Linda Zhang - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Linda Zhang

Research paper thumbnail of Optimizing Joint Sustainable Supply Chain Decision-making under Emission Tax: A Stackelberg Game Model

2022 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management (IEEM)

 Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose... more  Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research.  You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain  You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim.

Research paper thumbnail of Design of multiattribute EWMA chart

Multiattribute control charts have been widely found to be more effective process control than se... more Multiattribute control charts have been widely found to be more effective process control than separate uniattribute control charts in different applications. Based on an available statistical model which was developed for designing multiattribute np (Mnp) chart, in this study we proposed a multiattribute Exponentially Weighted Moving Average (MEWMA) chart. We also compared the MEWMA chart with the optimal version of the (Mnp) chart. The comparison results indicate that the proposed MEWMA chart outperforms the Mnp chart by about 65% in terms of the average number of defectives.

Research paper thumbnail of Towards customization: Evaluation of integrated sales, product, and production configuration

International Journal of Production Economics, 2020

Unlike most of the available configuration solutions, the integrated sales, product and productio... more Unlike most of the available configuration solutions, the integrated sales, product and production configuration is proposed to help companies realize product customization from a holistic view. It achieves this by determining the functional features (i.e., sales configuration), possible product alternatives (i.e., product configuration), and production process alternatives (i.e., production configuration). With the presence of multiple alternatives, it is necessary to determine final products and production processes based on the evaluation. This study, thus, evaluates the product alternatives and production process alternatives, which are configured in the integrated configuration. In line with the fact that in practice, cost and time are two of the most important elements in quotation preparation, we develop evaluation models to minimize the production costs and completion time. In addition, to provide companies with better decision-making support in selecting product offerings, the proposed configuration evaluation computes the differences in terms of cost and time among all the product and production process alternatives. With the differences in cost and time, companies can opt for suitable selection with respect to time or cost and/or other factors, e.g., strategic objectives. A case application of temperature controllers is utilized to demonstrate the results of the proposed evaluation of the integrated configuration.

Research paper thumbnail of Evaluating performance of super-efficiency models in ranking efficient decision-making units based on Monte Carlo simulations

Annals of Operations Research, 2021

In response to the limitation of classical Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models, the super effi... more In response to the limitation of classical Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models, the super efficiency DEA models, including Andersen and Petersen (1993)'s model (hereafter; AP model) and Li et al. (2016)'s cooperative-game-based model (hereafter; L-L model), have been proposed to rank efficient decision-making units (DMUs). Although both models have been widely applied in practice, there is a paucity of research examining the performance of the two models in ranking efficient DMUs. Consequently, it is unclear how close the rankings obtained by the two models are to the "true" ones. Among the very few studies, Banker et al. (2015) pointed out that the ranking performance of the AP model is unsatisfactory; Li et al. (2016) and Hinojosa et al. (2017) demonstrated the L-L model's capability of ranking efficient DMUs without addressing the performance. This paper examines the ranking performance of the two super-efficiency models. In evaluating their performance, we carry out Monte Carlo simulations based on the well-known Cobb-Douglas production function and adopt Kendall rank correlation coefficient. Unlike Banker et al. (2015), we use the rankings obtained based on the two models and the "true" ones as the basis of performance evaluation in our simulations. Moreover, we consider several types of returns to scale (RS) and study the impact of changes of some parameters on the ranking performance. In view of the importance, we also carry out additional simulations to examine the influence of technical inefficiency on the two models' ranking performance. Based on the simulation results, we conclude: (1) Under different RS, the ranking performance of the two models remains the same when changing parameters, e.g., the distribution of input variables; (2) Under different RS, when technical inefficiency (compared with random noise) is more important, the two models have satisfactory performance by providing rankings that are close to, or the same as, the "true" ones; (3) The L-L model has better performance than the AP model and is more robust. (4) Under different RS, when technical inefficiency is less important, both models have unsatisfactory ranking performance; and (5) The relative importance of technical inefficiency plays an important role in ranking efficient DMUs.

Research paper thumbnail of Optimal selection of retailers for a manufacturing vendor in a vendor managed inventory system

European Journal of Operational Research, 2013

A Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) system consists of a manufacturing vendor and a number of retail... more A Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) system consists of a manufacturing vendor and a number of retailers. In such a system, it is essential for the vendor to optimally determine retailer selection and other related decisions, such as the product's replenishment cycle time and the wholesale price, in order to maximize his profit. Meanwhile, each retailer's decisions on her willingness to enter the system and retail price are simultaneously considered in the retailer selection process. However, the above interactive decision making is complex and the available studies on interactive retailer selection are scarce. In this study, we formulate the retailer selection problem as a Stackelberg game model to help the manufacturer, as a vendor, optimally select his retailers to form a VMI system. This model is non-linear, mixed-integer, game-theoretic, and analytically intractable. Therefore, we further develop a hybrid algorithm for effectively and efficiently solving the developed model. The hybrid algorithm combines dynamic programming (DP), genetic algorithm (GA) and analytical methods. As demonstrated by our numerical studies, the optimal retailer selection can increase the manufacturer's profit by up to 90% and the selected retailers' profits significantly compared to non-selection strategy. The proposed hybrid algorithm can solve the model within a minute for a problem with 100 candidate retailers, whereas a pure GA has to take more than 1 h to solve a small sized problem of 20 candidate retailers achieving an objective value no worse than that obtained by the hybrid algorithm.

Research paper thumbnail of Towards a BIM Approach for a High Performance Renovation of Apartment Buildings

IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, 2014

Building renovation is a key issue for energy saving in the future. The goal of this article is t... more Building renovation is a key issue for energy saving in the future. The goal of this article is to show how this traditional activity can be industrialized thanks to a BIM supported process. The critical needs are explained and the proposed BIM presented.

Research paper thumbnail of Some Experimental Results Relevant to the Optimization of Configuration and Planning Problems

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2012

This communication deals with mass customization and the association of the product configuration... more This communication deals with mass customization and the association of the product configuration task with the planning of its production process while trying to minimize cost and cycle time. We consider a two steps approach that first permit to interactively (with the customer) achieve a first product configuration and first process plan (thanks to non-negotiable requirements) and then optimize both of them (with remaining negotiable requirements). This communication concerns the second optimization step. Our goal is to evaluate a recent evolutionary algorithm (EA). As both problems are considered as constraints satisfaction problems, the optimization problem is constrained. Therefore the considered EA was selected and adapted to fit the problem. The experimentations will compare the EA with a conventional branch and bound according to the problem size and the density of constraints. The hypervolume metric is used for comparison.

Research paper thumbnail of Modeling Supply Chain Configuration Based on Colored Petri Nets

This paper introduces an integrated modeling and analysis formalism based on colored Petri nets (... more This paper introduces an integrated modeling and analysis formalism based on colored Petri nets (CPNs) for supply chain configuration and evaluation. The structural changes of different configurations are explicitly expressed and formalized as CPNs. The formalism can deal with such issues as generic variety representation, constraint compliance and material flow control. The rationale of modeling supply chain configuration is to capture explicitly important information related to the supply chain network in conjunction with product, process and logistics decision making.

Research paper thumbnail of An empirical study on product configurators' application: Implications, challenges, and opportunities

As computer systems, product configurators have been widely applied in practice for configuring a... more As computer systems, product configurators have been widely applied in practice for configuring a right amount of product variety. While studies have been reported to shed light on how product configurators’ application achieves time reduction and quality improvement in fulfilling customer orders, empirical investigations addressing the implications of product configurators’ application for companies’ business activities are very limited. However, understanding the implications is very important for companies because with such an understanding, they can better plan actions and make changes to embrace the implementation of product configurators. Thus, based on a survey, this study investigates the implications of product configurators’ application. The results indicate (i) how product configurators’ application affects companies’ business activities, (ii) the difficulties in designing, developing, and using product configurators, and (iii) the potential barriers preventing companies ...

