Performance of supply chain collaboration – A simulation study

In the past few decades several supply chain management initiatives such as Vendor Managed Inventory, Continuous Replenishment and Collaborative Planning Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR) have been proposed in literature to improve the performance of supply chains. But, identifying the benefits of collaboration is still a big challenge for many supply chains. Confusion around the optimum number of partners, investment in collaboration and duration of partnership are some of the barriers of healthy collaborative arrangements. To evolve competitive supply chain collaboration (SCC), all SC processes need to be assessed from time to time for evaluating the performance. In a growing field, performance measurement is highly indispensable in order to make continuous improvement; in a new field, it is equally important to check the performance to test conduciveness of SCC. In this research, collaborative performance measurement will act as a testing tool to identify conducive environment to collaborate, by the way of pinpointing areas requiring improvements before initializing collaboration. We use actual industrial data and simulation to help managerial decision-making on the number of collaborating partners, the level of investments and the involvement in supply chain processes. This approach will help the supply chains to obtain maximum benefit of collaborative relationships. The use of simulation for understanding the performance of SCC is relatively a new approach and this can be used by companies that are interested in collaboration without having to invest a huge sum of money in establishing the actual collaboration.     

A multi-agent based approach for change management in manufacturing enterprises

Change management becomes an unavoidable necessity for manufacturing enterprises. Since change in business processes carries significant impact on the performance of manufacturing companies, a change management model is definitely required to remain competitive. Moreover, utilizing agent based systems will provide computational provision and integrity to manage and measure the capabilities to follow the change in a progressive approach by employing the cooperation and collaboration properties of various agents helping for retrieval of the required information in a rapid way. Therefore, in this paper, a multi-agent based change management model is proposed to handle the changes in manufacturing enterprises. The model is validated through a case study done to measure the performance of change management capabilities in a manufacturing company. A sensitivity analysis on the results of this case study is also conducted to reveal the system reactivity to various parameters.     

A u-IT collaboration evaluation model for value networks

The paradigm of competition between companies has been changed from the competition between individual businesses to the one between the supply chain management. To gain a comparative advantage in this supply chain management, IT collaboration, which has an important strategic location for cooperation between manufacturers, sectors, systems, applications, and processes and supports them, has begun to emerge as an important key. To date, however, most of the studies have searched factors constructing collaborative networks between companies, and there are few studies on performance analysis for activating collaborative networks between companies. Accordingly, this study would like to conduct performance analysis on collaborative networks between companies for measuring performance of constructing concrete collaborative networks and activating improved collaborative network systems from an industrial viewpoint. In detail, it would like to design a model for determinants to make construct collaborative networks and to analyze the utilization level and performance of collaborative networks between companies. In addition, it conducts correlation analysis on determinants of collaborative networks to improve performance of these collaborative networks.     

Service-oriented computing

Service-oriented computing using Web services has emerged as a major research topic in recent years. Strong support from major computer companies including IBM, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Oracle, and SAP has accelerated the acceptance and adoption of SOC using Web services. With SOC, enterprises can define and execute transactions across multiple business. Companies can use SOC's plug-and-play interoperability to compose business processes and integrate different information systems on the fly to enable ad hoc cooperation between new partners. Thus, SOC reinvents the way enterprises work together: common tasks in a business process or supply chain can be easily outsourced to external service providers for both performance and cost reasons.     

基于合作博弈的移动代理网管任务协作模型

为提高网络管理任务性能,需要研究在复杂网管任务下多移动代理协作问题 .由于传统代理协作模型(如合同网协议)并不适合大规模网络中复杂任务的代理协作,不能保证协作模型中个体代理性能的稳定 .为此合作博弈理论成为移动代理的网管任务协作问题的重要途径,在该协作模型中,单个功能代理被视为具有自主意识的主体,它具有自身的效用函数评估个体的性能 .将代理协作问题转化成为凸联盟博弈模型并利用Shapley值作为协作模型中任务分配合理性的评判标准,并基于上述理论模型,提出3阶段的任务协作算法 .     

