To-be Model Research Articles

Hybrid simulation-optimization approach for planning relief-aid distribution with a real-world case study

PurposeAuthorities have set up numerous security checkpoints during times of armed conflict to control the flow of commercial and humanitarian trucks into and out of areas of conflict. These security checkpoints have become highly utilized because of the complex security procedures and increased truck traffic, which significantly slow the delivery of relief aid. This paper aims to improve the process at security checkpoints by redesigning the current process to reduce processing time and relieve congestion at checkpoint entrance gates.Design/methodology/approachA decision-support tool (clearing function distribution model [CFDM]) is used to minimize the effects of security checkpoint congestion on the entire humanitarian supply network using a hybrid simulation-optimization approach. By using a business process simulation, the current and reengineered processes are both simulated, and the simulation output was used to estimate the clearing function (capacity as a function of the workload). For both the AS-IS and TO-BE models, key performance indicators such as distribution costs, backordering and process cycle time were used to compare the results of the CFDM tool. For this, the Kerem Abu Salem security checkpoint south of Gaza was used as a case study.FindingsThe comparison results demonstrate that the CFDM tool performs better when the output of the TO-BE clearing function is used.Originality/valueThe efforts will contribute to improving the planning of any humanitarian network experiencing congestion at security checkpoints by minimizing the impact of congestion on the delivery lead time of relief aid to the final destination.

A holistic analysis of maritime logistics process in fuzzy environment in terms of business process management

PurposeThe aim of this study is to provide a holistic analysis of all possible maritime business logistics processes related to import and export shipments in a fuzzy environment through a case study of a maritime logistics company based on the as-is and to-be models within business process management (BPM).Design/methodology/approachThe analyses considered the following perspectives: (i) in the stage of the process identification, the definition of the problem was carried out; (ii) in the stage of the process discovery, ocean department was divided into ocean export/import operation departments; ocean export/import operation were divided into freight collect/prepaid operation processes; ocean export/import logistics activity groups were broken down into sub-activities for freight collect/prepaid operation; the logistics activity groups and their sub-activities were defined; each sub-activity as either operation or documentation process group was classified; the durations of sub-activities were evaluated by decision-makers (DMs) as fuzzy sets (FSs); the monthly total jobs activities were estimated by DMs as FSs; the applied to monthly jobs activities of total shipments were estimated by DMs as FSs; the durations of each sub-activities were aggregated; the duration of the logistics activity groups and the sub-activities for per job were calculated; the cumulative workload of logistics activity groups and sub-activities were calculated; the duration of sub-activities for per job as operation or documentation departments were calculated, (iii) in the stage of the process analysis, cumulative ocean export/import workload as operation or documentation for freight collect/prepaid were calculated; duration of activity groups and sub-activities for per job as operation or documentation were calculated; cumulative workload activity groups and sub-activities as operation or documentation were calculated, (iv) in the stage of the process redesign, cumulative workload, process cycle time as operation and documentation group and required labor force were calculated; the process cycle time of the theoretical, the as-is model and the to-be model were calculated: (i) the theoretical minimum process cycle time without resource were calculated by the critical path method (CPM), (ii) the process cycle time of the as-is model perspective with the 1 person resource constraint and (iii) the process cycle time of the to-be model perspective with the 2-person resource constraint were calculated by the resource constrained project scheduling problem (RCPSP) method.FindingsThe methodology for analyzing the ocean department operation process was successfully implemented in a real-life case study. It is observed that the results of the to-be model can be applicable for the company. The BPM-proposed methodology is applicable for the maritime logistics industry in the present study; however, it can be applied to other companies in maritime logistics as well as other industries.Originality/valueThis study contributes to research using BPM methodology in maritime logistics. This is the first study the logistics process analyses were carried out in terms of including all operation processes for a company. All processes were analyzed by using BPM methodology in maritime logistics. This study demonstrated the application of the BPM as-is and to-be models to maritime logistics. The as-is and the to-be models of the BPM methodology were applied in maritime logistics.Research implicationsThis methodology applied in this study can enable organizations operating in the time-urgent maritime logistics sector to manage their logistics processes more efficiently, increase customer satisfaction, reduce the risks of customer loss due to poor operational performance and increase profits in the long term. Through the use of these methodologies utilizing FSs, the CPM and the RCPSP methods, this study is expected to make contributions to the BPM literature and provide original insights into the field. Furthermore, this study will undertake a comprehensive analysis of maritime logistics with respect to BPM to deliver noteworthy contributions to the maritime logistics literature and provide original perspectives into the field.

