Cloud manufacturing system for sheet metal processing

Abstract

Cloud computing is changing the way industries and enterprises run their businesses. Cloud manufacturing is emerging as an approach to transform the traditional manufacturing business model, while helping the manufacturer to align production efficiency with its business strategy, and creating intelligent factory networks that enable collaboration across the whole enterprise. Many production planning and control (PPC) problems are essentially optimisation problems, where the objective is to develop a plan that meets the demand at minimum cost or maximum profit. Because the underlying optimisation problem will vary in the different business and operation phases, it is important to think about optimisation in a dynamic mechanism and in a number of interlinked sub-problems at the same time. Cloud manufacturing has the potential to offer decision support as a service and medium of communication in PPC. To solve these problems and produce collaboration across the supply chain, this paper provides an overview of the state of the art in cloud manufacturing and presents a model of cloud-based production planning and production system for sheet metal processing.     

The implementation of digital technologies for operations management: a case study for manufacturing apps

Abstract

Manufacturing applications address business to business (B2B) with highly customised applications developed for specific requirements, offering highly specialised solution-oriented and service-based software components, systems, and digital tools that aim at a fast and accurate decision-making support system. The purpose of this paper is to describe the implementation of digital technologies for operations management using manufacturing or engineering apps (eApps), for product design and manufacturing processes. In particular, starting from the specific needs of two companies from mature European industries as automotive and food, this work depicts how this kind of solutions can support companies and improve their operations. In particular, related benefits and challenges faced for the full implementation of the developed tools are highlighted. Moreover a business model to exploit the manufacturing apps is also proposed. The business model proposed for the exploitation of the eApps supports the commercialisation of all the revenue streams offered by this rapidly growing sector taking into account the specific needs of the concerned stakeholders through a diversified value proposition.     

Decision model for product rollover in manufacturing operations

The purpose of this study is to investigate critical decisions when planning for product rollover at a manufacturing company, and how to organise these decisions. A literature review and a case study are used to develop a decision model. The findings indicate that product rollover can be organised in a five-phase decision model. The research quality is strengthened by a structured literature review, but it can be argued that more empirical research is needed for validation. For researchers, this paper contributes with the identification of critical decisions and a model for product rollover. For practitioners, the study highlights the need to acknowledge the importance of product rollover and its role as a competitive weapon. In earlier studies, product rollover has mainly been investigated from a market perspective, so that this study contributes by investigating the issue from a manufacturing perspective.     

Managing dependency in China outsourcing relationships

Abstract

This paper examines manufacturing firms’ use of guanxi and formal control to address dependence on suppliers and achieve desired outsourcing performance in China. Using survey data collected from manufacturing firms operating in China, a structural equation model is used to test the research model. The results suggest that manufacturing firms with high dependence on suppliers build Chinese guanxi with those suppliers to overcome the dependence and enhance outsourcing performance. In addition, Chinese guanxi also appears to facilitate the use of formal control, which was also found to have a positive relationship with outsourcing performance. This paper contributes to the literature by illustrating the importance of guanxi in achieving desired outsourcing performance in the China context, particularly in the case where a manufacturer perceives high dependency on its major supplier.     

The surprising effectiveness of earliest operation due-date sequencing

In make-to order production, schedule reliability is very important but still not sufficiently accomplished in industrial practice by the vast majority of companies. It has been known for long that processing the orders at a workstation in the order of their operation due-dates can compensate for lateness in the arrival at the workstation within certain boundaries. The paper analyses the effectiveness of earliest operation due date (EODD) sequencing by comparing it to an optimistic theoretical boundary. The surprising result is that EODD can nearly fully exploit the theoretical potential. It should therefore be used in practice whenever schedule reliability is important, with only few exceptions. Its effectiveness though is increasing with the workstation’s WIP level and thus is in conflict with the objective to reduce WIP levels and throughput times. A simple forecasting model allows to assess the extent to which lateness can be compensated by EODD sequencing and which schedule compliance can be achieved.     

