscatter towards land and thus creates a seamless ocean-to-land characterization of the littoral zone

Recent Developments in Quality Management in the Era of Digital Transformation – A Review

The purpose of the current exploratory research is to trace the growth and evolution of the Quality Management as a critical function in organizations and as a discipline of study in academia and research. The methodology adapted is to review some of the classical works and research in the area of Quality Management, which indicates direction of growth and evolution. There are several pioneers who have contributed richly for building and shaping the Quality Management principles, practices and methodologies over several decades. The current study involved the task of summarizing significant trends of Quality Management starting from the crafts man era and going up to the current trend of managing Quality as part of digital transformation. In the digital era there is an increased emphasis on automation of all the activities related to product and process quality management. The use of IoT based automation starting from data capturing, archiving and the point of self-diagnostic and autonomous way of managing quality issues is common place in today’s industries Quality 4.0 era. There are several challenges along the way for which quality professionals must be equipped in terms of knowledge, skills and attitude necessary for quality problem solving using modern techniques. This aspect is also researched in this study. Familiarity with technology platforms such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, image processing, sensors and actuators and such other emerging technologies must form the arsenal for analyzing data and data patterns in the face of data deluge. This requires several inter and multi-disciplinary knowledge exchange forums for grooming future quality professional. This article aims at tracing the metamorphosis of quality management with focus on people development and continuous process improvements in the manufacturing and allied sectors

Optimizing Data Warehousing Startegies

Database technologies have evolved over the last two decades into different constructs to support the ever-growing information needs for organizations spanning the spectrum of operational and analytical processing. The paper examines the characteristics of transactional databases, operational data stores, data warehouses and virtual data warehouses. A framework is developed for an optimal data warehousing strategy based on organizational needs classified by the types of business processes defined by the requirements of supporting functional areas and the levels of decision structures. Enterprise architecture is described to provide an integrated and complimentary view of various data warehousing constructs

EXPLOITING KASPAROV'S LAW: ENHANCED INFORMATION SYSTEMS INTEGRATION IN DOD SIMULATION-BASED TRAINING ENVIRONMENTS

Despite recent advances in the representation of logistics considerations in DOD staff training and wargaming simulations, logistics information systems (IS) remain underrepresented. Unlike many command and control (C2) systems, which can be integrated with simulations through common protocols (e.g., OTH-Gold), many logistics ISs require manpower-intensive human-in-the-loop (HitL) processes for simulation-IS (sim-IS) integration. Where automated sim-IS integration has been achieved, it often does not simulate important sociotechnical system (STS) dynamics, such as information latency and human error, presenting decision-makers with an unrealistic representation of logistics C2 capabilities in context. This research seeks to overcome the limitations of conventional sim-IS interoperability approaches by developing and validating a new approach for sim-IS information exchange through robotic process automation (RPA). RPA software supports the automation of IS information exchange through ISs’ existing graphical user interfaces. This “outside-in” approach to IS integration mitigates the need for engineering changes in ISs (or simulations) for automated information exchange. In addition to validating the potential for an RPA-based approach to sim-IS integration, this research presents recommendations for a Distributed Simulation Engineering and Execution Process (DSEEP) overlay to guide the engineering and execution of sim-IS environments.Major, United States Marine CorpsApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited