This is the Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Management Science and Engineering Management (ICMSEM) held from July 25 to 27, 2014 at Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal and organized by International Society of Management Science and Engineering Management (ISMSEM), Sichuan University (Chengdu, China) and Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Lisbon, Portugal). The goals of the conference are to foster international research collaborations in Management Science and Engineering Management as well as to provide a forum to present current findings. A total number of 138 papers from 14 countries are selected for the proceedings by the conference scientific committee through rigorous referee review. The selected papers in the first volume are focused on Intelligent System and Management Science covering areas of Intelligent Systems, Decision Support Systems, Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management.

Commercial advanced planning and scheduling (APS) systems have been around for about 25 years and have seen widespread adoption in a variety of companies. The promises made by APS system implementations are high, and at the same time, APS projects are complex, costly, and carry a significant risk of failure. There is a great need for guidance on how to successfully implement APS systems, which is why this book was written. In this book, we aim to discuss all facets of APS implementation, from theoretical background to definition, vendor selection, system design and the implementation process. In addition, this book helps readers understand how the underlying concepts were formed, why a concept will work in practice, and when it will not. The contents of this book are based on many years of academic research and APS implementation experience. It draws together theory and practice in production control and explains how theories can be applied to support planning and scheduling processes in practice. This book will help anyone involved in APS implementations to achieve success: human planners generate better plans than before, using the APS.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an important element in creating competitive advantages for enterprises in different sectors. The authors guide readers through the different cases studies in order to present the benchmarking of international standards and CSR initiatives, as well as CSR performance evaluation practices. This book aims to identify current problems that can arise during CSR implementation in manufacturing and services companies. Moreover some best practice examples suitable for the introduction of CSR in the small and medium size companies will be described. The authors show how different stakeholders can benefit from sustainable resource management and pro-social behaviors. This book will be a valuable resource for both academics and practitioners who want to deepen their knowledge of CSR. This scientific monograph has been doubled blind reviewed.

Proceedings of China Modern Logistics Engineering covers nearly all areas of logistics engineering technology, focusing on the latest findings and the following theoretical aspects: Logistics Systems and Management Research; Green Logistics and Emergency Logistics; Enterprise Logistics; Material Handling; Warehousing Technology Research; Supply Chain Management; Logistics Equipment; Logistics Packaging Technology; Third-party Logistics, etc. The book will help readers to grasp the relevant aspects of the theory involved, research and development trends, while also offering guidance for their work and related studies. It is intended for researchers, scholars and graduate students in logistics management, logistics engineering, transportation, business administration, E-commerce and industrial engineering.

This book provides support to academics as well as managers, who deal with policies and strategies related to work issues. Effective work practices and good employee relations are a real necessity of nowadays organizations, as they can help to reduce absenteeism, employee turnover, and organizational costs. Instead, they support high levels of commitment, effectiveness, performance as well as productivity. The book focusses on the implications of those changes in productivity and organizations management. It explores the models, tools and processes used by organizations in order to help managers become better prepared to face the challenges and changes in work and, consequently, in the way how to manage todays' organizations.

Transportation management in today's consumer goods industry can be characterized by a high proportion of outsourced transportation services. Due to rising freight costs consumer goods manufacturers are seeking opportunities to increase the efficiency of their transportation network. This book presents an operational transportation planning problem typical of the consumer goods industry focusing on a network of suppliers, production facilities and warehouses. With respect to the large share of outsourcing in these networks a detailed analysis of freight costs based on contractual agreements is provided. From this analysis a number of opportunities for efficiency gains are identified and consolidated in an operative transportation planning problem that is numerically investigated. Furthermore, an overview of processes and organizational requirements in transportation management is given with special focus on the integration of existing commercial Transportation Management Systems (TMS).

Stock management and control is a critical element to the success and overall financial well-being of an organization. Through the application of innovative practices and technology, businesses are now able to effectively monitor their operations and manage their inventory by evaluating sales patterns and customer preferences. The Handbook of Research on Promoting Business Process Improvement Through Inventory Control Techniques is a critical scholarly resource that examines optimization techniques, data mining concepts, and genetic algorithms to manage inventory control. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as logistics and supply chain management, stochastic inventory modelling, and inventory management in healthcare, this book is geared towards academicians, practitioners, and researchers seeking various research methods to get optimal ordering policy.

This book presents the proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Management Science and Engineering Management (ICMSEM2013) held from November 7 to 9, 2013 at Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA and organized by the International Society of Management Science and Engineering Management, Sichuan University (Chengdu, China) and Drexel University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA). The goals of the Conference are to foster international research collaborations in Management Science and Engineering Management as well as to provide a forum to present current research findings. The selected papers cover various areas in management science and engineering management, such as Decision Support Systems, Multi-Objective Decisions, Uncertain Decisions, Computational Mathematics, Information Systems, Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Relationship Management, Scheduling and Control, Data Warehousing and Data Mining, Electronic Commerce, Neural Networks, Stochastic Models and Simulation, Fuzzy Programming, Heuristics Algorithms, Risk Control, Organizational Behavior, Green Supply Chains, and Carbon Credits. The proceedings introduce readers to novel ideas on and different problem-solving methods in Management Science and Engineering Management. We selected excellent papers from all over the world, integrating their expertise and ideas in order to improve research on Management Science and Engineering Management.

Followed by the previous part (Volume-1), Volume-2 of carbon footprint assessment book deals with the assessment of carbon footprint in different other sectors, which were not dealt in the first part. Attention on Carbon footprint is growing day-by-day from the public, government and media. Certainly it is one of the most important topics in the agenda of every nation, which is trying its best to reduce its carbon footprint to the maximum possible extent. Every manufacturing industry or sector would like to reduce the carbon footprint of its products and consumers are looking for the products which emit lower carbon emissions in their entire life cycle. Assessment of Carbon footprint for different products, processes and services and also carbon labeling of products have become familiar topics in the recent past in various industrial sectors. Every industry has its unique assessment and modeling techniques, allocation procedures, mitigation methods and labeling strategies for its carbon emissions. With this background, volume two of this book has been framed with dedicated chapters on carbon footprint assessment on various industrial sectors, apart from the ones covered in Volume 1. In each chapter, details pertaining to the assessment methodologies of carbon footprint followed in a particular industry, challenges in calculating the carbon footprint, case studies of various products in that particular industry, mitigation measures to be followed to trim down the carbon footprint, recommendations for further research are discussed in detail.

"OCEB Certification Guide" delivers expert insight into BPM from one of the developers of the OCEB Fundamental exam, offering full coverage of the exam material for both the business and technical tracks. The first study guide to prepare candidates to take and pass the OCEB Fundamental exam, it explains and builds on basic concepts, focusing on key areas and testing knowledge of all critical topics with sample questions and detailed answers. Suitable for practitioners and those newer to the field, this book provides a solid grounding in business process management based on the authors own extensive BPM consulting experience.
Covers all of the topics on the Fundamentals exam, eliminating hours otherwise spent in research and prep time Includes sample test questions in each chapter with all answers in the appendix Expert authors provide a solid overview of business process management (BPM)
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This book describes the implementation of autonomous control with multiagent technology. Therewith, it tackles the challenges of supply network management caused by the complexity, the dynamics, and the distribution of logistics processes. The paradigm of autonomous logistics reduces the computational complexity and copes with the dynamics locally by delegating process control to the participating objects. As an example, shipping containers may themselves plan and schedule their way through logistics networks in accordance with objectives imposed by their owners. The technologies enabling autonomous logistics are thoroughly described and reviewed. The presented solution has been used in a realistic simulation of real-world container logistics processes. The validation shows that autonomous control is feasible and that it outperforms the previous centralised dispatching approach by significantly increasing the resource utilisation efficiency. Moreover, the multiagent system relieves human dispatchers from dealing with standard cases, giving them more time to solve exceptional cases appropriately.

The storage yard is the operational and geographical centre of most seaport container terminals. Therefore, it is of particular importance for the whole terminal system and plays a major role for trade and transport flows. One of the latest trends in container-storage operations is the automated Rail-Mounted-Gantry-Crane system, which offers dense stacking, and offers low labour costs. This book investigates whether the operational performance of container terminals is influenced by the design of these storage systems and to what extent the performance is affected by the terminal's framework conditions, and discusses the strategies applied for container stacking and crane scheduling. A detailed simulation model is presented to compare the performance effects of alternative storage designs, innovative planning strategies, and other influencing factors. The results have useful implications future research, practical terminal planning and optimisation.

This contributed volume contains the selected and reviewed papers of the 2nd Interdisciplinary Conference on Production, Logistics and Traffic (ICPLT) 2015, Dortmund, Germany. The topical focus lies on economic, ecological and societal issues related to commercial transport. The authors are international experts and the paper collection presents the state-of-the-art in the field, thus making this book a valuable read for both practitioners and researchers.

Success in solution business starts by accepting that solution" "business is a separate business model, not simply another product category or an extension of the existing product business. This book identifies the business model areas that firms need to focus on when transforming into solution business. It further organizes these areas into three sets of capabilities and practices: commercialization, industrialization and solution platforms. This is the first book to take a comprehensive view of success in solution business and its relevance therefore extends to all functions of firms wanting to become solution providers as well as to many managerial levels. The book will also help you self-assess how ready your organization is for success in solution business.

Adapting the development of information systems for operations management is essential for the effectiveness of an organization s business strategy. Optimizing, Innovating, and Capitalizing on Information Systems for Operations presents research on the applications of information systems and its influence on business and operations management. Highlighting case studies, frameworks and methodologies, this book aims to be useful for practitioners and academics in the fields of decision, management, and social sciences.

This book highlights recent advances in the development of effective modeling and solution approaches to enhance the performance of military logistics. It seeks to further research in global defense-related topics, including military operations, governmental operations and security, as well as nation support. Additionally its purpose is to promote the global exchange of information and ideas amongst developers and users of military operations research tools and techniques. Over the course of its nine chapters, this edited volume addresses significant issues in military logistics including: a) Restructuring processes via OR methods aimed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the military logistics, b) Sense-and-Respond logistics prediction and coordination techniques that provide competitive advantage, spanning the full range of military operations across the strategic, operational and tactical levels of war, c) Procurement and auctioning, d) Inventory and stock control theories and applications, e) Military transport and logistical equipment, and, f) Maintenance, repair and overhaul on operational capability in general and equipment availability. The book aims to bridge the gap between the abundant literature on commercial logistics and its scarce defense & combat counterpart. This collection of useful insights into new trends and research will offer an ideal reference for practitioners and army related personnel interested in integrating scientific rigor to improve logistics management within defense organizations & agencies. Ultimately this book should provide a relevant platform for the latest contributions of operations management, operations research, and computational intelligence towards the enhancement of military logistics.

In two volumes, Planning Production and Inventories in the Extended Enterprise: A State of the Art Handbook examines production planning across the extended enterprise against a backdrop of important gaps between theory and practice. The early chapters describe the multifaceted nature of production planning problems and reveal many of the core complexities. The middle chapters describe recent research on theoretical techniques to manage these complexities. Accounts of production planning system currently in use in various industries are included in the later chapters. Throughout the two volumes there are suggestions on promising directions for future work focused on closing the gaps. Included in Volume 1 are papers on the Historical Foundations of Manufacturing Planning and Control; Advanced Planning and Scheduling Systems; Sustainable Product Development and Manufacturing; Uncertainty and Production Planning; Demand Forecasting; Production Capacity; Data in Production and Supply Chain Planning; Financial Uncertainty in SC Models; Field Based Research in Production Control; Collaborative SCM; Sequencing and Coordination in Outsourcing and Subcontracting Operations; Inventory Management; Pricing, Variety and Inventory Decisions for Substitutable Items; Perishable and Aging Inventories; Optimization Models of Production Planning Problems; Aggregate Modeling of Manufacturing Systems; Robust Stability Analysis of Decentralized Supply Chains; Simulation in Production Planning; and Simulation-Optimization in Support of Tactical and Strategic Enterprise Decisions. Included in Volume 2 are papers on Workload and Lead-Time Considerations under Uncertainty; Production Planning and Scheduling; Production Planning Effects on Dynamic Behavior of A Simple Supply Chain; Supply and Demand in Assemble-to-Order Supply Chains; Quantitative Risk Assessment in Supply Chains; A Practical Multi-Echelon Inventory Model with Semiconductor Application; Supplier Managed Inventory for Custom Items with Long Lead Times; Decentralized Supply Chain Formation; A Cooperative Game Approach to Procurement Network Formation; Flexible SC Contracts with Options; Build-to-Order Meets Global Sourcing for the Auto Industry; Practical Modeling in Automotive Production; Discrete Event Simulation Models; Diagnosing and Tuning a Statistical Forecasting System; Enterprise-Wide SC Planning in Semiconductor and Package Operations; Production Planning in Plastics; SC Execution Using Predictive Control; Production Scheduling in The Pharmaceutical Industry; Computerized Scheduling for Continuous Casting in Steelmaking; and Multi-Model Production Planning and Scheduling in an Industrial Environment.