Research paper thumbnail of PRODUCTION CONFIGURATION OF PRODUCT FAMILIES - An Approach based on Petri Nets

Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems, 2008

Configuring production processes for product families has been acknowledged as an effective means... more Configuring production processes for product families has been acknowledged as an effective means of dealing with product variety while maintaining production stability and efficiency. In an attempt to assist practitioners to better understand and implement production configuration, we study the underlying logic for configuring production processes for product families by means of dynamic modelling and visualization. Accordingly, we develop a formalism of nested colored timed Petri nets (PNs) to model production configuration. To cope with the modelling difficulties resulting from the fundamental issues in production configuration, three types of nets, namely process nets, assembly nets and manufacturing nets, together with a nested net system are defined by integrating the principles of colored PNs, timed PNs and nested PNs. An industrial example of electronics products is used throughout the whole paper to demonstrates how the proposed formalism is applied to specify production processes at differently levels of abstraction to achieve production configuration.

Research paper thumbnail of Using ERP Systems to Transform Business Processes: A Case Study at a Precession Engineering Company

International Journal of Engineering Business Management, 2009

Enterprises nowadays strive to keep transforming their business processes in accordance with the ... more Enterprises nowadays strive to keep transforming their business processes in accordance with the fast-changing customer demands so as to survive the intense global competition. In an attempt to provide practitioners with an insight into ERP implementation and the resulting business performances, this paper investigate how a successful ERP implementation can help transform enterprises processes. Case based research which is based on an in-depth observation under managerial and practitioner situation. A case study at a precession engineering company is conducted to evaluate the feasibility of the proposed strategic enterprise information model. This paper focuses on the implementation of Sales & Marketing and Warehouse modules of an ERP system. The key performance indicators are used to evaluate how the ERP implementation can improve the business processes. It is found that ERP helps to improve data visibility and improve on-time delivery but less effective on improving employee produ...

Research paper thumbnail of An integrated model for strategic supply chain design: Formulation and ABC-based solution approach

Expert Systems with Applications, 2016

This study develops a mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) model to design supply chains. ... more This study develops a mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) model to design supply chains. In view of the limitations of many available strategic supply chain design models, this model involves three major supply chain stages, including procurement, production, and distribution, and their interactions; it takes into account bill of materials constraints for modeling complex supply chain interrelationships. In addition, in accordance with the fact that companies nowadays develop product families, our model addresses multi-product supply chain design to respond to diverse customer requirements. Recognizing their importance, this study identifies and formulates constraints related to facility pairwise relationships and supplier priority along with the classical constraints from the available literature. To efficiently solve such a highly constrained, large scale MINLP model, we develop an approach based on an artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm. Bicycle design and production is used to demonstrate the potential of the MINLP model for designing supply chains and the performance of the ABC-based solution approach in solving the model. The proposed model and solution approach can be considered as two fundamental components of an expert system in the broad sense. Thus, this study is expected to stimulate more future research on the development of practical expert systems for designing supply chains.

Research paper thumbnail of Process Platform-Based Production Configuration

Volume 2: 31st Design Automation Conference, Parts A and B, 2005

In nowadays’ changing manufacturing environment, designing product families based on product plat... more In nowadays’ changing manufacturing environment, designing product families based on product platforms has been well accepted as an effective means to fulfill product customization. The current production practice and academic research of platform based product development mostly focus on the design domain, whereas limited attention is paid to how production can take advantage of product families for realizing economy of scale through enormous repetitions. This paper puts forward a concept of process platforms, based on which an efficient and cost saving production configuration for new members of a product family can be achieved. A process platform implies three aspects, including generic representation, generic structures and generic planning. The issues and rationale of production configuration based on a process platform are presented. A multilevel system of nested colored object-oriented Petri Nets with changeable structures is proposed to model the configuration of production ...

Research paper thumbnail of Integrated Product and Process Family Data Modeling for Product Lifecycle Management

2006 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Informatics, 2006

Recognizing the importance of product lifecycle management in current manufacturing environment, ... more Recognizing the importance of product lifecycle management in current manufacturing environment, we propose an integrated data framework of product and process families. The integrated data framework organizes all data of a product and the associated process families as a generic structure. Such integrated modeling lends itself to assist manufacturing companies in achieving design and production integration through managing product and process variety coherently. The unified modeling language is adopted in this research to shed light on the various elements of both product and process types and the complex relationships to be included in the integrated data framework. The framework has been tested in a local electronics company that produces a high variety of vibration motors for mobile phones. I. INTRODUCTION URING the past several decades, customers have imposed diverse individual wishes on the products that they want. Traditional approaches to developing single products failed in adapting manufacturing companies to respond quickly to the rapid customer demand changes. To survive from intense business competition through satisfying each customer's own expectations, companies have struggled with designing and producing timely product families at low costs. One of the major concerns in family-based design and production is the management of product variety and the resulted process variety [1]. Product lifecycle management (PLM) has been accepted by both the academia and industrial alike as fundamental to the product development process in such manufacturing environment. As a strategic approach, PLM applies a set of business solutions in support of an integrated product design, realization, resource utilization, and supply chain management [2]. While many researchers have dedicated themselves to addressing product lifecycle concerns with focus on product platform and product family design [3], not much attention has been paid to the backend of product fulfillment, i.e., production [4]. Furthermore, it is at the production stage that product costs Manuscript