A collaboration model for new product development through the integration of PLM and SCM in the electronics industry

As customer requirements for high-tech products vary and become complicated, the lifecycle of these products becomes much shorter. In response to this market environment, many manufacturing companies have established a global simultaneous launch strategy for new products to occupy markets before competitors. In this process, careful scheduling of the global simultaneous launch strategy is critical. In particular, to meet the launch schedule for each country in which a new product will be released, a collaboration process among relevant departments must be prepared, and correct product information should be maintained among major cooperative work support systems according to new product development business processes. This paper suggests a collaboration model integrating product lifecycle management and supply chain management as an approach to supporting complicated new product development procedures. We use a practical case study to evaluate this model.     

跨组织工作流的动态协同技术研究

跨组织的工作流致力于跨越组织边界进行业务重组。针对多个组织间动态协同的复杂性,在组织间协作过程中必须考虑对组织的隐私信息、已建立的工作流和已建立的工作流管理系统的保护,解决成员间进行信息共享时出现的问题,从而真正实现协同商务。为满足这些需求,提出了基于视图的方法,这个方法考虑了工作流和资源的部分可见性,不同程度的可见性可以使企业保持其内部工作流隐私和安全性所需的水平,从而把工作流的可见性降低到合作所需的最低水平。研究的目的是使得组织在增强对外交互能力的同时,保护组织内部的敏感信息。     

Coopetition in innovation activities and firms' economic performance: An empirical analysis

We use survey data to test whether it pays to cooperate in innovation activities with rivals (also referred to as coopetition) compared to other cooperative arrangements, notably with non‐rival partners. Applying an ordinary least squares regression to a large sample of French firms (N = 2957), we found evidence of a positive and significant relationship between various forms of cooperation (with and without rivals) and firms' economic performance, measured by EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization). Results show that cooperation with rival and non‐rivals taken together increases economic performance, but that the impact of cooperation with rivals is lower than the impact of cooperation with non‐rivals. Estimation results suggest that reaping the full cooperation benefits is not automatic and requires precision dosing and management.     

Designing a knowledge-based system for benchmarking: A DEA approach

First developed by Xerox in 1979, benchmarking provides measurement and comparison to improve processes and achieve higher performance. Benchmarking has proven a powerful tool for total quality management and process improvement. Successful benchmarking implementation is based on an effective benchmarking tool. To effectively implement benchmarking processes, this work proposes an integrated framework for the benchmarking tool and knowledge-based system using the data envelopment analysis (DEA) method, and then develops an intellectual benchmarking knowledge-based system (BKBS) for benchmarking, performance evaluation and process improvement. Accordingly, this work illustrates how the benchmarking knowledge-based system (BKBS) is implemented in a medical center. This system can help determine the particular benchmarking partners to evaluate the relative efficiency and fill the gaps between the benchmarking partners in the healthcare industry. Finally, the intellectual benchmarking knowledge-based system offers a very fast way to implement the benchmarking processes.     

Factors affecting the performance of knowledge collaboration in virtual team based on capital appreciation

Knowledge collaboration (KC) is an important strategy measure to improve knowledge management, focusing on not only efficiency of knowledge cooperation, but also adding value of intellectual capital and social capital. In virtual teams, many factors, such as team’s network characteristics, collaborative culture, and individual collaborative intention, affect the performance of KC. By discussing the nature of KC, this paper presents that the performance of can be measured from two aspects: effectiveness of collaboration and efficiency of cooperation. Among them, effectiveness of collaboration is measured through value added and efficiency of cooperation is measured through accuracy and timeliness. Then the paper discusses the factors affecting the performance of KC from network characteristics, individual attributes and team attributes. The results show that network characteristics, individual attributes and team attributes in virtual team have significant impacts on the performance of KC.     

Performance of Traditional and Web-Based EDI

This article examines three categories of companies with regard to electronic data interchange (EDI) usage: (1) companies that use no EDI at all, (2) companies that use traditional EDI, and (3) companies that use Web-based EDI. Performance is examined for these three types of companies using the following dimensions: process cost; operational efficiency; customer satisfaction, coordination, cooperation, and commitment between EDI partners; and overall performance. Results show that companies using Web-based EDI experience superior performance in commitment between EDI partners as well as overall performance, while companies using Web-based or traditional EDI experience superior performance in internal operational efficiency as well as overall performance.     

