Modular Product Architecture to Manage Supply Chain Complexity

The aim of this article is to demonstrate and to eliminate or to reduce the complexities associated supply chain management. These complexities are aroused due to the high level of interdependencies between component interfaces and supply chain participants. A case example is presented to define the importance of product architecture with the help of design structure matrix (DSM) tool to reduce product development complexity. To address such complexity this work focuses on the product architecture and supply chain design. This modular principle is elaborated with the objective to reduce the supply chain complexities. The relationship between product architecture and supply chain complexities is defined along with identifying and categorizing various drivers responsible for supply chain complexities

Modular product development for mass customization

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Perspectives of business process ethics in data-driven marketing management

In today's digitalized world, people leave trails of data about themselves when operating online. While marketers are eagerly utilizing this data for marketing insights, many consumers have a growing fear of their personal data ending up in the wrong hands and losing their privacy. The aim of this study was to understand the role of ethics in current marketing based on consumer data and to examine how data could be used ethically in marketing. The empirical research was conducted by analyzing secondary data from a 2018 survey about the use of digital services in Europe. The main conclusions that can be drawn from study findings are that the need for ethics is even more apparent in marketing than ever before, because of the broad access to personal data. Giving the consumers the ability to opt-out from data use and data selling without it affecting the use of services can create an enormous competitive advantage for organizations in the future.© 2021 The Authors. Security and Privacy published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Virtual supply chain for networked business : perspective of collaborative bill-of-materials, scheduling and process monitoring for developing innovative product

This article presents a methodology applicable to the formation of collaborative bill-of-materials (C-BOM), coordinating production scheduling and monitoring operational processes. The concept of collaborative product development process is described in detail through an example network, where the participating organisations form a temporary virtual organisation (VO) and contribute throughout the entire product development processes. In this paper, the basic need for exchanging product information among the partners is carried out through IT-based software tools, where the partners are enabled to visualise and monitor the operational processes in a real-time environment. This research study concludes with the overall research outcomes and future research directions.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Identification and analysis of the driving factors for product modularity by Interpretive Structural Modelling

Goal: The purpose of this study is to identify the driving factors that affects modular product design and development and to determine the contextual relationships between the identified factors. Design / Methodology / Approach: This research study adopted both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. In qualitative part, an extensive literature review is conducted along with interviews with the experts experienced in product design and development in order to identify and sorted out the driving factors for product modularity. In quantitative part, all the identified factors were analyzed through Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) method. MICMAC (Matrice d'Impacts Croisés Multiplication Appliquéeáun Classement (cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification) analysis is carried out to determine the relative driving and dependency power of the factors. Results: The contribution of this paper is the identification of the factors associated with developing a modular product. Through the use of ISM diagraph, the identified factors were clustered into different layers based on their driving and dependency characteristics. The ISM diagram also presented the relationship between one factor over others and the reason for such relationship. Such a diagram offers decision maker better visibility on the factor that they need to consider or strategy they need to implement to improve their modular product design and development architecture. The results from this research study encompass organizational managers for handling multiple design views, controlling design related interfaces and ranking the status and progress of product modularity and design completeness. Practical implications: The study outcomes support product designers to optimize their product development processes, especially to develop modular products. The presented methodology can be used extensively used by the product designers/planners/managers to find the driving factors related to modular product design and development. Originality / Value: The originality of this research study is to deploy the ISM approach, which can be used by the organizational managers and/or product designers to plan product development strategies. Such strategies help to them to make necessary decisions on resources allocations. Limitations of the investigation: The outcomes from this research may not be generalize sufficiently due to subjectivity of the interviewers.© 2020 Brazilian Association of Production Engineering (ABEPRO). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Developing a practical methodology to improve the health-care services : studying a neonatal intensive care unit case in Oman

