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Purpose: Assess the effectiveness of acupuncture-point stimulation on acute and delayed chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in cancer patients., Materials and Methods: Randomized trials of acupuncture-point stimulation by needles, electrical stimulation, magnets, or acupressure were retrieved. Data were provided by investigators of the original trials and pooled using a fixed-effects model., Results: Eleven trials (N = 1,247) were pooled. Overall, acupuncture-point stimulation reduced the proportion of acute vomiting (relative risks [RR] = 0.82; 95% CI, 0.69 to 0.99; P = .04), but not the mean number of acute emetic episodes or acute or delayed nausea severity compared with controls. By modality, stimulation with needles reduced the proportion of acute vomiting (RR = 0.74; 95% CI, 0.58 to 0.94; P = .01), but not acute nausea severity. Electroacupuncture reduced the proportion of acute vomiting (RR = 0.76; 95% CI, 0.60 to 0.97; P = .02), but manual acupuncture did not; delayed symptoms were not reported. Acupressure reduced mean acute nausea severity (standardized mean difference = -0.19; 95% CI, -0.38 to -0.01; P = .03) and most severe acute nausea, but not acute vomiting or delayed symptoms. Noninvasive electrostimulation showed no benefit for any outcome. All trials used concomitant pharmacologic antiemetics, and all, except electroacupuncture trials, used state-of-the-art antiemetics., Conclusion: This review complements data on postoperative nausea and vomiting, suggesting a biologic effect of acupuncture-point stimulation. Electroacupuncture has demonstrated benefit for chemotherapy-induced acute vomiting, but studies with state-of-the-art antiemetics as well as studies for refractory symptoms are needed to determine clinical relevance. Acupressure seems to reduce chemotherapy-induced acute nausea severity, though studies did not involve a placebo control. Noninvasive electrostimulation seems unlikely to have a clinically relevant impact when patients are given state-of-the-art pharmacologic antiemetic therapy.

Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is becoming a wide used therapeutic modality in the field of cancer care. Offering long-term disease-free survival in more than half of some patients with previously fatal diseases, this therapy has challenged clinicians to reevaluate critical care management strategies for such patients. Critical illness occurs in approximately one third of allogeneic transplants, necessitating that critical care nurses be familiar with this therapy and its reported complications. Critical care nurses are an integral part of producing the reported cure and remission rates, despite significant complications. In this article, the authors outline the common critical care problems of this patient population. The chronologic format enables the practitioner to correlate and differentiate key characteristics of potential complications. A case study, with clinical symptoms representing several potential etiologies, demonstrates the application of these concepts. Through the use of nursing knowledge of the unique needs of these patients, there is the potential to continue to improve patient outcomes.

Copyright of Journal of International Crisis & Risk Communication Research (JICRCR) is the property of Journal of International Crisis & Risk Communication Research and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Context. Considered the task of forming the Master Production Shedule in the process of production management based on the MRP II standard. The object of the study is the algorithm for forming this plan for further planning of materials supply for production and the organization of production itself. Objective. Improvement of the algorithm of Master Production Shedule formation to avoid unnecessary stages of the algorithm. Method. It is proposed to improve the algorithm of the Master Production Shedule formation. It consists in simultaneously taking into account the requirements for timely delivery of products to customers, limitations regarding the capacities of the company’s work centers, and limitations regarding the duration of procurement cycles in the process of supplying materials. The MRP II standard envisages first planning the terms and quantity of product releases, and only at the next step checking the formed plan for admissibility with regard to the required time of operation of the equipment and the availability of the required materials quantity. In case of the calculated plan limitations violation, it is necessary to either plan and implement measures to overcome the specified limitations, i.e. organize additional shifts for work centers, use additional capacities, speed up the delivery of some materials, or reduce the sales plan. All these measures are associated with additional costs. In the proposed version of the planning process, this should be done only if the algorithm does not find an acceptable solution. The task of forming the Master Production Shedule, which is central to the MRP standard, is formulated by the authors as a linear programming task due to the linear nature of the specified restrictions on production capacities and materials. In particular, in the case of sufficiently severe restrictions on the work centers capacity, the plan for replenishing the remaining products from production is shifted to earlier planning intervals and only then rests against the restrictions. Several strategies are proposed for planning replenishments from the production of products stock. Results. The developed algorithms are implemented in the form of Microsoft Excel templates and are available for use in order to deepen the understanding of the MRP II standard. They are also used in the educational process. Conclusions. Approbation of the solution