Service Engineering Research Articles

A new paradigm of software service engineering in big data and big service era

In the big data era, servitization becomes one of the important development trends of the IT world. More and more software resources are developed and existed in the format as services on the Internet. These services from multi-domains and multi-networks are converged as a huge complicated service network or ecosystem, which can be called as Big Service. How to reuse the abundant open service resources to rapidly develop the new applications or comprehensive service solutions to meet massive individualized customer requirements is a key issue in the big data and big service ecosystem. Based on analyzing the ecosystem of big service, this paper presents a new paradigm of software service engineering, Requirement-Engineering Two-Phase of Service Engineering Paradigm (RE2SEP), which includes service oriented requirement engineering, domain oriented service engineering, and the development approach of software services. By means of the RE2SEP approach, the adaptive service solutions can be efficiently designed and implemented to match the requirement propositions of massive individualized customers in Big Service ecosystem. A case study of the RE2SEP applications, which is a project on citizens mobility service in smart city environment, is also given in this paper. The RE2SEP paradigm will change the way of traditional life-cycle oriented software engineering, and lead a new approach of software service engineering.

A New Model of Service-oriented Engineering Training with Industry Characteristics

Engineering awareness training corresponding to the industry development trend is an important means to cultivate advanced applied technical personnel needed by the industry. In view of the current industry servitization, a new idea of reforming service-oriented engineering training model in higher engineering education is put forward with connotation elaboration and its implementation plan and a series of supporting measures are discussed, thus providing a reference for the reform of engineering training course in colleges and universities with engineering industry characteristics.

Computational Offloading in Android Devices Using Cloud Computing Capabilities

Mobile devices have witnessed several stages as phone adoption has increased rapidly across the globe, with the results that the manipulations of smartphones are increasing thrice compared to Personal Computers. The recent developments in smartphone technology have led users into a new way of mobile computing. Portable communication devices such as smartphones and other hand held devices have replaced the existing computing technology. Smart mobile devices are equipped with low processing capacity computing processors and limited power batteries as compared to computers, which instead have a high-level hardware configuration. Hence it becomes onerous to execute any applications on these compact devices, resulting in a performance lacking and high power consumption. The offloading computation mechanism proves out to be an uncompromisable solution to this situation, which may result in high performance efficiency and improved battery life in these devices. As this solution involves cloud computing, hence uploading data to cloud service engines and retrieving back the results come out to be a time and energy-consuming factor. Therefore, this investigation tries to put its focus on the behavior of time and energy consumption in mobile devices by using Computation offloading mechanism and by implementing a decision-making framework termed as Ternary decision maker, which can outcome the above factor.

Recombinant Service Systems Engineering

Although many methods have been proposed for engineering service systems and customer solutions, most of these approaches give little consideration to recombinant service innovation. Recombinant innovation refers to reusing and integrating resources that were previously unconnected. In an age of networked products and data, we can expect that many service innovations will be based on adding, dissociating, and associating existing value propositions by accessing internal and external resources instead of designing them from scratch. The purpose of this paper is to identify if current service engineering approaches account for the mechanisms of recombinant innovation and to design a method for recombinant service systems engineering. In a conceptual analysis of 24 service engineering methods, the study identified that most methods (1) focus on designing value propositions instead of service systems, (2) view service independent of physical goods, (3) are either linear or iterative instead of agile, and (4) do not sufficiently address the mechanisms of recombinant innovation. The paper discusses how these deficiencies can be remedied and designs a revised service systems engineering approach that reorganizes service engineering processes according to four design principles. The method is demonstrated with the recombinant design of a service system for predictive maintenance of agricultural machines.

Using DRAM Buffer to Reduce Persistence and Consistence Overheads of Persistent Memory

Persistent memory has the potential to become universal storage for memory and storage uses. Unfortunately, our system architecture is good fit for two-level storage model with DRAM and storage. It incurs two of important performance overheads. First is higher latency and degrading concurrent performance due to the requirements of persistence and consistency of persistent memory. Another is to abstract in-memory objects into file although these in-memory objects are already persistent, or to load data objects from files even they are in memory. We propose a hybrid storage model with a persistent objects management system to manage in-persistent memory data sets. Persistent memory plays dual roles of memory and storage, CPU directly access in-persistent memory data sets, and these data sets are not required serializing or de-serializing into files, managed by persistent object management system. To lower overheads introduced by high latency and consistence of persistent memory, DRAM is used as buffer, shifting persistency and consistence from each application to our management process, named persistent memory server engine. The experiment results show that our prototype can benefit file-intensive, data-intensive applications and relational databases, providing 15–63% better performance than persistent heap and persistent memory file systems using direct access method.

Linear programming technique based optimal relay coordination in a radial distribution system

Now-a-days to ensure power continuity and system’s reliability the protection system is to be designed properly for distribution systems to handle the faults to avoiding the damage to the equipments and to the service engineers. Different types of relays with different working principles are used to detect different types of faults in the system. In order to avoid mal operation of relays, proper coordination is to be carried out. The objective of this paper is to maintain the relay coordination as well as to decrease the working time of relays by optimizing the values of time dial setting (TDS) using linear programming problem technique (LPP). The inequality constraints guarantee the coordination margin for each primary or backup relay pairs having a fault very close to the primary relay. Simulation is carried out on a IEEE 15 bus balanced radial distribution system with 3 different types of relays namely standard inverse, extremely inverse and very inverse relay and the results are presented and analyzed.

Brand advocacy in the frontline: how does it affect customer satisfaction?

PurposeMany organizations expect their service engineers, or frontline employees (FLEs), to behave as brand advocates by engaging in favorable communication about the brand and its offerings toward customers. However, this approach is not without risk as customers may be disappointed or even frustrated with brand advocacy behavior in many service encounters. The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of FLEs’ brand advocacy on customer satisfaction with the service encounter, and identify the conditions under which the effects are detrimental. This paper specifically considers service issue severity and product newness as contingency conditions.Design/methodology/approachBuilding on social identification theory, the paper builds a conceptual model, which is empirically tested using a data set that matches data from service engineers, customers, and archival records from the after-sales service department of a globally operating business-to-business print and document management solutions provider.FindingsThis paper finds that brand advocacy behavior harms customer satisfaction especially in service encounters that involve simple service issues (e.g. maintenance) for products that are new to the market. Fortunately, brand identification can compensate this negative effect under many service conditions. While the joint effect of brand identification and advocacy is most beneficial for severe service issues of new products, no effect on customer satisfaction was found for established products.Practical implicationsThis paper identifies those service situations in which brand advocacy is advisable and guides managers toward achieving more favorable customer evaluations.Originality/valuePast research has considered several FLE branding activities in the frontline but the effects of brand advocacy have not been isolated. In addition, most studies have assumed the effects of employee brand-related behaviors on customer satisfaction to be universally positive rather than negative and focused on antecedents and not on moderators and consequences.

Service benchmarking for the co-creation of service ecosystem

Service activities are basis of human living and should be treated as complex systems including mutual interactions of various players. The value of services should be evaluated from multiple perspectives such as customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, profitability, or social value perspectives. We propose the service benchmarking method based on service engineering, by which service providers can learn their strong and weak points through inter- and intra-industry comparison. This paper discusses how we could support service providers to re-design sustainable service systems with actual data obtained thorough service benchmarking.

Towards Virus Scanning as a Service in Mobile Cloud Computing: Energy-Efficient Dispatching Policy Under ${N}$ -Version Protection

In this paper, we present a cloud-based architecture of virus scanning as a service (VSaaS) for resource-poor mobile devices. Specifically, we investigate energy-efficient dispatching policy for VSaaS under $N$ -version protection, which dispatches a file to multiple service engines for scanning in parallel to reduce the missed detection error cost. However, the benefit of $N$ -version protection is at the cost of increasing energy consumption and the queue length of service engines. To manage this tradeoff, we aim to reduce the energy consumption of service engines and the missed detection error cost, while satisfying the queue stability for VSaaS. We formulate the file-scan dispatching policy as a stochastic optimization problem, and then propose an online algorithm to dispatch file-scan requests under $N$ -version protection. We show that we can achieve the penalty function, i.e., the combination of the energy consumption and the missed detection error cost, arbitrarily close to the minimum but at the cost of increasing the queue length. Moreover, we compare the proposed dispatching algorithm with the $K$ -least delay algorithm and show by simulation that the proposed dispatching algorithm is more energy efficient to provide $N$ -version protection for VSaaS.

