Dispersed Manufacturing Networks provides new perspectives of dispersed manufacturing systems from three points of view. The first is that offered by complex systems theory, particularly on how agents in these industrial networks interact and how that provides possibility for coordination. The book also elaborates on issues of coordination and planning, as well as examining new solutions and challenges for logistics problems and collaboration in engineering networks within the internationalisation perspective. The impact of globalization is discussed for both managerial decision-making and operational performance of supply chains. A strong emphasis is placed on the need for continuous decision-making with recognition of the fact that networks of loosely connected agents require different approaches. Both researchers and professionals will welcome Dispersed Manufacturing Networks. It is an informative guide for those researching and working across a range of fields.

One of the most critical issues facing supply chain managers in today's globalized and highly uncertain business environments is how to deal proactively with disruptions that might affect the complicated supply networks characterizing modern enterprises. Supply Chain Disruptions: Theory and Practice of Managing Risk presents a state-of the-art perspective on this particular issue. Supply Chain Disruptions: Theory and Practice of Managing Risk demonstrates that effective management of supply disruptions necessitates both strategic and tactical measures - the former involving optimal design of supply networks; the latter involving inventory, finance and demand management. It shows that managers ought to use all available levers at their disposal throughout the supply network - like sourcing and pricing strategies, providing financial subsidies, encouraging information sharing and incentive alignment between supply chain partners - in order to tackle supply disruptions. The editors combine up-to-date academic research with the latest operational risk management practices used in industry to demonstrate how theoreticians and practitioners can learn from each other. As well as providing a wealth of knowledge for students and professors who are interested in pursuing research or teaching courses in the rapidly growing area of supply chain risk management, Supply Chain Disruptions: Theory and Practice of Managing Risk also acts as a ready reference for practitioners who are interested in understanding the theoretical underpinnings of effective supply disruption management techniques.

OR, Defence and Security presents eleven papers, originally published in the Journal of the Operational Research Society and the Journal of Simulation, which exemplify important themes and topics in Operational Research (OR), as applied to modern-day defense and security issues. Topics range from frontline OR in a peace-support operation to new developments in combat modelling, and from the logistics of overseas intervention to defence planning at the top level. Also included are examples of applications addressing insurgency and terrorism. Edited by Dr Roger A. Forder, who had a distinguished career in OR in the UK Ministry of Defence, he has also written an authoritative introductory chapter which sets the papers in the context of the global strategic environment as it has evolved since the end of the Cold War. The OR Essentials series presents a unique cross-section of high quality research work fundamental to understanding contemporary issues and research in across a range of Operational Research (OR) topics. It brings together some of the best research papers from the esteemed Operational Research Society and its associated journals, also published by Palgrave Macmillan.

In the industrial design and engineering field, product lifecycle, product development, design process, Design for X, etc., constitute only a small sample of terms related to the generation of quality products. Current best practices cover widely different knowledge domains in trying to exploit them to the best advantage, individually and in synergy. Moreover, standards become increasingly more helpful in interfacing these domains and they are enlarging their coverage by going beyond the single domain boundary to connect closely different aspects of the product lifecycle. The degree of complexity of each domain makes impossible the presence of multipurpose competencies and skills; there is almost always the need for interacting and integrating people and resources in some effective way. These are the best conditions for the birth of theories, methodologies, models, architectures, systems, procedures, algorithms, software packages, etc., in order to help in some way the synergic work of all the actors involved in the product lifecycle. This brief introduction contains all the main themes developed in this book, starting from the analysis of the design and engineering scenarios to arrive at the development and adoption of a framework for product design and process reconfiguration. In fact, the core consists of the description of the Design GuideLines Collaborative Framework (DGLs-CF), a methodological approach that generates a collaborative environment where designers, manufacturers and inspectors can find the right and effective meeting point to share their knowledge and skills in order to contribute to the optimum generation of quality products.