A K-Means Clustering and the Prim’s Minimum Spanning Tree-Based Optimal Picking-List Consolidation and Assignment Methodology for Achieving the Sustainable Warehouse Operations

Rapid industrialization has caused the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere to increase rapidly, leading to drastic global climate changes and ecological degradation. To establish a sustainable supply chain for consumer electronic products, this study focuses on warehouse operations and develops a K-means clustering and Prim’s minimum spanning tree-based optimal picking-list consolidation and assignment methodology. Compact camera modules are used to demonstrate and verify the effectiveness of this methodology. This methodology can be divided into two parts. First, the K-means clustering method is applied to conduct a picking-list consolidation analysis to create an optimal picking-list consolidation strategy for sustainable warehouse operations. Second, the most similar picking lists in each cluster are connected using Prim’s minimum spanning tree algorithm to generate the connected graph with the minimum spanning tree so as to establish a picking-list assignment strategy for sustainable warehouse operations. In this case study, this to-be model substantially reduced the traveling distance of the electric order-picking trucks within a warehouse and increased the picking efficiency to diminish the carbon emissions toward a sustainable supply chain.

Economic and Mathematical Modeling in Budgeting

The article is devoted to an overview of modern modeling approaches for effective management of enterprise budgets. The article examines the toolkit of economic and mathematical modeling that can be used in the budgeting system. It is proposed to increase the efficiency of the budgeting process by applying the tools of economic and mathematical modeling at the stages of budget development and resource allocation, as well as in the process of budget control and monitoring. To increase the clarity of the simulation procedure and results, a visualization of the TO BE model is presented in IDF0 notation (simulation language) on the Ramus platform. It is noted that the effectiveness of the budgeting system based on the use of economic-mathematical modeling tools will allow to improve resource expenditure planning taking into account the opportunities, priorities, needs and limitations of a specific enterprise and its external business environment. The need to implement digitalization tools and economic-mathematical modeling in the budgeting system is substantiated. The purpose of the article is to analyze the possibilities of forming an effective enterprise budgeting system based on the successful implementation of economic and mathematical modeling tools. The authors focus on the potential of using business analytics as a result of using economic and mathematical modeling tools to form an effective budgeting system. The article argues for the possibility of effectively using modeling tools in the budgeting process, which allows enterprises to make high-quality management decisions based on forecasts, scenarios, optimization recommendations, visualization of current problem situations, etc. The scientific novelty of this article lies in the fact that the recommendations and conclusions provided by the authors can be useful for domestic enterprises in the current conditions of severe restrictions on available resources, lack of free funds, existing and potential risks. In general, this article is useful for those who want to learn more about the possibilities of using economic-mathematical modeling tools in the budgeting system.

Transformation Model of Smallholder Oil Palm Supply Chain Ecosystem using Blockchain-Smart Contract

The development of new technology has the potential to disrupt and transform an existing system as well as information technology. This study aims to build a proposed model in order to transform an old system into a Blockchain-based system. The smallholder oil palm supply chain currently uses a traditional information system and technology, hence its integrity, transparency, and security are vulnerable. To solve this problem, frontier technology is needed, such as a blockchain, which has trust, transparency, and traceable characteristics to improve performance and quality. The method used in this study was digital transformation in the context of operational processes and technology. In addition, the As-Is To-Be model was used as a mechanism to develop a transformation model for the smallholder oil palm supply chain system. Specifically, the As-Is model was implemented in identifying and analyzing the information system and technology in an already existing system, while the To-Be was used to determine the blockchain potential and characteristics. This becomes the proposed model for the transformation of the old system into a Blockchain technology-based. Also, a prospective and mechanism for system transformation were produced in the aspect of transactions, data, and architecture, as well as the flow of change strategies needed in the transformation of the blockchain-based smallholder oil palm supply chain system.

