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Metal laser-powder-bed-fusion using laser-beam parts are particularly susceptible to contamination due to particles attached to the surface. This may compromise so-called technical cleanliness (e.g. in NASA RPTSTD-8070, ASTM G93, ISO 14952 or ISO 16232), which is important for many 3D-printed components, such as implants or liquid rocket engines. The purpose of the presented comparative study is to show how cleanliness is improved by design and different surface treatment methods.

Convex and concave test parts were designed, built and surface-treated by combinations of media blasting, electroless nickel plating and electrochemical polishing. After cleaning and analysing the technical cleanliness according to ASTM and ISO standards, effects on particle contamination, appearance, mass and dimensional accuracy are presented.

Contamination reduction factors are introduced for different particle sizes and surface treatment methods. Surface treatments were more effective for concave design features, however, the initial and resulting absolute particle contamination was higher. Results further indicate that there are trade-offs between cleanliness and other objectives in design. Design guidelines are introduced to solve conflicts in design when requirements for cleanliness exist.

This paper recommends designing parts and corresponding process chains for manufacturing simultaneously. Incorporating post-processing characteristics into the design phase is both feasible and essential. In the experimental study, electroless nickel plating in combination with prior glass bead blasting resulted in the lowest total remaining particle contamination. This process applied for cleanliness is a novelty, as well as a comparison between the different surface treatment methods.

Small retail stores in the luxury market face significant challenges due to fluctuations in market demand. This task turns challenging as it requires effectively coordinating and translating customer needs into specific requirements that align with retail goals and available resources. However, limited empirical research exists investigating how managers can address service value and quality attributes in small retail stores. This article aims to bridge this gap by investigating the role of quality function deployment (QFD) in improving market and quality requirements management in small retail stores.

Based on the case study, a customer survey was initially conducted to gather information on critical characteristics valued in the luxury retail segment. QFD was used to assist the company in identifying and prioritizing key quality attributes to meet customer requirements effectively.

The findings demonstrate that implementing QFD in small luxury retail stores empowers managers to identify previously neglected product and service quality aspects. The article shows that QFD informs organizational adaptations that align with the demands of the retail market, leading to an improved ability to meet customer expectations and enhance customer value through the development of enhanced products and services. The study showcases the efficacy of the tested methodology in effectively capturing and prioritizing both tangible and intangible customer needs in retail.

Findings offer valuable insights to retail managers of small luxury stores, providing actionable market-oriented strategies. By implementing the recommended practices, managers can improve the store’s competitiveness and better cater to the customer base.

This study contributes to bridging persistent knowledge gaps by addressing the unique context of small luxury retail stores and introducing the application of QFD in this setting. The insights gained from this research are relevant to both retailing and quality management literature. Considering the growing prevalence of transformations in the retail industry, the study provides practical implications for retail managers in effectively navigating these changes.

Clause 1 [General Provisions] contains the provisions that in many contracts are bundled together under the ‘miscellaneous’ or ‘other provisions’ heading and includes a list of definitions, some interpretation principles, rules on communication between the Parties, documents forming the Contract, assignment, confidentiality etc. But Clause 1 also contains other provisions, like the Employer's right to use documentation and other deliverables provided by the Contractor (in other contracts usually referred to as a license to use), and a substantive Sub-Clause on limitation of liability.

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, innovation is the cornerstone for every organization. Knowledge management (KM) is crucial for developing sustainable competitive advantage by fostering innovation. This study aims to identify the key drivers of KM in the context of digital transformation through qualitative research.

This study employs a qualitative approach based on in-depth interviews with senior KM officers, including chief knowledge officers and directors who spearhead KM in their respective organizations. This research identifies four key dimensions, shedding new light on the drivers of KM in the context of digital transformation.

This study’s findings reveal that the integration of important drivers from the lens of social-technical system (STS) theory is categorized into the four dimensions of KM, namely, motivation, technology, people interaction and organizational drivers. These factors jointly impact and design the effectiveness of KM in the digital age.