To compete in today's volatile market with rapidly changing consumer tastes and erce competition, companies in the manufacturing and service industries are - ploying new mechanisms to increase sales, market shares, and pro ts. As an - fective mechanism to segment a market comprising of consumers with different needs, preferences, and willingness-to-pay, many rms have used product (or s- vice) variety with different price points to serve different segments of the market, see Ho (1998). Ideally, the price of each of these products (or services) targets a particular segment of customers. For example, airlines often use different terms of sales (refundable/non-refundable, upgradable/non-upgradable, direct/connecting ight, etc. ) to sell economy class tickets at different prices. Likewise, retailers - ten sell the same product at different prices in different channels (company's own web site, dealers' web sites, or company's physical stores) or at different times (- fore, during, and after the selling season), see Talluri and van Ryzin (2005). Ample academic literature in Operations Management and other areas considered these strategies. However, as consumers become more knowledgeable about the product, pricing, organizational and operational policies that the companies deploy for pr- ucts and services, their purchasing begins to change dramatically. In the academic Operations Management literature, consumer demand is often assumedtobe exogenous so that demand functions are usually modeled as well de- ned and exogenously speci ed functions of price and/or other product attributes such as quality.

Analysis, Control and Optimization of Complex Dynamic Systems gathers in a single volume a spectrum of complex dynamic systems related papers written by experts in their fields, and strongly representative of current research trends. Complex systems present important challenges, in great part due to their sheer size which makes it difficult to grasp their dynamic behavior, optimize their operations, or study their reliability. Yet, we live in a world where, due to increasing inter-dependencies and networking of systems, complexity has become the norm. With this in mind, the volume comprises two parts. The first part is dedicated to a spectrum of complex problems of decision and control encountered in the area of production and inventory systems. The second part is dedicated to large scale or multi-agent system problems occurring in other areas of engineering such as telecommunication and electric power networks, as well as more generic context.

This volume addresses advanced DEA methodology and techniques developed for modeling unique new performance evaluation issues. Many numerical examples, real management cases and verbal descriptions make it very valuable for researchers and practitioners.

In today's competitive environment, manufacturing and service companies are intensifying their customization processes. Customization means companies must meet the challenge of providing individualized products and services, without introducing high costs. Therefore, companies must address both customization and cost factors to gain a competitive advantage. While product customization is the manufacturing of products according to individual customer needs, it does not involve any focus on the cost perspective. Information and Management Systems for Product Customization will concentrate on both product customization and costs' efficiency, which is termed as mass customization. Moreover, mass customization with its multi-dimensions is the new business paradigm challenging today's manufacturing companies.

. . . Eat not up your property among yourselves unjustly except it be a trade amongst you, by mutual consent . . . and help you one another in righteousness and piety. . . (Al-Hadid 4:29; Al-Ma'idah 5:2) There cannot be any doubt that the current ?nancial crisis, which began in the US, has gone global. This realization has fuelled the ?re of debate over globalization. Today's globalization is no longer the globalization that Theodore Levitt, a former professor at the Harvard Business School, described in 1983 in his world famous article ''The Globalization of Markets. '' Although, in old days, Levitt and his successors had not seen globalization as an utopian state free of problems, no- days globalization has been reshaped completely. Therefore, in the perception of the editors it is justi?ed to use the phrase ''Globalisation 2. 0'' for the range of effects interpenetrating global economic arrangements. Globalisation 1. 0 will never be restored again. Since the subprime crisis made its way to the global arena in the year 2008, companies and managers are confronted with the breathtaking speed of global, regional, and local changes. It is more than a provocation to divide dev- opments into cause and effects. Forecasts in strategic management are no longer valid even for the moment they are published. Uncertainty occupies the driving seats in global, regional, and local oriented companies.