ICT capabilities for supporting collaborative work on business processes within the digital content industry

The digital content industry requires the integration of specialized information and communications technology (ICT) capabilities to support collaborative work for planning and executing its business processes. In particular, this knowledge-intensive industry lacks for adequate control on product documentation, inter and intra organizational resources management, and process monitoring which is required for supporting the high demand of projects typically constrained in time, costs, and quality. This paper presents a defined maturity model named DigiCoMM to assess collaboration and interoperability capabilities that are specific to pre-production, production, and post-production processes within the digital content industry. It also presents MONO, a computer-supported collaborative work (CSCW) software for supporting the incremental transition of companies through the different levels of the maturity model. MONO was developed in the context of the DAVID research project (Strategic Programme for the Research and Development of the Colombian Animation and Video Games Industry), during the period of 2012–2015. This model and software were used to assess and support the collaborative capabilities of several animation and video game companies in Colombia.     

Internal and contextual factors, knowledge processes and performance: From the Chinese provider’s perspective

This paper explores the influences of two internal factors, i.e. supplier team’s IT-based skills and communication with client’s team, and two contextual factors, i.e. supplier team’s understanding of client’s culture and collaboration with client’s team, on knowledge processes and performance in global sourcing of IT services from the Chinese provider’s perspective. Knowledge processes are characterized by knowledge sharing, knowledge-based coordination and expertise management, and performance is measured by product success and personal satisfaction. Data have been collected in 13 companies in Xi’an Software Park, with 26 in-depth, semi-structured interviews held with top and middle managers, and 200 structured questionnaires distributed to knowledge workers who are involved in global sourcing projects. The results indicate that supplier team’s IT-based skills, communication with client’s team, cultural understanding of client’s culture and collaboration with client’s team are positively associated with knowledge process and performance. Also, knowledge sharing, knowledge-based coordination and expertise management are found to be crucial for those influential factors to function positively and contribute to the performance. The findings of this study suggest that the effects of key factors on knowledge processes and performance in global sourcing of IT services appear to transcend the social and cultural differences; however, contextual factors seem to have more significant influences on knowledge processes and performance in global sourcing of IT services.     

Service-Oriented Computing: Bringing Business Systems to the Web

The notion of "service" has spurred major evolutions for both information systems and the Web. A software application is no longer considered a monolithic component; it can be divided into services that are smaller components defined by their function and accessible through well-defined interfaces and protocols. As a result, IT actors are using service-oriented architectures (SOAs) to remodel the information systems of many companies while the Web is increasingly becoming a programmable place. In both domains, developers build composite client applications to consume these services. Even boundaries between enterprise services and Internet services are vanishing. Some companies, such as Strikelron provide enterprise services that were previously always hosted internally - like customer relationship management solutions. As a consequence, companies now have the technologies required to bring their business online. With Web services, private business processes can be exposed to partners through public composite Web applications. When new projects emerge, companies need guidance to properly handle such work. In this context, we aim to provide companies solutions - through a methodology, an architecture, and technical choices - that will help them solve generic problems such as security and application conception     

Maintaining consistency between CAD elements in collaborative design using association management and propagation

The complete definition of a product often requires the collaboration of various partners. Data sharing and exchange between partners has thus become an important task throughout a product's entire life cycle. Even while subsets of the product definition are exchanged (as work packages) and modified by various partners, the global product definition must remain consistent. This paper focuses on maintaining consistency between Computer-Aided Design (CAD) work packages and the global product Digital Mock-Up (DMU). The approach is designed to ensure better management of the associations between objects when a work package is extracted from the global DMU, modified by a partner, sent back to the originator and then re-inserted into the global DMU, which must be modified in turn so as to maintain consistency. To this end, we propose an association management model for the digital mock-up (Digital Mock-up Association Management Model, DMU-AMM) that transposes the associations that exist between a DMU and a work package, including package extraction and modifications, to ultimately guide the evolution of the DMU so as to reconcile the associations between a modified DMU and the modified work package and there by maintain consistency.     

