Manufacturing Networks Research Articles

Does plant role moderate relationship between internal manufacturing network integration, external supply chain integration, operational performance in manufacturing network?

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the moderating effects of the role a plant plays in a manufacturing network on the relationships between its level of integration with other plants in the same manufacturing network (referred as “internal manufacturing network integration” in this paper), its interactions with suppliers/customers (referred as “external supply chain integration” in this paper), and its operational performance.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on the data from the sixth version of International Manufacturing Strategy Survey (IMSS VI). Specifically, this paper uses a subset of the IMSS VI data set from the 606 plants that identified themselves as one of the plants in a manufacturing network.FindingsThe results demonstrate plant role has a moderating effect on the relationship between internal manufacturing network integration and external supply chain integration, but not on the relationship between external supply chain integration and operational performance. Our research also highlights that plant role moderates the mediating effect of external supply chain integration on the relationship between internal manufacturing network integration and operational performance. More importantly, it indicates that if a plant wants to significantly increase its operational performance, it will have to strengthen its linkages with supply chain partners, no matter which role it plays in manufacturing network.Originality/valueThis paper supplements the existing research by developing further understandings on the relationship between internal manufacturing network integration, external supply chain integration and operational performance. Specifically, it examines the influence of plant role on such relationship and reveals the essence about in what context (in terms of plant characteristics) internal manufacturing network integration influences the operational performance of a plant in a manufacturing network through external supply chain integration.

Blockchain for supply chain quality management: challenges and opportunities in context of open manufacturing and industrial internet of things

ABSTRACT In global Supply Chain Quality Management (SCQM), there are methods to ensure continuity of supply, at appropriate prices while meeting quality standards. But they are limited by the large and fallible role of humans, especially in manufacturing and quality control. Open Manufacturing aims to establish an open network of manufacturers that enables product information sharing among others in the production chain. Realizing the goals of open manufacturing requires processing the large datasets inherent to the production chain partners. But it is difficult to comply with the trust and privacy requirements of the suppliers in a supply chain. This paper presents a comprehensive survey of blockchain and its current and potential use in the industrial context including Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)-based sensor networks, and the impact of the blockchain technology in manufacturing related areas such as traceability. The focus of this paper is on a potential application of blockchain in SCQM with detailed analysis of its technical feasibility and the methods of transitioning between the current approaches to a blockchain-oriented platform. An innovative use of blockchain to store referral information is also discussed. The survey concludes that blockchain along with IIoT can improve SCQM in an Open Manufacturing model.

Physical layer security in hybrid TPSR two-way half-duplex relaying networks over rayleigh fading channel: non-zero secrecy probability analysis

In this paper, we proposed and investigated the Hybrid TPSR Two-Way Half-Duplex (HD) Relaying Communication Networks Over Rayleigh Fading Channel in the presence of the Eavesdropper (E). The system model consists of two sources A and B communicate with each other with helping of intermediate Relay (R). For the system performance analysis, we analyzed and derived the exact and approximate integral-form of the system Non-zero secrecy probability (NZSP) in the case that the E uses the MRC (maximal ratio combining) technique. In addition, the effect of the main system parameters on the system performance is investigated. Finally, all the research results are convinced by the Monte Carlo Simulation. This paper can provide a novel recommendation for relaying communication network manufacture.In this paper, we proposed and investigated the Hybrid TPSR Two-Way Half-Duplex (HD) Relaying Communication Networks Over Rayleigh Fading Channel in the presence of the Eavesdropper (E). The system model consists of two sources A and B communicate with each other with helping of intermediate Relay (R). For the system performance analysis, we analyzed and derived the exact and approximate integral-form of the system Non-zero secrecy probability (NZSP) in the case that the E uses the MRC (maximal ratio combining) technique. In addition, the effect of the main system parameters on the system performance is investigated. Finally, all the research results are convinced by the Monte Carlo Simulation. This paper can provide a novel recommendation for relaying communication network manufacture.

