Premaratne Samaranayake

A conceptual framework for supply chain management: a structural integration

Purpose – The main purpose of this paper is to document the research on development of a conceptual framework for the supply chain. The aims of the research were to develop an integrated framework, and to provide a methodology for planning of many components in the supply chain such as suppliers, materials, resources, warehouses, activities and customers. The proposed framework is based on the unitary structuring technique where bills of materials, bills of warehouses, project networks and operations routings, in both manufacturing and distribution networks, are combined into a single structure.Design/methodology/approach – The framework is described along with illustrated numerical examples in the manufacturing and distribution environments.Findings – The numerical testing has shown that each network in the supply chain provides an integrated approach to planning and execution of many components, and is capable of providing visibility, flexibility and maintainability for further improvement in the supply...

Business process integration, automation, and optimization in ERP: Integrated approach using enhanced process models

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose an integrated approach to process integration, automation, and optimization through enhanced business process models.Design/methodology/approach – The approach is based on a framework of process integration for functional applications, automation for business workflows, and additional functionalities for process optimization. The proposed approach is illustrated using enhanced process models over business integration, automation, and optimization with data elements, structures, and organizational elements. The standard sales order process cycle, quotation approval process, and production order cycle are chosen for illustrating process integration, automation, and optimization, respectively.Findings – The proposed approach combines applications and workflows using integrated process/data models and forms a foundation for business process optimization. It is shown that the integrated approach can improve existing business processes in enterprise resource pla...

Integration of manufacturing and distribution networks in a global car company – network models and numerical simulation

Global supply chain practices and their effects have received considerable attention over the last two decades. In the recent past, the need for integration across supply chains has been identified as a key for effective and efficient operations of supply chains. This is observed with the increasing trend of collaborative partnerships among supply chain partners. This paper presents an integrated approach for manufacturing and distribution networks within the supply chain system of a global car company. The paper shows that the integration of manufacturing and distribution networks creates the environment for effective planning of many components and execution/follow-up of those plans. These components include materials, resources, operations/activities, suppliers and customers. The main features of the integration include component integration at individual networks via use of a central warehouse. This integration reduces various interfacing steps between partners and enables representations of relationships (component precedence, parent-component and component-component). The proposed integrated model is numerically tested using past data from one of Japans auto-makers, based in the emerging economy of Thailand. The paper concludes that the integrated supply network eliminates the need for interfacing of individual networks and enables simultaneous planning of many components as well as forward planning of supply components in global supply chain operations. It also shows that the integrated approach is capable of providing visibility, flexibility, and maintainability for further improvement in the supply network environment.

Development of engineering structures for scheduling and control of aircraft maintenance

This paper documents research and development that were undertaken as collaboration between the Industrial Research Institute of Swinburne University of Technology (IRIS), Armor Pty Ltd and QANTAS. The objective of the research was to investigate the application of a unitary software structure, composed of the critical path method (CPM), materials requirements planning (MRP) and production activity control (PAC) techniques, to the management of large‐scale maintenance activities (specifically aircraft maintenance). This structure had previously been applied to the manufacturing (i.e. assembly) process but the maintenance problem posed significant new challenges. First, there was the issue of generating a disassembly structure, and second, the reconciliation of demands arising from non‐serviceable components. This paper documents the implementation of the structure and the methods that were used to validate its functionality on a test‐case application (i.e. aircraft maintenance problem).

The effect of coatings on the cutting process, friction, forces and predictive cutting models in machining operations

Abstract The effects of the popular TiN and TiCN coatings on the cutting process, friction and predictive mechanics of cutting models for forces and power in machining operations are investigated. Extensive orthogonal cutting and turning tests on steel work materials have shown that the cutting process and predictive force models are not qualitatively affected by these coatings. Quantitatively, both coatings are equally effective in reducing the friction, forces and power in orthogonal cutting when applied to high-speed steel (HSS) tools and equally ineffective when applied to carbide tools. Both TiN and TiCN coatings applied to HSS tools resulted in modest reductions in the power force component and power of 12–30 per cent ‘on average’ with larger reductions in the thrust force component of about 50 per cent ‘on average’. Considerably more research seems necessary to understand better and to predict quantitatively the effects of the many coating-substrate combinations on the technological performance of machining operations, essential for optimizing the economic performance of these operations.