A pragmatic methodical framework for the user-centred development of an electronic process support for the sleep laboratory patients’ management

Limited capacities and ineffective care pathways result in long waiting times for patients and sporadic treatment controls in sleep medicine. As one objective of the 'Telesleep Medicine' project, a portal should be developed, which supports sleep specialists in an efficient and resource-saving patient management. On account of the limited project timeframe, the 'classical' user-centred design and evaluation methods could not be comprehensively implemented. Therefore, a pragmatic methodical framework was developed. For the iterative development of the portal, a combination of low-cost and quick-to-implement methods was used. In chronological order, these were: context interviews, personas, the development of an as-is model, a web search of design standards and good design aspects of similar systems, the development of a to-be model, the creation of an overarching mind map, and the iterative creation of mockups with simplified usability walkthroughs. The feasibility of the pragmatic methodological framework for the development of a prototype for the portal was demonstrated. The used method combination resulted in a prototype based on the needs and requirements of the sleep specialists, taking into account their specific workflow and the technical implementation conditions. The presented pragmatic methodological framework can be a valuable resource for developers of comparable projects. The combination of methods worked well together regarding the limited timeframe and resources for concept development. For the future, we plan to implement and test the portal in the clinical field and thus enrich our framework with additional methods.

Simulation model of natural gas supply chain in a function of costs optimization: the case of Croatia

The purpose of this study is to develop a natural gas simulation model for costs optimization. The main focus of the model is on the transmission system since its imbalance leads to the penalties which must be paid by the suppliers. The total nominated amount of natural gas (the gas injected into the transmission system) must be consumed (withdrawn from the system) in order for the system to be in balance. In practice, this is not the case since it is very hard to accurately predict the future hourly consumption (in order to make a nomination) and certain deviations appear which leads to the imbalance. However, this problem could be solved by introducing a special electromotor valve which would be placed at the beginning of the distribution system and control the accumulation of the system. To test this solution, a simulation model was created using Arena Simulation tool. Data for the simulation model are collected by the natural gas distributor and consist of natural gas consumption and nomination values for one measuring-reduction station on the hourly basis. Thus, the final dataset includes 8.754 records. The separate As-Is and To-Be models for seven (summer) months were made and the results were compared. The simulation experiment shows that the positive rebalancing energy would be reduced by 32%, and the negative one by 34%. The created model can serve as a good initial step for the analysis of the justification of investment in the implementation of a technical solution that would manage the accumulation of the distribution system.

The Explainable Business Process (XBP) - An Exploratory Research

Providing explanations to the business process, its decisions and its activities, is an important key factor for the process in order to achieve the business objectives of the business process, and to minimize and deal with the ambiguity of the business process that causes multiple interpretations, as well as to engender the appropriate trust of the users in the process. As a first step towards adding explanations to business process, we present an exploratory study to bring in the concept of explainability into business process, where we propose a conceptual framework to use the explainability with business process in a model that we called the Explainable Business Process XBP, furthermore we propose the XBP lifecycle based on the Model-based and Incremental Knowledge Engineering (MIKE) approach, in order to show in details the phase where explainability can take a place in business process lifecycle, noting that we focus on explaining the decisions and activities of the process in its as-is model without transforming it into a to-be model.

