Quantized Hopfield networks and tabu search for manufacturing cell formation problems

The use of neural networks in the design of cellular manufacturing system is not new. This paper presents an application of modified Hopfield neural networks in order to solve cell formation problems: the quantized and fluctuated Hopfield neural networks (QFHN). This kind of Hopfield network combined with the “tabu search” approach were primarily used in a hybrid procedure in order to solve the cell formation for big sizes industrial data set. The problem is formulated as a 0/1 linear and integer programming model in order to minimize the dissimilarities between machines and/or parts. Our hybrid approach allows us to obtain optimal or nearly optimal solutions very frequently and much more quickly than traditional Hopfield networks. It is also illustrated that the fluctuation associated with this quantization may enable the network to escape from local minima, to converge to global minima, and consequently to obtain optimal solutions very frequently and much more quickly than pure quantized Hopfield networks (QHN). The effectiveness of the proposed approach is flexibility it gives us, for example, in time problem-solving for large-scale and speed of execution when we apply it.     

Schedule evaluation in unstable manufacturing environments

This paper provides a new approach to validate the feasibility of schedules of multiple-step mixed-model unstable manufacturing environments with different changeover times. Traditionally, continuous lines in a manufacturing process run the same sequence in order to minimize WIP inventory and lead time. Nevertheless, multiple reasons such as different product mixes or setup times can lead managers to run different sequences in continuous lines. Unfortunately, lack of reliability of supply and demand in these environments makes it difficult to manage product inventories and often leads to starvation due to the discoordination between the schedules of both lines. This approach is based on a new type of visual representation of schedules and an estimate the probability of starvation. It assumes stochastic supply and demand and a predefined schedule sequence based on batches of different sizes.     

The impact of flexibility on operational supply chain planning

We study in this paper the effects of volume flexibility, delivery flexibility and operational decision flexibility in operational supply chain planning under uncertain demand. We use a rolling schedule to plan supply chain operations for a whole year. The planning horizon is 4 weeks with deterministic demand in the first week and predicted for the following 3 weeks. Using a case from the Norwegian meat industry, we compare the annual operating results of using a two-stage stochastic programming model to the deterministic expected value problem in order to discuss the impact of flexibility in the supply chain.     

Supply network capacity planning for semiconductor manufacturing with uncertain demand and correlation in demand considerations

A semiconductor supply network involves many expensive steps, which have to be executed to serve global markets. The complexity of global capacity planning combined with the large capital expenditures to increase factory capacity makes it important to incorporate optimization methodologies for cost reduction and long-term planning. The typical view of a semiconductor supply network consists of layers for wafer fab, sort, assembly, test and demand centers. We present a two-stage stochastic integer-programming formulation to model a semiconductor supply network. The model makes strategic capacity decisions, (i.e., build factories or outsource) while accounting for the uncertainties in demand for multiple products. We use the model not only to analyze how variability in demand affects the make/buy decisions but also to investigate how the correlation between demands of different products affects these strategic decisions. Finally, we demonstrate the value of incorporating demand uncertainty into a decision-making scheme.     

Design of a Global Decision Support System for a manufacturing SME: Towards participating in Collaborative Manufacturing

This paper discusses the conceptual design of a Global Decision Support System for a manufacturing Small or Medium Enterprise (SM/E), which actively participates in Collaborative Manufacturing. In order to implement the proposed concept, a Web Services based system architecture is proposed to offer maximum interoperability between all the distributed participants of a Collaborative Manufacturing Network (CMN) and their management information systems. Furthermore, this conceptual design utilises a Collaborative decision-support model that effectively interacts with the decision-makers and the management information systems/tools exist in the network, and provides appropriate support to all necessary decision-making steps towards the attainment of the network's strategic goals, while making full benefits of the network resources.     

中国制造业集中及其国际化比较

本文采用第三次全国工业普查521个制造行业近60万个企业的系统数据，深入考察了中国制造业的市场集中状况，行业特征及其国际比较，分析结果表明，中国绝大多数制造业行业的集中度都非常低，产业组织结构高度分散，因此，如何按照分类指导、区域对待的原则，实行分类调控和引导，以有效提高制造业特别是规模效益显著行业的集中度，将是当前产业组织政策亟待解决的一个重要课题。     

关于劳务派遣法律问题的探析

劳务派遣作为一种新的用工形式,《中华人民共和国劳动合同法(草案)》对其作了规定.本文结合草案讨论劳务派遣的优点、存在的问题,为我国的劳务派遣法律构建提出初步的设想.     

