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In this paper we introduce a simulative model, designed and developed to optimally manage an integrated finished goods inventory system, and suitable for adoption in a wide range of make to stock manufacturing firms. The goal of the model is to manage optimally finished goods inventory levels, in order to minimize costs deriving from holding inventory and from adjustment to the master production schedule (MPS) to prevent stock‐outs. A trade off is sought between these costs components. The input variables of the model are: safety stock levels, assessed through coefficients k1, k2 and k3, and the stochastic distribution functions of products demand. The model performances are assessed considering the annual total cost for the inventory management. The model is then tested by a numerical application. The case considered refers to a major firm operating in the zootechnical feeds production industry.

In the 1990s, reverse e‐auctions were designed to be a widely used procurement tool due to the dramatic cost reduction. However, the current usage is more limited than expected, because e‐auctions do not always produce the benefits expected and firms have great difficulty in deciding the right tool to use in the negotiation. The aim of this paper is to propose a methodology for a useful utilization of the reverse e‐auctions.

This paper suggests a method based on the quality function deployment (QFD) technique to help purchasing managers to choose how and when they should use e‐auctions to buy a new product or service.

The approach proposed is structured as a tree and developed in three steps: choice between traditional negotiation and e‐auction; choice between the different typologies of e‐auction (open, secret, and in sealed envelope); and, finally, choice of the specific characteristics of the e‐auction to guarantee an optimal negotiation outcome.

As completion and validation of the method proposed, two case studies are presented and discussed.

The value of the methodology is to propose a simple but systematic approach to use the reverse e‐auctions technique. The use of a QFD‐based approach represents the originality of the method.

The purpose of this paper is to develop an easy and robust tool to develop a decision support system (DSS) for the inspection staff of oil pipelines. The aim is to predict “the class” of each spillage, with respect to some relevant variables such as, mechanical failure or system malfunction. The management will then be able to define which pipelines to monitor and to choose the most suitable monitoring policies, based on the decision tree analysis outcome.

A non‐parametric technique based on rule induction is proposed for the identification of the expected spill cause category of cross‐country oil pipelines. In particular, the classification and regression trees approach is used to automatically generate inspection or maintenance decision rules. The analysis that is described is based on an extended database concerning information about spill cause category in cross‐country oil pipelines in Western Europe.

The proposed technique represents an interesting added value tool for the management. The proposed methodology extrapolates rules for determining the expected spill cause category of cross‐country pipelines, depending on the boundary conditions.

The methodology here presented will assist maintenance managers of oil pipeline to better plan maintenance activity. In particular, the procedure makes it possible to determine which parts of a pipeline have to be submitted to a monitoring action or particular protection, with the aim of improving the efficiency and reducing the risk of spillages.

Effective planning, coordination, and scheduling of the maintenance function can be, and for many years was, accomplished without computer support. The proposed procedure may be included in an information systems tool (sound Computerized Maintenance Information Management System (CMMIS)), for more efficient and effective maintenance/inspection scheduling activities.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the role intermediaries can play in an small to medium‐sized enterprise's (SME's) pursuit for corporate sustainability with a focus on eco‐innovation. The research identifies drivers and barriers for eco‐innovation, and highlights effects induced through collaboration between SMEs and local authorities, on the one hand, and consultancies, on the other.

This paper is based on an exploratory qualitative interview study among German SMEs of the metal and mechanical engineering industry that have participated in “Ecoprofit”, an intermediary based program that aims at introducing organizations to the concept of sustainable development through implementation of eco‐innovations.

The key findings are that first, the proactive approach by a public intermediary (here local authority) is one essential push factor to trigger eco‐innovations in SMEs with low absorptive capacity. Second, it is found that SMEs may need facilitation for eco‐innovation from different types of intermediaries (public and private) with different levels of support, which can range from customized and individual to more loosely held support, such as networks.

This study discusses the challenges of corporate sustainability with a focus on eco‐innovations for SMEs and proposes a “complex intermediary” consisting of a local authority and consultancies as one means to engage SMEs in sustainability. Moreover, it focuses on SMEs in the B2B context, organizations that are often overlooked despite their vast impact. Furthermore, by using a single industry approach, in‐depth findings for the metal and mechanical engineering industry are presented.

In environmental policy first mover advantages for environmental technologies are often taken for granted. It is a popular view to see the state as a political entrepreneur who introduces a certain environmental policy instrument and thus becomes the world market leader or the lead market for the respective technology. Against this background, the purpose of this paper is to find out if the idea of first mover and lead market advantages can be justified by theories and empirical evidence.