Exploring the antecedents of organizational resilience practices – A transactive memory systems approach

PurposeThe purpose of this paper was to explore individual- and firm-level antecedents of the ability of a manufacturing firm's personnel to collaborate and integrate knowledge for organizational resilience practices.Design/methodology/approachThe authors apply hierarchical regression analysis to study a sample of 192 European industrial equipment manufacturers. Data for each firm are collected from surveys of two key informants in each firm, as well as from public sources.FindingsFirms' personnel’s ability to integrate information and knowledge for organizational resilience practices was positively related with the extent of the head of manufacturing's network of personal contacts inside the firm. This effect was stronger in firms with more formalized job descriptions and clearly defined roles. The head of manufacturing's orientation to teamwork and cooperation impacted this ability only in firms that did not financially incentivize cooperation. The authors also found that cooperation incentives and role formalization directly relate to firms' personnel’s ability to integrate information and knowledge for organizational resilience practices.Originality/valueThe study proposes to study organizational resilience practices through a transactive memory systems lens. The study is also the first to link characteristics of individual managers to firm-level resilience practices by examining the antecedents of firms' ability to integrate information and knowledge to recover from operational disruptions. Furthermore, the study serves to enhance the knowledge of resilience practices by examining the role of firm-level antecedents and their interplay with characteristics of individual managers.

Effect of network topology and node centrality on trading

Global supply networks in agriculture, manufacturing, and services are a defining feature of the modern world. The efficiency and the distribution of surpluses across different parts of these networks depend on the choices of intermediaries. This paper conducts price formation experiments with human subjects located in large complex networks to develop a better understanding of the principles governing behavior. Our first experimental finding is that prices are larger and that trade is significantly less efficient in small-world networks as compared to random networks. Our second experimental finding is that location within a network is not an important determinant of pricing. An examination of the price dynamics suggests that traders on cheapest—and hence active—paths raise prices while those off these paths lower them. We construct an agent-based model (ABM) that embodies this rule of thumb. Simulations of this ABM yield macroscopic patterns consistent with the experimental findings. Finally, we extrapolate the ABM on to significantly larger random and small-world networks and find that network topology remains a key determinant of pricing and efficiency.

Landscape analysis of pharmacovigilance and related practices among 34 vaccine manufacturers’ from emerging countries

Developing Countries’ Vaccine Manufacturers Network was tasked with the strategic goal of seeking solutions, jointly with manufacturers, for enabling the stable, sustainable supply of quality vaccines to developing countries to increase global immunization. As vaccines are given to millions of healthy people, including children, to prevent life-threatening diseases, vaccines must meet high safety standards. Vaccine safety monitoring is of paramount importance to maintain trust in vaccination programs globally. Once a vaccine is licensed and recommended for use, its safety and effectiveness must be monitored during its whole lifecycle, as the safety profile and protective effectiveness may change over time. A well-established safety governance model across the organization with underlying processes for data collection, signal and risk management and communication is essential. A “fit for purpose” pharmacovigilance system may vary as it depends on several factors. However, all vaccine manufacturers strive to achieve a pharmacovigilance system satisfying Good Pharmacovigilance Practices, in compliance with national, international and supranational requirements, as applicable.A landscape analysis, using a questionnaire covering nine pharmacovigilance key areas related to an effective system, was conducted to understand the existing pharmacovigilance structures, practices and expertise of vaccine manufacturers from emerging countries, on an institutional level. 34 of the 43 contacted manufacturers participated voluntarily. The survey results show that all respondents have established vaccine safety capacity, mainly in collecting and handling adverse events following immunization and implementing standardized processes; the survey also shows differences in the maturity of the manufacturers’ pharmacovigilance system, Quality Management System, signal and risk management, and safety governance. The analysis provides a tool for manufacturers to gain a “bird's-eye” view of the structure of pharmacovigilance key areas and the operational dimensions covered by each area, to benchmarking against international expectations, serving as a basis to further strengthen pharmacovigilance systems, to support accelerated global vaccine supply.

A credit-based dynamical evaluation method for the smart configuration of manufacturing services under Industrial Internet of Things

Most scheduling problems are required to follow rigid metrics, such as the maximum completion time, earliest deadline first, etc., ignoring the flexibility of manufacturing services (MSs) and the effects of their historical data hidden in millions of manufacturing activities. The historical data serves as a powerful basis for describing the comprehensiveness or credibility of the MS itself with the help of Industrial IoT enabling all equipment to communicate and take preventive actions. Similar to the bank credit for individuals, MSs should also have their own referential credit values when choosing the most suitable service for a specific manufacturing task. This paper summarizes the MS attributes from six aspects with sufficient sub-attributes. The fuzzy Analytic Network Process combined with the Cross-Entropy method is employed to evaluate the credit of MSs in the complex manufacturing network system. Such service scoring mechanism (SSM) can personify a comprehensive credit evaluation of services, where, a smart service configuration mode based on credit is proposed for carrying out the supply–demand matching with the help of the data-security technology. Subsequently, a credit-based manufacturing mode is derived under SSM. Numerical examples are carried out to demonstrate the validity of the matching mode. The result may assist manufacturers to allocate their manufacturing tasks in real time in a “credit” way and make quicker decisions in exceptional circumstances, while making the chosen service truly competent enough to finish the work, so as to further improve the customer satisfaction.

