Alexandra Tenera

Risk Assessment in Open Innovation Networks

Innovation is considered crucial for enterprises survival and current economic environment demands the best ways of achieving it. However, the development of complex products and services require the utilization of diverse know-how and technology, which enterprises may not hold. An effective strategy for achieving them is to rely in open innovation. Still, open innovation projects may fail for many causes, e.g. due to the dynamics of collaboration between partners. To effectively benefit from open innovation, it is recommended the utilization of adequate risk models. For achieving such models, a preliminary conceptualization of open innovation and risk is necessary, which includes modeling experiments with existing risk models, such as the FMEA.

Integrating Value and Lean Management in Manufacturing Processes

In this paper a model for an integrated application of Lean Management and Value Management in manufacturing processes is proposed. Its purpose is to reduce some gaps that have been pointed out to Lean Management, namely, lack of ability to understand customer value, potentially negative impact on innovation capability and inability to eliminate waste in small processes. To do so, concepts from both management approaches were integrated as well as some of their most relevant tools, namely, Value Stream Mapping and Function Analysis. The implementation test done to the proposed model indicates that it can improve the understanding of customer value allowing waste to be highlighted and eliminated. The paper briefly reviews both Lean and Value Managements concepts as well as the major tools that were included in the model. The model is then exposed and discussed, the test implementation of the model is briefly displayed and the main conclusions exposed.

A TOC Perspective to Improve the Management of Collaborative Networks

Collaborative networks are typically assumed to bring clear benefits and competitive advantage to the participating members. On the other hand, since the networks are typically formed by heterogeneous and autonomous enterprises, it is natural that each member has its own culture and set of interest. As result, the development of methodologies to facilitate the management process during the operation phase of a virtual enterprise (VE) is an important element for the wide adoption of this paradigm. Departing from a brief presentation of the Theory of Constraints this paper introduces an approach of these concepts to collaborative networks and discusses its potential application in the context of a (VE). To conclude, experimental results based on data from a collaborative network are presented and discussed.

Exploratory Study on Risk Management in Open Innovation

Open innovation is a strategy with increasing adoption by value-seeking companies using or sharing technology with the outside world. But this strategy is also accompanied by risk. However, risk management seems to have been overlooked by researchers on open innovation networks. This exploratory work clarifies to what extent the issue of risk has been considered in open innovation research. Presented results are based on interviews and analysis of existing literature on open innovation.

A Risk Diagnosing Methodology Web-Based Platform for Micro, Small and Medium Businesses: Remarks and Enhancements

The indisputable necessity to innovate brings to companies vital responsibilities such as the inevitable errand of having consistent innovation and risk management procedures along their projects. This work presents a risk diagnosing methodology (RDM) web-platform, that can provide to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) the ability to identify and self-assess risks associated with their innovative project’s portfolio, from the project’s idealization to its commercialization. The creation of this tool attempts to encourage SMEs on the systematic use of risk management approaches, in order to increase project’s successful rates. As groundwork, this paper also includes a bibliographical review and comparative analysis of other existing risk management tools and models available to SMEs. The present article also uncovers first empirical results available from exploratory research done and reveals ongoing research efforts regarding risk perception and potential bias correction.

Improving setup time in a Press Line – Application of the SMED methodology

Abstract The market environment in which companies are included nowadays has dramatically changed with the reduction of tax barriers, which consequently increased the competitiveness. Competing in an international market is now a reality for all enterprises and in consequent, the effect of globalization is even more felt. Therefore, companies have once again to gather efforts and reduce their production costs through waste elimination and productivity increase. SMED (Single Minute Exchange of Die), a tool created by Shigeo Shingo allows waste reduction in productive processes, making it more efficient and flexible. This approach proposes waste elimination through the reduction of non-production time in each machine, more precisely, the reduction of the time needed for tool change in a machine (or setup time). Its application has a special incidence in the automotive sector and in the plastic industry. In this article, SMED will be apply to a press line in the automotive industry in which the use of a Gantt chart in SMEDs time study will be proposed in order to consider parallelism between operations.

Open Innovation Participants Profiling: An Archetypes Approach

Organizations adopting Open Innovation seem to express slightly specific behavioral patterns, attitudes and values, which are beneficial and that can be perceptible in their interactions with outsiders. It would be useful to find a way to identify these characteristics and to perceive them in potential participants for Open Innovation consortia. This research work explores the concept of archetypes to provide an abstract way to express how companies engaging in Open Innovation look like. The adopted method applies web mining and preliminary results are presented, which show the potential of the approach.

Input Analysis in Simulation: A Case Study Based on the Variability in Manufacturing Lines

Simulation is a powerful tool with acknowledged capabilities that has proved to be a valuable support instrument to decision making. In order to attain a proper representation from the system, it’s necessary to perceptively observe the system, to collect the data corresponding to the model’s input, and to perform an accurate analysis of the same data. The results and recommendations subsequent to the simulation are as legitimate as its modeling and inputs. In manufacturing systems build-to-order, that generates multiple products with identical characteristics and high levels of customization, the input analysis earns a vital role. On this article is proposed a methodology to deal with the variability inherent to systems, resorting to statistical inference methods: hypotheses testing. These methods are a vigorous tool on the analysis of data collected from the system. Furthermore, a case study based on a real manufacturing line will be presented, where the impact that the information inputted onto the model has in the simulation’s results shall be analyzed, regarding the processing lead time. In addition, the presented case study provides evidence of the two foremost pitfalls, referred by Law, which ought to be avoided. The usage of the mean towards a statistical distribution misleads the system’s analyst, whereas the normal distribution doesn’t accurately represent the processing times. An adequate replication of the variability over the manufacturing processes from the real system, throughout the probability’s distribution on an “off-line” simulation, comprises as a vital element to support decision making.

A critical chain perspective to support management activities in dynamic production networks

Collaborative networks are typically assumed to bring clear benefits and competitive advantage to the participating members. However, as the networks are typically formed by heterogeneous and autonomous enterprises, the development of methodologies that facilitates the management process is an important element for the wide adoption of this paradigm. Departing from a brief presentation of the Critical Chain Project Management approach, the paper introduces this approach to collaborative networks and discusses its potential application in the context of a dynamic production networks. Finally, experimental results based on data from a network in construction industry are presented.