An investigation of ‘build vs. buy’ decision for software acquisition by small to medium enterprises

ContextThe prevalence of computing and communication technologies, combined with the availability of sophisticated and highly specialised software packages from software vendors has made package acquisition a viable option for many organisations. While some research has addressed the factors that influence the selection of the software acquisition method in large organisations, little is known about the factors affecting SMEs.ObjectiveTo provide an understanding of factors that affect the decision process of software acquisition for SMEs. It is expected that results from this study: (i) will assist the SME decision process for software acquisition, and (ii) will assist policy makers in terms of developing appropriate guidelines for SME software acquisition.MethodA positivist research perspective has been adopted involving semi-structured interviews in eight SMEs in Thailand with the interviewees assigning to each of the potential factors.ResultsThe study found that the following factors affect both SMEs and large organisations: requirements fit, cost, scale and complexity, commoditization/flexibility, time, in-house experts, support structure, and operational factors. Factors mainly applying to large organisations were strategic role of the software, intellectual property concerns, and risk, Factors particularly relevant to SMEs (ubiquitous systems, availability of free download, and customizable to specific government/tax regulations).ConclusionThe results suggest that: (i) when deciding on their software acquisition method, SMEs are generally less likely to pursue a long-term vision compared with larger organisations, possibly because SMEs mainly serve their local markets; and (ii) contrary to the large organisations, the role that the IT plays in SMEs may not be as vital to the SMEs’ core business processes, to their supply chains, and/or to the management of their customer relationship. Furthermore, neither the level of technological intensity nor size of the SME appears to affect the ranks given by the interviewees for the various factors.     

环氧煤沥青厚浆涂料的研制及应用

介绍了环氧煤沥青厚浆涂料的配方、工艺及其在防腐蚀工程中的应用。     

浅谈企业管理信息系统的建设

结合广东省飞来峡水利枢纽管理局管理信息系统的开发 ,阐述了企业管理信息系统建设过程中容易忽视和本身存在的问题 ,探讨企业管理信息系统建设成功的主要对策     

以循环经济模式构建与发展钨产业链的思考

以发展循环经济模式为出发点,探讨了构建和发展钨产业链的新思路,从钨资源开发与综合利用、钨资源高效利用、钨资源循环利用和陶瓷替代产品研究与发展等方面阐述了实现新思路的途径。     

Build orientation determination of multi-feature mechanical parts in selective laser melting via multi-objective decision making

Selective laser melting (SLM) is a unique additive manufacturing (AM) category that can be used to manufacture mechanical parts. It has been widely used in aerospace and automotive using metal or alloy powder. The build orientation is crucial in AM because it affects the as-built part, including its part accuracy, surface roughness, support structure, and build time and cost. A mechanical part is usually composed of multiple surface features. The surface features carry the production and design knowledge, which can be utilized in SLM fabrication. This study proposes a method to determine the build orientation of multi-feature mechanical parts (MFMPs) in SLM. First, the surface features of an MFMP are recognized and grouped for formulating the particular optimization objectives. Second, the estimation models of involved optimization objectives are established, and a set of alternative build orientations (ABOs) is further obtained by many-objective optimization. Lastly, a multi-objective decision making method integrated by the technique for order of preference by similarity to the ideal solution and cosine similarity measure is presented to select an optimal build orientation from those ABOs. The weights of the feature groups and considered objectives are achieved by a fuzzy analytical hierarchy process. Two case studies are reported to validate the proposed method with numerical results, and the effectiveness comparison is presented. Physical manufacturing is conducted to prove the performance of the proposed method. The measured average sampling surface roughness of the most crucial feature of the bracket in the original orientation and the orientations obtained by the weighted sum model and the proposed method are 15.82, 10.84, and 10.62 μm, respectively. The numerical and physical validation results demonstrate that the proposed method is desirable to determine the build orientations of MFMPs with competitive results in SLM.     

高耐磨厚涂型双组分聚氨酯地板漆的研制

选用浅色蓖麻油、苯酐、苯甲酸、95%甘油、乙二酸制备了施工性、柔韧性良好、厚涂不易开裂的高耐磨厚涂型双组分聚氨酯地板漆。选用合适的脱水剂及催干剂可有效抑制聚氨酯漆施工过程中产生的气泡,即使在高湿度条件下,厚涂施工也能获得光洁无泡的表面,而添加耐磨助剂能大幅度提高聚氨酯漆的耐磨性以及摩擦保光性。     

60万吨甲醇动力站主厂房脚手架简介

主要从理论上阐述某60万t甲醇动力站主厂房主体框(排)架结构(主要有4.17 m,7.97 m,14.97 m,26.47 m,29.57 m,35.47 m等结构层,轴线跨度8.0 m)的脚手架搭拆及结构、安全性验算和用于指导实践的施工方法及施工过程的危险点(源)的控制。     

预应力空心板楼面质量通病的防控技术

针对建筑工程中常见的预应力空心楼板顺板缝裂缝的质量通病，分析其成因，阐述其防治措施。     

内置柔性防水屋面浅探

介绍了内置柔性防水屋面的施工技术 ,从内置柔性防水屋面的特点、应用实践等方面进行了阐述 ,对其实践情况和功能机理进行了理论分析 ,解决了工程施工中的建筑防水问题     

学习十六大精神建设全面小康关键在农村

十六大精神为我们当前做好农村农民经济工作指明了方向，今后二十年能否实现建设小康社会的奋斗目标，关键在农村，重点、难点也在农村。