Quality Management in Reverse Logistics intends to develop, collect, examine and evaluate a number of quality management (QM) tools and techniques, which can be applied in practice in order to understand, review and improve any closed-loop supply chain process. In other words, the book aims to examine the existing relationship between various well-developed and thoroughly studied quality issues, such as QM, quality assurance, standardization of processes and statistical quality control and the emerging research area of reverse logistics. Quality Management in Reverse Logistics contains modeling and quantitative methods that could be used by practitioners and academics in the reverse logistics industry, as well as a thorough description of QM tools and techniques. The book leads the potential reader to broaden their scope of thinking and acting in the new, promising area of reverse logistics, where QM can be applied.

To survive and thrive in the competition, firms have strived to achieve greater supply chain collaboration to leverage the resources and knowledge of suppliers and customers. Internet based technologies, particularly interorganizational systems, further extend the firms' opportunities to strengthen their supply chain partnerships and share real-time information to optimize their operations. Supply Chain Collaboration: Roles of Interorganizational Systems, Trust, and Collaborative Culture explores the nature and characteristics, antecedents, and consequences of supply chain collaboration from multiple theoretical perspectives. Supply Chain Collaboration: Roles of Interorganizational Systems, Trust, and Collaborative Culture conceptualizes supply chain collaboration as seven interconnecting elements including information sharing, incentive alignment, goal congruence, decision synchronization, resource sharing, as well as communication and joint knowledge creation. These seven components define the occurrence of collaborative efforts and allow us to explain supply chain collaboration more precisely. Collaborative advantages are also divided into five components to capture the joint competitive advantages and benefits among supply chain partners. The definitions and measures developed here examine some central issue surrounding supply chain development but this is also followed up with real-life managerial practicalities. This balance of theory and practical application makes Supply Chain Collaboration: Roles of Interorganizational Systems, Trust, and Collaborative Culture a strong resource for industry practitioners and researchers alike.

The "EffizienzCluster LogistikRuhr" was a winner in the Leading Edge Science Cluster competition run by the German federal Ministry of Education and Research. The mission and aim of the "EffizienzCluster LogistikRuhr" is to facilitate tomorrow's individuality - in the sense of individual goods supply, mobility, and production - using 75 percent of today's resources. Efficiency - both in economical and ecological terms - is enabled by state-of-the-art and innovative logistical solutions including transportation, production and intralogistics. These proceedings "Efficiency and Logistics" give first answers from 27 research projects as an insight into the current state of research of Europe's leading research and development cluster in logistics and as a contribution to the discussion on how logistics as a science can help to cope with foreseeable resource shortage and sustainability as global challenges.

Multi-state System Reliability Analysis and Optimization for Engineers and Industrial Managers presents a comprehensive, up-to-date description of multi-state system (MSS) reliability as a natural extension of classical binary-state reliability. It presents all essential theoretical achievements in the field, but is also practically oriented. New theoretical issues are described, including: * combined Markov and semi-Markov processes methods, and universal generating function techniques; * statistical data processing for MSSs; * reliability analysis of aging MSSs; * methods for cost-reliability and cost-availability analysis of MSSs; and * main definitions and concepts of fuzzy MSS. Multi-state System Reliability Analysis and Optimization for Engineers and Industrial Managers also discusses life cycle cost analysis and practical optimal decision making for real world MSSs. Numerous examples are included in each section in order to illustrate mathematical tools. Besides these examples, real world MSSs (such as power generating and transmission systems, air-conditioning systems, production systems, etc.) are considered as case studies. Multi-state System Reliability Analysis and Optimization for Engineers and Industrial Managers also describes basic concepts of MSS, MSS reliability measures and tools for MSS reliability assessment and optimization. It is a self-contained study resource and does not require prior knowledge from its readers, making the book attractive for researchers as well as for practical engineers and industrial managers.

At last, here is what logistics researchers have been waiting for: a book that comprehensively encapsulates for the first time the fundamentals of modeling Logistic Operating Curves for production and storage processes. The text includes information on how they can be derived and calculated based on standard operating data. In doing so, the authors clearly demonstrate the mutual dependencies between the often contradictory logistic objectives, i.e. on the one hand low throughput times and high delivery reliability and on the other hand low WIP levels and high rates of utilization. Moreover, they also explain how these objectives can be improved using the Logistic Operating Curve Theory and why this method thus provides an interesting alternative to simulations.

