Shorter Product Life Cycles Research Articles

Taxonomy of an Liot Device Based upon Production Functions

In this essay, we develop a decision model for the economic impact of Industry 4.0 technologies/IIoT devices on established business processes by testing two hypotheses concerning a decision model based on production functions. New methods to aid in the design and modelling of production systems that are able to rapidly reconfigure and that are self-adaptive in response to disruption (both by humans and for automated systems) are required (Sanderson, Chaplin, - Ratchev, 2019).Mass customization, shorter product lifecycles, smaller production batches and higher production variability lead to the requirement for manufacturing systems to be rapidly reconfigurable and self-adaptive in response to disruption, We propose to recover and apply available and established techniques to evaluate and assess the rationale of technologies before they are implemented to improve the decision process. We consider the investment into IIoT devices from a microeconomic perspective as a long-run problem for companies and therefore consider those problems to be reviewed with adequate methodologies to build a consistent decision model. Investing into a factor (such as an IIoT device) is only economically reasonable as long as this factor produces a benefit, otherwise the investment infringes upon economic feasibility (Fandel 2005).

Integrated Competitive Pricing and Transshipment Problem for Short Life Cycle Products’ Supply Chain

This paper integrates competitive pricing and network design problems for the short life cycle products. The pricing problem determines selling prices of the products for different life cycle phases in a competitive market, as well as acquisition management of returned products. Besides, the selling and acquisition prices are related to the distance between distribution centers and customers. The network design problem aims to determine network flow and fleet assignment in each route. The proposed model is solved by various methods including exact and meta-heuristic approaches. The model and solving approaches have been validated and verified by several simulated examples and sensitivity analyses. Considering life cycle phases, competitive pricing, and transshipment problems as an integrated model, provides a new approach for the optimum solutions, which makes it more practical for application of real cases of short life cycle products. The results showed how the competition and fleet assignment influenced the optimum solution.

Disassembly line balancing with sequencing decisions: A mixed integer linear programming model and extensions

Abstract Due to the acceleration of technological developments and shortening of product life cycles, product recovery has gained great importance in recent years. Disassembly line balancing (DLB) problem is one of the most important problems encountered during disassembly operations in product recovery. In this study, a single model and complete DLB problem with balancing issues, hazardousness of parts, demand quantities and direction changes is considered. Majority of DLB studies in the literature solve this problem using heuristics or metaheuristics which do not guarantee the optimality. Although a few studies present mathematical formulations for some variants of this problem, they prefer to solve the problem by using heuristics or metaheuristics due to the non-linear structure and combinatorial nature of the problem. In this study, a generic mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model is developed for the investigated problem and its performance is tested through a series of benchmark instances. The computational results demonstrate that the proposed MILP model is able to solve test instances with up to 30 tasks. Hence, it can effectively be utilized to evaluate the optimality performance of DLB approaches. Moreover, several extensions on the MILP model regarding to line balancing, hazardousness and demand of parts and direction changes are proposed and their effects are analyzed through computational studies.

Pricing decision model for new and remanufactured short life-cycle products with green consumers

Remanufacturing has been studied quite extensively during the last decades, as one of product recovery options that could extend product’s useful life and mitigate the environmental impact. Rapid innovation in technology accelerates obsolescence and hence product life cycles are getting shorter and wastes build up faster. Remanufacturing of short life-cycle product is an important alternative to mitigate the waste. However, since there are impacts in implementing remanufacturing, such as cannibalization, segmentation, and lower willingness to pay, pricing has become a significant aspect to ensure successful remanufacturing business. Several studies show that there exists green segment consumer, who has higher preference to purchase environmental-friendly products and higher willingness to pay for such products. In this paper, we study manufacturer’s and retailer’s pricing decision of short life-cycle product considering the green segment consumers, and propose two scenarios i.e. independently optimized profit scenario under Stackelberg game with manufacturer as the leader, and integrated scenario. The results show that the integrated scenario achieves higher profit compared to the independent one, and both players are better off under the integrated decision. We also find that the existence of green segment increases the profit of manufacturer and retailer to a certain level, before it erodes manufacturer’s profit when the green level is too high. In addition, price sensitivity of new and remanufactured products, demand’s speed of change, and remanufacturing cost influence the optimum prices as well as the optimum green level. For firms that are engaging in remanufacturing, managerial insights are also provided to assist managers in making pricing decisions when there exist green consumers.

Extended distribution‐free newsvendor models with demand updates using experts’ judgment

AbstractRetailers of short lifecycle products, such as life and style goods, are required to commit an order with their suppliers far ahead of their selling seasons using scant demand information. Most of the time, they practice pre‐season two‐stage single ordering (instants) model that provides an opportunity to modify an initial order based on an updated demand forecast obtained at a later stage. The present paper utilizes expert judgment to assess potential demand impacts of contextual information acquired between two instants to update the initial demand forecast. Additionally, the scant demand information available may not reveal the underlying demand distribution. In this context, we develop inventory models under distribution‐free newsvendor setting to determine optimal weight factor and order size, considering the updated demand forecast. The models consider bidirectional demand changes and different cases of demand variability: a constant variance case (CVC), a constant coefficient of variation case (CCVC), and a general case (GC). The models are further extended by subjecting them to constraints for practical considerations and to a multi‐item case. The closed‐form expressions are presented for the decision variables and the lower bound of expected profit and the results are discussed using numerical examples. The results show economic benefits in revising the demand forecast using expert judgment, the deleterious impact of constraints, and negative role of demand variability. In addition, a real‐life case study illustrates an assessment of potential demand impact and the applicability of the proposed models.

Modular product architecture to manage product development complexity

Shorter product life cycles, together with heterogeneous market demands, are forcing manufacturing companies to eliminate or reduce complexities in product development and supply chain. These complexities arise due to high level of interdependencies between component interfaces and supply chain participants. To address such complexities, companies need to focus on their product architecture and supply chain design. In this research, the impact of product architecture on developing modular products is highlighted. This modular principle is elaborated with the objective to reduce product development complexities. A case example is presented to define the importance of product architecture with the help of a design structure matrix (DSM) tool to reduce product development complexity. In addition, various drivers responsible for supply chain complexities are identified and categorised, and the relationship between product architecture and supply chain complexities are defined within the scope of this research.

UNISON data-driven intermittent demand forecast framework to empower supply chain resilience and an empirical study in electronics distribution

The complexity involved in demand forecast for supply chain management of electronics components is exponentially increasing owing to demand fluctuations in consumer electronics, shortening of product life cycles, continuous technology migration, lengthy production cycle time, and long lead time for capacity expansion. While global manufacturing networks often suffer the risks of oversupply and shortage of key components, the distributor that is the key intermediate participator in electronics product supply chain buys components from the suppliers, warehouses them, and resells different parts to a number of electronics manufacturers with vendor-managed inventories. Thus, the component distributors forecast the demands for large assortments of stock keeping units (SKUs) with distinct dynamics for inventory control and supply chain management. To address realistic needs to enhance demand forecast performance, this study aims to develop a UNISON data-driven analytics framework that integrates machine learning technologies and temporal aggregation mechanism to forecast the demands of intermittent electronics components. An empirical study is conducted in a world-leading semiconductor distributor for validation. The results have shown practical vitality of the proposed approach with better performance than conventional approaches and the existing practice. Indeed, the developed solution has been employed in this company to support flexible decisions to empower agile logistics and supply chain resilience for smart production.

Distribution and Inventory Planning in a Supply Chain Under Transportation Route Disruptions and Uncertain Demands

This article considers transportation disruptions and its detrimental impact on the quality of the enroute shipment. The authors consider a supply chain system of a short life cycle product that has a capacitated supplier, a retailer and multiple routes of transportation under different disruption risks, uncertain cost of transportation, and uncertain demands. The authors investigate a hybrid problem in which the firm needs to develop a suitable distribution strategy under disruption risks along with an optimal checking policy when faced with the supply of varying quantities of damaged items. The authors formulate a non-linear mathematical model in which the overall objective is to maximise the expected profit and to help the firm in decision making under uncertain environments. Lastly, a statistical study is carried out to perform uncertainty analysis.

Impact of Generational Commonality of Short-Life Cycle Products in Manufacturing and Remanufacturing Processes

AbstractShort-life cycle products are frequently replaced and discarded despite being resource-intensive. The short life span and the low utilization rate of the end-of-life products cause severe environmental problems and waste of resources. In the case of short-life cycle products, a new generation of products is released sooner than other products, therefore there are the opportunities to have various generations of products during the remanufacturing process. The commonality between generations increases the intergenerational component compatibility, which increases the efficiency of the manufacturing and remanufacturing processes, while at the same time weakening the performance difference between generations. This paper proposes a mathematical model to investigate the effect of commonality among generations on the overall production process. Based on various given new generation product designs with different commonality, we aim to propose optimal production planning and pricing strategies to maximize the total profitability and investigate how the results vary according to the commonality strategies between product generations.