The effects of collaboration on build-to-order supply chains: with a comparison of BTO,MTO, and MTS

The initiative of collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment has generally provided rich options of strategies for build-to-order (BTO) supply chain members. In this study, we examined collaborative activities across BTO, make-to-order (MTO), and make-to-stock (MTS) supply chains. We draw upon the results from an empirical research from 126 manufacturing companies to illustrate what collaborative activities will enable companies to achieve better market performance, given their particular production circumstances. We have provided three major findings in this study: (1) identified a set of activities that are viewed as important for collaboration by business managers; (2) recognized various effects of collaboration on BTO, MTO, and MTS; and (3) illustrated the association between collaborative activities in BTO, MTO, and MTS supply chain and firm’s market performance.     

Transputers and switches as objects in OCCAM

This paper introduces a transputer multi-processor architecture that has been developed at Southampton University in collaboration with other partners under an Esprit research contract. It first introduces and characterises the T800 transputer, which is the component used in the construction of this supercomputer. The machine was designed as an OCCAM engine, although other language support will be developed within this collaboration. The strategy for embedding hardware features such as the switches and busses used in the design, into an OCCAM model, is explored and further development to provide an insight into how a such a system may be efficiently programmed using a variety of parallel decomposition techniques. In particular we look at an object-oriented approach to scheduling resources, executing processes and performing operations or methods on whole data structures.     

Reality is our laboratory: communities of practice in applied computer science

The present paper presents a longitudinal study of the course 'High-tech Entrepreneurship and New Media'. The course design is based on socio-cultural theories of learning and considers the role of social capital in entrepreneurial networks. By integrating student teams into the communities of practice of local start-ups, we offer learning opportunities to students, companies and academia. The student teams are connected to each other and to their supervisors in academia and practice through a community-system. Moreover, the course is accompanied by a series of lectures and group discussions. In this paper we want to present our experiences and to reflect upon the design changes between the first and the second instance of the course. The evaluation of the course showed that the work on real-world problems and the collaboration in teams together with partners from start-up companies were evaluated as very positive, although design flaws, and cultural and professional diversities limited the success of the first instance in 2001. For the second course in 2002, the didactical design was improved significantly according to evaluation results, which brought evidence that the design changes resulted in better collaborative practices and more stable relationships between start-up companies and students. Furthermore, it was found that especially the differences in cultural background and different historical experiences between the two distinct groups of 'students' and 'entrepreneurs' might make processes of social identification more difficult and, therefore, successful community-building less likely'.     

Quantitative lifecycle risk analysis of the development of a just-in-time transportation network system

The automotive manufacturing industry is under financial pressure due to massive cost structure, relatively small scale operation and strong global competition. In order to improve their operational cost efficiency, companies have adopt lean principles in all their manufacturing activities, in particular, just-in-time supply chain. However, a consequence of this policy makes the transportation network from the local supply chain time critical. This paper uses an enterprise system model integrated with a quantitative method to study a manufacturing company’s logistics system re-development project. The quantitative risk analysis examines the project’s systems engineering management plan to see if it is sufficiently to mitigate risks in design, monitoring and validation of the project’s lifecycle processes. The computed risk profile shows a trend of decreasing risk and suggests areas of improvement in the systems engineering plan to ensure greater probability of success. The research assumes a single risk profile for the supply chain. Research is continuing in expanding to more accurate risk profile of the project when partners of the supply chain have individual profiles.     

MULTI-AGENT COOPERATION VIA REASONING ABOUT THE BEHAVIOR OF OTHERS

In multi-agent cooperation, the agents will cooperate efficiently if they can accurately anticipate the behavior of their partners. In this work, we put forward a framework (called as  transpositional thinking principle ) for reasoning about and predicting the behavior of others and propose an approach to planning the cooperation among agents based on the principle. By using the principle, agents can richen their understanding about the behavior patterns of their partners and then infer their partners' actions more and more accurately. The experiments show that the cooperation among agents will be performed more efficiently and at a low cost when agents can anticipate the behavior of others with a high enough accuracy.