by the authors confirmed its workability, as well as the expediency of implementing the developed modification of the MRP II planning process into the software of leading ERP class systems suppliers. Prospects for further research may consist in a comparative analysis of the proposed options for placement of products replenishment from production, through economic evaluation of these options, as well as through simulation modeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Fisioterapia Brasil is the property of Atlantica Editora and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The term "strategy" was first used in commercial jargon in 1950, i.e. at a time of turbulent political and economic changes. According to Ansoff's observation, "this interest in strategy was driven by a growing awareness that the corporate environment gradually became volatile and incoherent, and the struggle for markets, contracts, customers has begun." [1] This resulted to the fact that the goals themselves are insufficient for decisionmaking rules for the management of companies. Management needed to be adapted to changing challenges, threats and opportunities [2]. The strategies of companies can therefore be classified according to various aspects. Miles and Snow classified the company's strategies on the basis of aggression towards the market [3]. This article defines and describes the rules in logistics that are characteristic of these strategies and need to be implemented to create and application of strategy of selected type (the prospector, the defender, the analyser, the reactor). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Sinusoidal obstruction syndrome (SOS) is one of the most serious complications post haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). The diagnosis of SOS is clinical, but nurses should be involved in the pre-transplant risk assessment period and play a crucial role in the early detection of signs and symptoms during and after hospitalization. The aim of this work is to achieve a consensus on nurses' behaviour in caring for SOS. Methods: On behalf of the Italian Group for Bone and Marrow Transplantation (GITMO), a promoter committee was established to put in place a consensus conference approach. A multidisciplinary group of GITMO together with four nurses, three haematology physicians and one patient representative acted as jury, who reviewed the reports and wrote recommendations and suggestions. Recommendations gaining 100% of consensus were considered 'Golden Points of Care'; if a consensus was achieved by ≥ 75% of the jury's members, those recommendations were defined as 'Good Practices'. Results: Eighteen papers written by nurses as first authors have been identified. Golden Points of Care and Good Practices were worked out for the following topics: nurses' role in general, nurses' role in pre-transplant assessment, pre-transplant risk assessment and risk stratification, baseline monitoring, suspected mild or moderate SOS, suspected severe or very severe SOS and late-onset cases. Conclusion: SOS is relatively rare; therefore, a holistic approach to the patients' needs considering nursing role as essential may result in better care outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance of a Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) largely depends on how the control system can control the flow of entities in the system. The control system takes control decisions based on the information provided as an input to the decision-making process. Therefore, it is important that the decision-making process and information systems operate in a synchronised manner with respect to the FMS characteristics. This can also be referred to as a Decision-Information-Synchronisation (DIS) operating zone implemented in the control system. To study the DIS in the present research, three types of visibility for decision-makers in FMS shop-floor control have been identified: (1) no local visibility, (2) physical local visibility and (3) physical and information local visibility of decision-maker/operator. These alternative visibilities and automation levels of decision and information system provide the hybrid environments of FMSs control. The current paper presents an approach to identify the DIS operating zone of FMS with suitable visibility of decision-maker and automation level. Simulation results show that under non-real-time control (low automation level in decision and information system) with physical local visibility, the FMS system performs comparable with the real-time control (high automation level in decision and information system) when routing flexibility levels are presented. Under the current global competitive environment, this study helps industrial managers determine a suitable level of visibility and automation in planning an FMS control system in order to obtain the desired performance at the lower cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As industrial technology progresses from tailored customisation and mass production all the way to mass customisation, the demand for faster order-to-delivery time keeps increasing, especially for those products that require lengthy customised engineering-to-order (ETO) tasks among multiple partners. Products such as commercial airplanes and ocean vessels, which have delivery demands before the integrated production system has reached a steady production pace, involve partners progressing through their engineering tasks at asynchronous stochastic learning curve (ASLC) rates. This paper aims to contribute to the research by revealing the novel ASLC model and addressing ETO-related processes. An application of the ASLC model in an ETO case study by using sanitised real production data is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this study is the identical parts robotic cell scheduling problem with m machines under the assumption of process and operational flexibility. A direct consequence of this assumption is a new robot move cycle that has been overlooked in the existing literature. We prove that this new cycle dominates all classical robot move cycles considered in the literature for m = 2. We also prove that changing the layout from an in-line robotic cell to a robot-centered cell reduces the cycle time of the proposed cycle even further, whereas the cycle times of all other cycles remain the same. For the m-machine case, we find the regions where the proposed cycle dominates the classical robot move cycles, and for the remaining regions present its worst case performance with respect to classical robot move cycles. Considering the number of machines as a decision variable, we also find the optimal number of machines that minimizes the cycle time of the proposed cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The flexibility of a flexible manufacturing system (FMS) has provided it with the capability to become one of the most suitable manufacturing systems in the present manufacturing environment of customized and an increasing variety of products with shorter life cycles. Significant research has been made on flexibility from different points of views. The paper focuses on the study of flexibility in FMS from the view of a decision-and-information system. In modelling flexibility and other physical and operational parameters of an FMS, researchers have mostly assumed a decision-and-information system has the capability of real-time control. The literature reports qualitatively that real-time control may be difficult to achieve and justify economically. The paper presents a comparative study of an FMS operating under real-time control, review-period-based control and reactive control. It also focuses on the comparative performances of the key parameters such as routing flexibility and control strategies of an FMS operating under these different modes of a decision-and-information system. It contributes an approach using simulation under Taguchi's method to study the various factors contributing to FMS performance and identifies the critical parameters for improving performance. The result shows that review-period-based control can be effectively implemented in an FMS with a lower flexibility level. Smaller review-period size can perform comparable with real-time control. The decision-maker must ensure the FMS's capability of having real-time control, otherwise it may result in a reactive control that may considerably deteriorate the performance. The results under Taguchi's method indicate that the routing flexibility and control strategy should have maximum relative percentage contributions in the performance of an FMS, while the decision-and-information system should have the minimum. Increasing the relative percentage contribution of a decision-and-information system may deteriorate the performance of a given FMS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Postponement is an approach that helps to deliver more responsive supply chains. Form postponement (FPp) involves the delay of final manufacturing until a customer order is received and is commonly regarded as an approach to mass customization. However, while much is written in the literature about the benefits and strategic impact of FPp, little is still known about its application. The paper presents the second in a series of three studies, using a common research methodology, that address 'how' FPp is applied in terms of its operational implications within a manufacturing facility. It is a retrospective study of the application of FPp in a manufacturer of industrial electric motors referred to here as 'Motorco'. Operational measures for products selected for FPp are compared with those for products that continued to be made under engineer-to-order and make-to-stock regimes. Propositions were tested that address operational implications of FPp within the manufacturing facility, as well as the impact of FPp on selected performance metrics and the demand profile for which FPp was the preferred regime. Multiple data collection methods were used whereby documentary, archival and database evidence were used to measure operational characteristics across a broad front. The findings show that FPp improved responsiveness of manufacturing, but it is involved in the removal of components and often time-consuming invasive modifications. This suggested that the Customer Order Decoupling Point (CODP) would be better located further up stream in the manufacturing process. Two alternative CODP locations are evaluated that prevent the removal of components, provide the same level of responsiveness and potentially improve delivery reliability. The production planning system was sufficiently responsive to support FPp. However, the bills of materials were inflexible, preventing the system from being used to process FPp orders. This case illustrates many of the operational implications of applying FPp to a complex (i.e. many part numbers) and truly customized product. A third and final study of a FPp application in a different production context has been completed that will provide further evidence of its operational implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an Integrated approach for Material Planning and finite Operations Scheduling (IMPOS). The approach assumes the existence of a system that provides a relative priority measure for customer orders, based on a predetermined set of factors including—but not limited to—due dates. Orders are sequenced on descending order of the priority measures to form the Master Production Sequence (MPS) list. Starting from the top of the MPS list, orders are planned one at a time, by determining their respective quantity requirements first. The next phase schedules