Agent-based gateway operating system for RFID-enabled ubiquitous manufacturing enterprises

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A bilevel programming approach to assembly job shop scheduling

A bilevel programming approach for assembly job shop scheduling isproposed. Two levels of decision makers are identified in the model. The firstlevel is the project manager and the second level is the shop floor manager. Thefirst level aims to minimize the earliness and tardiness ofcompleted jobs. Thesecond level aims to minimize the average shop floor throughput time. Becausetheir aims may conflict, these levels optimize their own objectives based on anon-cooperative game playing process. Their decision variables are denoted byorder release mechanisms and dispatching rules respectively. Using a simulationapproach, this paper identifies the best choice for the project manager underdifferent job shop utilization levels. The research findings can providemanagerial guidance to the project manager as which order release mechanisms touse in order to optimize his objective. © 2009 IEEE.published_or_final_versionThe 39th International Conference on Computers & Industrial Engineering (CIE 2009), Troyes, France, 6-9 July 2009. In Proceedings of the 39th CIE, 2009, p. 182-18

Nash game model for optimizing market strategies, configuration of platform products in a Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) supply chain for a product family

This paper discusses how a manufacturer and its retailers interact with each other to optimize their product marketing strategies, platform product configuration and inventory policies in a VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory) supply chain. The manufacturer procures raw materials from multiple suppliers to produce a family of products sold to multiple retailers. Multiple types of products are substitutable each other to end customers. The manufacturer makes its decision on raw materials' procurement, platform product configuration, product replenishment policies to retailers with VMI, price discount rate, and advertising investment to maximize its profit. Retailers in turn consider the optimal local advertising investments and retail prices to maximize their profits. This problem is modeled as a dual simultaneous non-cooperative game (as a dual Nash game) model with two sub-games. One is between the retailers serving in competing retail markets and the other is between the manufacturer and the retailers. This paper combines analytical, iterative and GA (genetic algorithm) methods to develop a game solution algorithm to find the Nash equilibrium. A numerical example is conducted to test the proposed model and algorithm, and gain managerial implications. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.postprin

A mixed integer programming model to evaluate the impact of business factors on global manufacturing relocation decisions

In recent years, dramatic changes in business factors have triggered a trend of manufacturing relocation out of 'The World's Factory', which is the Pearl River Delta (PRO), China. Global manufacturers in PRO have been facing unprecedented operating cost pressure, due to RI1B currency appreciation, rising labor cost, highly volatile oil price, tax rebate adjustment and industry policy changes. This paper presents a Mixed Integer Programming (MIP) model, to evaluate the impact of business factors on global manufacturing relocation decisions. Objective function of the MIP model is to minimize Total Landed Cost (TLC) for international markets. Application of the MIP model is illustrated through a case study with a hypothetical footwear manufacturer. Managerial implications on supply chain dynamics and regional economy are derived from modeling results and analysis.published_or_final_versio

FuzzySTAR: Fuzzy set theory of axiomatic design review

Product development involves multiple phases. Design review (DR) is an essential activity formally conducted to ensure a smooth transition from one phase to another. Such a formal DR is usually a multicriteria decision problem, involving multiple disciplines. This paper proposes a systematic framework for DR using fuzzy set theory. This fuzzy approach to DR is considered particularly relevant for several reasons. First, information available at early design phases is often incomplete and imprecise. Second, the relationships between the product design parameters and the review criteria cannot usually be exactly expressed by mathematical functions due to the enormous complexity. Third, DR is frequently carried out using subjective expert judgments with some degree of uncertainty. The DR is defined as the reverse mapping between the design parameter domain and design requirement (review criterion) domain, as compared with Suh's theory of axiomatic design. Fuzzy sets are extensively introduced in the definitions of the domains and the mapping process to deal with imprecision, uncertainty, and incompleteness. A simple case study is used to demonstrate the resulting fuzzy set theory of axiomatic DR.published_or_final_versio

Towards Operational Hedging for Logistics Uncertainty Management in Prefabrication Construction

published_or_final_version15th IFAC Symposium on Information Control Problems in Manufacturing (INCOM 2015), Ottawa, Canada, 11-13 May 2015. In IFAC-PapersOnLine, 2015, v. 48, p. 1128-113

POPIM: Pragmatic online project information management for collaborative product development

POPIM (Pragmatic Online Project Information Management) is a prototype web-based platform for managing collaborative product development projects within an extended enterprise environment. A suite of facilities are provided for geographically dispersed project team members to communicate, share, and collaborate on a project in a common workspace where they enjoy online access to the most up to date project information and maintain a high-level data consistency and accumulate experience and knowledgebase. In addition to standard project management functionality such as defining work structure breakdowns, determining work schedules, teaming up with specialists, and allocating resources, POPIM incorporates workflow management (including dependency management), and deliverable management (document management if documents are considered as one kind of deliverables). Individual members have their personalized accounts according to their skills and roles/responsibilities in a project. A project team and its members may maintain their own journals/records. More application-specific functions such as product design review and engineering change management can be implicitly performed through online document forms.published_or_final_versio

Scenarios for applying RFID technology in construction project management

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology has been widely applied in various areas such as retail, electronic transaction, logistic and supply chain management, scientific research, security, etc. It has brought about great benefits in these areas through improving real-time information visibility and traceability. However, a widespread application of RFID in the construction industry has not taken place. One possible reason is that construction practitioners may have not been fully informed of its potentials. This paper aims to investigate various scenarios that can illustrate the uses of RFID technology in construction project management. The research starts from a brief summary of recent developments of RFID technology in different industrial sectors including construction. 16 researchers were split into 3 groups to investigate how RFID can be used in the management of materials, men, and machinery (M 3) for construction projects. Perspectives for future studies are proposed in order to fully realise the potentials. The research encourages a wider adoption of RFID technology in improving current PM practices. It also provides academia with a platform for further exploring the innovative uses of RFID technology in construction. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.postprin

Supply hubs in industrial parks (SHIP): research perspectives

An industrial park is a cluster of enterprises located in one location to share common infrastructure, service and market opportunities. It has been adopted in many countries as an important tool for promoting the economic and industrial development. However, its further development has been impeded by the shortage of land resources especially for enterprises' construction of warehouses. The supply hub, having been employed by large suppliers to warehouse raw materials near manufacturers provides a promising way of solving such problem. In this paper, it is extended to "Supply Hub in Industrial Park (SHIP)" in the sense that warehouses of individual enterprises could be integrated into a single public warehouse and centrally serves the manufacturing processes of all the enterprises in an industrial park. Through the functioning of SHIP, it is expected that the land utilization and cost savings could be improved. As the initial study of SHIP, this paper focuses on several fundamental research perspectives: conceptual framework, working process, and potential benefits. Despite of the qualitative analysis, a mathematical model of SHIP is formulated. This work will contribute to the further research of logistics solutions in industrial parks.published_or_final_versionThe 40th International Conference on Computers & Industrial Engineering (CIE 2010), Awaji, Japan, 25-28 July 2010. In Proceedings of CIE40, 2010, p. 1-6The 40th International Conference on Computers & Industrial Engineering (CIE 2010), Awaji, Japan, 25-28 July 2010. In Proceedings of CIE40, 2010, p. 1-

Tourism supply chain management : a new research agenda

2008-2009 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalAccepted ManuscriptPublishe