A. Beulens - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by A. Beulens

Journal on Chain and Network Science, 2011

Today's consumers increasingly demand products that are produced sustainably and ethically. ... more Today's consumers increasingly demand products that are produced sustainably and ethically. As a result, businesses need to address sustainability and social responsibility issues and find a proper balance between people, planet and profit (PPP) aspects of their production chains. Software tools can play an important role in mapping out the current state of PPP aspects along the production chain, and in the design and evaluation of improvement options. There are indeed many tools that are claimed to be useful for sustainability and social responsibility considerations. Yet, a tool that addresses all three aspects of value creation holistically and facilitates discussion is missing. In this paper we present the development of such a tool, called QChain. The development of this tool was based on ideas from soft systems methodology and inputs from a multidisciplinary team of experts and managers. The tool is intended to support group discussions, particularly during the early stag...

Food Control, 2005

European consumers are worried about the safety of their food. These concerns are caused by a con... more European consumers are worried about the safety of their food. These concerns are caused by a continuing sequence of food scandals and incidents during the last decade. In response, consumers call for high quality food, food integrity, safety guarantees and transparency. Governments are imposing new legislation. Retailers are imposing new demands on their supply chains. Food supply chains react by implementing systems to improve the product's quality and guarantee its safety, at the same time making transparent that they do so. Such actions can be taken at the level of either the individual company or the complete network of supply chains. We describe the challenges involved in achieving food safety and transparency by cooperating in the supply chain network. To this end, we elaborate on a real world case in an SME environment.

Many builders of DSS have probably experienced that they have to be able to use internal database... more Many builders of DSS have probably experienced that they have to be able to use internal databases as well as data from external databases. We call the internal databases master-and scenario databases. Master databases are used to store data as a common source for all decision scenarios. A scenario database is used to store all data that are pertinent to a specific decision scenario. All databases may have different (types of) datamodets. This leads to a language problem for the user who has to use them. For the model part of a DSS we encounter a similar problem. In a Linear Programming model description we find an algebraic description of the necessary in-and output variables. If we have to create an interface for this model to the databases mentioned before we have another translation problem. For applications in which LP-models are used we have solved the translation problems in two ways. In one DSS we have transformed the algebraic data description into a so-called algebraic data model. This type of datamodel has been implemented for all components of the DSS. In a second DSS, with only relational data bases in it, another approach has been adopted. In model formulations the algebraic datamodel with statements specifying the relationship between algebraic datastruetures and relations of the relational database has been implemented. The system takes care of the translation from one datamodel into the other. In this paper we will deal with the language problem just specified and the solutions implemented solar.

Proceedings of the 2013 InSITE Conference

Digital learning resources are essentially knowledge-intensive information systems. In higher edu... more Digital learning resources are essentially knowledge-intensive information systems. In higher education, advance of interactive digital learning resources will primarily require design-oriented efforts by faculty. Growth of knowledge on digital learning resources and learning objects in higher education implies design, realization, use, implementation and evaluation of digital learning resources as well as sharing knowledge in scientific publications. Over the last fifteen years a range of projects involving such design-oriented activities in natural, engineering, management, decision and information sciences has been carried out. There is a growing body of literature on various design-related research approaches in educational research and in information systems research. However, for faculty-based design-oriented research the question what knowledge should be shared in scientific publications is not yet clearly answered. This article relates this question to the transdisciplinary nature of faculty-based design-oriented research. The article proposes an answer to this question in terms of a set of result types or output-classes. For each output-class it is explained why a contribution in that class can provide a valuable addition to the body of knowledge on digital learning resources in higher education.

Computers and Electronics in Agriculture

... It requires application of state-of-the-art knowledge and involvement of research and technol... more ... It requires application of state-of-the-art knowledge and involvement of research and technology institutes in ... where people physically meet in a room, it is thought of using web conferences ... in agri-food - a method based on a service-oriented architecture and living lab approach. ...

International Journal of Logistics Research and Applications, Oct 24, 2007

This paper presents a research model for logistical chain redesign, which can assist organisation... more This paper presents a research model for logistical chain redesign, which can assist organisations in identifying and quantifying the potential benefits of Supply Chain Management in their particular supply chain network. The model comprises three elements: (1) the identification of sources of decision-making uncertainties in the supply chain that act as a guide for the specification of relevant chain redesigns;

... based water management a cumbersome affair [35]. Refsgaard and Henriksen [23] and Refsgaard e... more ... based water management a cumbersome affair [35]. Refsgaard and Henriksen [23] and Refsgaard et al.[24] review responses of the research community to these problems. Most recommendations focus on providing scientific ...

International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology, 2008

Agri-food companies increasingly participate as networked enterprises in multi-dimensional, dynam... more Agri-food companies increasingly participate as networked enterprises in multi-dimensional, dynamic and knowledge-based networks. They have to make new connections rapidly and employ 'up-to-the-minute' information smoothly in business operations. Appropriate exchange and integration of information should enable this. As part of the Dutch co-innovation program 'KodA', an indepth study investigated the role of information integration in multi-dimensional networks, described the current situation in agrifood supply chain networks (particularly arable farming) and provided a vision for the future. This paper presents the results of this study. It concludes that the level of standardization for data, application and process integration in arable farming is poor. A serviceoriented approach that supports companies to concentrate on their business processes is proposed as a solution direction. Developments should focus on industry-specific elements, adopting worldwide cross-industry standards and building upon existing industry standards. A step-by-step approach in which business partners themselves are responsible, organizational embedding and involvement of all relevant stakeholders are important success factors.

Genes and Nutrition, 2010

Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 2009