the requirements by time allocation of the available finite resources to their operational requirements. The IMPOS approach attempts to reduce production lead times during its finite scheduling procedure through analysis of the details of each operation in conjunction with other associated operations and the ordering policy applied. Generating finite schedules quickly enables IMPOS to handle effectively the dynamic behaviour of the manufacturing environment. The approach is detailed and exemplified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study investigated the effect of additional prophylactic acupuncture during chemotherapy on quality of life and side effects compared to standard treatment alone in breast cancer patients. Methods: In a pragmatic trial, newly diagnosed breast cancer patients were randomized to additional acupuncture treatments over 6 months or standard care alone (control group). The primary outcome was the disease-specific quality of life (FACT-B). Twenty qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten patients from each group regarding their subjective experiences. Results: A total of 150 women (mean age 51.0 (SD 10.0) years) were randomized. For the primary endpoint, FACT-B total score after 6 months, no statistically significant difference was found between groups (acupuncture: 103.5 (95%, CI 88.8 to 107.2); control (101.4 (− 97.5 to 105.4); difference 2.0 (− 3.4 to 7.5) p = 0.458)). Qualitative content analyses showed that patients in the acupuncture group described positive effects on psychological and physical well-being. For both patient groups, coping strategies were more important than reducing side effects. Conclusions: Breast cancer patients receiving prophylactic acupuncture during chemotherapy did not show better quality of life in the questionnaires in contrast to the reported positive effects in the qualitative interviews. Coping strategies for cancer appear to be important. Trial registration: clinicaltrials.gov; NCT01727362. Prospectively registered 11 July 2012; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01727362. The manuscript adheres to CONSORT guidelines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the results of a recent field study of computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) adoption strategies in U.S. manufacturing firms. The purpose of the study was to identify the extent to which CIM technologies are in use in U.S. firms, the impact of a facility's process characteristics on the CIM development process, and the adoption policy being followed implicitly or explicitly. The survey focused on manufacturing process characteristics, the CIM development process, the CIM architecture, and perceived value and benefits. Our results indicate that CIM implementations follow a definite temporal pattern with respect to the adoption of certain information technologies. We also find evidence of labor substitution through CIM, although the direct labor jobs that are lost are partially replaced by engineering and design tasks. While most CIM users find that their CIM projects successfully meet their initial operational goals, the technology seems to be poorly integrated in most sites. More crucially, it appears that CIM does not live up to its promise: it is not being adopted as a strategic information system for competitive missions. The initiative for CIM programs is usually generated from the bottom-up by small groups of technical experts who tend to focus on localized data-processing concerns. This gradual bottom-up approach appears to severely restrain, rather than enable, plant-wide integration for critical crossfunctional business processes such as order fulfillment or the introduction of new products. The decentralized, bottom-up, development pattern of these information systems reinforces the existence of many incompatible divisional islands of automation, thereby negatively affecting the competitive capability of the firm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term "strategy" was first used in commercial jargon in 1950, i.e. at a time of turbulent political and economic changes. According to Ansoff's observation, "this interest in strategy was driven by a growing awareness that the corporate environment gradually became volatile and incoherent, and the struggle for markets, contracts, customers has begun." [1] This resulted to the fact that the goals themselves are insufficient for decisionmaking rules for the management of companies. Management needed to be adapted to changing challenges, threats and opportunities [2]. The strategies of companies can therefore be classified according to various aspects. Miles and Snow classified the company's strategies on the basis of aggression towards the market [3]. This article defines and describes the rules in logistics that are characteristic of these strategies and need to be implemented to create and application of strategy of selected type (the prospector, the defender, the analyser, the reactor). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study increases knowledge on SMEs as extended enterprises, particularly from the viewpoint of stakeholder involvement in firms' R&D activity. Previous research holds that stakeholder involvement benefits firms' R&D performance, but tends to approach stakeholder involvement by focusing on one or two stakeholder groups at a time. This paper explores the roles and intensity of involvement of different stakeholders in the R&D processes of SMEs and presents a 360-degree model based on prior research to empirically profile the SMEs to see where their gaps in the stakeholder potential are. The study was conducted with multiple qualitative case studies and contributes to the debates on SMEs' R&D processes and stakeholder perspective on business. This research offers a synthetizing view of the involvement of different stakeholders' in R&D, an approach that enables to consider SMEs as extended enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the emergent technologies of Industrial Additive Manufacturing become increasingly employed in commercial manufacturing environments, challenges arise in terms of how resources of the manufacturing system should be marshalled and controlled for sustainable manufacturing. While control architectures are well established for conventional manufacturing, to-date there has been little explicit consideration for Industrial Additive Manufacturing. This article provides redress for this research gap by exploring four feasible control architectures employed in current manufacturing practice. Drawing upon 12 case studies and the operations of three companies, the relative merits, demerits, and challenges for each architecture are explored in terms of changeability criteria for sustainable manufacturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the existing knowledge about the relationships between advanced manufacturing technology (AMT), lean manufacturing (LM), agile manufacturing (AM), and business performance.Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire-based survey was performed to collect data from 189 Iranian automobile part manufacturers. Statistical analysis of hypothesized relationships was conducted via partial least squares structural equation modeling.Findings AMT significantly contributes to the development of both LM and AM. These manufacturing systems can co-exist in one system, and LM is a precursor to AM. LM contributes to operational performance whereas AM improves marketing performance and financial performance.Research limitations/implications Relying on the cross-sectional data of this research, and lack of generalizability of findings are key limitations. An interesting direction for future research would be to empirically offer a hybrid lean-agile approach and further map the mechanism through which this hybrid approach can be achieved in practice.Practical implications Both LM and AM are information-intensive and highly supported by AMT. They contribute to different aspects of business performance. Pursuing both cost-leadership strategy and product mix flexibility is viable via hybridizing the lean and agile systems.Originality/value This study is among the first to address issues related to the lean-AM relationship among developing countries. This study is unique in the sense it shows the mechanism through which the value of AMT is truly transformed to performance improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Gümüshane University Electronic Journal of the Institute of Social Science / Gümüshane Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Elektronik Dergisi is the property of Gumushane University Electronic Journal of the Institute of Social Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revue Valaque d'Etudes Economiques is the property of Valahia University of Targoviste and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Control of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) has improved with advances in antiemetics, such as NK1 antagonists. Despite these advances, patients still experience these symptoms, and expert panels encourage additional methods to reduce these symptoms. Objectives: The objective was to assess the effectiveness of acupuncture and acupressure on acute and delayed CINV in cancer patients. Search strategy: The following databases were searched: AMED, MEDLINE, CINAHL, PubMed, Cochrane Controlled Trials Registry, and Science Direct. The search was undertaken from the inception of the database to January 2012. Selection criteria: Randomised controlled trials and systematic reviews of acupoint stimulation by needles, electrical stimulation or acupressure (excluding laser, point injection and non-invasive electrostimulation) and assessing chemotherapy-induced nausea or vomiting, or both. Data collection and analysis: Data was provided by publications of original trials and pooled. Standardised mean differences with confidence incidences were calculated. Main results: Seven trials were pooled for acupuncture and six for acupressure. Acupuncture reduced the frequency of acute vomiting (mean difference [MD] -7.40, 95% confidence interval [CI] -9.07 to -5.72), but did not reduce acute nausea severity or frequency compared to control. Delayed symptoms for acupuncture were not reported. Acupuncture showed a reduction in the dose of rescue medication (MD -5.52, 95% CI -7.45 to -3.58). Acupressure showed a decrease in frequency of nausea (MD -0.32, 95% CI -0.59 to 0.06) but not acute vomiting or delayed symptoms. All trials used state-of-the-art combination antiemetics, except for the early electroacupuncture trials. Authors' conclusions: Acupuncture has demonstrated some benefit for chemotherapy-induced acute vomiting by reducing the frequency of vomiting and reducing the use of rescue medication, while acupressure has shown a decrease in the frequency of nausea. Further trials of acupuncture and acupressure for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in patients with refractory symptoms are needed before recommendations for clinical practice can be made. Future trials must be sufficiently powered, as this remains a major flaw with the majority of studies to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the problem of robotic cell scheduling with m machines with flexibility, load lock and swap assumptions. The robotic cell repetitively produces parts of identical types. We determine the cycle time of all 1-unit cycles in this type of robotic cell and present two new lower bounds for robot move cycles with load lock and swap, either there is flexibility or inflexibility. We also provide a new robot move cycle and prove that it dominates all classical robot move cycles considered in the existing literature of m-machine robotic cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Smokex-Pro is a smoking cessation method using a protocol of a standardized consultation and computer-assisted photoelectric stimulation of defined regions in the ear and face. Methods: We prospectively enrolled 156 consecutive adult smokers (81 males, 75 females; mean age 43.8 years; body mass index 25.5; daily cigarettes 24.7; Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence 5; 30 smoking years). The primary end point was the self-reported continuous abstinence rate. Results: Participants completed on average only 32% of recommended visits. A total of 76.7% stopped smoking for more than 7 days. Moreover, 53.4% remained free of smoking for more than 90 days. Long-term abstinence rates were 49.3% (1 year) and 47.95% (2 years). Treatment-related side effects were observed in 24.5% of participants. Side effects were mild and resolved within hours. Conclusion: The Smokex-Pro method appears to be an effective aid for smoking cessation. The treatment was well tolerated and showed only mild and temporary side effects. The average cost of treatment is typically less than EUR 90; the total treatment time is typically 60-90 min. These factors make it an attractive alternative compared to traditional smoking cessation methods. Controlled clinical trials will be needed to confirm the results of this study and refine the treatment for maximum efficacy. Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the paper the basic concepts of the theory of Enterprise Process Control (EPC II), as well as its most important results and directions of future work, have been discussed. It has been shown that in the synthetic picture of EPC II data structure every structural attribute of information elements may be assigned to one of the three general dimensions: knowledge on kinds of processes and resources, enterprise organization and labels of executions of definite business processes. Differences in concepts of business processes, resources and organizational units between the EPC II theory and the current standards have been pointed out. It has been demonstrated that the framework functional structure of integrated management systems is the same for every organizational level. The notions of business transactions have been introduced and then relationships between functional activities and business transactions have been described. Next, the relationships of bookkeeping accounts, entries and transactions with corresponding notions of the EPC II theory have been discussed. It has been shown how the EPC II theory may be applied to solving certain difficult problems of business process control, including the problem of building a universal framework system of management and process control and the problem of automatic adaptation of management systems software to structural changes of business processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information about a research related to the development and examining of benchmarking performance measures for the extended enterprises. It informs that the research model has been constructed on 16 performance measures in eight categories including an online survey by questionnaire in China. Results of the survey indicate that the performance measures in the operation and customer categories are more important as compared to other factors.

Both the numbers and the proportions of international nurses in some Western countries are rapidly growing. There are numerous post-hire transitional programs designed to facilitate the transition of these nurses; however, little information is available on the evaluation of the "state-of-the-art" of these programs. A systematic review of 20 post-hire transitional programs for international nurses was conducted to evaluate the status of these programs regarding country of origin, research-versus non-research-based articles, proposed versus implemented programs, program structure and content (i.e., mentorship, formal language or communication training, length, single vs. multiple component, logistics support, and theoretical or conceptual framework), and indicators for program success. Data from this review indicate that most programs were not evidence-based. In addition, there is minimal research on transitional programs, especially their effectiveness. Implications and recommendations for practice and future research are elaborated here in light of the review findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors present a Multi-Agent System for constructing and releasing production orders. In a manufacturing enterprise, the generation of production orders consists in a set of coordinated tasks among departments. This has been achieved traditionally as a module of the Production Activity Control (PAC) system. However, classic PAC modules lack collaborative techniques and intelligent behaviour. Moreover, in real-life situations experienced planners take over traditional PAC systems, since the range of possibilities to actually build production orders increases exponentially. To contribute to production planning, we present an intelligent and collaborative Multi-Agent System (MAS), having coordinated two forms to emulate intelligence. The learning capability is achieved by means of a Feed-forward Artificial Neural Network (FANN) with the back-propagation algorithm. The FANN is embedded within a machine agent whose objective is to obtain the appropriate machine in order to comply with requirements coming from the sales department. Also, an expert system is provided to a tool agent, which in turn is in charge of inferring the right tooling. The MAS also consists of a coordinator and a spy. The coordinator agent has the responsibility to control the flow of messages among the agents, whereas the spy agent is constantly reading the Enterprise Information System. Finally, a scheduler agent schedules the production orders. The resultant MAS improves the current form to plan production in a factory dedicated to produce labels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper proposes a relationship between decision making and key qualities of business systems. Design/methodology/approach: The authors explore the relationship between decision making and systems by contrasting the decision making in two well-known systems: MRP and JIT. The two systems present two sets of opposing qualities. By considering the relationship between a decision and its environment, we propose that these sets of qualities are not unique to MRP and JIT. They arise from two general approaches to decision making. Having introduced the two approaches, we analyze three product development systems: Stage-Gate, Agile and Lean. Findings: In manufacturing, MRP is a push system; JIT is a pull system. MRP seeks perfection; JIT seeks consistency. MRP gives decision makers great discretion; JIT constrains decisions. These opposing qualities, and others, arise from two general approaches to decision making: outside-in and inside-out. As the difficulty of decisions increase, relative to a decision maker's ability, the cost of mistakes becomes significant. In these situations, the inside-out approach should outperform the outside-in approach. The inside-out approach constrains decision making to limit the cost of errors. The outside-in approach embraces complexity, exposing itself to more decision errors. In product development, the Lean and Agile systems exploit the inside-out approach. They constrain decisions and reduce the cost of errors that arise from two sources. Lean addresses interactions, which add complexity to business systems. Agile addresses unpredictability, which adds uncertainty to business systems. Originality/value: The relationships the authors propose show how decision making affects the development, control and performance of business systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Successful implementation of computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) technologies offers manufacturing organizations numerous benefits (both tangible and intangible). The evaluation and selection process of these technologies is a very complex task due to the many parameters involved that should be taken into consideration during the selection process. In this research, a number of Saudi industries were surveyed to evaluate their current CIM technologies. Future plans regarding the implementation of such technologies are also investigated. This research also presents a decision support system (DSS) for the evolution and selection of CIM technologies, taking into consideration the requirements of manufacturing industries. This is done to ensure that the selected technologies comply with the objectives of these companies. Depending on the emerged results, a multi-attribute decision-making approach (analytical hierarchy process - AHP) is used. A computerized tool CIMAHP (selection of CIM technologies using AHP) is developed to simplify the application of the suggested DSS. Developed tools are tested and demonstrated using a real case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supply chain excellence has a real impact on business strategy. Building supply chains as flexible systems represents one of the most exciting opportunities to create value and one of the most challenging tasks for the policy makers. It requires integrated decision making amongst autonomous chain partners with effective decision knowledge sharing between them. The key to success lies in knowing which decision has more impact on the overall performance and this can be achieved by appropriate knowledge sharing. In this context, knowledge management (KM) can be used as an effective approach to achieve knowledge sharing and decision synchronisation in supply chains. Flexible supply chains (FSCs) are more complex and involve multiple autonomous players with varying technical cultures (affects knowledge mindsets), managerial background (affects decision knowledge) and supply chain management (SCM) exposures (affects knowledge sharing attitudes). Thus there is a need to develop demo models that can encourage chain managers towards collaborative knowledge sharing in the supply chains. This paper presents the application of one such model based on decision knowledge sharing (DKS) for improved supply chain management. A simulation model of a flexible supply chain based on DKS framework is developed for demo purposes. The key results are highlighted along with industry implications. The cost based performance of DKS at different levels of flexibility is studied. Thus a careful analysis of the chain with a focus on collaborative decisions is useful to ensure success. This paper addresses this interesting and challenging domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This study aims to examine the relationship between top-performing US furniture manufacturers and industry's best manufacturing practices. Design/methodology/approach - In the past studies, best manufacturing practices were mostly determined using qualitative methods. In this paper, a quantitative evaluating method to determine best manufacturing practices was designed by taking into consideration qualitative criterions. A sample of 122 manufacturing practices was observed in six US furniture companies, two of them considered world-class performers and the other four considered average. A logistic regression was used to examine the relationship between best manufacturing practices and top-performing companies. Findings - Statistical analyses showed a positive relationship between top-performing companies and use of best manufacturing practices