Search strategies at the European Patent Office

Prior-art search is a critical step towards determining whether a patent can be granted or not. In 2016, an internal project called Search Workflow Modelling (SWM) was launched at the European Patent Office (EPO) for building a search knowledgebase, which contains a set of models that record not only the current situation on how patent examiners deal with prior-art search (i.e. the as-is models), but also their requirements of being able to do a more efficient and effective search (i.e. the to-be models). We use the Fact-based Modelling (FBM) approach for formalizing search ontologies, which cover a common vocabulary, relations between concepts related to search, and constraints applicable to these relations. We use a hybrid modelling approach of Business Process Modelling Notations and Case Management Model and Notations (BPMN/CMMN) to model search work flows. A patent search strategy typically involves at least one FBM model and at least one BPMN/CMMN model. In this paper, we will illustrate 5 types of existing search strategies (including recursive flow patterns and FBM models for future search features), and future search strategies. The SWM empirical studies in this paper are being put into practice in the ongoing projects concerning search tools at the EPO.

Combining an automatic material handling system with lean production to improve outgoing quality assurance in a semiconductor foundry

This research uses a case study methodology to investigate ways of improving the outgoing quality assurance (OQA) processes of a 12-inch wafer foundry. It applies the value stream mapping method of lean production to analyse the wafer OQA processes. The study ensures that all outgoing wafers satisfy customers’ requirements without waste. In this paper, a current state map is used to locate potential waste and problematic process flows. Meanwhile, system simulation is adopted to construct the automatic material handling system and the equipment, transportation, and dispatching automation production module for the OQA processes—namely, the To-Be model and the future state map. The empirical results show that, for the To-Be model, the total lots of three customers per month increased from 3,106 to 3,719 pieces—about a 20% increase—and that the average product cycle time for customers A, B, and C dropped by 43.67%, 57.91%, and 58.39%, respectively. Furthermore, the operators’ utilisation rate increased from 61% of 10 operators on the day and night shifts to 87.26% of seven operators on the day and night shifts—about a 30% decrease of labour costs. Therefore, this study applies lean production (removing the non-value-added activities) and automation to improve the case company’s wafer OQA processes.

Impact of Change in Business IT Alignment: Evaluation with CBITA Tool

Organizations introduce changes to adapt to an agile context in a turbulent environment. These change often have an impact on business and information technology. In most cases, the change impacts organizational elements that make the adaptation not well defined, leaving out elements that can lead to misalignment. The change is realized in this article as a project, which will impact all the Business-IT alignment elements. It is important to know the scope of the impact in order to make a complete adaptation. By reviewing the literature, we found that there is no work dealing with this aspect. To fill this gap, we determine the impact of the project on the organization by considering of Business-IT alignment and we proceed with a comparison of the AS IS model of the organization with the TO BE model which is the target to be implemented keeping the system aligned. Accordingly, we propose a metamodel for change by the impact of the project on the Business-IT alignment and a set of rules and algorithms to predict the impact and adaptation. To make these contributions operational, the implementation of Change Business-IT Alignment Tool and demonstrate its applicability through a case study of an urban agency.

Poslovni proces poboljšanog tretmana otpadnih voda - smanjivanje rizika od zagađenja okoline

The Republic of Serbia is in the group of European countries, which have evident problems regarding the wastewater treatment. The main goal of the entire research is to point out the future of the process organization, as well as the correlation between the conduction of a concept of business processes and achieved performances management, based on a specific example of wastewater treatment. For the process of wastewater treatment, this paper will represent a as-IS model that was applied in the conditions of functional organizational structure, and a to-BE model, which was applied within the process orientation. For both of the models a review of the achieved parameters will be given, obtained by the application of the mentioned models. The given parameters indicate the presence of pollutants in wastewater after the conducted treatment process, with a description on how it reflected on the risk of environmental pollution. The innovated model of wastewater treatment achieves significantly better results, which is of great importance for environmental protection. Concrete evidence of the increase of chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), total suspended solids (TSS) removal with the use of these models is shown in this paper.

Enterprise Architecture, an enabler of change and knowledge management

Organizations around the world require a sound process of change management to innovate and remain competitive over time. Change and knowledge management needs to be supported with the right tools to overcome the challenges of transformations and transitions in the business models and processes of diverse organizations. Steering boards can use enterprise architecture (EA) to implement new knowledge management initiatives in their strategic planning. EA allows companies to model the current situation (as-is models) of the organization and the desired future scenarios (to-be models) and to establish road maps to enable adequate transformations. Different frameworks exist in the market that support the management of organizations, for example: Control Objectives for Information and Related Technologies (COBIT), Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), quality models such as the one proposed by the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) and systems such as the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) are widely used for the management of business and information technologies (IT). However, EA is not widely used with the other mentioned tools. This paper analyzes EA as a tool for change and knowledge management and compares its functionality with other frameworks in the market. The analysis performed in this paper checks if EA can be used and is compatible with other frameworks. To answer this question, an analysis of the most important processes, good practices, perspectives and tools provided by each framework was performed.

A Conceptual Model of Smart Manufacturing Execution System for Rolling Stock Manufacturer

In the era of Industrial 4.0, today many manufacturing companies in Korea are transitioning to automation. As per automation, more and more companies have successfully adopted a manufacturing execution system (MES) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), however, current MES cannot fully support integration into overall processes across the supply chain. As rolling stock manufacturers in Korea are faced with fierce competition, it becomes increasingly important to cope with various demands from clients for real-time shop floor situation. There has been much previous research on data collection, data analysis based on shop floor situation mostly in the semiconductor industry, however, little research dealt with rolling stock manufacturing setting. Thus, in this paper, we will introduce a new design of state of the art smart MES (or S-MES) for rolling stock manufacturer by collaborating various functions and To-Be model is provided for comparison with As-Is model.

An integrated framework of enterprise information systems in smart manufacturing system via business process reengineering

Enterprise information systems play a significant role in the Industry 4.0 era and are the crucial component to realize smart manufacturing systems. However, traditional enterprise information systems have some limits: (1) lack of complete information, (2) only satisfy limited business needs, and (3) lack of seamless integration, business intelligence, value-driven processes, and dynamic optimization. Clearly, the existing enterprise information systems are unable to satisfy the requirements for smart manufacturing systems: (1) autonomous operation, (2) sustainable values, and (3) self-optimization. In addition, smart manufacturing systems have become more efficient and effective, demanding for seamless information flow in enterprise information systems, knowledge, and data-driven accurately decision. Therefore, a new enterprise information systems framework is needed to bridge gaps between the requirements for traditional manufacturing system and smart manufacturing system. In this article, the integrative framework is proposed based on the business process reengineering, lean thinking, and intelligent management methods, with inclusion of six enterprise information systems aspects to provide upgrading guidelines from traditional manufacturing to smart manufacturing. The procedure of this method contains three steps: (1) it identifies requirements and acquires best practices using AS-IS model, (2) it redesigns six aspects of enterprise information systems using TO-BE model, and (3) it proposes a new enterprise information systems framework. Finally, the proposed framework is validated by real cases.

Design Considerations and Architecture for Cooperative Smart Factory: MAPE/BD Approach

Contemporary manufacturing requires personalized production and fast delivery, so manufacturers must be able to quickly adapt to production line status and stakeholder requirements. To meet these requirements, a manufacturer must be able to quickly analyze data and to act on analysis results.In this paper, we introduce the architecture design and prototype of a smart factory architecture to help workers improve productivity, namely by MAPE/BD: 1) Monitoring data, 2) Analyzing them, 3) formulating Plans based on analysis results, and 4) Executing the plan with the support of Big data technology and Digital Twin. In the first part of this paper, we identify problems in current manufacturing environment, and derive corresponding design considerations. In the second part, we propose architecture development based on design considerations, then develop a prototype of a TO-BE model for comparison with AS-IS model in an example operation scenario. We found that TO-BE model contributes to fast response and reducing work proficiency difference.

Совершенствование и автоматизация процесса приема и сборки товаров в торгово-складском комплексе

The logistical processes of the enterprise require constant improvement and introduction of corresponding changes. The study of the activities of the trade and warehouse complex showed that the main role is played by the system for managing the processes of receiving and assembling goods. Therefore, in the article, special importance is given to the process of automation and development of information support for a system for managing these data in the trade and warehouse complex. The analysis and modeling of the existing processes of the company on the basis of two approaches of business modeling has been carried out. It is shown that the object approach allows to build a more stable to changes system, has more correspondences with the existing structure of the organization. The article presents that the functional modeling is optimal when the organizational structure undergoes changes or is in the process of correction. Using the graphical language IDEF0, the analyzed system is represented as a set of interrelated functions (function blocks). To improve the efficiency of storage processes, based on the AS-IS model, a TO-BE model was built and the efficiency of the developed model was evaluated. During the TO-BE model study, the advantages of the embedded device for automating the processes of receiving and assembling goods were proved, as well as the advantages of the new model in terms of key indicators: the time of work, labor productivity, costs, the number of errors in the assembly of goods, the number of staff. The substantiation of a method of automation of warehouse processes of reception and assembly of goods is presented, the choice of the brand of the device of trade and warehouse activity is made. To illustrate the choice of software, basic software platforms were considered and optimal software was identified to ensure the efficiency of warehouse processes. The choice of software was made taking into account the possibility of integrating the data collection terminal with the 1C system used in the company's work. The capabilities of the selected driver, its advantages and functional properties have been analyzed.

SCOR Implementation in Oil and Gas Company from an Emerging Market

Measuring supply chain performance is an important business success factor in today's competitive environment and continuous improvement culture. Several models have been developed for this purpose, however, such models lack standardized language and are not well known in the developing countries. Supply Chain Council (SCC) developed Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) model. This paper presents a case-based action-research for a step-by-step implementation of SCOR model. The case company belongs to oil and gas sector in a developing country. As-Is model was developed and analyzed for gaps. Reasons were identified using company documents and semi-structured interviews. To-Be model was then developed along with recommendations keeping into account the challenges faced by companies operating in emerging markets. The step-by-step SCOR implementation was found to be effective. It is further found that adapting the SCOR model for developing countries is a time-intensive effort and adapting the best practices can be a better option.

Variable Contents of Enterprise Models

In information systems development models are used to represent real and target enterprise systems. Ideally the enterprise could have two basic enterprise models – an As-Is model an To-Be model that may integrate all representations of the enterprise relevant to information systems development. Although there are many different suggested approaches how to model the enterprise, no consensus exists of what exactly should be the spectrum of model elements and corresponding to them enterprise artifacts for successful enterprise and information systems development. In this paper we propose an approach of identifying core enterprise model constituents for different systems development settings. The approach is based on the integration of professional knowledge regarding artifacts used in various systems development cases with the variations of a continuous requirements engineering framework that combines traditional requirements identification functions with additional continuous audit, monitoring and analytics activities.

Knowledge-intensive process management: a case study from the public sector

Purpose – There is very little literature about improving and managing knowledge-intensive business processes (KIBPs). Since innovation plays an important role in knowledge work, these processes are different from traditional business processes, for which most business process management (BPM) methods have been developed, and therefore KIBPs should be improved differently. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of BPM in the case of KIBPs by describing some methods that can be applied to manage and improve KIBPs. Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents a case study of a BPM project in the public sector, where most processes are knowledge-intensive. In conducting the longitudinal case study, established guidelines for interpretive case study research were followed. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected. Findings – The paper presents some findings about the methods that can be applied for BPM in the case of KIBPs. It shows that the main phases of a BPM project can be the same as in a typical project; however, within each project phase different methods have to be applied. Appropriate methods for modelling the existing processes were workshops and interviews. Qualitative methods were suitable for the analysis phase, while it was not necessary to develop detailed to-be models in the business process redesign phase. Originality/value – The paper contributes to the body of knowledge on BPM in the case of KIBPs. Previous findings from the literature claiming that participative, incremental and continuous methods are suitable for improving KIBPs were confirmed. The case study also showed that proper project management, communication, the active role of top management and the involvement of external consultants during BPM projects are very important.