Purpose This study aims to develop a practical methodology to identify possible areas of improvements as well as exploring how to improve the health-care staff flow within a selected department in a hospital. Design/methodology/approach It focuses on showing how to properly study and analyze the health-care services and processes practiced at a selected department within a hospital. For this, several techniques like non-value-adding activities, time motion study, spaghetti diagram, layout analysis, etc. are used. Findings To test the proposed methodology, a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of a hospital in Oman was considered as a case study. The study revealed that this unit has several potential improvements capabilities. Further, this study also discussed possible areas of improvements of this case unit and suggested how such improvements can be implemented. Originality/value Several possible improvements are suggested and are discussed with the hospital authority, which can be clarified as the re-layout of the NICU rooms, reorganization of the store to improve the staff flow, increase the work efficiency, introduction of Help Us Support Healing policy, etc., which can enhance the entire operational system at the studied NICU.©2020 Emerald Publishing Limited. This manuscript version is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY–NC 4.0) license, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Measurement of product innovation in small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) : a case study in Oman

In this research study, an attempt has been taken to measure the level of product innovation in Oman. The aims of this research were to measure the product innovation level of selected small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Oman and to assess necessary effort to improve product innovation level to a standard level. To fulfil these objectives, 24 SMEs engaged in both manufacturing and service sectors were selected, studied and analysed. The outcomes from the study indicates that the level of product innovation in selected Omani SMEs are noticeably low and substantial efforts are necessary to improve it to a standard level. In order to demonstrate the procedural steps to calculate and measure the product innovation level and necessary effort, out of 24 SMEs one SME was highlighted within the scope of this paper. Overall study outcomes are discussed in conclusion section along with research limitations and future research directions.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Optimization Modeling of a Poultry Industry Supply Chain Network

Supply chain management is an asset to every industry globally due to its positive outcomes such as faster response time, reduction of unwanted inventory and lower sales costs with enhanced customer service. It is therefore important to focus on improving the supply chain network of any industry. The objective of this research study is to model a supply chain network for poultry Industry in Oman. The study analyzes the existing supply chain network within a poultry industry and recommended its improvement based on the identified factors while giving more emphasis on the routing and distribution network aspects of supply chain. The recommendation, in the form of optimization model, is verified and validated using Lingo optimization software. Also, heuristic method is proposed and tested to overcome the complexity of optimization model

Application of fuzzy TOPSIS framework for selecting complex project in a case company

Purpose This study aims to propose a method known as the fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (fuzzy TOPSIS) for complex project selection in organizations. To fulfill study objectives, the factors responsible for making a project complex are collected through literature review, which is then analyzed by fuzzy TOPSIS, based on three decision-makers’ opinions. Design/methodology/approach The selection of complex projects is a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) process for global organizations. Traditional procedures for selecting complex projects are not adequate due to the limitations of linguistic assessment. To crossover such limitation, this study proposes the fuzzy MCDM method to select complex projects in organizations. Findings A large-scale engine manufacturing company, engaged in the energy business, is studied to validate the suitability of the fuzzy TOPSIS method and rank eight projects of the case company based on project complexity. Out of these eight projects, the closeness coefficient of the most complex project is found to be 0.817 and that of the least complex project is found to be 0.274. Finally, study outcomes are concluded in the conclusion section, along with study limitations and future works. Research limitations/implications The outcomes from this research may not be generalized sufficiently due to the subjectivity of the interviewers. The study outcomes support project managers to optimize their project selection processes, especially to select complex projects. The presented methodology can be used extensively used by the project planners/managers to find the driving factors related to project complexity. Originality/value The presented study deliberately explained how complex projects in an organization could be select efficiently. This selection methodology supports top management to maintain their proposed projects with optimum resource allocations and maximum productivity.© 2021, Ahm Shamsuzzoha, Sujan Piya and Mohammad Shamsuzzaman. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcodefi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Requirements for Blockchain Technology in Supply Chain Management : An Exploratory Case Study

The aim of this research study is to look for possible re-search opportunities to applying blockchain technology in supply chain management and logistics. In addition, accom-panying challenges to utilizing blockchain in supply chain management along with possible solutions are also provided. To fulfil the study objective, both theoretical and empirical approaches are adopted for this study. With respect to theo-retical approach, relevant literature on blockchain was re-viewed considering both technical and economic aspects, its architecture and implementation challenges. The empirical part of the research was conducted by studying three case companies operating in the domains of wood construction, consulting and regional development, and technology. Three case companies were analysed with respect to the application of blockchain in their supply chain operations. From the study outcomes, it was noticed that blockchain technology can be utilized successfully in supply chain management in vari-ous business domains in order to provide, for instance, better services and transparency.©2021 All Rights Reserved - OSCM Journal, Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS)fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed