Search

Dice’s cottontail, Sylvilagus dicei, only was recognized as a valid species in 1981 after having been subsumed in synonymy with S. brasiliensis and S. gabbi, which latter also at times had been syn...

Editorial note; International audience; Production Research is foundational for advancing theories, methods, technologies and practices in manufacturing industries, production systems and related service industries. Over the last five decades, tremendous scientific and technical progresses have been made in all areas of production of goods and services, ranging from the birth of Computer-Aided tools (CAx, where x stands for Design, Manufacturing, Process Planning or Engineering), Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) machines and industrial robotics in the 60's, then to Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMSs), Automated Guided-Vehicles (AGVs) and concept of unmanned factories in the 70's, to Computer-Integrated Manufacturing (CIM), quality management, value chains and lean management in the 80's, to mass customization, distributed warehousing and networked organizations governed by integrated Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) packages in the 90's, then to service-orientation (or “servitization”), global supply chains and interoperable and knowledge-based systems in the 2000's and, finally, to emerging smart, sensing and sustainable production systems today culminating with the concept of smart factories and Industry 4.0 since 2011.

This paper provides a review of 176 papers on wine tourism published between 1995–2014, highlighting research fields, wine regions studied, theory and methodologies used, journals and authors publi...

Enterprises must become ‘sensing, smart and sustainable (S3)’ to face global challenges related to local, national and global market dynamics. Therefore, reconceptualisation and redesign in these e...

Next-generation manufacturing enterprises need to be sensing, smart and sustainable to be competitive: ‘sensing’ refers to context awareness at internal and external levels; ‘smart’ refers to knowledge-based organisations that adapt to changes and ‘sustainable’ refers to the ability to operate without damaging the environment, community or economy. Although technologies do exist to support the development of such enterprises, there is a need for methodologies that help in the entire enterprise engineering problem. This paper proposes a methodology, based on the principles of enterprise architecture, to design a sensing, smart and sustainable manufacturing enterprise. The methodology aims at adopting the best practices used in enterprise engineering while dealing with the relevant gaps. An analysis of the characteristics of the ‘Sensing, Smart and Sustainable Manufacturing Enterprise’ (S3-ME) is presented to understand the advantages of using the proposed methodology. The methodology comprises the instanti...

The goal of this study is to analyse the relational benefits that the clients of banks, insurance companies, and travel agencies receive according to whether they maintain an offline or online relationship with the company. The development of an index, called the Relational Benefits Index, allows for a comparison of differences that arise between the measures of confidence benefits, social benefits, and special treatment benefits. The results demonstrate significant differences according to the type of service business and channel used, affecting the importance that consumers place on the offline channel when they want to maintain a stable relationship with a service business.

Over the last 10 years, the popularity of solar panels for catching solar energy has reduced development and manufacturing costs. Nevertheless, costs per watt are still high when compared to other less-clean energy sources such as wind energy. Therefore, the goal of the sun tracker is to maximize the energy generation of solar cells, thus giving a competitive advantage to solar energy. However, finding the optimal position is a very complex task and different algorithms such as genetic algorithms or swarm-based optimization algorithms have been used to improve the results. This article shows the design and implementation of two optimal sun tracker algorithms. The first method presented is genetic algorithms, which allow finding the position of the sun tracker based on an offline solution. When genetic algorithms find the solution offline, the results can be programmed in a simple lookup table. This approximation decreases the computational cost, and it is effective for geographical climes where conditions are constant. However, there are places with nonconstant climate conditions that need online optization algorithms. In this case, a newly developed intelligent water drop algorithm is proposed for running an online solution. Both methods were designed for the sun tracker problem and were implemented. The power and energy analytics show that the algorithms increase the efficiency of the sun tracker, compared to a static solar cell, by at least 40% in some cases. The sun tracker presented gives an excellent solution for obtaining energy from the sun during diverse weather conditions. This work also introduces a novel derivation of the intelligent water drop algorithm for sun trackers based on a nonconventional trajectory and conventional genetic algorithms adjusted for sun tracker needs. The experimental results are shown in order to validate the methodologies proposed.

University students’ use of time is one of the most relevant inputs to their education process. The aim of this work is therefore to explore the effect that the time spent on different academic and non-academic activities (collected using a diary) has on student performance, in order to determine which of these activities improve students’ marks. Moreover, we investigate the role of quality variables such as study skills. Using a sample of undergraduate business students, we find that academic activities such as doing assignments in teams, attending university lectures and self study have significant positive effects on students’ marks. It is thus concluded that to improve academic performance it is not only the quantity of time that matters but also quality aspects like the ability to schedule.

Although Spain is a traditional wine-producing area, there is little research on its wine tourism segmentation in comparison to that carried out in New World countries. The main aim of this paper is to identify the different segments of wine tourists that visit Spanish wineries. This research makes a theoretical and practical contribution to both the literature on the segmentation of wine tourists and segmentation techniques. The empirical analysis was carried out in the five Spanish denominations of origin with the largest market shares (Rioja, Ribera del Duero, Navarra, Rueda and La Mancha) and was based on a survey of 598 tourists. The latent class segmentation technique was used for the analysis, and four segments of wine tourists were obtained according to subjective and objective variables. This paper demonstrates how the a posteriori technique of segmentation can be applied in wine tourism research. The findings may provide the managers of wineries and destination management organizations with an i...

Many tourist destinations have focused heavily on attracting a growing number of new visitors each year. However, recent changes in the tourism market have led to the need for new strategies oriented towards retaining already existing visitors. Service-Dominant Logic (S-D Logic) is a new orientation that allows greater competitive advantage by recognising the active role of tourists in the creation of their own experiences. The main purpose of this paper is therefore to develop a theoretical model based on S-D Logic in order to increase levels of tourist loyalty. An in-depth analysis of foundational premises has allowed us to identify the key aspects of this process. The proposed model was empirically tested, using a structural equation model with partial least-squares technique, on a sample of 763 tourists visiting Spanish tourism destinations. Research findings have evidenced that tourist loyalty is achieved through the development of relationship quality in the co-creation of tourist experiences. These...

With the emergence of new enterprise models, such as technology-based enterprises, and the large quantity of information generated through technological advances, the Zachman framework continues to represent a modelling tool of great utility and value to construct an enterprise architecture EA that can integrate and align the IT infrastructure and business goals. Nevertheless, implementing an EA requires an important effort within an enterprise. Small technology-based enterprises and start-ups can take advantage of EAs and frameworks but, because these enterprises have limited resources to allocate for this task, an enterprise framework implementation is not feasible in most cases. This article proposes a new methodology based on action–research for the implementation of the business, system and technology models of the Zachman framework to assist and facilitate its implementation. Following the explanation of cycles of the proposed methodology, a case study is presented to illustrate the results of implementing the Zachman framework in a technology-based enterprise: PyME CREATIVA, using action–research approach.

In this paper, a design support framework for handling complexity associated with design exploration is presented. Two enabling methods are proposed. The first is a novel algorithm for dependency analysis of computational workflows. It provides a means for guiding the designer in adequately reversing the inputs and outputs of models and workflows, depending on the particular formulation(s) of the design studies to be conducted. Ultimately, the algorithm is intended to enable the (re)configuration of workflows while guaranteeing solvability. A method for supporting the investigation of what-if studies is also proposed. It is based on a generalisation of the isocontour method aimed at analysing the effects of different definitions of the design variable bounds on the topology of the feasible design space. The methodology is demonstrated by an industrially relevant test case concerning aircraft early conceptual design. The example demonstrates how different options for adequately reformulating optimisation studies are proposed to the designer for further exploration of design alternatives that guarantee the satisfaction of the entire set of constraints.

Enterprise Integration Engineering (EIE) has emerged as an engineering discipline to re-structure the enterprise entities as integrated business processes that integrate human and technological resources to facilitate the knowledge sharing for better decision making. EIE is a complex task that requires applying different tools concerning strategic planning, performance management, modelling, simulation and business process management in order to properly engineer the enterprise entities. The present paper presents an EIE toolbox that aims to support enterprises in their decision making process and to provide different assisting tools to be applied on the components of the EIE Reference Framework proposed. Finally, a set of case studies are presented in order to demonstrate the utility of the EIE Reference Framework and its toolbox for strategic planning and enterprise decision making.

Strategic networks such as collaborative networked organisations (CNOs) and virtual customer communities (VCCs) show a high potential as drivers of value co-creation and co-innovation. Both look at the network structures as a source of jointly value creation and open innovation through access to new skills, knowledge, markets and technologies by sharing risk and integrating complementary competencies. This collaborative endeavour is able to enhance the adaptability and flexibility of CNOs and VCCs value creating systems in order to react in response to external drivers such as collaborative (business) opportunities. Strategic business networks are active entities continuously adapting to their environment in order to enhance their capabilities to respond to short-term business opportunities, and therefore allow their business ecosystems to follow the rhythm of industry dynamics, and customers’ changing needs and preferences. Value co-creation is the new trend in open-business models trying to integrate or...

This paper describes how enterprise integration engineering (EIE) and action-research (A-R) can be used to support the implementation of product lifecycle management (PLM) tools. The EIE concept is used to align the corporate strategies with the use of PLM technologies in order to impact the key performance indicators (KPIs) in the enterprise. An EIE reference framework is proposed to define strategies, evaluate performance measures, design/re-design processes and establish the enabling tools and technologies to support the enterprise strategies, while A-R is proposed to guide the PLM tools implementation at various stages of the product development process. An industrial application is described to demonstrate the benefits of applying EIE, A-R and PLM in an enterprise.

Achieving truly dynamic virtual organisations (VOs) as short-term, goal-oriented and opportunity-based collaborative networked organisations (CNOs), in response to emerging collaboration (business) opportunities, requires the pre-existence of proper ‘breeding environments’ enabling and providing the necessary conditions and mechanisms for the rapid and fluid configuration of VOs. VO breeding environments (VBEs) act as long-term supporting networks underlying the nesting environments for preparing their members and maintaining this preparedness over the time for their effective and ad-hoc collaboration in VOs. This article introduces a VBE reference model as a reference guide for VBE initiators, VBE managers and CNO experts responsible for the creation and operation of breeding environments in different domains and application environments. As part of the VBE reference model, a VBE management framework is also introduced as a set of management activities and supporting tools to ensure that a VBE can fulfil...

Collaborative networks are an increasing trend in highly competitive globalised economies, where collaboration is essential to succeed. Some specific challenges in collaborative networks, either for a virtual breeding environment (VBE) or a virtual organisation (VO), are in the first instance, to support the VBE members’ integration process to the source network in order to establish: cooperation agreements, common operation principles, common interoperable infrastructures, common ontologies, and mutual trust towards guaranteeing that potential VO partners within the VBE are ready in advance to participate in dynamic coalitions and collaborative endeavours. In the second instance, the VO partners’ selection process faces the challenge of matching a particular collaboration opportunity with specific competency requirements available in a set of potential VO partners. This paper presents a readiness for collaboration assessment and enhancing approach aiming at identifying critical evaluation elements referr...

SUMMARY The tourism business around the world, as one of the most susceptible and vulnerable sectors, must often manage and survive global crises. In recent years the global tourism industry has experienced major crises, such as terrorist attacks, political instability, economic recession, biosecurity threats and natural disasters. The most well-known cases bear testimony to the fact that crises are not new to the tourism industry. However, tourism management capabilities and abilities to deal with complex and critical situations are limited. The time has come to develop an understanding of factors that can help tourism businesses prepare a way of getting through such crises by examining the role of market orientation and its antecedents during a post-crisis phase. This paper is concerned with the effects of several organizational factors on market orientation in airlines during the post-crisis phase of the terrorist attacks of “9/11.” The results indicate that top management factors, interdepartmental fa...

This paper proposes the concept of the virtual enterprise broker as an innovative model to design and create build to order supply chains. The build to order supply chain responds to the demands of new global manufacturing economy offering high level of customisation, high customer driven design, volume flexibility, short cycle time, no inventory costs, minimal total cost and supply chain integration. A review of different manufacturing operational models, including make to stock, make to order, assembly to order, engineer to order and configure to order, is presented to set the context for the requirements of build to order operations. The virtual enterprise broker is proposed as a structure driven strategy to support the creation of dynamic supply chains to satisfy build to order requirements. The virtual enterprise broker strategy is described in terms of core processes and competencies. We also demonstrate of how the virtual enterprise broker strategy has been implemented in various industrial scenari...

The multiobjective problems of H 2 optimal control (LQG case) and mixed H 2/H ∞ are addressed using two different approaches: Evolutionary Algorithms and Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMIs). This study illustrates with numerical examples how both approaches can be used to find the trade-off between different signal sensitivities to noise and to find the trade-off of the mixed H 2/H ∞ problem. For the mixed H 2/H ∞ example, this paper shows how a Multiobjective Genetic Algorithm (MOGA) could find an improved Pareto-optimal front compared to the LMI approach.

Yttrium 90 ((90)Y) ibritumomab tiuxetan (Zevalin), a radiolabeled monoclonal antibody against the CD20 antigen, is indicated for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory low-grade, follicular, or transformed B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), including patients with rituximab-refractory follicular NHL. Data on 211 patients treated in four clinical trials were analysed to compare the efficacy and safety of (90)Y ibritumomab tiuxetan when it was used after the first relapse of NHL and when it was used after two or more prior therapies. Sixty-three patients (30%) were treated with (90)Y ibritumomab tiuxetan after their first relapse and 148 (70%) after two or more prior therapies. Demographics, disease characteristics and the frequency of adverse events were similar in all groups, with the exception of a higher rate of marrow involvement in first-relapse patients than in patients with two or more prior therapies (57% vs. 39%; P0.05). The complete response rate [confirmed (CR) and unconfirmed (Cru)] was higher in first-relapse patients (49% vs. 28%; P0.01), and the median time to progression (TTP) was longer (12.6 vs. 7.9 months; P0.05). In patients with follicular NHL, the differences were even more pronounced (CR/CRu: 51% vs. 28%; P0.01; TTP: 15.4 vs. 9.2 months; P0.05). (90)Y ibritumomab tiuxetan has substantial clinical benefits as a second-line therapy, especially in patients with follicular NHL. The quality of disease remissions obtained when (90)Y ibritumomab tiuxetan is administered after first relapse appears to be comparable with that observed with most chemotherapy regimens in first-relapse patients.

Globalization has created a situation of increased international competition, which has put companies under enormous pressure in order to sustain and improve their value added to customers based on mass customization and time-to-market opportunities. This has lead to more international collaboration within companies and their different facilities worldwide, or among different companies in global supply chains. In this scenario the tasks of design and manufacturing of products are being executed by different facilities of one large company or by a diversity of companies, usually at different geographical locations. To support all the product life cycle activities, modelling tools and computer applications have been created. During this research project a global collaborative engineering environment and web-based applications have been developed to demonstrate how virtual collaborative product development can be achieved and a case study is presented to demonstrate how collaborative design for high-tech pro...

Throughout history it has been proved that tendencies in the manufacturing floor are a reflection of the changes in the customer's demands. Today, markets increasingly require more customized products, with shorter life cycles. In response, manufacturing systems have evolved from mass production techniques, through flexible automation, and to mass customization to produce ‘one-of-a-kind production’ at mass production costs. This paper argues that manufacturing systems of the next generation will have to incorporate more flexibility and intelligence, evolving towards reconfigurable manufacturing systems. In particular, the concept of ‘intelligence’ becomes more relevant because of the need to maintain effective and efficient manufacturing operations with minimum downtime under conditions of uncertainty. This paper presents a comprehensive literature review of the field of reconfigurable and intelligent machines. The relevant research issues for the development and introduction of reconfigurable machines to...

The results of research carried out in the world of reference models to assist in the selection of the model(s) that best set the context and basis for the definition of a reference model for the computer aided support of simultaneous engineering are presented. The reference models employed are the Open System Architecture for Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIMOSA) and the Reference Model for Open Distributed Processing (RM-ODP). The CIMOSA model is appropriate because it enables us to set the context and requirements for CAE systems within an integrated enterprise. The RM-ODP allows the definition of the structure and characteristic of the CAE systems in terms of five different views (enterprise, information, computational, engineering and technology). The result of the research is a CAE framework targeted to assist in the system specification, development and integration of future computer-based systems that support Simultaneous Engineering. A case study is presented to demonstrate the use of the CA...

During October 2009, PRO-VE-IFIP Working Conference on Virtual Enterprises commemorated its 10th Anniversary as a continuous series of successful conferences offering researchers and practitioners ...

A procedure is proposed for calculation of the auxiliary phase for single-phase induction motors. For capacitor stact motors, the size of the wire, the number of turns and the capacitor of the auxiliary phase are determined to meet the starting restraints. The graphical analysis of these restraints leads to a numerical design method, in which, for a given wire size, the number of turns and the capacitor are found at the same time. For split-phase motors, the capacitor is omitted and the method become quite simple.