CHOCOBAKERY AS INNOVATIVE FOOD PRODUCTS PORTFOLIO RESPONDING TO CONSUMER EXPECTATIONS

In the times of short product life cycle on the confectionery and snacks market a quick reaction of producers to the changing needs and expectations of consumers remains essential. Such a strategy can support manufacturers in winning a strong and stable market position. The Author’s attention was attracted by a new category of confectionery, being the response to consumers’ demand – i.e. chocobakery. The purpose of the article was to present its characteristics and to examine the extent of its adjustment to consumer expectations. The subject literature and the data obtained from key confectionery manufacturers in Poland were used in the article. Product innovations were defined in the first part of the article. Next Polish confectionery and savoury snacks market, consumer behaviour and trends on the chocolate market were presented. Then the category of chocobakery was characterised. Finally, the new category of confectionery was assessed and further research directions were indicated, allowing for its better adjustment to consumer expectations.

MODULINIO PROJEKTAVIMO TAIKYMO PASLAUGOMS PROBLEMATIKA / PROBLEMATIC OF SERVICE MODULARISATION

Maintaining a competitive edge in today’s markets with short product life cycles and competitors quickly copying commercial success ideas is a significant challenge. Service organisations have to look for ways to quickly adapt to environmental changes and offer the most satisfying services to demanding and rushing customers. One of the possible ways to achieve these goals is to apply the principles of modular design to services. Although the modular design is widely used in the production of goods, its applicability to services has not yet been sufficiently researched. There is a lack of consensus on the terms used, there is no clear definition of the modular service system requirements, there are many doubts in the application of quantitative decision methods for modular service system management, and so forth. The article aims to identify the fundamental problems associated with the use of modular design for services. Based on the results of the analysis of the scientific literature, we propose a scheme describing the service system, and identify the important problematic issues related to the application of modular design to services. In this paper, we use methods of systematic analysis, abstraction, synthesis, and critical analysis.

Relation Between Change Management and Crisis Management: Survey Evidence

Abstract Crises are more often perceived as a common phenomenon which requires adequate managers’ reaction and response. Nevertheless, changes have long become an element of standard management activity to support the long-term development of modern organizations. Organizations in the information and communications technology sector (ICT) face a number of challenges: intensive innovations, high R&D expenditures, widespread ICT penetration in all areas of the economy and society, shorter product life cycle, increase of crisis phenomena, etc. The purpose of this publication is to present the results of an empirical survey on the practice of linking solutions in the field of change management and crisis management among organizations in the ICT sector in Bulgaria. Achieving this goal requires solving the following tasks: examining the essence of both change management and crisis management and the need to combine their decisions; analyzing respondents’ opinions on their understanding of the different types of changes and crises experienced by organizations in the ICT sector in their development process as well as on the management activity of managers.

Analysis of the Fuzzy Economic Production Lot Size Inventory Problem Without an Explicit Membership Function

The lack of available historical data resulting from increasing market turbulence and very short product life cycles means that the demand in an inventory system varies non-stochastically and must therefore be subjectively determined. This paper investigates the economic production lot size inventory problem, in which a positive lead time and shortages are allowed, with fuzzy demands and an unknown explicit membership function. An analysis method based on an $\alpha $ -cut representation and fuzzy ranking is proposed to derive the optimal inventory policy. In addition, the necessary and sufficient conditions for the optimal inventory policy are determined. The merits of the proposed approach include the ability to obtain a numeric and precise optimal policy rather than a fuzzy policy and no requirement for explicit forms of the membership functions of the fuzzy demands, which increases the generality of the proposed model. Additionally, practical insights are provided.

How does customer and supplier cooperation in micro-enterprises affect innovation? Evidence from Pakistani handicraft micro-enterprises

Due to resource constraints, short product-life cycle, and increased competition, handicraft micro-enterprises face many difficulties. By investigating the individual effects of customer and supplier cooperations on innovation (and thereby, firm performance), this study reveals how micro-enterprises can overcome such limitations and maintain competitiveness in the market. We find that cooperation with both partners significantly and positively affects product innovation, but only cooperation with suppliers has significant and positive effect on process innovation. In turn, product and process innovations significantly and positively affect a firm’s financial and non-financial performances. Our findings provide useful theoretical and practical implications.

Analysis of ventilation system optimization based on the Taguchi method

This research revolves around the ventilation system of range hoods and discusses the optimization of the flow field from the perspectives of reverse engineering (RE), the Taguchi method (TM), and computer aided engineering (CAE). These were integrated to develop an impeller system with an optimized air discharge volume. Analyses show that the arc length of the blades and the deflection angle of the impellers are the most prominent factors affecting the volume of the air discharge. A maximum air discharge volume was achieved during the experiment with 54 blades and a deflection angle of [Formula: see text], which is an enhancement of 17.5% in comparison with that of the original design. In an environment with shortened product life cycles, the results from this research are expected to improve the air discharge efficiency of impellers and effectively reduce the time needed for the development of ventilation systems.

Optimal ordering policy for short life-cycle products under credit financing with dynamic adoption in supply chain

Traditional inventory models are mostly ignorant of the life cycle dynamics of a technology product; hence, they often fail to identify different dimensions of inventory research. This paper attempts to investigate the relationship between adoption behavior of customers using life cycle dynamics and associated trade credit policies in order to optimize the total inventory cost. The demand model used in this paper treats sales as a function of awareness diffusion and adoption. Awareness is considered as a function of feedback effects from users/customers. Retailer’s optimal strategies for short life cycle product under credit financing were determined analytically. Finally, numerical examples have been used to support the theoretical results. Theoretical results have further been used to gain some managerial insights.

Bilevel programming approaches to production planning for multiple products with short life cycles

We provide decision-making models for a manufacturer which plans to produce multiple short life cycle products with the one-shot decision theory. The obtained optimal production quantities are based on the most appropriate scenarios for the manufacturer. Since the models are the bilevel programming problems with the max–min or min–max operator in the lower levels, we propose two approaches to translate them into general single-level optimization problems such that they can be solved via the commonly used optimization methods. The effectiveness of our approaches is examined from the theoretical and computational aspects.

Innovative Supply Chain in Made-in-Italy System. The Case of Medium-Sized Firms

This paper aims to provide the empirical evidence of the interaction mechanism in the open innovation system with particular attention to aesthetic and rational innovation in an Italian creative sector. Factors including rapid technological development, the advent of innovative openness processes involving sub-sectors belonging to diversified supply chains, shorter product life cycles, more diversified and customized, demande and fierce marketing competition, make today’s business model increasingly unpredictable and risky. Building on relational based view, resource-based view and network analysis the purpose of this paper is to empirically explore the relationships among supply chain integration (SCI) and inter-company performance in global diversified supply chain. This is an exploratory study and the qualitative research method has been employed. This research has founded its context in the Italian knitwear sector which is part of the creative industries of the Italian fashion system. The data were collected through a series of semi-structured interviews with workers belonging to various areas of activity and with external actors such as yarn suppliers, buyers, institutional and non-institutional lenders. The purpose of this research is also to promote research methodological approaches to analyse different uncertainty scenarios for the future.

Integrating Enablers of Sustainable Freight Transportation and Perishable Commodity Supply Chain

Extant research has addressed the challenges pertaining to sustainable freight transportation and those associated with transportation of perishable commodities in disparate ways in that enablers of sustainable freight transportation have not been mapped with the considerations of transportation related to perishable commodities. This is characterized by short product life-cycles, retail demand uncertainties, traceability issues and so forth. In this backdrop, the authors' research attempts to integrate the considerations related to sustainable freight transportation with that of perishability-related aspects. To this end, this research employs interpretive structural modelling (ISM) so that enablers related to both the problems can be fused and modeled in such a way that enablers related to independent, autonomous, dependent, and linkage attributes can be identified, and their interactions can be understood.

The Management Innovation Classified Performance Study on Supply Chain Vendor Manufacturing Enterprise

With the arrival of knowledge economy era and the shortening of product life cycle, information technology and the rapid development of e-commerce with each passing day, and customer gradually increasing expectations, the competition among enterprises are gradually entering the supply chain competition, Now enterprises have begun to realize that effective supply chain management, which would have to assess supply chain performance. However, most of the evaluation methods used in our country using expert analysis to evaluate the contractor's financial indicators to determine the final contractor. This method is not only too subjective, but also cuts off the correlation between the indicators. A quantitative management innovation classified performance model of supplier performance evaluation based on clustering and K-NN classification is proposed to classify suppliers. Then on the basis of above analysis, the contractor of misclassification is identified by the K-NN method. Finally, an evaluation and selection case is presented to verify the practicability and effectiveness of the model. The method not only overcomes the above shortcomings, but also reflects the contractor's comprehensive level objectively and fairly. The results show that it can provide an important reference for the fair and impartial evaluation of the project contractor as an important method for decision makers to select the contractor.