Aldo Duchi

A simulation-based decision support system for industrial field service network planning

Technical field services for industrial machinery and equipment have become increasingly important for original equipment manufacturers. To deliver services to their customers, companies have to build up new core competencies and infrastructure, a challenge due to the high complexity and dynamics of this business. To assist companies in the strategic design of their network and the planning of resources for delivering industrial field services, we present a model-driven decision support system that uses discrete event simulation to support decision makers in various aspects of strategic design and tactical planning. The benefits of the decision support system include the creation of a generic framework that makes it possible to create simulation models of different field service networks for multiple purposes. Specifically, the system can be used to support various tactical planning and strategic design decisions while keeping investments low in terms of time consumption and money spending. In addition, the paper closes an identified gap involving a lack of decision support for the management of field service networks. An application of the decision support system in an exemplary case is used to illustrate potential applications and benefits.

Motivations and Challenges for Engineer-to-Order Companies Moving toward Mass Customization

ETO companies are mainly characterized by their ability to provide personalized products to customers. However, the current market trends and economic situation direct them to efficient manufacturing of customized goods. In this regard, moving toward Mass Customization and making a hybrid strategy of ETO-MC can be considered as a proper solution for ETOs. This study aims at investigating this topic using both theoretical and empirical data, and through analyzing the potential motivations for ETOs to move towards MC and the possible challenges they might face during such a transition.

Engineer-to-Order Enabling Process: An Empirical Analysis

Increasing competition and fast innovation take up new challenges for engineer-to-order (ETO) companies to address special requests from customers without losing efficiency. The optimization of the trade-off between customization and operational efficiency is a core competence for ETO manufacturers. Most advanced companies are reacting by introducing an ETO Enabling Process, which is the process of transforming special requests alongside the ETO value chain into know-how to be subsequently reused with a gain in productivity. This paper, therefore, presents relevant best practices implemented within a research project with three ETO companies while adapting the ETO Enabling Process to their specific organizational settings.

A Three Steps Methodological Approach to Assess the Engineer-to-Order Operations Environment

For many companies, “customized” means products that even the most sophisticated of product configuration tools cannot define in advance. Such products need an engineer-to-order operations environment (ETO). This study focuses on the engineering activities of companies adopting an ETO strategy. We observed that these environments are significantly heterogeneous and that this is likely to limit any potential generic applicability of strategies and practices. In this paper, therefore, a three steps methodological approach to support companies in developing a better understanding of their ETO environment is presented: assessment of product variety and customization, modelling of the ETO process, and measurement of operational performance. Findings from the application of the approach to three industrial partners are then summarized.

From ETO to Mass Customization: A Two-Horizon ETO Enabling Process

During the past few years, many companies are playing in their respective market managing one batch of their commercial offer as mass customizer and another as a pure Engineer-to-Order (ETO) company. This newly created business model generates new needs and issues both in the internal organization approaches, and in the supporting IT systems. The competitive advantage of successful firms relies on the effective management of their purely customized orders, with the aim of including relevant knowledge and information in the standard space of action. Therefore, this study aims at conceptualizing this new business reality, presenting an innovative underlying scheme for the ETO enabling process in which the central focus is on the design phase. Furthermore, a set of success practices are represented, discriminated between long and short term horizons. In this context, both technological and organizational aspects have been explored. Lastly, applicability of the proposed framework has been empirically validated through case studies.

Proposal of a decision making model to select the best fitting cost estimation technique in an ETO-MC environment

ETO companies are characterized by their ability to produce purely customized goods through individualized engineering process. However, recently many of ETOs have considered a shift toward MC to operate with more stable processes to increase efficiency and decrease lead time. This paper aims at analyzing this shift from an operational point of view by developing a decision making model to support these companies in selecting the best estimation technique in terms of engineering cost.