Towards a Comprehensive Blockchain Architecture Continuum.

The increasingly need for companies to keep a high level of synchronization globally and the advent of new technologies are pushing more and more to move decision-making and operational power from the centre of organizations to their edges. The blockchain could be the key technology to make this change possible. However, there is no bridge yet capable of shortening the still long distance between this new technological phenomenon and today\u27s business realities. Our work aims precisely at this goal; we propose a framework of blockchain models to help practitioners understanding and potentially implement new solutions based on this technological paradigm. In particular, we have developed an ontology that helps to identify and clarify in detail what are the concepts and structures revolving around this technology, and built a continuum of blockchain architectural solutions, ranging from a classic centralized IT architecture to one completely distributed within a public ecosystem

IoT powered servitization of manufacturing – an exploratory case study

More than ever companies are challenged to rethink their offerings while simultaneously being provided with a unique opportunity for creating or recreating their product-service systems. This paper seeks to address how servitisation can utilise the third wave of Internet development, referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT), which may unlock the potential for innovative product-service systems on an unprecedented scale. By providing an analysis of this technological breakthrough and the literature on servitisation, these concepts are combined to address the question of how organisations offering product-service systems can reap the benefits that the IoT. An analysis of three successful IoT implementation cases in manufacturing companies, representing different industry sectors such as metal processing, power generation and distribution, is provided. The results of the empirical research presented in the paper provide an insight into different ways of creating value in servitisation. The paper also proposes a framework that is aimed at proving a better understanding of how companies can create value, and add it to their servitisation processes with, the data obtained by the IoT based solutions. From the value chain perspective, IoT aided servitisation enables organisations to extend their value chains in order better serve their customers which, in turn, might result in increased profitability. The article proposes further research avenues, and offers valuable insight for practitioners.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

A Framework for Pilot Line Scale-up using Digital Manufacturing

Pilot lines are essential test-beds for process and product validation before the establishment of production lines. However, there is a lack of well-defined methodology for pilot line scale-up. To better support this transition, Virtual Models can be integrated with Discrete-Event Simulation (DES) models for potential production-line configurations. However, the validation of the developed models is hardly possible due to the absence of a physical counterpart. Therefore, this paper proposes a framework to increase the accuracy of the DES scale-up models with Virtual Modelling tools and Ontology. Subsequently, a test-case is used to explain the concept

Civil tiltrotor missions and applications. Phase 2: The commercial passenger market

The commercial passenger market for the civil tiltrotor was examined in phase 2. A market responsive commercial tiltrotor was found to be technically feasible, and a significant worldwide market potential was found to exist for such an aircraft, especially for relieving congestion in urban area-to-urban area service and for providing cost effective hub airport feeder service. Potential technical obstacles of community noise, vertiport area navigation, surveillance, and control, and the pilot/aircraft interface were determined to be surmountable. Nontechnical obstacles relating to national commitment and leadership and development of ground and air infrastructure were determined to be more difficult to resolve; an innovative public/private partnership is suggested to allow coordinated development of an initial commercial tiltrotor network to relieve congestion in the crowded US Northeast corridor by the year 2000

AGILE CONTRACTS: LEARNINGS FROM AN AUTONOMOUS DRIVING SOURCING PROJECT

New digital services and products rely heavily on digital technologies and need to be deployed in an ever-shorter timeframe in response to rapidly changing market demands. To address this challenge, more and more companies are applying agile practices to increase speed and flexibility. In consequence, companies review their sourcing strategies to shorten the duration of tenders for large-scale IT projects and to increase flexibility in contracting of IT services to cope with the anticipated consequences of digital transformation. This study aims at revealing how agile practices could help to reduce time-to-market and to increase contract flexibility. As the automotive industry is especially affected by the adoption of new digital technologies, this revelatory case study shows how a German car manufacturer increased agility in sourcing and contracting of an autonomous driving development platform. Agile practices turned out to be essential in dealing with technological novelty and hurdles, regulatory uncertainty, and frequently changing requirements. We contribute to the extant knowledge by providing practical recommendations on how to increase agility in sourcing and contracting of large-scale IT projects

Supplier relationship management best practices applied to the manufacture of a helicopter airframe in China

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2009.Page 67 blank.Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-66).Sikorsky's recently begun program to manufacture the S-76 helicopter airframe at a supplier in China is examined as a case study of supplier relationship management. Best practices and key principles from the literature and other industry case studies are identified. Key concepts covered include: importance of product architecture and supplier strategic role on the appropriate type of supplier relationship to develop; the different stages of relationship management; the concept of making investments in a supplier relationship as a way of achieving desired relationship closeness; the importance of geography and culture on foreign supplier relationships. The best practices and principles are then used to analyze Sikorsky's performance in the China S- 76 airframe program to date. It is found that while Sikorsky is engaged in several key supplier relationship management activities, significant improvement could be made by more carefully considering how to overcome geographic and cultural distance and by making decisions about relationship investments in a more analytical way, with a focus on bottom-line financial impact. Finally, a generalized process for managing supplier relationships is developed. The six steps are: * Determine the appropriate relationship to develop with the supplier * Determine current supply chain proximity with the supplier * Determine stage of supplier relationship management and appropriate type of investments * Develop menu of relationship investment options * Determine the attractiveness of investment options * Select, prioritize and make investments.R. Jon King.S.M.M.B.A

Redesign for energy and reserve markets in electric power networks with high solar penetration

Favorable price trends and increasing demand for renewable energy sources portend accelerating integration of solar photovoltaic (PV) generation into traditional electric power system networks. Managing the variable output of massive PV resources makes system frequency regulation more complex and expensive. ISOs must procure additional regulation and load following capacity, while power plants must supply more regulation work. In contrast to costly physical storage solutions, this thesis proposes to address the issue by reconfiguring the electricity market pricing structure to translate all power imbalances into real-time market price signals. More accurately determining the instantaneous value of energy, electric power markets could reward participants who can quickly respond to frequency fluctuations. By utilizing short term forward markets to monetize the risk associated with intermittency, the true cost of reliability is determined and could reduce wasteful capacity payments. This market redesign is an ideal open platform for disparate smart grid technologies which could encourage all suppliers, loads and generator, to offer supply or reduce consumption when it is needed most and could vastly improve frequency performance metrics.MSCommittee Chair: Grijalva, Santiago; Committee Member: Begovic, Miroslav; Committee Member: Rohatgi, Ajee

Effects of a Trust Mechanism on Complex Adaptive Supply Networks: An Agent-Based Social Simulation Study

This paper models a supply network as a complex adaptive system (CAS), in which firms or agents interact with one another and adapt themselves. And it applies agent-based social simulation (ABSS), a research method of simulating social systems under the CAS paradigm, to observe emergent outcomes. The main purposes of this paper are to consider a social factor, trust, in modeling the agents\' behavioral decision-makings and, through the simulation studies, to examine the intermediate self-organizing processes and the resulting macro-level system behaviors. The simulations results reveal symmetrical trust levels between two trading agents, based on which the degree of trust relationship in each pair of trading agents as well as the resulting collaboration patterns in the entire supply network emerge. Also, it is shown that agents\' decision-making behavior based on the trust relationship can contribute to the reduction in the variability of inventory levels. This result can be explained by the fact that mutual trust relationship based on the past experiences of trading diminishes an agent\'s uncertainties about the trustworthiness of its trading partners and thereby tends to stabilize its inventory levels.Complex Adaptive System, Agent-Based Social Simulation, Supply Network, Trust