Using plant leaders' perspectives to overcome barriers to inter-plant exchange

PurposeThis paper sets out to identify barriers to intra-network exchange within international manufacturing networks (IMNs) from the micro-level perspective of key actors at the plant level, namely, plant leaders.Design/methodology/approachData were collected through interviews with 12 plant leaders from nine different firms operating in at least three geographically dispersed manufacturing facilities.FindingsSix partially interrelated barriers to intra-network exchange were identified. First, there are a lack of resources, network strategies, plant overlap and individual-level ties between plant leaders. Furthermore, this study shows that the pronounced local focus of plant leaders, fierce inter-plant competition and falsely designed incentives constitute barriers to inter-plant exchange. The results underline the need for network management to consider the individual-level perspective when designing rules and policies for IMNs.Research limitations/implicationsThe generalisability of the results is limited by the sample, which consists of plant leaders from firms headquartered in German-speaking areas.Practical implicationsThe findings indicate that network managers should consider the interests and concerns of plant leaders when trying to facilitate network thinking. In addition to delayering the overall IMN into distinct subnetworks of peer plants, network managers should set clear and openly communicated objectives in a mission for each subnetwork that also points to inter-plant exchange and provides the resources for such activities. Practitioners should also apply shared objectives for plant leaders and promote individual-level ties between them to benefit from intra-network exchange.Originality/valueBy analysing the perceptions of plant leaders, this study sheds light on the individual level of global operations, which has been neglected in research on IMNs to date.

Two decades of vaccine innovations for global public good: Report of the Developing Countries’ Vaccine Manufacturers Network 20th meeting, 21–23 october 2019, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The Developing Countries’ Vaccine Manufacturers Network, joined by global health organizations, held its 20th meeting celebrating two decades of vaccine innovations for global public good. Health leaders from industry, academia and global health organizations reviewed efforts to accelerate innovation, improve access to vaccines, overcome inequalities and strengthen technological and public-health management capabilities. Discussion topics included World Health Organization’s immunization strategy, Pan American Health Organization’s system-strengthening efforts, Gavi’s evaluation of vaccine coverage in middle income countries and developments on public-market intelligence. Health market trends, delivery gaps, integration of system-wide needs, costs and benefits, and implications for stakeholder decision-making were areas of focus. Novel thinking was discussed on integration of policy, financing, regulatory pathways and alignment of innovation priorities to improve efficiency in vaccine development pathways. The Vaccine Innovation Prioritization Strategy collaboration presented nine global innovation priorities, and many other partners and members presented updates on their priorities. Novel technologies and platforms, such as RNA-based vaccines, adenoviral vectors, bioconjugation, blow-fill-seal and two-dimensional barcodes, provided opportunities to accelerate vaccine innovations. Challenges in planning and operations at global level included those in health security, polio eradication, re-emergence of diseases, disparities between forecasts and orders and heterogeneous regulatory requirements. Manufacturers were urged to accelerate innovation and prequalification of high-impact vaccines, such as pneumococcal, human papillomavirus and rotavirus vaccines, to strengthen immunization globally.

From powder to tablets: Investigation of residence time distributions in a continuous manufacturing process train as basis for continuous process verification