The contribution of systems and service research to rethinking higher education programs: a T-shaped model

Purpose of the paper: Building upon the advancements in knowledge proposed by the research stream about the “T-shaped professional”, the paper aims to investigate the opportunities and key factors of rethinking traditional education models and programs by exploring the contribution of service research in the field of education through the interpretative lens of systems thinking. Methodology: The paper traces a wide conceptual framework rooted in systems thinking and service research with the intent of highlighting the contribution of a T-shaped view in higher education programs. The proposed conceptual arguments are then tested through the analysis of the Master’s Degree program in Service Science, Management and Engineering (SSME) of the Masaryk University in Brno (Czech Republic). Results: The paper proposes basic arguments for the development of a T-shaped model in higher education programs and empirical evidence concerning the possibility of implementing an effective T-shaped approach based on systems thinking in order to rethink higher education programs. Practical implications: The paper provides a path to combine traditional hyper-specialized knowledge with more dynamic and cross-sectional capabilities in higher education programs. Originality of the paper: A wide perspective about the “T-shaped professionals” as a possible reference model in which vertical expertise is combined with horizontal capabilities and cross-sectional knowledge is proposed in the light of Systems Thinking and Service Research.

Synthesis of the AC and DC Drives Fault Diagnosis Method for the Cyber-physical Systems of Building Robots

This article studies the development of a prediction diagnosis cyber-physical system for DC and AC electric drives of construction robots . The struc-ture of the cyber-physical system is described and the defect statistics for asynchronous drives submitted. Additionally, a critical analysis of existing diagnostic methods, the selection of the optimal set of diagnostic parameters and existing methods for measuring and analyzing the parameters used for the drives adopted in construction robots for is described. As a result of numerous experiments has been revealed the dependence of measurement of wavelet transformation coefficients on the characteristic scales of a serviceable and faulty engine under different loading regimes. Based on the received information has been developed a neural classification network which makes it possible to reveal the current state of the object.

Assessment, Development and Deployment of Innovative Services

Products are becoming gradually similar and thus, interchangeable due to the global convergence of producers and consumers, as well as the increasing homogeneity of product attributes and technologies. Differentiation merely by products has become highly complex and difficult. One potential solution for restoring or strengthening differentiation in the market is doing so by means of expanding existing products with specially tailored services (hybrid products) in order to achieve a sustainable, competitive advantage. The purpose of this paper is to address the major topics related to the assessment, development and deployment of innovative services in theory and practice as well as to underline the importance of digitisation for the development of such services. Hence, a thorough discussion of the concept of Service Engineering is a key feature of this paper. Additionally, the status of service development in Austrian companies has been assessed. A six-step maturity model is introduced, allowing the assessment of the current status quo as well as the target-setting. Furthermore, a procedure model for developing and implementing innovative services is presented.

First proof of concept for language independent learnstruments in special machinery assembly

International customers and employees form a cornerstone of today’s special machinery industry. Qualifying assembly workers with different language and cultural background in this field appears to be challenging and cost intensive. An opportunity to deal with these challenges is the use of so called learnstruments. Contrary to teacher centered learning methods, learnstruments aim to automatically mediate their functionality to their user. In a previous attempt, a language independent learnstrument has been tested for transferring assembly knowledge with international students. Interactive 3D-PDFs proved to be more efficient than language independent picture based instructions and short instructional Utility-Films in relation to needed assembly time, errors made and displaying complicate relations and processes. Now the proof of concept has to be made for 3D-PDFs within the special machinery environment. A language independent 3D-PDF-learnstrument for the assembly of integrally geared compressors has been developed. Its acceptance by Field Service Engineers was evaluated during a special machinery assembly training.

Ultra-high voltage network induced energy cost and carbon emissions

Abstract To mirror an important aspect of ultra-high voltage network development, the remarkable amount of energy cost and carbon emissions of a typical ultra-high voltage transformer substation in China is revealed, in light of the hybrid method as the integration of input-output analysis and process analysis. By inclusively inventorying all the input items as products of the economy, the study differs from previous studies that simply treat the input items as some primary materials. The results show that the total energy cost and carbon emissions of 1000 kV transformer substation are 6.82E+09 MJ and 7.12E+05 t CO2 eq., respectively. Equipment purchasing contributes more than 80% to the overall energy cost and carbon emissions, followed by construction engineering, additional service and installation engineering. From the sectoral perspective, Manufacture of equipment for power transmission and distribution and control sector (Sector 78) dominates the energy cost and carbon emissions induced by 1000 kV transformer substation, followed by Construction industry (Sector 95). The comparison and analysis between current research and previous studies in different countries and different voltages is clearly discussed. This study not only enhances our understanding about the impact of ultra-high voltage network on energy and environment, but also provides insights for energy conservation and low carbon development.

