University of Michigan Undergraduate Research Journal, Issue 9, Winter 2012

Articlehttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/97010/1/UMURJ-Issue09_2012.pd

Emerging Informatics

The book on emerging informatics brings together the new concepts and applications that will help define and outline problem solving methods and features in designing business and human systems. It covers international aspects of information systems design in which many relevant technologies are introduced for the welfare of human and business systems. This initiative can be viewed as an emergent area of informatics that helps better conceptualise and design new world-class solutions. The book provides four flexible sections that accommodate total of fourteen chapters. The section specifies learning contexts in emerging fields. Each chapter presents a clear basis through the problem conception and its applicable technological solutions. I hope this will help further exploration of knowledge in the informatics discipline

A Strategic Framework for Agile Supply Chain Management on Global Supply Chain

A Strategic Framework for Agile Supply Chain Management on Global Supply Chain - Focusing on Agile Manufacturing Inventory Management KIM DONGWON Major in Department of Port Logostics Graduate School of Maritime Industrial Studies Korea Maritime University Abstract Changing customer and technological requirements force companies to develop agile supply chain capabilities in order to be competitive. A wealth of valuable approaches to supply chain strategic, tactical, and operational planning has been extensively developed. In this situation, agile inventory management on global supply chain has become one of the most major strategies to face stronger competition, the market pull and shorter product lifecycles. This study develops a framework to control the supply chain complexity and increase the efficiency, capability, implacability, and sustainability of decisions on how to design, plan, and run supply chains. In this paper, we especially focus on agility of inventory management on global supply chain. Futhermore, we propose to consider a strategic framework, using the crucial factors of agile supply chain managementalignment, adaptability, and visibility. In order to achieve agile supply chain management, integrated and optimal business processes are required. This research provide the opportunities for integration of business processes to a limited extend because most of them are rule based systems that control non-integrated transactions but there is no impetus for collaboration. We present one such business process framework modeling complex and its realization on global environment. Key words: Suppy chain management, Agile supply chains, Agile inventory management, Agility.1. Introduction 1 2. SCM & Business Performance 4 2.1 Factors for High Performers in SCM 4 2.2 SCM Pressures and Capabilities 8 2.3 Application Techniques for SCM Framework 16 3. Agility and Precedent Studies of Agile SCM 20 3.1 The Concept of Agility in SCM 20 3.2 The Importance of Agility 22 3.3 Limits of Precedent Studies of Agile SCM 24 4. Agile SCM framework 29 4.1 Visibility - Supply Chain Governance 32 4.2 Alignment to control complexity 38 4.3 Adaptability 43 4.4 Agile Manufacturing Inventory Management 46 5. Conclusion 6

Designing a Contactless, AI System to Measure the Human Body using a Single Camera for the Clothing and Fashion Industry

Using a single RGB camera to obtain accurate body dimensions rather than measuring these manually or via more complex multi-camera or more expensive 3D scanners, has a high application potential for the apparel industry. In this thesis, a system that estimates upper human body measurements using a set of computer vision and machine learning techniques. The main steps involve: (1) using a portable camera; (2) improving image quality; (3) isolating the human body from the surrounding environment; (4) performing a calibration step; (5) extracting body features from the image; (6) indicating markers on the image; (7) producing refined final results. In this research, a unique geometric shape is favored, namely the ellipse, to approximate human body main cross sections. We focus on the upper body horizontal slices (i.e. from head to hips) which, we show, can be well represented by varying an ellipse’s eccentricity, this per individual. Then, evaluating each fitted ellipse’s perimeter allows us to obtain better results than the current state-of-the-art for use in the fashion and online retail industry. In our study, I selected a set of two equations, out of many other possible choices, to best estimate upper human body horizontal cross sections via perimeters of fitted ellipses. In this study, I experimented with the system on a diverse sample of 78 participants. The results for the upper human body measurements in comparison to the traditional manual method of tape measurements, when used as a reference, show ±1cm average differences, sufficient for many applications, including online retail

Planning and Scheduling Optimization

Although planning and scheduling optimization have been explored in the literature for many years now, it still remains a hot topic in the current scientific research. The changing market trends, globalization, technical and technological progress, and sustainability considerations make it necessary to deal with new optimization challenges in modern manufacturing, engineering, and healthcare systems. This book provides an overview of the recent advances in different areas connected with operations research models and other applications of intelligent computing techniques used for planning and scheduling optimization. The wide range of theoretical and practical research findings reported in this book confirms that the planning and scheduling problem is a complex issue that is present in different industrial sectors and organizations and opens promising and dynamic perspectives of research and development