The essence of Continuous Manufacturing (CM) resides in the fact that continuous process units are directly connected to each other forming a continuous process train. The thorough understanding of material flow in this train based on suitable sensors, including on-line process analytical technologies and other sensors, is key in understanding the time-domain behavior of the system and the process. This real-time monitoring correlated with the time domain material flow behavior could be used to close control-loops. In practical terms, the implementation of such a control strategy is only feasible, if the overlying control system knows precisely what material is when and where at all times. Consequently, thorough knowledge of the residence time distribution (RTD) of the material throughout the whole manufacturing network needs to be established early on in development. Once RTD is well understood, its constant observation could also be used for continuous process verification purposes hinging on the argument that the flow pattern of the material is unchanged. As continuous processes that run over extended periods of time are susceptible to unforeseen incidents like equipment wear-out or clogging, drifts or shifts in RTD could indicate such issues early on.The presented work aims to demonstrate this proposed concept for an integrated wet-granulation CM process. To achieve this aim, three steps were completed: First, thorough RTD knowledge was generated, by inducing endogenous step-tests in active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) content in the range of ±30% at varying process conditions, and analyzing the material RTDs via NIRS analysis at four different locations in the line. Second, it was demonstrated that also low-level step tests of ±5% and even ±3% are sufficient for accurate RTD determination. This validated the possibility of continuous RTD assessment during (pre-)validation trials or even commercial manufacturing, as the drug product would comply with required quality characteristics (content uniformity, assay). In the third step, it was then demonstrated that recurring low-level step testing during routine manufacturing could be used as a way to determine the current system health, as observed changes in RTD indicated blockages and accidental material hold-up in the line. While deliberate changes in API content during commercial production might seem counter intuitive, they would actually aid in ensuring the production of quality product in a better way, than running at constant process settings over an extended period of time without the constant assessment of system health.

Manufacturing network integration and culture: an institution-based view

PurposeIn pursuit of increased competitiveness, global manufacturers often seek tighter integration among the plants in their production networks. However, this is a challenging task because plants are dispersed across multiple institutional environments. Although the literature provides abundant evidence of how formal institutional environments affect the integration among plants, little is known about the role of the informal institutional environment – such as culture. In this study, the authors investigate the relationship between different dimensions of culture and manufacturing network integration.Design/methodology/approachThe authors combine survey data from the most recent International Manufacturing Strategy Survey with secondary data that capture cultural dimensions. They then analyze the responses from 581 assembly plants in 21 countries obtained from the survey using a multilevel regression model.FindingsThe study results show that plants located in masculine and long-term-oriented national cultures are associated with lower levels of integration with other plants. The results for the other four Hofstede dimensions of national culture were not statistically significant. At the level of organizational culture, the authors found that a collaborative plant environment positively relates to higher levels of network integration. They did not find statistically significant evidence for the relationship between cultural or geographical distance and network integration.Practical implicationsThis research provides managers with practical insights into the types and combinations of cultural environments that affect the integration of plants in a global network. This knowledge is useful for informing effective integration strategies and tactics.OriginalityThe authors provide new, empirical evidence of the relation between the informal institutional environments of a plant and its integration in a manufacturing network. Drawing on an institution-based view, they contribute to the literature on manufacturing networks by discussing and testing empirically the role of national and organizational culture in network integration.

Impact of COVID-19 on Manufacturing and Supply Networks — The Case for AI-Inspired Digital Transformation

Manufacturing and supply networks worldwide are undergoing digital transformation under the umbrella of Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0. Just as companies embrace digital technologies and leverage the opportunities presented by Artificial Intelligence (AI) forming digital supply networks, the world has been hammered by one of the biggest interruptions in the modern history—the COVID-19 pandemic. Many businesses are facing existential threats and scrambling to survive in the short term. Conceivably, some are inclined to scrap AI initiatives and projects as non-essential in these horrific times, as evidenced by canceled and delayed consulting contracts with the projected loss of US$30 billion in 2020 alone. In this article, we make the case that digital technology and AI can mitigate the adversities and strengthen the resiliency and preparedness of manufacturing and supply networks in the future.

Securing the internet of vehicles through lightweight block ciphers

In recent years, the automotive industry has made significant investments in the Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm, aiming to develop technologies and services for connected vehicles that focus on user-oriented solutions, providing unique and tailored driving experiences. Nowadays, the vehicles are connected to the car manufacturer network, the road operator networks, and the Internet. Such interconnections are used for infotainment applications and driving assistance services, such as real-time HD-maps, and road safety applications. For these reasons, the concept of the Internet of Vehicles (IoVs) is increasingly emerging and, vehicles become Internet terminals exposed to cyber-attacks. In this context, the main weakness is given by the Controller Area Network (CAN) protocol. This protocol, which governs the in-vehicle network, was designed to reduce transmission error problems and minimize latency times. However, it does not employ any security facility to protect the communication. In particular, one of the main issues of this protocol is that it uses unencrypted communication.Improving the security of this protocol is necessary while preserving its performance in terms of communication efficiency. This paper investigates the possibility of using lightweight block ciphers to secure in-vehicle devices such as microcontrollers, which have constrained hardware and software capabilities. The results obtained have shown that this proposal while guaranteeing a high degree of safety, has a negligible impact on the vehicle’s performance.