This study makes a unique contribution to the field of digital transformation. It presents a conceptual framework from the lens of the STS theory that encompasses four critical dimensions of KM: motivation, technology, people interaction and organizational dimensions, each with sub-codes. This framework can be utilized by practitioners and scholars alike.

This paper aims to address the challenge raised in the literature regarding whether and how digitalization supports a servitized new product development (NPD) process, considering the customer’s involvement from the early stage of the process.

Pragmatic constructivism (PC) has been adopted for conceptualizing the NPD process as the construction of a new reality. PC is the method theory used for interpreting the field evidence drawn from a qualitative case study carried out at a multinational company operating in the semiconductor industry.

This study shows how digitalization supports the alignment to the overarching topoi of the company servitization strategy by enabling the integration and merging of different organizational topoi during the NPD process.

This study is confined to a single-case study and context.

The results of this study are relevant for managers involved in the stage-gate product development of manufacturing companies, informing them on how the use of digital tools enables or hinders the progression of product development projects.

This paper contributes to the servitization literature by offering field evidence that demonstrates the importance for manufacturing firms of acquiring customer feedback from an early NPD phase. Another contribution is related to the literature on the role of digitalization in NPD processes, describing how digital tools give support during the different phases of the NPD process.

This paper aims to identify how a public client’s use of control systems (process, output and social control) affect innovation possibilities in construction projects.

Semi-structured interviews about six infrastructure projects were conducted to identify respondents’ views on innovation possibilities. These possibilities were then analyzed from an organizational control perspective within principal–agent relationships between the Swedish Transport Administration (STA) and their contractors.

How the client uses control systems affects innovation possibilities. Relying on process control could negatively affect innovation opportunities, whereas output control could have a positive influence. In addition, social control seems to have a weak effect, as the STA appears not to use social control to facilitate joint innovation. Public clients must comply with the Public Procurement Act and, therefore, retain the requirements specified in the tendering documents. Much of the steering of the execution is connected to the ex ante phase (before signing the contract), which affects innovation possibilities in the design and execution phases for the contractor.

This study was conducted with only one client, thus limiting its generalizability. However, the findings provide an important stepping stone to further investigation into balancing control systems and creating innovation possibilities in a principal–agent relationship.

Although public procurement has increasingly been emphasized as a major potential source of innovation, studying how a public client’s use of organizational control systems affects innovation possibilities in the construction sector has received scant attention.

The cyber-physical system (CPS) is a well proven technology for improving system performance, resilience, and interconnectivity. In emerging nations like India, the logistics industry lacks practices connecting logistical equipment with cyberspace. This paper aims to bridge this gap by identifying and evaluating the performance metrics of connectivity solutions. Its goal is to establish an appropriate infrastructure that enables seamless connectivity within the CPS-enabled logistics ecosystem.

A novel integrated decision method is employed to classify the optimal connectivity solution for CPS. It integrates Regret Theory (RT) and Preference Ranking for Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE-1) method in a Hesitant Fuzzy (HF) environment. This method considers the psychological traits of decision-makers and effectively incorporates their hesitancy for the classification.

The findings highlight security (c10) as the foremost critical performance metric, followed by cost (c6), scalability (c9), traceability (c2) and trustworthiness (c1) to build connective infrastructure for CPS. For extensive coverage scenarios, like freight transportation, cellular connectivity (a2) emerges as the most suitable connectivity solution.

This study provides a roadmap to logistics managers for selecting a suitable connectivity infrastructure to enhance seamless connectivity in logistics operations and processes. Technology providers can utilize the findings to develop the CPS infrastructure for effective freight logistics management.

This research introduces a novel decision-making tool for making choices related to advanced technology assessment. It holds significant value in facilitating well-informed decisions in the digital transformation era.