by these companies. A database of best manufacturing practices was created and shared with the participant companies. Research limitations/implications - One limitation of this study is that the causal relationship between performance and best practices was not considered. Future studies could employ statistical methods such as structural equation model to better understand this causality. Other methods could possibly be developed to audit and classify manufacturing practices. Originality/value - It is believed that the database of best manufacturing practices will help average or below-average performing companies to identify and adopt best manufacturing practices. It will also help top-performing companies in the cycle of continuous improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - Traditionally the customer order decoupling point (CODP) has focused mainly on the separation of production performed on speculation from commitment to customer orders. Engineering has, with few exceptions in this context, simply been viewed as occurring before production activities in a sequential manner. As competition increases, customer requirements for short lead-times in combination with customisations requires further integration of processes involving both engineering and production activities making the traditional view of the CODP insufficient in these cases. The purpose of this paper is thus to provide a more general approach to enterprise integration of cross-functional processes in order to extend the applicability of the CODP as a logistics oriented concept. Design/methodology/approach - We use evolutionary approach to define the CODP as a two-dimensional concept based on the integration of engineering and production. Findings - The extended CODP captures the complexity in terms of possible configurations, but also provides a framework for the issues that must be handled when positioning the CODP in terms of both engineering and production simultaneously. Practical implications - The two-dimensional CODP is an important extension to make the theory better reflect reality and hence increase the scope and acceptance of both the concept CODP per se, and the analysis based on the CODP. Originality/value - By the introduction of a new two-dimensional approach, a more comprehensive CODP typology is defined. We also provide a classification of customer order influence based on a combined engineering and production perspective where the efficient CODPs constitute a set providing the highest level of customer value in terms of engineering adaptations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's global market, managing the entire supply chain has become a key factor for a successful business. Competitive pressures force companies to continuously devise ways to achieve better supply chain solutions, faster-better-cheaper. One key area is overall customer satisfaction, which translates as the ability to accurately deliver what is promised at all times. Success in such a case is directly influenced by a company's ability to make accurate promises through precise planning and execution. This also must be achieved by managing a highly variable demand that comes in a variety of forms from a number of different sources, such as e-commerce sites, digital exchanges and trading partners, etc. For these reasons companies retool key business processes and adopt new ways of doing things. Early developments in the area include single-site available-to-promise systems. In this paper we will introduce the concepts and present the design of a distributed order promising system, which enables available-to-promise/capable-to-promise for distributed enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The foundations and scope of e-Work are described, and investigations of fundamental design principles for e-Work effectiveness reviewed. The premise is that without effective e-Work, the potential of emerging and promising electronic work activities, such as virtual manufacturing, telerobotic medicine, automated construction, intelligent transportation, and e-business, cannot be fully materialized. A typical and recent example of the inability to fulfill the potential of e-Work is the frustration of workers over supply chains/networks with complex ERP and other information systems, originally designed to simplify and improve their performance. Challenges and emerging e-Work solutions are described, and recent discoveries are clustered in four areas, e-Work; Integration, Coordination and Collaboration; Distributed Decision Support; and Active Middleware, with annotated references. PRISM Center developments of e-Work design principles, models and tools are described, including: Cooperation Requirement Planning; the principle of parallelism; the principle of conflict resolution; new measures of viability and scalability; and the Teamwork Integration Evaluator (TIE), which applies the analogy of distributed computing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kanban system designed and operated over the past few years, faces unpredictable changes driven by global competition. In order to keep pace with the fluctuating market demands at a low production cost, a different type of kanban system is desired, which is both demand-responsive and cost-effective. In order to provide genuineness to the problem, a fuzzy environment is generated. An Expert Enhanced Coloured Fuzzy Petri Net is used to represent the three types of kanban systems i.e. traditional, flexible and reconfigurable kanban systems and their functioning. The resulting models can represent both single and multiple types of kanban system with variable fixed order point. Simulation experiments have been carried out to prove the advantages of the reconfigurable kanban system over the other two. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]