This contributed volume is a result of discussions held at ABICT'13(4th International Workshop on Advances in Business ICT) in Krakow, September 8-11, 2013. The book focuses on Advances in Business ICT approached from a multidisciplinary perspective and demonstrates different ideas and tools for developing and supporting organizational creativity, as well as advances in decision support systems.This book is an interesting resource for researchers, analysts and IT professionals including software designers. The book comprises eleven chapters presenting research results on business analytics in organization, business processes modeling, problems with processing big data, nonlinear time structures and nonlinear time ontology application, simulation profiling, signal processing (including change detection problems), text processing and risk analysis.

This book describes the setup of digital enterprises and how to manage them, focusing primarily on the important knowledge and essential understanding of digital enterprise management required by managers and decision makers in organizations. It covers ten essential knowledge areas of this field: * Foundation of Digital Enterprise * Technology Foundation and Talent Management for Digital Enterprise * Digital Enterprise Strategy Planning and Implementation * B2C Digital Enterprise: E-tailing * B2C Digital Enterprise: E-Services * B2B Digital Enterprise and Supply Chain * Digital Platforms * Digital Marketing and Advertising * Digital Payment Systems * Mobile Enterprise Overall, this text provides the reader with the basics to understand the rapid development of digitization, facilitated by the dramatic advancements in digital technologies, extensively connected networks, and wider adoption of computing devices (especially mobile devices), as more and more organizations are realizing the strategic importance of digitization (e.g., sustainable growth of the organization, competitive advantage development and enhancement) and are embarking on digital enterprise.

Scheduling and multicriteria optimisation theory have been subject, separately, to numerous studies. Since the last twenty years, multicriteria scheduling problems have been subject to a growing interest. However, a gap between multicriteria scheduling approaches and multicriteria optimisation field exits. This book is an attempt to collect the elementary of multicriteria optimisation theory and the basic models and algorithms of multicriteria scheduling. It is composed of numerous illustrations, algorithms and examples which may help the reader in understanding the presented concepts. This book covers general concepts such as Pareto optimality, complexity theory, and general method for multicriteria optimisation, as well as dedicated scheduling problems and algorithms: just-in-time scheduling, flexibility and robustness, single machine problems, parallel machine problems, shop problems, etc. The second edition contains revisions and new material.

This book covers the elements involved in achieving sustainability in textiles and clothing sector. The chapters covered in three volumes of this series title cover all the distinctive areas earmarked for achieving sustainable development in textiles and clothing industry. This third volume highlights the areas pertaining to the regulatory aspects and sustainability standards applicable to textiles and clothing supply chain. There are various standards earmarked for measuring the environmental impacts and sustainability of textile products. There are also plenty of certification schemes available along with the index systems applicable to textile sector. Brands and manufactures are also venturing into new developments to achieve sustainable development in textile sector. This third volume addresses all these important aspects.

Since SAP is emphasizing recent developments in operations management in its SCM initiative, this book describes the methodological background from the viewpoint of a company using SAP systems. It describes order processing both in an intra- and interorganizational perspective, as well as future developments and system enhancements.

This book represents a first considered attempt to study the factors that conditioned industrial chemistry for war in 1914-18. Taking a comparative perspective, it reflects on the experience of France, Germany, Austria, Russia, Britain, Italy and Russia, and points to significant similarities and differences. It looks at changing patterns in the organisation of industry, and at the emerging symbiosis between science, industry and the military.

Socially enhanced Services Computing deals with a novel and exciting new field at the intersection between Social Computing, Service-oriented Computing, Crowd Computing, and Cloud Computing. The present work presents a collection of selected papers by the editors of this volume, which they feel will help the reader in understanding this field. The approach discussed allows for a seamless integration of people into trusted dynamic compositions of Human-provided Services and Software-based services, thus empowering new interaction models and processes in massive collaboration scenarios in a Future Internet.