This book explores the reasons why American industry was so slow to respond to the challenge of high quality goods from Japan in the postwar period.

This monograph addresses several critical problems to the operations of shipping lines and ports, and provides algorithms and mathematical models for use by shipping lines and port authorities for decision support. One of these problems is the repositioning of container ships in a liner shipping network in order to adjust the network to seasonal shifts in demand or changes in the world economy. We provide the first problem description and mathematical model of repositioning and define the liner shipping fleet repositioning problem (LSFRP). The LSFRP is characterized by chains of interacting activities with a multi-commodity flow over paths defined by the activities chosen. We first model the problem without cargo flows with a variety of well-known optimization techniques, as well as using a novel method called linear temporal optimization planning that combines linear programming with partial-order planning in a branch-and-bound framework. We then model the LSFRP with cargo flows, using several different mathematical models as well as two heuristic approaches. We evaluate our techniques on a real-world dataset that includes a scenario from our industrial collaborator. We show that our approaches scale to the size of problems faced by industry, and are also able to improve the profit on the reference scenario by over US$14 million.

Production development is about improving existing production systems and developing new ones. The production system should be developed in integration with the product, as a part of the overall product realization process, and not in sequence after the product has already been designed. Production Development: Design and Operation of Production Systems takes a holistic viewpoint on the production system and its design process during the whole system life cycle. A working procedure demonstrating how to design and realize the production system is presented, together with a number of related production development aspects.

Production Development: Design and Operation of Production Systems is illustrated with a large number of figures and industrial examples. The book can be used as a reference for teachers and students, or as a manual for professionals within the field of production.

This contributed volume contains the selected and thoroughly reviewed research papers presented at the conference on logistics management LM2015 in Braunschweig, Germany. The conference of the special interest group in logistics of the German Academic Association for Business Research (VHB) was held in conjunction with the special interest group on production of the VHB. Thus, the papers reflect the current state-of-the-art in logistics and supply chain management while focusing especially on aspects of production logistics, i.e., facility layout, inventory management, line configuration, or flexible production.

The ISO 9001 standard is brief and fairly straightforward, unlike a commonly held misconception. An ISO 9001-based quality management system has something to offer any organization regardless of size or type of industry, or even the kind of product or service an organization provides. The ISO 9001 Quality Procedures for Quality Management Systems comes with over 400 pages of practical documentation designed to help you comply with the latest version of the ISO 9001 standard. You don't need to start from scratch... it's already done for you

Quality is becoming the most important competitive issue. The customer demands quality making it imperative to businesses to take it in serious consideration. It has become a matter of survival to provide a quality product. The concern with quality demands a) a better definition of the quality concept for each firm; b) a constant monitoring and planning of the quality standards and actions; and c) a continuous control of operations towards a quality objective. This is essentially the message and the content of this book: That quality needs to be defined contingent on the specific activities of the firm; that quality needs to be constantly monitored through a specific planning and recording system and finally, that quality is essentially the result of strong control activities. Belkaoui reviews the various approaches to the specification of the quality concept, the type of recording systems appropriate for its monitoring and the detailed control procedures needed to achieve it.

The book should be very helpful to executives involved in a total quality control program, management accountants involved in the control of quality and accounting students in managerial accounting courses.