Research paper thumbnail of Process Platform and Production Configuration for Integrated Manufacturing and Service

2006 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Informatics, 2006

Research paper thumbnail of Generic modeling propositions for configuring, sale, product and production

2012 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management, 2012

Facilitating product customization, configuration has attracted much attention from both academia... more Facilitating product customization, configuration has attracted much attention from both academia and industry alike. However, the available studies and the reported systems focus on sales or product configuration while leaving other important issues in developing customized products unaddressed. In this study, we propose a new configuration concept: integrated SAles, Product and Production configuration (SAP 2 configuration) to accommodate the entire product customization process. In this study, we focus on the underpinning configuration model: the generic bill of functions, materials and operations (GBoFMO) and discuss it in detail.

Research paper thumbnail of Nuclear envelope protein MAN1 regulates clock through BMAL1

eLife, 2014

Circadian clocks serve as internal pacemakers that influence many basic homeostatic processes; co... more Circadian clocks serve as internal pacemakers that influence many basic homeostatic processes; consequently, the expression and function of their components are tightly regulated by intricate networks of feedback loops that fine-tune circadian processes. Our knowledge of these components and pathways is far from exhaustive. In recent decades, the nuclear envelope has emerged as a global gene regulatory machine, although its role in circadian regulation has not been explored. We report that transcription of the core clock component BMAL1 is positively modulated by the inner nuclear membrane protein MAN1, which directly binds the BMAL1 promoter and enhances its transcription. Our results establish a novel connection between the nuclear periphery and circadian rhythmicity, therefore bridging two global regulatory systems that modulate all aspects of bodily functions.

Research paper thumbnail of A Petri net model of process platform-based production configuration

Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is twofold. In view of the importance of process platform‐based ... more PurposeThe purpose of this paper is twofold. In view of the importance of process platform‐based production configuration (PPbPC) in sustaining product family production efficiency, it is to study the underlying logic for configuring production processes for a product family based on a process platform. Second, it is to apply the Petri nets (PNs) techniques to model PPbPC, in attempting to shed light on the underlying logic.Design/methodology/approachThe authors first identify the fundamental issues in PPbPC, including variety handling, process variation accommodation, configuration at different abstraction levels, and constraint satisfaction. To accommodate the corresponding modelling difficulties, the authors develop a formalism of hierarchical colored timed PNs (HCTPNs) based on the principles of hierarchical PNs, timed PNs, and colored PNs. In the formalism, three types of nets together with a system of HCTPNs are defined to address the modelling of PPbPC.FindingsApplying HCTPNs...

Research paper thumbnail of Modeling production configuration using nested colored object-oriented Petri-nets with changeable structures

Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, 2008

Configuring production processes based on process platforms has been well recognized as an effect... more Configuring production processes based on process platforms has been well recognized as an effective means for companies to provide product variety while maintaining mass production efficiency. The production processes of product families involve diverse variations in manufacturing and assembly processes resulted from a large variety of component parts and assemblies. This paper develops a multilevel system of nested colored object-oriented Petri nets with changeable structures to model the configuration of production processes. To capture the semantics associated with production configuration decisions, some unique modeling mechanisms are employed, including colored Petri nets, object-oriented Petri nets, changeable Petri net structures, and net nesting. The modeling formalism comprises resource nets, manufacturing nets, assembly nets and process nets. The paper demonstrates how these net definitions are applied to the specification of production process variants at different levels of abstraction. Also reported is a case study in an electronics company. The system model is further analyzed with focus on conflict prevention and deadlock detection.