Hatch pattern based inherent strain prediction using neural networks for powder bed fusion additive manufacturing

Abstract Additive Manufacturing has recently emerged as an important industrial process that is capable of manufacturing parts with complex geometry. One of the drawbacks of metal additive manufacturing processes is the thermo-mechanical distortion of the parts during and after build due to heat effects. Inherent strain is widely adopted by researchers as the basis to predict part distortions during Metal Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacturing (PBFAM) process and is highly dependent on the laser hatch pattern sintering on each layer during the printing process. There is a clear need to predict inherent strains for a given arbitrary hatch pattern for a part model so that hatch patterns can be optimized for achieving part quality. In this paper, we propose a neural network based method to predict inherent strain for any given hatch pattern that is adopted during the part build. The authors assumed that the temperature profile inside the heat affected zone within each layer is the same if the part model is reasonably large. To start with, inherent strains of two hatch pattern pools with different hatch angles were obtained by thermo-mechanical simulation with temperature profiles obtained through translation and rotation of a single layer of simulation. A feedforward backpropagation neural network was created and trained with data obtained from an initial hatch pattern pool for predicting inherent strains. The data from a second hatch pattern pool was then utilized to validate the network and test the efficacy of the prediction of the trained neural network. The results show that the trained neural network is capable of predicting the inherent strain of any arbitrary hatch pattern within an acceptable error. Since the trained neural network can predict inherent strain quickly for any given hatch pattern, this could provide the basis for hatch pattern optimization of any part model to increase part build accuracy and achieve part GD&T callouts.

Emerging vaccine manufacturers are innovating for the next decade

The Developing Countries Vaccine Manufacturers Network (DCVMN) is a public health-driven alliance consisting of 43 vaccine manufacturers from 14 countries and territories, operating under the mandate to protect all people against known and emerging infectious diseases, by improving the availability of high-quality vaccines globally. The Network provides a platform for organizations to come together regularly to share technical information, best practices and future prospects. DCVMN members are playing an increasingly important role in public health supplying over 50% of the doses of vaccines procured by UNICEF globally. To evaluate the progress made by Network’s members, a survey consisting of 9 questions covering three important components of the manufacturers in the network was created, focusing on company dedicated human resources, vaccine production, and research and development efforts. Results show that more vaccines from more manufacturers are achieving WHO Pre-qualification, with areas of focus including the contributions to a Polio-free world, ending cholera, and tackling re-emerging diseases, such as measles. An increase by 50% of number of manufacturing companies holding WHO prequalified vaccines was observed from 2013 to 2019, strengthening open competitiveness for global vaccines supply. Notably, Network members have 181 vaccine projects in the research and development pipeline, highlighting novel vaccines against mosquito-borne diseases, such as dengue, chikungunya and Zika, novel human papillomavirus and pneumococcal conjugated vaccines. This report summarizes the progressive efforts of DCVMN members to contribute to reducing the burden of infectious diseases globally and details their commitment to vaccine innovation, particularly in the past five years, in the context of how vaccine innovations of today will shape the fight against infectious diseases tomorrow.

Optimizing Reachability Sets in Temporal Graphs by Delaying

A temporal graph is a dynamic graph where every edge is assigned a set of integer time labels that indicate at which discrete time step the edge is available. In this paper, we study how changes of the time labels, corresponding to delays on the availability of the edges, affect the reachability sets from given sources. The questions about reachability sets are motivated by numerous applications of temporal graphs in network epidemiology and scheduling problems in supply networks in manufacturing. We introduce control mechanisms for reachability sets that are based on two natural operations of delaying time events. The first operation, termed merging, is global and batches together consecutive time labels in the whole network simultaneously. This corresponds to postponing all events until a particular time. The second, imposes independent delays on the time labels of every edge of the graph. We provide a thorough investigation of the computational complexity of different objectives related to reachability sets when these operations are used. For the merging operation, we prove NP-hardness results for several minimization and maximization reachability objectives, even for very simple graph structures. For the second operation, we prove that the minimization problems are NP-hard when the number of allowed delays is bounded. We complement this with a polynomial-time algorithm for the case of unbounded delays.