A wide range of theoretical and empirical papers from the business management and industrial economics literature were reviewed to provide success factors for different timing‐to‐market and lead market strategies of environmental innovations.

A successful innovator is not necessarily the first but very often one of the early movers within the competition of different innovation designs. The paper shows that the success of a timing strategy depends on country‐specific lead market potentials, on market and technology characteristics and on the regime of the country‐specific regulation. On this basis the paper derives options for environmental innovation strategies for firms under different circumstances of markets, technologies and regulations.

Patent applications, R&D expenditure, etc. are not unimportant input factors for the innovation, but all these supply‐side factors are beyond the focus of this article.

Research on the lead market and the timing to market takes centre stage when product innovations are in the development phase. Companies in countries that do not have sufficient above‐average lead market attributes must target product innovations to fit the preferences of users in the lead market.

This paper is the first to analyse if different timing to market advantages and lead market advantages for environmental innovation can be justified by theories and by empirical evidence.

The purpose of this paper is to carry out the business process re‐engineering (BPR) of a surgical ward in a hospital in order to improve the efficiency of the ward.

This work was developed using a case study on a surgical ward. In this type of ward, in which scheduled and unscheduled operations often have to coexist and be managed, ways to minimise patient inconvenience need to be studied. A framework based on event‐driven process chains (EPCs) methodology, the entity‐relationship model and discrete event simulation is presented to define and analyse the current state of a surgical ward and design a future system. The modelling of the processes, activities and sub‐activities, which took up a great amount of ward resources, allowed a what‐if analysis to be developed which simulates various scenarios and assesses their performance.

Using Delphi methodology, it was possible to identify a number of areas for improvement: number of operating sessions, preparation of the operating rooms for each operation, availability of specific surgical instruments. Moreover, the discrete event simulation approach led to an understanding of the most efficient management choices.

The decision to use Delphi methodology for the information collection stage before starting the BPR process is not found in other studies in the literature. Moreover, the use of models based on EPCs methodology allowed the panel of experts to develop models to examine and understand the resource requirements of medical assessment units and to provide a framework or develop standards that hospital developers and clinical managers can consult.

Recent reports argue that eco‐innovation is the key to realising growth. The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors which drive eco‐innovation and test if eco‐innovating firms perform better than non‐eco‐innovating firms. The paper provides insights into the role government regulation can play in directing and stimulating eco‐innovation.

The approach utilised by this paper is empirical in nature. Using a sample of 2,181 firms, gathered as part of the Irish Community Survey 2006‐2008, the authors estimate a modified innovation production function in order to assess the impact of regulation, consumer expectations and voluntary agreements on the performance of eco‐innovation, subsequently a knowledge augmented production function is estimated to assess the impact of eco‐innovation on firm performance.

The findings suggest that regulation and customer perception can explain a firm's decision to engage in eco‐innovation. Eco‐innovation is also found to be more important than non‐eco‐innovation in determining firm performance.

Due to the limited availability of accounting data this paper uses turnover per worker as the measure of firm performance. As a result, it is not possible to assess the impact of eco‐innovation on firm costs.

The finding that regulation drives eco‐innovation, and that there is no trade‐off between eco‐innovation and higher profit margins for innovating firms, suggests that regulators and policy makers can stimulate growth and create a greener society.

This paper provides an empirical analysis of the Porter and van der Linde's theory of environmental regulation and firm performance using novel real world data from over 2,000 Irish businesses.

This paper presents the results of a panel of experts, made up of academics in the field of operations and supply chain management, enterprise requirement planning software developers, and end‐users, whose work has aimed at defining the main features that characterize an enterprise modeller for the fashion industry. The characteristics required by the enterprise requirement planning enterprise modeller have been identified, with specific attention to the production planning and control module. Because of the peculiarities of this line of business, it is widely recognized that both vendors and buyers would benefit from such a tool. For the formers, the availability of a pre‐customized reference model would represent a competitive advantage in the marketplace, for the latter, on the other hand, it would enhance the effectiveness, the efficiency and the likelihood of success of the enterprise requirement planning implementation project.

In this paper an experience dealing with the analysis of maintenance outsourcing by means of multi‐criteria decision methods (MCDM) is reported. In particular, the analytic hierarchy process technique (AHP) is used as a managerial decision support system to select the best alternative between different outsourcing contracts in terms of maintenance services. The proposed methodology has been tested on an industrial case study dealing with an important italian brickwork. This application shows how the AHP is able to support the choice of the correct level of the maintenance activities outsourcing. In particular, the hierarchic decisional structure developed represents an instrument able to give a well balanced synthesis of several different factors that must be taken into account during this type of decision problem.