The rapid pace and increasing convergence of internet, phone and other communications technologies has created extraordinary opportunities for business but the complexity of these new service mixes creates parallel opportunities for fraud and revenue leakage. Companies seeking to use communications technology as a delivery or payment platform for digital services are particularly at risk. They need to understand both their strategic and operational risks as well as those affecting their stakeholders - partners and customers. Effective risk management is as much about awareness, culture, training and organization as it is about technology. Mark Johnson's practical guide, Demystifying Communications Risk, highlights cases from a wide range of geographies and cultures and is designed to raise awareness of the multi-faceted and often complex forms that operational revenue risks take in the communications sector. It provides managers with an understanding of the nature and implications of the risks they face and the human, organizational and technological approaches that can help avoid or mitigate them.

Managing Supply Chain Risk and Vulnerability, a book that both practitioners and students can use to better understand and manage supply chain risk, presents topics on decision making related to supply chain risk.

Leading academic researchers, as well as practitioners, have contributed chapters focusing on developing an overall understanding of risk and its relationship to supply chain performance; investigating the relationship between response time and disruption impact; assessing and prioritizing risks; and assessing supply chain resilience.

Supply chain managers will find Managing Supply Chain Risk and Vulnerability a useful tool box for methods they can employ to better mitigate and manage supply chain risk. On the academic side, the book can be used to teach senior undergraduate students, as well as graduate-level students. Additionally, researchers may use the text as a reference in the area of supply chain risk and vulnerability.

Effective Document and Data Management illustrates the operational and strategic significance of how documents and data are captured, managed and utilized. Without a coherent and consistent approach the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization may be undermined by less poor management and use of its information. The third edition of the book is restructured to take this broader view and to establish an organizational context in which information is management. Along the way Bob Wiggins clarifies the distinction between information management, data management and knowledge management; helps make sense of the concept of an information life cycle to present and describe the processes and techniques of information and data management, storage and retrieval; uses worked examples to illustrate the coordinated application of data and process analysis; and provides guidance on the application of appropriate project management techniques for document and records management projects. The book will benefit a range of organizations and people, from those senior managers who need to develop coherent and consistent business and IT strategies; to information professionals, such as records managers and librarians who will gain an appreciation of the impact of the technology and of how their particular areas of expertise can best be applied; to system designers, developers and implementers and finally to users. The author can be contacted at [email protected] for further information.

Hardbound. This volume is intended to foster new ways of thinking about quality in terms of how it is researched and practiced. With the high demands placed on organizations to provide high quality products and services to their customers, it is appropriate that research begins to address many of the questions that have arisen concerning quality in organizations. The chapters in this volume focus on two major themes: the role of suppliers in improving quality (supplier quality awards, integrating suppliers in new product development, and supplier management), and organizational aspects and how they relate to quality (culture, organizational citizenship, and agency theory).

Production planning, inventory management, quality control, and maintenance policy are critical components of the manufacturing system. The effective integration of these four components gives a manufacturing operation the competitive edge in today's global market place. Integrated Models in Production Planning, Inventory, Quality, and Maintenance provides, in one volume, the latest developments in the integration of production, quality, and maintenance models. Prominent researchers, who are actively engaged in these areas, have contributed the topical chapters focused on the most recent issues in the area. In Part I, Ben-Daya and Rahim provide an overview of the literature dealing with integrated models for production, quality, and maintenance. Directions for future research are outlined. Part II contains six chapters (chapters 2 to 6) dealing with integrated models for production and maintenance. Part III deals with integrated production/inventory and quality models in chapters 7-11. Part IV focuses on quality and maintenance integrated models and contains two chapters. Part V deals with warranty, manufacturing, and quality and contains two chapters. Part VI addresses issues related to quality and contains three chapters (chapters 16-18).

It is said that business re-engineering is part of our transition to a post-industrial society. The purpose of this book is to present an approach to how to reorganize businesses using the discipline of software engineering as a guiding paradigm. The author's thesis is that software engineering provides the necessary analytical expertise for defining business processes and the tools to transform process descriptions to support systems.
The author begins by introducing the concepts and needs for business reengineering and principles and practice of software engineering. He then shows how by concentrating on processes, a business can define the information base required and how it is to be constructed. As a result, any manager or technically-minded person will learn how to implement the reengineering of a business.