Filling the Gap: Emergency Funding Programs and Asset-Based Finance in Times of Economic Crisis

The value in 2018 of vehicles and equipment for consumer and business customers in Canada financed by the asset-based finance (ABF) industry was an estimated $416 billion. The ABF industry supports a broad network of dealers, manufacturers, distributors, vendors and brokers, and their customers throughout the country. ABF is offered by banks, credit unions, insurance companies, government financial institutions, manufacturer finance companies, and independent finance companies. Several of these entities are regulated with consequent access to existing Bank of Canada programs for emergency lending. This paper focuses on those entities – both regulated and unregulated – that may not have such access, and yet are critical to the functioning of the economy. ABF entities ran into deep trouble during the 2008-2009 global financial crisis and required an emergency liquidity program from the federal government that took months to devise and implement. The primary source of funding of the ABF sector was, and is, the asset-backed commercial paper and securitization markets, often with bank back-up or standby lines, purchased by private pools of investment capital – insurance companies, pension plans, hedge funds, banks and others. The 2008-2009 experience revealed that a complete loss of liquidity could occur within a few weeks, even days. Government was needed to step into the shoes of absent private-sector investors. Given the ABF industry’s relative success and low delinquencies, this Commentary recommends that, during periods of extraordinary financial market turmoil, the federal government activate a large-scale securitization program that would fund ABF intermediaries who finance customers based on real assets. The government would purchase asset-backed securities backed by a pool of assets and their receivables, receiving the same protection and profit that a privatesector investor would receive. Once liquidity is restored and private investor confidence returned, the commercial markets would again resume their normal functioning and government could withdraw its scaled-up temporary emergency funding program. The 2009 Federal Budget established the Canadian Secured Credit Facility, a $12 billion fund administered by The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) to purchase term asset-based securities (ABS) backed by loans and leases on vehicles and equipment. Since then, under successor programs, the BDC has continued to purchase ABS albeit on a smaller scale. With more than 10 years of experience, the BDC understands the policies and rules for such funding. Existing BDC programs could, therefore, be scaled up in a severe downturn, with experienced people in place for effective, prudent and efficient funding. In a profoundly disrupted market, the policy objective should be to restore liquidity to allow the financial services sector to continue offering financing to credit-worthy consumers and businesses in support of the Canadian economy, and that must include the ABF industry.

Service agent networks in cloud manufacturing: Modeling and evaluation based on set-pair analysis

Abstract In a cloud manufacturing system, manufacturing services form the service network and collaboration network. The performance of the networks can affect the cloud manufacturing system. Researchers can study the behavior of enterprises, service, resource and elements in cloud manufacturing through the simulation platform. In this paper, the service agent in the simulation platform can drive the manufacturing service to form a self-organization network, in order to conduct transactions and cooperation spontaneously. Thus, the service network of service agent and the collaboration network of service agent are formed. And the models of two kinds of networks are presented by the theory of Set Pair Analysis (SPA). In addition, an evaluation method for two kinds of network models is proposed. The simulation data of the networks are produced by the method of data generation in cloud manufacturing simulation platform. Finally, the evaluation methods of the networks are validated by the simulation data.

Evaluation of Industry 4.0 Data formats for Digital Twin of Optical Components

A wide range of software and hardware components are present in today’s production systems and plants using a variety of interfaces and data formats for information exchange on different levels of the system. To increase the traceability, the lifecycle management and providing a single point of source of component-specific data, the Digital Twin technology is proposed, linking different data sets tailored to the requirements of different kind of users (e.g., machines, technicians, logistics, manufacturing execution systems). The data exchange between entities in the manufacturing network relies on machine-readable, flexible and self-describing data formats. When implementing or integrating different components into complex systems, the interoperability challenge is a major concern to address by the system designers and becomes a central task for the creation and integration of Digital Twin technology. In this paper, we evaluate different formats that are used in real environments and create a requirements framework for an ideal format for exchanging flexible and self-describing data in context of optical components manufacturing process and their special requirements.

Modeling and Characteristic Analysis of Manufacturing Enterprise Collaboration Network for Complex Product

In order to meet the requirements of customers for complex products quickly, manufacturing enterprises begin to collaboration with other enterprises, and in the cooperation, the service relationships between enterprises by providing products to others shape the manufacturing enterprise collaboration network (MECN). With the increase of MECN scale and cooperation closeness among enterprises, it is necessary to analyze the performance of MECN to ensure the stability of cooperation. In this paper, MECN is modeled by partner selection of multiple enterprises using entropy and TOPSIS method, and based on the model, the topology characteristics and vulnerability of MECN are analyzed by using of complex network theory. A case study of automobile engine cooperation manufacturing network is provided to illustrate our work, and the results show that the MECN of automobile engine exhibits the small-world property; and by analysis the vulnerability of the network, the critical enterprise nodes can be identified for failure prevention.