This study explores the significance and implementation priorities for Digital Product Passports (DPP) in the context of building renovation projects. It aims to reveal bottlenecks and how a data-driven workflow bridges the DPP understanding/implementation gap, facilitating the transition towards practices aligned with the EU Green Deal goals.

A mixed-methods embedded design was employed for a real-case study exploration. Desk research and field observations ground the two-level analysis combining project documentation, namely the Bill of Quantities (BoQ), with different criteria in digitalisation and sustainability, such as economic ratio, 3D modelling, waste management, hazards, energy performance and facility management. All results were interpreted from the DPP lens.

The analysis revealed a system for identifying building products representing a significant part of the renovation budget. About 11 priority DPPs were found. Some are crucial for both the deconstruction and construction phases, highlighting the need for an incremental and strategic approach to DPP implementation.

The study is limited to a single case study. Constraints are minimised given the sample's archetype representativeness. The outcomes introduce the need for strategic thinking for incremental DPP implementation. Future research will explore additional criteria and cases.

The research has resulted in a classification framework for DPPs' significance and priority, which is provided with case results. The outcome of the framework provides views on concept alignment to make the implementation in construction more straightforward. Its practical use can be replicated in other projects, emphasizing the importance of data structure and management for the circular economy.

This study aims to establish an evaluation method for cross-regional major infrastructure project (CRMIP) supportability. The focus is to identify evaluation indicators from a complexity perspective and develop an evaluation model using qualitative and quantitative methods. Case studies are carried out to verify the reliability of the evaluation model, thereby providing theoretical and practical guidance for CRMIP operations and maintenance (O&M).

Guided by the idea of complexity management, the evaluation indicators of CRMIP supportability are determined through literature analysis, actual O&M experience and expert interviews. A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, consisting of sequential relationship analysis, entropy weighting, game theory and cloud model, is developed to determine the indicator weights. Finally, the evaluation model is used to evaluate the supportability of the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge (HZMB), which tests the rationality of the model and reveals its supportability level.

The results demonstrate that CRMIPs' supportability is influenced by 6 guideline-level and 18 indicator-level indicators, and the priority of the influencing factors includes “organization,” “technology,” “system,” “human resources,” “material system,” and “funding.” As for specific indicators, “organizational objectives,” “organizational structure and synergy mechanism,” and “technical systems and procedures” are critical to CRMIPs' O&M supportability. The results also indicate that the supportability level of the HZMB falls between good and excellent.

Under the guidance of complexity management thinking, this study proposes a supportability evaluation framework based on the combined weights of game theory and the cloud model. This study provides a valuable reference and scientific judgment for the health and safety of CRMIPs' O&M.

This paper investigates the impact of green construction procurement practices (GCPPs) on circular economy (CE) success by identifying environmentally sustainable procurement practices that can promote a CE in the construction industry. The goal was to promote circularity in construction through GCPPs.

A quantitative research approach was adopted and purposively selected 100 respondents for a cross-sectional questionnaire survey. Data from the questionnaire survey were analysed using mean score ranking, One-sample t-test and regression analysis.

The study found that using on-site systematic waste management, project stakeholder commitment and support for green practices and environmental requirements in technical specifications, significantly impact CE success in construction, with a 12.8% variance in CE when green procurement is practised. This implies that GCPPs have positive repercussions on CE success, where the CE success is expected to change as GCPPs levels increase.

The study provides insights into green procurement, promoting its use in infrastructure development and aiding clients, particularly in the government sector with insights into the challenges and practices involved in green procurement. Practitioners can also benefit from better implementing CE strategies to draft and manage contracts for infrastructure projects that prioritize circularity.

The limited impact of GCPPs on advancing CE principles in construction suggests policy and practice must strengthen procurement requirements to fully leverage spending and drive the sector’s transition towards a circular model. Also, novel insight is provided into the most effective types of GCPPs for promoting CE success, aiding policymakers in optimizing construction procurement strategies.