Antonio José Caulliraux Pithon

An Activity-Based Model of Concurrent Engineering System

The Concurrent Engineering (CE) concept is an advanced organizational concept based on idea of parallel/simultaneous and concurrent processing of the requirements of different business/enterprise’s functions such as marketing, CAD, CAM, PPC, manufacturing, etc. which application leads to radical shortening of the total production process time as well as quality improvement. The CE based organization is oriented to product and, further, it is characterized by the much higher organizational dynamics than the traditional organizational models due to frequent products change. To support this dynamics effectively, and efficiently, it is necessary to develop corresponded models of the CE process that would serve as the base for the CE based organization design. The paper presents an activity-based model of CE System, using IDEFO diagrams as the representation class, covering the concrete CE system’s life cycle, that is composed of two basic global processes: the CE system design and the CE system operation. The model refers, as well, the CE tools and control (management) processes for the CE processes presented.

Evaluation of Collaborative Enterprises Networks: Case Study of Brazilian Virtual Enterprises

The emergency of the so called new digital economy, with intense diffusion of the information and telecommunication technologies, has provoked a revolution in the business world through the last years, changing the companies’ paths and strategies, despite the nature of its products, markets and processes. Thus, the organizational networks become an alternative way of organizing the production of goods and services and may be used by the companies to improve its competitive position. This article’s objective is to show the concept of virtual enterprises as dynamic collaborative networks by presenting some cases in other countries, to study the collaborative networks behavior and to compare the experience of foreign virtual companies with some Brazilian ones.

New Vision of Collaborative Networked Study: Fundamentals, Applications and Discipline Formation at CEFET/RJ

Collaborative networks of organizations and/or can be nowadays found in large variety of forms, including virtual organizations, virtual enterprise, extended enterprise, dynamic supply chains, social network, etc. A large body of empiric knowledge related to collaborative networks is already available, but there is an urgent need to consolidated this knowledge and build the foundations for more sustainable development of this area. The establishment of a scientific discipline for collaborative networks is a strong instrument in achieving this purpose. In this context, the article presents the experience developed by Federal Center of Technological Education – CEFET/RJ Brazil that began, in the first semester of 2007, a pilot course on Collaborative Network for students in Master Program in Technology.

O impacto da aplicabilidade das técnicas do trabalho colaborativo suportado por computador nas compras do governo federal – pregão eletrônico

This article aims to analyze the extent to which public procurement can be speeded up by introducing collaborative work techniques to consistently control information, eliminate unproductive tasks and unnecessary bureaucracy and, as a consequence, increase efficiency and The quality of the process. In order to prove the data, a case study was carried out in the purchasing section of a Federal Institution with the purpose of introducing the techniques of computer supported collaborative work (CSCW) through the workflow tool, In government purchases that practice the electronic bidding modality. The data collected and tested showed that the implementation of this tool will make the purchasing process of the Institution faster and more efficient, indicating that it is possible to break the paradigm of bureaucratic culture that permeates government procurement.

BM_Virtual Enterprise Architecture Reference Model for Concurrent Engineering: An experiment

In order to test the potential of Virtual Enterprise (VE) organizational principles for Concurrent Engineering (CE) team work organization, an experiment applying the BM_Virtual Enterprise Architecture Reference Model (BM_VEARM) is organized. Three CE teams are asked to create a web site. The teams have been organized as follows: 1) CE distributed team (virtual team according to literature); 2) CE agile team (agile organization according to BM_VEARM) and 3) CE virtual team (virtual organization according to BM_VEARM), in order to complete the required task. The main objective of the experiment is to show that the three organization models of CE teams work effectively, and analyse the performance according to previously defined criteria. In this paper the results in terms of product quality are presented. The experiment has shown that better product quality, for the product quality aspects analysed, is achieved in cases when VE organization is applied.

Comparative Numerical Evaluation of Angra I Auxiliary Feedwater System Reliability by the Method of Suplementary Variables

This paper proposes a methodology for predicting failure probabilities using the method of supplementary variables for nuclear safety systems subject to aging. Particularly, the failure probability of the auxiliary feedwater (AFSW) system of a typical PWR plant was calculated. In this context, it has been necessary to study systems of partial and ordinary first order differential equations in order to represent a system subject to aging. Numerical solutions were obtained by the method of finite differences using Euler’s implicit to solve the equations related to the concepts “as good as new” and using numerical integration for “as bad as old” concept. These numerical solutions were used to model extension of useful life in a nuclear power plant. For testing the proposed model constant failure rate was used to evaluate the failure probability of the auxiliary feedwater (AFSW). This paper proposes a new method which named is Θ-method the results obtained with “as good as new” and “as bad as old” models for 240, 400, 720, 1000, 2000, 3000 and 4000 hours of operations, with rate constant failure. With these data, the failure probability for 5000 hours by was estimated the Θ-method. This numerical solution is very helpful for considering the life extension of nuclear plants, an issue currently under discussion.

Team Work for Concurrent Engineering in Agile/Virtual Enterprise by BM_Virtual Enterprise Architecture Reference Model

It is presented an organizational structure for Concurrent Engineering (CE) in Agile and/or Virtual Enterprise (A/VE) based on the BM_Virtual Enterprise Architecture Reference Model (BM_VEARM). CE is a resume of a set of principles that includes teamwork, clients and supplier’s involvement, parallel processes and continuous improvement of quality. On the other hand, an A/VE is seen as a species of short-term or long-term networked enterprise, with a dynamic structure, integrated over a universal set of resources, i.e. a global network of independent enterprises. The principal characteristic of the A/VE organisational model presented is a broker as an agent of re-configurability of the CE teams. In accordance with the BM_VEARM, the broker is the principal agent of agility, and especially of virtuality.