Egon Mueller

Production management and Supply Chain Management in a global context

Beside single cases and research on very particular issues, cultural aspects are mostly neglected within the planning process as well as during the operation of global supply chains and networks. In this article a conceptual framework is developed that integrates cultural issues into the research and practice of supply chain planning and operating. The framework is based on theories of culture, psychology, decision processes and on concepts of SCM and networks. The ideas are supplemented with empirical evidence from case studies. This framework presents an extended view on supply chains and networks and contributes to the field of SCM research.

Integrating human behaviour into factory simulation- a feasibility study

As the environment of manufacturing enterprises is becoming more complex and dynamic this requires powerful tools for the support of decisions in manufacturing and production planning. Simulation as one of those tools has been widely applied in manufacturing and logistics. However, the models used for simulation are incomplete because the human factor in terms of its decision making and behaviour is considered only rudimentary. This leads to suboptimal decisions and to a gap when implementing solutions in practice. The paper presents an approach for enriching the common (technical) simulation models with need controlled human agents. The agent is based on a formalised motivation theory. In a feasibility study several typical settings, like ramp up curves and learning effects, were tested. The approach is unique in the field of simulation with a big potential for higher quality in analysing and designing production systems.

Development of a general collaboration model — Basis for the establishment of a collaboration compass

With the speed up of globalization and its consequent increased competition, companies are suggested to collaborate in networks for their long-term success. In this work, a general collaboration model is constructed, which aims to provide a holistic insight into collaboration and shed some light on the theory of collaboration management. Different dimensions, including collaboration life-cycle, endogenous elements and exogenous elements, are listed out for the interpretation here. To go into detail, the collaboration life-cycle is further divided into six stages. Moreover, based on the social relational theory, endogenous factors are clustered into motivation, structure, components and management, while exogenous factors are represented by the perspectives of potential partners, market and society. With the proposed model, detailed information can be collected for the strategic analysis and in the end lead to a sound collaboration strategy.

Flow and Physical Objects in Experiential Learning for Industrial Engineering Education

The paper explores the impact of physical learning objects and learning styles on flow and learning outcomes in industrial engineering education. Learning is conceptualized with the theory of experiential learning. Comparitive case studies yield data involving more than 100 students since 2009. The findings provide a strong argument for utilizing physical objects in education consistent with construtionist theory. It is futhermore found that flow may have negative impact on the learning scope.

Evaluation on the technological innovation capability in companies based on the network

Considering the importance of network for technological innovation, this paper takes a new view on technological innovation capability (TIC) and develops TIC indicator system, moreover, it setups a framework for the TIC evaluation in companies. With works on the innovation process and innovation success and failure experiences, it highlights the importance of network for the achievement of technological innovation, and designs the TIC indicator system including innovation input / process / network / management / output capability, which tries to have a comprehensive understanding on the TIC system in companies. Moreover, based on the fuzzy set theory, a framework is established for the weighting of indicators and the evaluation of the TIC level in companies. Case study based on the finding of an online survey is used for the illustration and validation on the proposed framework.

An Application of Horizontal and Vertical Integration in Cyber-Physical Production Systems

It has a need to meet the demands of individual customers and solve the problems in current production caused by changing of the markets and the global influence and general competition situation. Utilization of the progress achieved in the information and communication technologies are expected in the future for many manufacturing companies. This leads to the increasing and consistent integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) into the production systems in smaller and smaller subsystems and components. Cyber-Physical System will be more and more involved in production systems. Mechatronic systems become cyber-physical systems through additional communication skills and autonomy in behavior on external influences and internally stored settings. In the Cyber-Physical Production System, the horizontal integration through value networks and the vertical integration through networked manufacturing systems can be built to realize smart factory and smart production. In a laboratory environment at the Experimental and Digital Factory at the Chemnitz University of Technology, an innovative logistical system is built up to apply the horizontal and vertical integration into practice for research investigations. A research question to be answered is how the communication between components in this system related to the horizontal and vertical integration can be implemented. The other issue is how to test the integration and the functionalities.

Process management within a multi-project large-scale plant engineering environment

Enterprises in the industrial sector of large-scale plant engineering are currently experiencing an extremely high level of competitive pressure. In order to stay profitable in the long run different approaches are suggested. The approach to increase the efficiency of a company during the project execution of turnkey plants, which is pursued in the present paper, refers to the establishment of process management. Competently conducted process management can build the foundation that enables companies to recognize existing potentials and make them implementable. Therefore principles of process management will be derived and applied in practice considering the specifics within large-scale plant engineering and the general level of knowledge regarding project management of complex multiple turnkey plant projects.

Managing projects in global manufacturing networks

In this paper the common standards of project management are discussed in the context of global manufacturing. In global manufacturing networks play a decisive role because the several activities of the value chain are distributed globally due to market, supply or cost issues. An extensive literature research shows that there is a need for incorporating human factors, especially cultural aspects, in the methodology for planning and control in international projects. Based on these theses some approaches are developed for the stronger consideration of culture in project management standards. The paper presents a completely new view on project management which will lead to a better understanding of intercultural projects and to an increase in the success rate of such projects.

Organizational structure and the dynamics of collaboration relationship

Organizational structure is of great importance for the governance of the collaboration process. In this paper, in order to support substantial governance, a holistic collaboration organizational structure is established. Three dimensions including specialization, institutionalization and centralization are highlighted for the interpretation, where types of collaboration are further classified as improvised and organized. Moreover, relationships between organizational structure and the dynamics in collaborations are clearly identified, to shed some light on the theory of collaboration management. A survey based on the experience of organizations was further conducted for the analysis. In the end, the general organization structure system of this work was confirmed to hold high reliable properties and the hypotheses regarding the impacts of organizational structure on the collaboration trust and commitment can also be proved. All these are composed as a theoretical basis which helps to bring sound decision support for the strategies of collaboration.

An optimization model for the control of complex turnkey projects in plant engineering

Turnkey plant projects are endeavors which are characterized by high complexity and system dynamics. The application of special methods and models in the project management processes of planning and monitoring & controlling has become a competitive advantage in turnkey plant business. Special attention has to be given to the identification and evaluation of changes and disturbances as those could have severe impacts on the project`s objectives. The selection and implementation of proper control measures becomes crucial to ensure successful projects. In this paper a novel approach for modeling the interdependencies of engineering activities is presented. The approach particularly addresses planning information and changes that will limit the effects of control measures in the case of possible delays. The modeling approach offers decision support by providing a holistic basis for the evaluation of changes.