Donatella Corti

Managing international operations: configuration of production network for SMEs

Internationalisation of manufacturing and logistics networks is a phenomenon that has gained momentum over the last decade as a consequence of the evolution of the competitive environment. Many manufacturing companies, in fact, have increased their international presence to remain competitive. The internationalisation of operations can take different forms and includes the development of new configurations such as international distribution systems, networks of global suppliers, and multisite and/or fragmented manufacturing networks. The need to take more effective decisions is more crucial for Small and Medium Enterprises, because their economic resources and the possibility to acquire capabilities to accomplish these new challenges are limited. Unlike multinational enterprises, SMEs are less familiar with the need to coordinate and integrate activities fragmented in different part of the world. Thus, the development of an international production network, for Small and Medium Enterprises, needs a careful (re)design of the operations functions in order for the company to achieve the expected benefits of this new paradigm. In a more and more dynamic and volatile market environment, production networks need to evolve over time and local approaches have to be integrated and coordinated with global infrastructures. This Special Issue called ‘Managing international operations: configuration of production networks for SMEs’ will discuss the different paths that companies can undertake in order to face the challenge of internationalisation. It will address the main barriers, enablers and trends of internationalisation for design, procurement, manufacturing and logistics operations. This Special Issue is composed of four papers:

An Innovative Production Paradigm to Offer Customized and Sustainable Wood Furniture Solutions Exploiting the Mini-Factory Concept

To face increasing competitive pressures, European industry must develop methods and enabling technologies towards a personalized, customer oriented and sustainable manufacturing. This statement is well understood by many companies, shared by policy maker at the European Commission (e.g. as per the “Factory of the Future” multi-annual road-map), and empowered by the current funding programmes for industrial research (Horizon2020). Manufacturers are demanded to merge the need to be reactive towards customer needs and wishes (customized products), with the requisite to be proactive towards ecological and social impact (sustainable products). This concept points out two key elements whose impact on manufacturing is complex and interdepended: Customization and Sustainability. Within the CTC 3-year project methods and innovative enabling technologies are developed and integrated to enable a local flexible manufacturing of green personalized furniture close to the customer.

Business Modelling for Sustainable Manufacturing

The paper proposes a business modelling process for manufacturing firms to assist them in integrating sustainability into their business model. The process consists of four steps. Expected outputs and questions, driving the analysis and decisions carried along the process, are also included in each step. The proposal is grounded on the state of the art review and a state of practice review done through six exploratory case studies.

An Empirical Based Proposal for Mass Customization Business Model in Footwear Industry

This research aims at developing a business model for companies in the footwear industry interested in implementing Mass Customization with the goal of offering to the market products which perfectly match customers’ needs. The studies on mass customization are actually mostly focused on product development and production system aspects. This study extends the business modeling including also Supply Chain aspects. The research is based on analyzing Mass Customization application in reality, within some companies operating in footwear industry. Through the real cases of Mass Customization implementation, a business model proposal is developed as an attempt to generalize the empirical findings.

A classification of after-sales services within the capital goods industry

The importance of after-sales services for durable goods has increased over recent years. Nowadays product support is an essential part of the offer within many manufacturing sectors. Objective of this paper is to develop a classification scheme which depicts the state of the art of the service offer in the capital goods sector. It is derived from empirical data collected in a sample of Italian firms and from an analysis of literature on service classification. Using the proposed classification some managerial implications are derived which can provide support for after-sales service organisations and service provision in the capital goods context.

Service-oriented business models for agricultural machinery manufacturers: Looking forward to improving sustainability

In many sectors offering durable goods the extension of the service business is often seen as a possible key element in the current competitive context. Integration of services with an eye on sustainability issues is another aim that is considered for the servitization process, according to the so-called Product Service Systems. Product Service Systems are then taken as a reference for this paper, to investigate the applicability of service- and sustainability-oriented business models in the agricultural machinery sector. An extensive empirical analysis and the Osterwalder and Pigneurs canvas are the research tools used for the analysis of the business models. The main output is a set of three business mode **l-types supporting companies in the sector to innovate the service offer in a sustainable way. Implementation guidelines have to be developed as the next step of the research.

Improving the Industrialization of a New Product in an International Production Network: A Case Study from the Machinery Industry

The paper deals with cross-functional disciplines affecting product industrialization in companies organized around an international production network. Aim of the paper is the development of a framework to support a company along the industrialization process taking into consideration that more than one plant located globally could be affected by the introduction of a new product. The framework is based on the use of the general morphological analysis and can be used at both strategic and tactical level by managers in medium sized manufacturing enterprises. The framework is tailored to a case study company and then some operational guidelines are provided to develop the industrialization framework for other organizations.

The impact of the setting of air‐jet looms on the fabric quality: an investigation

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to provide a methodology aimed at improving the setting up of air‐jet looms by clarifying the function which links different important variables involved in the setting procedure and by proposing a method to measure the quality of fabrics depending on the factor values.Design/methodology/approach – The proposed procedure is based on the use of a load sensor: the tension profile received from it is used to analyse the weft behaviour and, sometimes, to predict any quality problems. Because of the high number of variables influencing the set up, the factorial experiments have been used to develop the setting procedure. Numerical results have been analyzed by means of a regression analysis and an ANOVA analysis.Findings – Relationships among different variables and their influence on the quality of the fabric have been derived thanks to the use of a load sensor.Research limitations/implications – So far, the proposed procedure has been developed for air‐jet looms and for ...

Engineering and Business Requirements Definition, Analysis and Validation

The objective of Manutelligence platform is to manage manufacturing intelligence; all data, information and knowledge related to the Product Service (PS) and its lifecycle. The platform is based on two existing platforms and some analysis tools (for example LCA and LCC). It was developed according to the needs of four use cases in different industrial fields (automotive, ship, smart house, 3D-printing). The chapter describes the four-phase methodology to define the common aggregated requirements for the platform. The phases include requirement elicitation, structuration and organization, analysis and refinement and validation. In the elicitation phase the requirements were identified from the use cases, in the structuration and refinement phases they were further consolidated, categorized and processed towards aggregated requirements and in the validation phase the resulting aggregated requirements were compared to the original use case requirements. The chapter also shows the main results of each phase.

Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Costing for PSS

The increasing awareness towards sustainability issues from both practitioners and customers makes it necessary to adopt a lifecycle perspective since the design phase of PSSs. In this chapter, a tool aimed at carrying out the Life Cycle Assessment (called MaGA) and one for the Life Cycle Costing (called BAL.LCPA) are introduced starting from the analysis of requirements carried out to make sure their use is suitable in a PSS design context. In order to seamlessly include environmental and economic considerations into the design process, the two stand-alone tools have been integrated with the Manutelligence design platform. Their application in a Fablab-like environment is described to show how they interact with design tools and to provide examples of the results they get.