Parametric study of condensation at heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning duct's external surface

The compression of insulation causes around a heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning duct usually resulted in dew formation around the outer surfaces because of low temperature, which causes significant energy and financial losses. The parameters such as supply air flow rate, supply air temperature, ambient air speed, and the convective heat transfer coefficient (ho) plays significant role in dew formation. In this paper, the parametric study is performed to investigate the effects of these parameters on the external surface temperature of the duct to avoid condensation. A mathematical model is developed to quantify these effects using preliminary data obtained from the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system of a pharmaceutical company. The results reveal that external surface temperature increases with an increase in insulation thickness and supply air temperature, whereas it decreases with higher supply air flow rate. It is estimated that the minimum insulation thickness at joint and bend should be maintained between 15–55 and 15–35 mm, respectively, with a variation in ho between 6 and 22 W/m2K to avoid condensation. Additionally, it is estimated that air flow rate should be greater than 1.4 m3/s at 10 W/m2 K and 2.2 m3/s at 22 W/m2 K. Similarly, the ambient air speed should be greater than 2.8 m/s at 6 W/m2 K, respectively. Practical application: Building services engineers have a paucity of information on the effects of the compression of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning duct thermal insulation. It can cause condensation that will adversely affect the insulation material, thereby increasing the maintenance cost as well increasing the heat loss from the duct so affecting the conditions of supply air. Proper insulation thickness and operating parameters are important for building owners and operators to control ongoing expenses of buildings. This paper seeks to quantify the effect of insulation compression to improve understanding so that this important area may be properly considered by the building services engineer.

Simulation of courtyard spaces in a desert climate

Within the global trend of looking for energy efficient and environmentally comfortable buildings, the courtyard pattern has been investigated by many authors as an interesting solution for hot regions. Computer simulation tools have been used for this purpose, as they provide wide-ranging possibilities that cannot be obtained in field experiments, including assessing different building design variants under identical climate conditions. However, simulation of courtyards remains challenging, as courtyards are building spaces that are partly open to the outdoor climate and typical building simulation tools are not designed to cope with such situations. This research investigates the capabilities of DesignBuilder in simulating the courtyard thermal behavior. DesignBuilder has been selected due to its wide use amongst architects and building service engineers, and because of its inclusive measurements and validated accuracy. Software simulation results have been compared with real life measurements. The results show that DesignBuilder simulation results are quite different from measured results, raising doubts over the applicability of the software in this specific context.

Experimental investigation of carbon dioxide cross-contamination in sorption energy recovery wheel in ventilation system

The aim of this research was to investigate the scale of carbon dioxide recirculation in rotary energy wheel operated in air handling units. To achieve this objective, a test facility was installed into the indoor air quality and thermal comfort laboratory of BUTE University. A newly developed molecular 3 Å sieve sorption wheel with high humidity transfer efficiencies is integrated into the experimental setup. In this research study, carbon dioxide cross-contamination rate from the exhaust side into the supply side in sorption regenerative air-to-air rotary energy exchanger was conducted by experimental tests. During the study, the correlation between the carbon dioxide cross-contamination, different rotational speeds of the wheel and different volume flow rates of supply air were also investigated in detail. Based on the results, a rotation speed diagram – carbon dioxide cross-contamination diagram – is plotted which can be very useful for researchers, developers and building service engineers in practice. Practical application: The most perfect energy exchanger can transfer both heat and moisture, thus providing a pleasant indoor air quality in the conditioned space. It is beneficial if the exchanger can transfer heat and moisture between the supply and exhaust airstreams, thereby minimizing the capacity and energy consumption of the required auxiliary heater and humidifier. The auxiliary energy reduction can be especially high if the sorption material of the energy wheel is of type 3 Å molecular sieve that has an extremely high humidity transfer capacity. The disadvantage of the rotary energy recovery is the cross-contamination from the exhaust air to the supply air. This is very important because in places such as offices, schools, public institutions, carbon dioxide cross-contamination can cause degradation of indoor air quality.

MICAS: An Integrated National Critical Care Retrieval Service

Introduction : The reorganisation of health services and the delivery of the ‘hub and spoke’ Model of Care for Adult Critical Care (HSE 2014) necessitates the requirement to transfer critically ill patients between hospitals to an appropriate location. As specialty services and critical care units are centralised and consolidated, more critically ill patients will need to move between hospitals (NOCA MTA Report 2016). It is generally accepted that trained specialist retrieval teams have lower rates of morbidity, mortality and adverse clinical events (Droogh 2015), yet most critically ill patients in Ireland are transferred by non specialist teams. (Murphy 2016). Funding was made available to develop three regional critical care retrieval hubs to form a national service for the retrieval of critically ill patients in Ireland. A framework did not exist through which these hubs could be connected and enabled. Short Description of Practice Change Implemented : In 2016, the National Transport Medicine Programme, underwent a transformation to a National Transport Medicine Service. The adult retrevial service (MICAS - Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance Service) is identified as the mechanism to enable the three adult critical care retreival hubs. Three local working groups of local and national stakeholders were formed. These included medical and nursing staff from critical care specialties, ambulance personnel, biomedical engineering and the new National Transport Medicine Service. Agreement was reached on ambulance and equipment specifications. A training programme, modelled on a national training programme for inter hosptial transfers, was introduced. Clinical governance strucutres were agred and staff operating in the NTMS follow national Standard Operating Proceedures. Aim and Theory of Change : The philosophy of care in MICAS to provide the highest quality care to critically ill patients whilst transporting them to a facility that meets their medical needs by an appropriately qualified and skilled team of critical care staff. It ensures every patient is transported in a way that maximised, not only their medical care but the safety, dignity and comfort of the patient and their families. It is hypothesised that, an increasing numbers of transports undertaken by MICAS, will result in a reduction in adverse clinical events in transfer and increased staff and patient satisfaction. Additionally, the use of the specialist retrieval team removes the need to deplete the referring hospital of resources. Targeted population and Stakeholders : Targeted population is adult critially ill patients who require transfers between two hospitals under the supervision of a critical care medical team. Stakeholder engagement was important both nationally and locally. Stakeholders included critical care doctors and nurses as both providers and users of the service. Integration with the ambulance service and clinical engineering was a key enabler. Timeline : There are three hubs identified in the model of care: One hub has an existing 5/7 service, which is funded to expand to 7/7. Two new hubs are funded to provide a 5/7 service. A pilot 3/7 serviceis in operation since Q4 2016 on the second site, and is scaling to 5/7 in Q1 2017. The third hub is scheduled to commence operations in Q2 2017. A scaled approach has allowed the integration of care with existing clinical teams prior to expansion on a larger scale. Highlights : The impact of this is yet to be felt systemically. Hoewever, it is estimated that in the region of 1000 critically ill adult patients are transported between hospitals annually, with approximately 100 moved by specialist teams. The outcome of this integration will be that up to 75% of existing transfers are moved by specialist teams. Those that are time critical and out of hours, will still be moved by local (non specialist) teams. Sustainability : Staffing models using a high specialist to trainee ratio are the desired model in the longer term. A secondment model of employment are felt to be sustainable in the short term in order to allow integration and confidence in the new service to grow. Dedicated resources for this service are ringfenced so that as teams are integrated, the level of service can increase.

Service Computing System Engineering Life Cycle

The development of service computing technology has triggered the need for organizations to build a service computing system. This system is able to deliver IT services that can meet the challenges and needs of business services. An understanding of the service computing systems engineering life cycle is necessary to model and build the systems. This paper conducts the study of the service computing systems concepts and proposes the life cycle of service computing system engineering. First, some publications relevant to the service computing systems are reviewed systematically in order to develop fundamental concepts and elements of the systems. Second, a metamodel of service computing systems is built based on those concepts. Third, the life cycle model of service computing systems engineering is proposed based on the metamodel. Finally, the verification of the life cycle is conducted by comparing the proposed life cycle to the life cycle of software engineering, service engineering, and service system engineering. The contribution of this paper is to provide a coincise understanding of the components that are needed to build such systems and show the interaction and collaboration between the components in the service computing systems.

Thermal Comfort in Zero Energy Buildings

This paper evaluates thermal comfort in domestic zero energy buildings. Dynamic simulations are used to assess a variation of scenarios including: construction types, natural ventilation strategies, solar shading, and occupancy periods in a low energy case study dwelling, within the United Kingdom. The Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers Technical Memoranda 52 (CIBSE TM52) is used to evaluate the thermal comfort conditions, and the state of overheating within the case study dwelling. The results indicate that increasing the thermal mass of the external walls significantly reduces the risk of overheating within the case study dwelling. Additionally, the most beneficial window opening profile is night ventilation. The addition of solar shading on the South, East and West elevations considerably improved thermal comfort conditions. Increasing the effective openable glazing area to facilitate natural ventilation in zero energy buildings and further improve the indoor thermal comfort.