This handbook focuses on a series of concepts, models and technologies which can be used to improve current practice in life cycle engineering in manufacturing companies around the world. Experts on the main issues relating to life cycle engineering have produced a superb collection of chapters. All the contributing authors are researchers and engineers in the fields of manufacturing paradigms, enterprise integration, product life cycle and technologies for life cycle engineering. Academics and researchers will find this book to be a valuable reference tool. The book illustrates those key factors that ensure successful enterprise and product life cycle integration. Due to the book being developed as a joint industry and university project, its approach should be helpful to both practising professionals and academics. An overview of life cycle engineering concepts, models, methodologies and practices that have been proved to significantly improve the integration and productivity of manufacturing companies have been clearly explained in this handbook. This book will be essential for engineers, designers, product support personnel dealing with enterprise engineering projects. It will also be of immense use to lecturers and senior lecturers working in the fields of enterprise integration, product development, concurrent engineering and integrated manufacturing systems.

The research presented in this book discusses how to efficiently retrieve track and trace information for an item of interest that took a certain path through a complex network of manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers. To this end, a super-ordinate system called "Discovery Service" is designed that has to handle large amounts of data, high insert-rates, and a high number of queries that are submitted to the discovery service. An example that is used throughout this book is the European pharmaceutical supply chain, which faces the challenge that more and more counterfeit medicinal products are being introduced. Between October and December 2008, more than 34 million fake drug pills were detected at customs control at the borders of the European Union. These fake drugs can put lives in danger as they were supposed to fight cancer, take effect as painkiller or antibiotics, among others. The concepts described in this book can be adopted for supply chain management use cases other than track and trace, such as recall, supply chain optimization, or supply chain analytics.

Global competition, sluggish economies and the potential offered by emerging technologies have pushed firms to fundamentally rethink their business processes. Business Process Reengineering (BPR) has become recognized as a means to restructure aging bureaucratized processes to achieve the strategic objectives of increased efficiency, reduced costs, improved quality and greater customer satisfaction. Business Process Change: Reengineering Concepts, Methods and Technologies provides extensive coverage of the organizational, managerial and technical concepts related to business process change.

Among some of the topics included in this book are: process change components; enablers of process change; methodologies, techniques and tools; team-based management; effective adoption of BPR.

For over a decade, there has been an increasing interest in the use of supply chain methods to improve performance across the entire business enterprise. Numerous industries have recognized the importance of efficient supply chain integration, and, as a result, supply chain management has become a standard part of business practice.

The Practice of Supply Chain Management: Where Theory and Application Converge is a must-have volume for users of supply chain management methods, supply chain management researchers, and students in supply chain management. The objective of the book is to provide an overview of this important practice-research cycle, and it is organized into three sections: Core Concepts and Practices; Emerging Supply Chain Practices; and Supply Chain in Action. The focus of the book is on supply chain practice, but supply chain practice that has been heavily influenced by supply chain research. It is this synergy between research and practice that continues to simulate new directions for research.

An increasing interest to scheduling theory can be attributed to the high level of automation of all branches of human activity. The quality of modern production essentially depends on the planning decisions taken at different stages of a production process. Moreover, while the quality of these decisions is improving, the time and flexibility requirements for decision-making are becoming more important. All this stimulates scheduling research. Started as an independent discipline in the early fifties, it now has become an important branch of operations research. In the eighties, the largest Russian publishing house for scientific literature Nauka Publishers, Moscow, issued two books by a group of Byelorussian mathematicians: Scheduling Theory. Single-Stage Systems by V. S. Tanaev, V. S. Gordon and Y. M. Shafransky (1984) and Scheduling Theory. Multi-Stage Systems by V. S. Tanaev, Y. N. Sotskov and V. A. Strusevich (1989). Originally published in Russian, these two books cover two different major problem areas of scheduling theory and can be considered as a two-volume monograph that provides a systematic and comprehensive exposition of the subject. The authors are grateful to Kluwer Academic Publishers for creating the opportunity to publish the English translations of these two books. We are indebted to M. Hazewinkel, J. K. Lenstra, A. H. G. Rinnooy Kan, D. B. Shmoys and W. Szwarc for their supporting the idea of translating the books into English.

The business environment throughout the world is currently going through rapid and far reaching change. They are analysing their business processes and scrutinising ways to make their systems more streamlined and competitive in order to meet the challenges posed by the Global Economy. Forming close alliances and integrating the operational processes with the key suppliers and customers is the mantra every one is embodying. In parallel and to support this shift in strategic focus developers are putting forward new concepts in the emerging Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) to make the integration of processes among collaborating enterprises as seamless and secure as possible. Together these developments have yielded a tremendous amount of new knowledge and will continue to offer us new challenges and opportunities well into the future. This book brings together the opinions of a number of leading experts, analysts, academics, researchers, vendors and industrial practitioners from around the world who have worked extensively in the area of collaborative manufacturing. Through individual chapters in this book, authors put forward their views, approaches and new tools. Still, other authors present a glimpse of the nature of solutions that may be developed in the near future. This book is loosely structured to allow chapters which address common themes to be grouped together. In these chapters, the reader will learn aU the key issues currently being addressed in production management research and practice throughout the world.

This volume includes 41 revised papers selected from 125 papers presented at the th 6 IFIP Technical Committee 5/Working Group 5.7 International Conference on Advances in Production Management Systems - APMS'96 -held at Kyoto, Japan, 4-6 November 1996. The task of selecting papers was accomplished by the IPC members voting. The selected papers were reviewed by IPC members who attended the conference. Based on the comments of reviewers, each paper was revised and rewritten in the format of this book. Therefore, the quality of each paper was raised very much. The papers selected in this volume were classified into invited articles and six themes taking into account the perspectives and future challenges in production management systems. Invited articles provide the overview of the present and future trend in the manufacturing world. Six themes were Next Generation Manufacturing Systems and Production Management, Benchmarking, Integration in Manufacturing and Decentralized Production Management, Strategic Aspects, Production Planning, and Production Scheduling. Each theme covers important area of present and future production management reflecting the recent trend in manufacturing toward globalization, agility in variety production, human centered manufacturing, environment consciousness, and so on. We hope that this volume will emerge a lot of new ideas to reach the goal of IFIP WG5.7 "Computer Aided Production Management" and to bridge the gap between research and industrial practice in production management systems.

Supply Chain Management is an intensively discussed topic within industrial and business management. A technique that is increasingly gaining importance is the Supply Chain Operations Reference Model (SCOR model) by the Supply-Chain Council (www.supply-chain.org). Despite the popularity of the SCOR model, there exists a dearth of scientific research into its applicability. This book is the first exploratory examination and systematic presentation of the scientific applicability of the SCOR model by a PhD and seasoned SAP executive who brings to the task a wealth of knowledge and industry relevant materials and perspectives. "This book offers an explorative and interim result towards the scientific research into the SCOR model and its application. The author has benefited from his extensive experience in the practice of consultation and his ability to call upon the use of relevant data and material." - Prof. Dr. Dietrich Seibt, University of Cologne, Germany

Scheduling theory is an important branch of operations research. Problems studied within the framework of that theory have numerous applications in various fields of human activity. As an independent discipline scheduling theory appeared in the middle of the fifties, and has attracted the attention of researchers in many countries. In the Soviet Union, research in this direction has been mainly related to production scheduling, especially to the development of automated systems for production control. In 1975 Nauka ("Science") Publishers, Moscow, issued two books providing systematic descriptions of scheduling theory. The first one was the Russian translation of the classical book Theory of Scheduling by American mathematicians R. W. Conway, W. L. Maxwell and L. W. Miller. The other one was the book Introduction to Scheduling Theory by Soviet mathematicians V. S. Tanaev and V. V. Shkurba. These books well complement each other. Both. books well represent major results known by that time, contain an exhaustive bibliography on the subject. Thus, the books, as well as the Russian translation of Computer and Job-Shop Scheduling Theory edited by E. G. Coffman, Jr., (Nauka, 1984) have contributed to the development of scheduling theory in the Soviet Union. Many different models, the large number of new results make it difficult for the researchers who work in related fields to follow the fast development of scheduling theory and to master new methods and approaches quickly.

Die internationale Forschungsgemeinschaft fur mechanische Produktionste- nik C. I. R. P. mit dem Sitz in Paris hat von 1962 bis 1984 ein dreisprachiges W- terbuch der Fertigungstechnik in Deutsch, Englisch und Franzosisch mit den folgenden Teilen herausgegeben: Vol. 1 Schmieden - Freiformschmieden, Gesenkschmieden Vol. 2 Schleifen, Oberflachenrauheit Vol. 3 Blechbearbeitung Vol. 4 Grundbegriffe des Spanens Vol. 5 Kaltfliesspressen und Kaltstauchen Vol. 6 Hobeln, Stossen, Raumen, Drehen Vol. 7 Bohren, Senken, Reiben, Gewindefertigen Vol. 8 Frasen, Sagen, Verzahnen Vol. 9 Elektrochemisches, elektroerosives, elektronisches, photonisches (- ser) und chemisches Abtragen Da in den drei Sprachen und daruber hinaus in den jeweiligen Sprachraumen mitunter unterschiedliche Begriffsinhalte fur einzelne Begriffe auftreten, sind, im Unterschied zu anderen Worterbuchern, in grossem Umfang Definitionen und, soweit erforderlich, erlauternde bildliche Darstellungen enthalten. Hi- durch wird das Anliegen von C. I. R. P. verwirklicht, sachlich einwandfreie Ub- setzungen zunachst in den drei genannten Sprachen zu ermoglichen. Band 1 wurde auf Danisch, Norwegisch, Schwedisch, Finnisch (Band 1N) und Ital- nisch, Spanisch, Portugiesisch (Band 1R) erweitert. Band 1 bis 9 wurden inz- schen auf die chinesische Sprache ausgedehnt. Die schnell fortschreitende Entwicklung der Fertigungs- und Produk- onstechnik mit rasch zunehmender Internationalisierung, Einfuhrung der - formationstechnik und Organisationstechnik bringt unter anderem auch eine deutliche Ausweitung des Begriffsvolumens, verbunden mit teilweiser Ver- derung von Begriffsinhalten, mit sich. C. I. R. P. tragt dieser Entwicklung durch Erarbeitung einer 2. Auflage in deutscher, englischer und franzosischer Sp- che Rechnung."

Fuhrende Fachvertreter aus Europa und den USA machen deutlich, in welcher Weise ein Total Quality Management in allen betrieblichen Bereichen (von der Fuhrung uber das Strategische Management bis hin zum Marketing-, Operations-, Finance-, Human-Resources-Management) durchgesetzt werden kann. Concise text: Fuhrende Fachvertreter aus Europa und den USA machen deutlich, wie TQM in allen betrieblichen Bereichen durchgesetzt werden kann."

While logistics has caught on as a vital component in China's national development plan, both government agencies at all levels and various types of enterprises have put considerable effort into propelling logistics to a new height. Recent logistics developments in China have witnessed a scene of significant boom dotted with few sporadic dips. This book, the third volume in the series on "Contemporary Logistics in China," is a must-read publication, which affords the readers a clearer view of the intrinsic consolidation and increased efforts made amid the recent advancements in China's logistics development. The research findings in this book reflect the expertise and diligence of a team of learned researchers in the highly-regarded Logistics Research Center at Nankai University. The book presents a comprehensive and thorough analysis of the progression and propagation of modern logistics in China, as well as a fresh look at some emerging hot issues with potential bearings on future logistics development. Researchers and practicing professionals alike will find this book an indispensable and timely reference and information resource.

Learning has become a constant state of mind for most professionals in today's organizations. However, to become a true learning enterprise, organizations cannot stop at instilling this yearning for knowledge into their collaborators. They must also capture and formalize the common know-how of the organization, as well as provide time and infrastructure to allow learning moments to happen. The aim of the Gaming Workgroup within IFIP 5.7 on Integrated Production Management Systems and the European Group of University Teachers for Industrial Management EHTB is to develop tools and formalisms to support experimental learning in these organizations. It has been proven that modelling the know-how, using visual environments such as multimedia and graphic simulations, is a first step. This in turn allows for the development of games, i.e. challenging settings that foster group interaction and problem solving. Games in Operations Management provides an excellent overview of the different game formats that have been developed and tested in past years, and includes games in a manufacturing environment, games in a services environment, and games for teaching organizational values. The book comprises the selected, revised proceedings of the 4th International Workshop on Games in Production Management: Experimental Learning in Industrial Management, which was sponsored by the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) and held in November, 1998, in Ghent, Belgium. The book will be of particular interest to organizational trainers, providing a good overview of state-of-the-art game and training formats as well as hints and advice on how to organize interactive training sessions. It will also be of interest to researchers in industrial engineering, industrial management, and operations management.

The logic of Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II) is usually implemented in production planning and control systems and therefore has a major impact on the performance of many real production systems. Much of what practitioners complain about, i.e. long lead times, high work-in-process, and large inventories, is due to the deficiencies of the MRP II concept. Thus, researchers are eager to find better models and methods to improve or to replace the current status. This book contains new ideas on master production scheduling, material requirements planning, lot sizing, sequencing and scheduling, and production control. Management scientists, industrial engineers, operations researchers, and computer scientists have contributed to present the state-of-the-art.

A guide to managing cloud projects, Cloud Computing Strategies provides the understanding required to evaluate the technology and determine how it can be best applied to improve business and enhance your overall corporate strategy. Based on extensive research, it examines the opportunities and challenges that loom in the cloud. It explains exactly what cloud computing is, what it has to offer, and calls attention to the important issues management needs to consider before passing the point of no return regarding financial commitments. Illustrated with numerous examples and case studies, the book examines security, privacy, data ownership, and data protection in the cloud. It also: Explains how and why your company can benefit from Open Software and onDemand Services Identifies various cloud providers, their services, and their content as a basis for evaluating cost effectiveness Provides authoritative guidance on how to transition from a legacy system to the cloud Includes helpful tips for managing cloud vendor relationships and avoiding vendor lock-in Whether you're already in the cloud or just considering it, the text provides the unbiased understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of cloud computing needed to make informed decisions regarding its future in your organization. The book's strength is that it supplies authoritative insight on everything needed to decide if you should make a transition to the cloud.

Quantitative models and computer-based tools are essential for making decisions in today's business environment. These tools are of particular importance in the rapidly growing area of supply chain management. This volume is a unified effort to provide a systematic summary of the large variety of new issues being considered, the new set of models being developed, the new techniques for analysis, and the computational methods that have become available recently. The volume's objective is to provide a self-contained, sophisticated research summary - a snapshot at this point of time - in the area of Quantitative Models for Supply Chain Management. While there are some multi-disciplinary aspects of supply chain management not covered here, the Editors and their contributors have captured many important developments in this rapidly expanding field. The 26 chapters can be divided into six categories. Basic Concepts and Technical Material (Chapters 1-6). The chapters in this category focus on introducing basic concepts, providing mathematical background and validating algorithmic tools to solve operational problems in supply chains. Supply Contracts (Chapters 7-10). In this category, the primary focus is on design and evaluation of supply contracts between independent agents in the supply chain. Value of Information (Chapters 11-13). The chapters in this category explicitly model the effect of information on decision-making and on supply chain performance. Managing Product Variety (Chapters 16-19). The chapters in this category analyze the effects of product variety and the different strategies to manage it. International Operations (Chapters 20-22). The three chapters in this category provide an overview of research in the emerging area of International Operations. Conceptual Issues and New Challenges (Chapters 23-27). These chapters outline a variety of frameworks that can be explored and used in future research efforts. This volume can serve as a graduate text, as a reference for researchers and as a guide for further development of this field.