Modeling approaches for the design of resilient supply networks under disruptions

This paper studies various modeling approaches to design resilient supply networks (SN) for the location-transportation problem under uncertainty. The future environment of the SN is shaped by random demands, and by disruptions perturbing depots capacity and ship-to-point demand processes. The paper proposes several stochastic programming models incorporating alternative resilience seeking formulations. A generic approach to model SN disruptions, and to elaborate and evaluate SN designs is also proposed. Experiments are made to compare the SN design models formulated, and recommendations are drawn on the approach to use to design effective and robust supply networks.     

Service procurement in manufacturing companies: Results of three embedded case studies

An increasing part of companies' purchasing expenditures is being spent on (business) services. At the same time, the interactive character of business services has so far largely been neglected in purchasing and supply management studies. The success of a service purchase is however established during the ongoing production and consumption of that service, which takes place in continuous interaction between buyer and seller.This paper investigates these ongoing interactive processes between buyer and seller after the purchase decision has been made. The specific focus is on services buying by manufacturers, since manufacturers' services spend increasingly encompasses services that eventually become part of the final offering to customers. This is expected to pose specific challenges for manufacturing companies, who have traditionally been involved with purchasing goods.Case studies into ongoing buyer-seller interaction are conducted at three manufacturing companies. Starting from a usage-based classification which contains four types of business services, four services are studied at each manufacturing company. The results show that indeed the different types of services can be associated with distinct patterns of ongoing interaction. Furthermore, the results provide initial support for the idea that having differentiated patterns of interaction contributes to successful ongoing service exchange.     

Applied customer knowledge in a manufacturing environment: Flexibility for industrial firms

Dynamic business markets are forcing B2B marketers to create flexibility in their firms. The present study investigates: (1) made-to-stock (MTS) versus made-to-order (MTO, which is considered more flexible); (2) production technology routineness (with nonroutine considered more flexible); and (3) a marketing-based enabler of flexibility, i.e., applied customer knowledge. SEM analysis shows that applied customer knowledge completely mediates the relationships of both MTO and routineness with financial performance. This delineates two routes to financial performance, beginning with manufacturing-based flexibility constructs and operating through marketing-based applied knowledge. In addition, exploratory analysis of a subsample confirmed empirically that the financial success of mass customization depends on extensive customer knowledge application and low finished goods inventory levels. Managerial implications are discussed, along with ideas for future research.     

Sheltering network planning and management with a case in the Gulf Coast region

This paper studies sheltering network planning and operations for natural disaster preparedness and responses with a two-stage stochastic program. The preparedness phase decides the locations, capacities and resources of new Permanent Shelters. Under each disaster scenario, both evacuees and resources are distributed to shelters in the response phase. To address the computational burden, the L-shaped algorithm is applied to decompose the problem into the scenario level with linear programs. A case study for hurricanes in the Gulf Coast region of the US is conducted to demonstrate the implementation of the proposed model.     

电脑套结机实践指导与参数设计研究

针对《服装设备》课程中电脑套结机教学和实践环节中存在的问题进行分析,通过分析电脑套结机的应用参数、花型与面料性能的关系,提出有效的实践指导方案。     

Towards theory building in agile manufacturing strategies—Case studies of an agility taxonomy

Agility is widely accepted in the manufacturing industry as a new competitive concept. However, how to develop a manufacturing strategy based around agility is not fully understood. A numerical taxonomy of agile manufacturing strategies was developed recently by the author, based on a large scale questionnaire study of UK industry. The taxonomy suggested the existence of three basic types of agility strategies: quick, responsive, and proactive. This paper presents a case-based investigation of the practical details of the three basic types of agility strategies. Typical cases from the basic strategy types were chosen and studied to establish why companies choose each type of the strategies, what distinctive agility drivers they are faced with and why, and whether and what typical action programs are used to implement the strategies. A cross-case analysis found that the choice of agility strategies is related to the nature of markets and competition, the characteristics of products (life cycles and degrees of maturity), and market positions of individual companies.     

