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The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive framework to help managers of a business enterprise effectively evaluate candidate RFID solution providers and then select the most suitable one.

The selection of an RFID solution provider is modeled as a new hybrid fuzzy multi‐criteria decision making problem. The proposed decision model is based on integration of Monte Carlo simulation with fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) methods. In addition, an illustrative case is used to exemplify the proposed approach.

A quantitative methodology based on a structured framework, for the selection of the most appropriate RFID solution provider.

This research study is a very useful source of information for managers of a business enterprise in making decisions about evaluation and selection of RFID solution providers or RFID system integrators.

This study addresses the evaluation and selection of RFID solution providers for the managers of a business enterprise and proposes a new hybrid decision‐making methodology for the problem.

The purpose of this paper is to explore servitization in the context of the service supply chain, particularly the effects of the relationship between the subsystem supplier and the end user on the supplier's as well as on the supply chain's ability to provide industrial services. In addition, it aims to present a solution to overcome the challenges of lack of this relationship.

A case study incorporating an explorative design science approach identifies a theoretically novel and practically relevant problem in the field of service supply chain management. The study combines empirical data collection; systematic conceptualization of means and ends; evaluation of proposed solutions in iterative‐ and action‐oriented cycles; and theoretical explanation of the observed phenomena and outcomes.

By establishing a triadic operational model with an integrator and end user, the subsystem supplier can servitize within a supply chain in which the end user relationship is controlled by the integrator. This enables the combining of critical service provision capabilities: supplier's maintenance‐related capabilities and integrator's end user access.

Further research is needed to determine the importance of managing the transition to subsystem suppliers in different types of industrial service supply chains. Because these observations and proposals are based on a single case study, the authors cannot draw conclusions as to how they apply to manufacturers in different problem situations.

The paper presents a decision‐making procedure that describes how a subsystem supplier opting for cooperation in the service supply chain can formulate a coherent set of triadic operational models with intermediaries and end users.

The paper shows how servitization takes place on supply chain level.

Technological standardization can promote the development of complex products and systems (CoPS) (e.g. large aircraft, high-speed trains). Many studies argue that a superior network position contributes to improving a firm's ability to innovate; however, few studies have considered the aforementioned line of research as falling under the purview of CoPS standardization. This study focuses on CoPS integrators, which hold the most important enterprise roles in CoPS manufacturing and innovation, to analyze whether the two types of superior positions (i.e. the central position and the brokerage position) help the integrator influence the standardization process in a process moderated by technological complexity.

Considering the outstanding market performance of the railway transportation industry in China, the abundance of cooperative activities in this industry, and data availability, we adopt integrators from this industry as samples for the empirical analysis in this study. A negative binomial regression analysis with random effects was conducted to analyze the acquired panel data.

The results show that the central position has an inverted U-shaped effect on the integrator's ability to influence standardization and that the brokerage position has a positive effect. We also find that the underlying mechanism of the two types of network positions impacts the integrator's ability to influence standardization and that it has two modes: knowledge integration in related domains and knowledge integration in nonrelated domains. Moreover, technological complexity attenuates the effect of the central position and strengthens the effect of the brokerage position on the integrator's ability to influence standardization.

This paper contributes to the theoretical research on CoPS manufacturing and innovation and complements knowledge-based theory. The results could prove enlightening for integrators facing complex technological environments, allowing them to establish a reasonable external knowledge search strategy and choose appropriate cooperation partners according to their knowledge domains.

This paper deals with the organizing of interactive product development. Developing products in interaction between firms may provide benefits in terms of specialization, increased innovation, and possibilities to perform development activities in parallel. However, the differentiation of product development among a number of firms also implies that various dependencies need to be dealt with across firm boundaries. How dependencies may be dealt with across firms is related to how product development is organized. The purpose of the paper is to explore dependencies and how interactive product development may be organized with regard to these dependencies.

The analytical framework is based on the industrial network approach, and deals with the development of products in terms of adaptation and combination of heterogeneous resources. There are dependencies between resources, that is, they are embedded, implying that no resource can be developed in isolation. The characteristics of and dependencies related to four main categories of resources (products, production facilities, business units and business relationships) provide a basis for analyzing the organizing of interactive product development.

Three in-depth case studies are used to explore the organizing of interactive product development with regard to dependencies. The first two cases are based on the development of the electrical system and the seats for Volvo’s large car platform (P2), performed in interaction with Delphi and Lear respectively. The third case is based on the interaction between Scania and Dayco/DFC Tech for the development of various pipes and hoses for a new truck model.

The analysis is focused on what different dependencies the firms considered and dealt with, and how product development was organized with regard to these dependencies. It is concluded that there is a complex and dynamic pattern of dependencies that reaches far beyond the developed product as well as beyond individual business units. To deal with these dependencies, development may be organized in teams where several business units are represented. This enables interaction between different business units’ resource collections, which is important for resource adaptation as well as for innovation. The delimiting and relating functions of the team boundary are elaborated upon and it is argued that also teams may be regarded as actors. It is also concluded that a modular product structure may entail a modular organization with regard to the teams, though, interaction between business units and teams is needed. A strong connection between the technical structure and the organizational structure is identified and it is concluded that policies regarding the technical structure (e.g. concerning “carry-over”) cannot be separated from the management of the organizational structure (e.g. the supplier structure). The organizing of product development is in itself a complex and dynamic task that needs to be subject to interaction between business units.

The automotive industry in North America is experiencing a period of far‐reaching reorganization. Part of that change is in the automotive supply chain, including firms in the industry, such as Ford or General Motors, that assemble the vehicles and firms that are their suppliers. The particular emphasis in the research reported below is on the new relationships among these firms in the automotive supply chain. Some of the data come from in‐depth interviews with twenty‐six senior executives in North American automotive companies, from a survey of 175 firms in the North American automotive industry, and from sessions with an advisory board of representatives of leading industry companies. Additional data derive from historical accounts of the industry. This paper briefly summarizes the differentiation of the supply chain into four types of firms, and the reallocation of tasks within the supply chain. This has meant a transfer of responsibilities from the assemblers (such as Ford) to various kinds of suppliers, and a resultant shift in the system of responsibility and authority in the supply chain. The paper then explores in detail changes in the nature of relationships among firms in the supply chain from a type termed the market model to a type termed the commitment model. Additional topics include changes in the way relationships among firms are initiated and reasons for the new type of relationship. The changes are interpreted in terms of both firm‐level and industry level‐factors. The changes and their underlying causes allow certain predictions: the process of change to the new type of relationship will continue at least until 2005; and it is uncertain how far the new mode of relationship, the commitment model, will extend through the supply chain.

The development of reconfigurable modular production systems is one of the crucial factors for manufacturers to sustain their competitive advantage in areas such as precision assembly. To ensure the effective and cost efficient configuration and successive reconfigurations it is of critical importance to involve all stakeholders in the decision‐making process. The reported research is targeting the development of an integrated Web‐enabled decision‐making environment that supports some of the key assembly system engineering stages from user requirement specification to system implementation. The focus is on the design of assembly workstations based on detailed process requirements with a target of developing highly efficient and cost‐effective solutions. The paper presents an application framework for collaborative distributed design supported by domain ontologies and is illustrated using an industrial case study.

To report on the design and development of an automated circuit breaker panel cover assembly system. The system employs two robotically controlled spot welding heads and a robotic finished workpiece unloading station.

A major electrical equipment builder turned to a skilled system integrator to design a system to meet a specific productivity goal and handle a wide family of product. The system integrator turned to several highly qualified subcontractors to supply key portions of the system. As a team then selected the welding heads, controls, pallet transport systems and robots and developed a system controller, parts holding devices and software for the application.

A combination of some manually operations with automated spot welding and robotic workpiece handling equipment can produce outstanding productivity improvements.

A careful selection of a qualified system integrator with experience in the type of application, teamed with subcontractors skilled in all the skills needed for the project can help insure an outcome that meets initial productivity objectives.

Seeing the results of others in tackling what may seem like a hard to automate application can provide a road map to success.

This study proposes targeted modernization of the Department of Defense (DoD's) Joint Forces Ammunition Logistics information system by implementing the optimized innovative information technology open architecture design and integrating Radio Frequency Identification Device data technologies and real-time optimization and control mechanisms as the critical technology components of the solution. The innovative information technology, which pursues the focused logistics, will be deployed in 36 months at the estimated cost of $568 million in constant dollars. We estimate that the Systems, Applications, Products (SAP)-based enterprise integration solution that the Army currently pursues will cost another $1.5 billion through the year 2014; however, it is unlikely to deliver the intended technical capabilities.

This study aims to explore the process of open source software (OSS) adoption in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and more specifically open source enterprise resource planning (ERP) as a “mission critical” OSS application in manufacturing. It also addresses the fundamental issue of ERP risk management that shapes this process.

The approach is done through an interpretive case study of a small Canadian manufacturer that has adopted an open source ERP system.

Interpreted in the light of the IT risk management, OSS and packaged application adoption literatures, results indicate that the small manufacturer successfully managed the adoption process in a rather intuitive manner, based on one guiding principle and nine practices. In analyzing the data, diffusion of innovation theory appeared to fit rather well with the situation observed and to offer rich insights to explain the mission-critical OSS adoption process.

A single case study of successful IT adoption should be eventually counterbalanced by future cases considered to be partial or total failures, using a wider multiple case study approach for comparative purposes. And this should include alternative theoretical interpretations and more detailed empirical work on the extent to which the distinctive features of OSS make its adoption more or less risk-laden. This initial effort should also be followed by further research on mission-critical OSS adoption in contexts other than SMEs (e.g. healthcare organizations) and other than ERP (e.g. customer-relationship management).

This research confirms that open source is a credible alternative for SMEs that decide willingly or under external pressure to adopt a mission-critical system such as ERP. Moreover, it suggests that a high level of formalization is not always necessary.

The authors argue that rich insights into the dynamics of the mission-critical OSS adoption process can be obtained by framing this process within an IT risk management context.

This paper attempted a novel approach for system-level modeling and simulation of sigma-delta modulator for low-frequency CMOS integrated analog to digital interfaces. Comparative analysis of various architectures topologies, circuit implementation techniques are described with analytical procedure for effective selection of topologies for targeted specifications.

Virtual instruments are presented in labview environment to analyze the correlation of circuit-level non-ideal effects with key design parameters over sampling ratio, coarse quantizer bits and loop filter order. A fourth-order single-loop sigma-delta modulator is designed and verified in MATLAB simulink environment with careful selection of integrator weights to meet stable desired performance.

The proposed designed achieved SNDR of 122 dB and 20 bit resolution satisfying high-resolution requirements of low-frequency biomedical signal processing applications. Even though the simulation performed at behavioral level, the results obtained are considered as accurate, by including all non-ideal and non-linear circuit errors in simulation process.

Virtual instruments using labview environment used to analyze the correlation of circuit-level non-ideal effects with key design parameters over sampling ratio, coarse quantizer bits and loop filter order for accurate design.