Investigation of the reconfigurable control system for an agile manufacturing cell

A new type of manufacturing cell, with characteristics of reconfigurability, reusability and scalability, needs to be developed. To achieve the agile reconfiguration of a manufacturing cell, the cell control system must be rapidly and efficiently generated or modified. In this paper, a multi-agent based architecture is defined that supports the design and implementation of highly reconfigurable control systems for agile manufacturing cells, which are comprised of resource agents (material processing agents, material handling agents, and material storage agents), a control agent, and an information agent, in order to reduce costs and increase the control systems agility with respect to the changing environment. Different agents in the cell control system can be organized dynamically, communicate with each other through messages, and cooperate with each other to perform flexibly the task in the cell control system. The structure of the agents is proposed and the message-passing between agents is discussed in detail.

Aircraft maintenance planning and scheduling: an integrated framework

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how certain limitations of the current approaches to planning and scheduling of aircraft heavy maintenance can be addressed using a single integrated framework supported by unified data structures.Design/methodology/approach – The “unitary structuring technique”, originally developed within the context of manufacturing planning and control, is further enhanced for aircraft heavy maintenance applications, taking into account the uncertainty associated with condition‐based maintenance. The proposed framework delivers the advanced functionalities required for simultaneous and dynamic forward planning of maintenance operations, as well as finite loading of resources, towards optimising the overall maintenance performance.Findings – Execution of maintenance operations under uncertainty involves materials changes, rectification and re‐assembly. It is shown that re‐scheduling of materials (spare‐parts), resources and operations can be taken care of by simultaneou...

A fuzzy-based decision support model for monitoring on-time delivery performance : a textile industry case study

This paper investigates uncertainties in complex supply chain situations and proposes a fuzzy-based decision support model for determining the chance of meeting on-time delivery in a complex supply chain environment. It integrates fuzzy logic principles and unitary structure-based supply chain model and enables addressing uncertainties associated with key inputs of on-time delivery performance for effective decision making process. The proposed pragmatic model deals with the fuzziness of the key inputs including, variations in demand forecasting, materials shortages and distribution lead time, and combines a fuzzy reasoning approach for monitoring on-time delivery of finished products. In systematically dealing with the uncertainties of complex supply chains, this model supports the minimizing of business losses that result from penalties and customer dissatisfaction, and the consequent reduced market share. Application of the proposed model is illustrated using a textile industry case study.

Prioritizing lean supply chain management initiatives in healthcare service operations: a fuzzy AHP approach

Abstract The objective of this study is to investigate the perceptions of practitioners/experts about the prioritisation of healthcare performance measures and their relationship with lean supply chain management (LSCM) practices. The study will also prioritise the drivers and resources required to implement LSCM in a healthcare operations context. The prioritisation is based on the relative weights of various initiatives on a range of performance measures. Twenty-four LSCM initiatives were identified using a comprehensive literature review. Q-sort method was used to divide those initiatives into four categories. Fuzzy AHP was then used to prioritise the four categories based on relative weight of importance of each category on three different performance dimensions. The result shows that continuous improvement is a dominating LSCM initiative in increasing operational and financial performance, while enterprise alignment/integration is a dominating initiative in enhancing organisational image and operational performance. However, lack of homogeneity among LSCM initiatives suggests that there is a need for careful consideration when implementing them in healthcare organisations. Furthermore, customer needs and the influence of competitor’s actions are the most important drivers to encourage hospitals to adopt an LSCM strategy. This is one of the first studies to examine the prioritisation and ranking of LSCM constructs on performance within the context of the healthcare industry.

Assessment and improvement of quality management capabilities for manufacturing industries in Australia

This paper provides an assessment of the quality management capabilities of the manufacturing industries in the Western Sydney Region of New South Wales, Australia based on a conceptual framework of the Quality Management Assessment Framework (QMAF) model which incorporates Information Communication Technology as an enabler. Survey data collected from a range of small, medium and large manufacturing organisations were used in this assessment. The results established the general reliability of the QMAF model and provided comprehensive profile of the quality management capabilities, highlighting deficiencies in industries in the Western Sydney Region. The main limitation of this research was the small sample size, even after conducting follow-up mail outs to the whole population of 1236 organisations. The analysis provides valuable guidelines to the managers of the participating organisations aiming at bettering their business processes in many ways, including benchmarking their performance against the best case scores of the QMAF, a precursor to facilitating the determination of insights which could be used to promote quality improvement programmes.