Optimization for Deep Learning Systems Applied to Computer Vision

149 p.Since the DL revolution and especially over the last years (2010-2022), DNNs have become an essentialpart of the CV field, and they are present in all its sub-fields (video-surveillance, industrialmanufacturing, autonomous driving, ...) and in almost every new state-of-the-art application that isdeveloped. However, DNNs are very complex and the architecture needs to be carefully selected andadapted in order to maximize its efficiency. In many cases, networks are not specifically designed for theconsidered use case, they are simply recycled from other applications and slightly adapted, without takinginto account the particularities of the use case or the interaction with the rest of the system components,which usually results in a performance drop.This research work aims at providing knowledge and tools for the optimization of systems based on DeepLearning applied to different real use cases within the field of Computer Vision, in order to maximizetheir effectiveness and efficiency

Investigations of laser-induced neuronal guidance

One of the long-standing goals of neuroscience has been to look for ways in which to control neuronal growth. It has been discovered recently that placing a focused near-infrared laser spot at the leading edge of a neuronal growth cone elicits a turn in the direction of the laser spot [Ehrlicher et al., PNAS 99: 16024 (2002)]. Optical guidance has the advantage over conventional neuronal guidance methods that neither steric strain nor chemical gradients are necessary to its functionality. Although the success of optical guidance suggests potential therapeutic applications, our first priority is to decipher the mechanism underlying the phenomenon in order better to understand it. Several hypotheses are presented as well as preliminary evidence supporting biased diffusion as an appropriate model for the system.Physic

Strategic group mapping and strategy canvas analysis of the environmental consulting sector : a project-based dissertation on the German Market : a public archival data web-content analysis

Nesta dissertação na modalidade de projeto tive a oportunidade de entrar em contacto com uma Pequena Média empresa no setor de consultoria ambiental, onde me foi pedido para realizar uma análise à competição no mercado alemão, focando-me em mercados específicos em que a empresa se planeia especializar (Nanomateriais, Biocidas e Instrumentos Médicos). É possível observar que as leis ambientais mais restritivas, desenvolvimentos dentro da química e consciência ambiental estão a criar um grande potencial para crescimento e relevância deste setor. Gestão estratégica e categorização estratégica desenvolveram muitas correntes de pesquisa e no entanto, ferramentas estratégicas ainda não foram utilizadas para analisar o setor da Consultoria ambiental, que tem sido negligenciado na literatura. Através de uma análise de dados de arquivamento públicos (websites, páginas de LinkedIn, e relatórios anuais), foi possível aplicar ferramentas estratégicas (Mapeamento de grupos estratégicos e o Canvas estratégico) a uma amostra de 57 empresas de consultoria ambiental no mercado alemão assim como recolher sinais de competitividade e tamanho das empresas. Nesta análise pode-se comprovar que a revolução digital, sustentabilidade e responsabilidade corporativa já se encontram presentes nesta indústria, que várias empresas oferecem tanto apoio ambiental com foco regulatório e de gestão como um apoio ambiental com foco cientifico, procurando eficiência ambiental e redução de desperdício, e que nanomateriais parecem ser o mercado menos presente em websites, comparativamente com o mercado dos biocidas e dos instrumentos médicos. Este trabalho permitiu demonstrar o valor que ferramentas estratégicas podem ter, mesmo quando aplicado a informação publica, neste caso de websites, e também demonstrar as respetivas limitações, permitindo-nos ter uma melhor visão das nuances estratégicas e estrutura de um setor negligenciado. Para além disso, o contexto da análise estratégica também demonstra que o Brexit pode agir como um catalisador de expansão geográfica, o que é um impacto estratégico que ainda não tinha sido estudado previamente em empresas nesta indústria.In this project-based dissertation I had the chance to work with an environment consulting SME, where I was asked to do a competitor analysis of the German Market in particular sectors in which they will focus on (Nanomaterials, Biocides and Medical Devices). It is possible to observe that the increasingly stringent environmental policies, chemistry developments and environmental consciousness are creating a great potential for the growth in size and relevance of this sector. Strategic management and strategic categorization have developed into many streams of research, and however, strategic tools still haven’t been used to describe the environmental consulting sector, which has been overlooked in the literature. Through an analysis of public archival data (Company website, LinkedIn and annual reports), it was possible apply the Strategic group mapping and Strategy canvas frameworks to a sample of 57 environmental consulting companies in the German market, as well as to collect other signs of competitiveness and size. In this analysis it was found that the digital revolution, sustainability and corporate responsibility are already present in this industry, it was found that many companies are providing not only environmental regulatory and managerial support but at the same time providing scientific support, focusing on environmental efficiency and waste management, and that nanomaterials seem to be the least featured market in companies websites comparatively to biocides and medical devices. This paper allowed to demonstrate the value that strategic tools can have, even when applied to public website-content, as well as to demonstrate their limitations, allowing us to give a better overview of the strategic nuances and structure of an overlooked sector. Moreover, the context of this company’s strategic analysis also showcases that Brexit can act as a catalyst of geographical expansion, which is a strategical impact in this industry that hasn’t been studied before for companies in this industry