Supply Chain Strategies and International Tax Arbitrage

What motivates the geographic footprint of the supply chains that multinational firms (MNFs) deploy? Traditional research in the operations and supply chain management literature tends to recommend locations primarily based on differentials in production costs and the ramifications of physical distance ignoring the role of taxation. MNFs that strategically position parts of their supply chains in low‐tax locations can allocate the profits across the divisions to improve post‐tax profits. For the profit allocation to be defensible to tax authorities, the divisional operations must possess real decision authority and bear meaningful risks. Generally speaking, the greater the transfer of risk and control, the larger the allowable allocation of profit. These transfers may also create inefficiencies due to misalignment of business goals and attitudes toward risk. We model these trade‐offs in the context of placing in a low‐tax region a subsidiary that oversees product distribution (as a limited risk distributor commissionnaire, limited risk distributor, or fully fledged distributor). Our analysis demonstrates that the MNF's preferences regarding the operating structures are not necessarily an obvious ordering based on the amount of risk and decision authority transferred to the division in the low‐tax jurisdiction. We derive and analyze threshold values of the performance parameters that describe the main trade‐offs involved in selecting an operating structure. We find some of the optimal decisions to exhibit interesting non‐monotone behavior. For instance, profits can increase when the tax rate in the low‐tax jurisdiction increases. Numerical analysis shows that the Limited‐Risk Distributor structure is rarely optimal and quantifies when each alternative dominates it.     

中国制造业集聚：度量与显著性检验 ——基于集聚测量新方法

 根据集聚分布的自身特点,本文提出了可以进行显著性检验的普适性产业集聚指数,并对我国28制造业1994年的860个样本和2004年800个样本进行测量和检验,我们的计算结果表明,中国制造业的集聚强度总体上呈上升趋势,同时具有集聚和扩散双重现象。     

制造业效率区域差异及其影响因素分析——基于中国省级面板数据的研究

制造业的发展关系到第二产业乃至整个国民经济的发展,制造业的增长是中国工业经济增长的主导力量。本文运用数据包络分析法,测度了制造业各行业及中国各省制造业效率情况,然后利用中国省级制造业效率指标以及专利申请、地区经济发展水平等制造业效率影响因素的外延数据构成面板数据（Panel Data）建立模型。通过实证分析得出：地区经济的发展有利于制造业效率的提升。专利申请与制造业效率呈负相关。     

中国制造业碳排放影响因素灰色关联动态分析

中国制造业经济总量和碳排放双双增长迅速。本文使用1995-2010年中国制造业相关数据,采用灰色关联分析方法动态分析了制造业发展程度、产业结构、能源结构、能源强度、城镇化率和研发强度等6个因素对中国制造业碳排放的影响程度。主要结论为：中国制造业CO2边际排放波动上升;城镇化率和产业结构是对制造业碳排放影响程度最大的两个因素,其次是能源结构、能源强度和发展程度;从时序来看,城镇化率、能源强度和发展程度对碳排放的影响逐渐增强,而产业结构和能源结构的影响比较稳定;研发强度对碳排放的影响不明显。以上结论为我国制定和完善节能减排政策提供了参考依据。     

基于制造业转移的长三角地区产业结构优化研究

经济增长发展到一定阶段,必然伴随着产业结构的调整和优化。中国制造业虽大但不强,多数企业尚处于产业链中低附加值的底部。制造业转移,特别是我国如何承接国际制造业转移是值得关注的话题。对于区域而言,制造业转移对于区域产业结构的优化具有促进作用,选择合适的主导产业是长三角地区产业结构优化的重要路径。长三角地区制造业转移促进产业结构优化的实证研究结果表明,制造业的转移对产业结构优化具有较为显著的影响。长三角地区应当在科学发展观的指引下,遵循制造业发展规律和产业结构优化规律,积极推动制造业在不同地区间的转移。