Circulation of autonomous agents in production and service networks

The inherent complexity characterizing production and/or service networks strongly favors decentralized and self-organizing mechanisms to regulate the flows of matter and information in circulation. This basic observation motivates us to study the flow dynamics in queueing networks roamed by autonomous agents which, at a given time and at a given vertex location, select their routing according to (individual) historical data (such as waiting times) collected during their past progression in the network. For several simple network configurations and despite the intrinsically non-Markovian character of the dynamics, we are able to discuss analytically the emerging collective dynamics that such a circulation of autonomous agents generates. Feedback loops in the network topology coupled with the presence of delays in the routing selection mechanisms produce a wealth of dynamical phenomena like self-sustained generically stable oscillations, spatio-temporal patterns, stabilization by noise phenomena and oscillator synchronization that are explicitly discussed in this paper.     

鄂尔多斯发展装备制造业的基础条件探索和优势分析

鄂尔多斯是资源型城市,凭借地区得天独厚的自然资源为鄂尔多斯经济发展奠定了坚实的基础。市委二届六次全委会提出"结构转型、创新强市"发展战略。自此鄂尔多斯由一个煤炭及相关产业为主的能源型城市向着多元化产业发展,其中先进制造业的发展,推动产业格局由资源型产业为主向资源型产业和非资源型产业协调发展转型。     

Competition in business networks

Most of those who write about marketing or strategy appear to view competition as the overarching logic of business. Commentators have usually associated competition with improved economic efficiency and customer well-being: they have regarded it as “a good thing”, at least in the abstract or when it only affects others. In contrast to the widespread interest of other researchers and the preoccupations of managers with competition, researchers within the IMP tradition have devoted hardly any attention to the issue in over thirty years of research and the term occurs only infrequently in the IMP literature.     

Product and relationship quality influence on customer commitment and loyalty in B2B manufacturing relationships

The article examines how product and relationship quality influence customer commitment along with their combined effect on customer loyalty. The results show that product quality influences positive and negative calculative commitment. With regard to relationship quality, its “social” dimensions such as cooperation and trust have a much greater influence on commitment than its “technical” dimensions such as knowledge transfers and adaptation. On the “social” side, cooperation and trust positively influence affective and normative commitment, with trust also positively affecting positive calculative commitment, while on the “technical” side the only significant link is between adaptation and normative commitment. As for the consequences of commitment, affective commitment positively influences attitudinal and behavioral loyalty, while negative calculative commitment positively influences behavioral loyalty. In addition to indirect effects, product quality also directly positively influences attitudinal and behavioral loyalty. The results imply that customer loyalty depends more on “emotional” (affective commitment) than on “rational” (negative calculative commitment and product quality) motivation to continue the relationship.     

Production planning of a hybrid manufacturing-remanufacturing system under uncertainty within a closed-loop supply chain

This paper deals with the production planning and control of a single product involving combined manufacturing and remanufacturing operations within a closed-loop reverse logistics network with machines subject to random failures and repairs. While consumers traditionally dispose of products at the end of their life cycle, recovery of the used products may be economically more attractive than disposal, while remanufacturing of the products also pursues sustainable development goals. Three types of inventories are involved in this network. The manufactured and remanufactured items are stored in the first and second inventories. The returned products are collected in the third inventory and then remanufactured or disposed of. The objective of this research is to propose a manufacturing/remanufacturing policy that would minimize the sum of the holding and backlog costs for manufacturing and remanufacturing products. The decision variables are the production rates of the manufacturing and the remanufacturing machines. The optimality conditions are developed using the optimal control theory based on stochastic dynamic programming. A computational algorithm, based on numerical methods, is used for solving the optimal control problem. Finally, a numerical example and a sensitivity analysis are presented to illustrate the usefulness of the proposed approach. The structure of the optimal control policy is discussed depending on the value of costs and parameters and extensions to more complex reverse logistics networks are discussed.     

The moderating effect of innovative capacity on the relationship between real options and strategic flexibility

In dynamic sectors, organizations should be capable of adapting to unpredictable environmental conditions. Strategic flexibility grants organizations the capacity to respond to the changes in their environment in the direction required, renewing their strategies and making the required organizational changes. The goal of this study is to analyze how the use of real options relates to strategic flexibility from a managerial capacity perspective. Through an empirical study performed on European firms, we confirm that innovative capacity exercises a moderating role between real options and strategic flexibility. The fact that a firm's management has foreseen and contemplated real options does not necessarily lead to their execution; they must also be accompanied by some innovative capacity.