Research paper thumbnail of SysML-based design chain information modeling for variety management in production reconfiguration

Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, 2011

Satisfying diverse customer needs leads to proliferation of product variants. It is imperative to... more Satisfying diverse customer needs leads to proliferation of product variants. It is imperative to model the coherence of functional, product and process varieties throughout the design chain. Based on a model-based systems engineering approach, this paper applies the Systems Modeling Language (SysML) to model design chain information. To support variety management decisions, the SysML-based information models are further implemented as a variety coding information system. A case study of switchgear enclosure production reconfiguration system demonstrates that SysML-based information modeling excels in conducting requirements, structural, behavioral and constraints analysis and in performing trade-off study. In addition, it maintains semantic coherence along the design chain, keeps traceability across different levels of abstraction, thus improving interoperability among heterogeneous tools.

Research paper thumbnail of Optimizing Joint Sustainable Supply Chain Decision-making under Emission Tax: A Stackelberg Game Model

2022 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management (IEEM)

 Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose... more  Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research.  You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain  You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim.

Research paper thumbnail of Design of multiattribute EWMA chart

Multiattribute control charts have been widely found to be more effective process control than se... more Multiattribute control charts have been widely found to be more effective process control than separate uniattribute control charts in different applications. Based on an available statistical model which was developed for designing multiattribute np (Mnp) chart, in this study we proposed a multiattribute Exponentially Weighted Moving Average (MEWMA) chart. We also compared the MEWMA chart with the optimal version of the (Mnp) chart. The comparison results indicate that the proposed MEWMA chart outperforms the Mnp chart by about 65% in terms of the average number of defectives.

Research paper thumbnail of Towards customization: Evaluation of integrated sales, product, and production configuration

International Journal of Production Economics, 2020

Unlike most of the available configuration solutions, the integrated sales, product and productio... more Unlike most of the available configuration solutions, the integrated sales, product and production configuration is proposed to help companies realize product customization from a holistic view. It achieves this by determining the functional features (i.e., sales configuration), possible product alternatives (i.e., product configuration), and production process alternatives (i.e., production configuration). With the presence of multiple alternatives, it is necessary to determine final products and production processes based on the evaluation. This study, thus, evaluates the product alternatives and production process alternatives, which are configured in the integrated configuration. In line with the fact that in practice, cost and time are two of the most important elements in quotation preparation, we develop evaluation models to minimize the production costs and completion time. In addition, to provide companies with better decision-making support in selecting product offerings, the proposed configuration evaluation computes the differences in terms of cost and time among all the product and production process alternatives. With the differences in cost and time, companies can opt for suitable selection with respect to time or cost and/or other factors, e.g., strategic objectives. A case application of temperature controllers is utilized to demonstrate the results of the proposed evaluation of the integrated configuration.

Research paper thumbnail of Evaluating performance of super-efficiency models in ranking efficient decision-making units based on Monte Carlo simulations

Annals of Operations Research, 2021

In response to the limitation of classical Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models, the super effi... more In response to the limitation of classical Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models, the super efficiency DEA models, including Andersen and Petersen (1993)'s model (hereafter; AP model) and Li et al. (2016)'s cooperative-game-based model (hereafter; L-L model), have been proposed to rank efficient decision-making units (DMUs). Although both models have been widely applied in practice, there is a paucity of research examining the performance of the two models in ranking efficient DMUs. Consequently, it is unclear how close the rankings obtained by the two models are to the "true" ones. Among the very few studies, Banker et al. (2015) pointed out that the ranking performance of the AP model is unsatisfactory; Li et al. (2016) and Hinojosa et al. (2017) demonstrated the L-L model's capability of ranking efficient DMUs without addressing the performance. This paper examines the ranking performance of the two super-efficiency models. In evaluating their performance, we carry out Monte Carlo simulations based on the well-known Cobb-Douglas production function and adopt Kendall rank correlation coefficient. Unlike Banker et al. (2015), we use the rankings obtained based on the two models and the "true" ones as the basis of performance evaluation in our simulations. Moreover, we consider several types of returns to scale (RS) and study the impact of changes of some parameters on the ranking performance. In view of the importance, we also carry out additional simulations to examine the influence of technical inefficiency on the two models' ranking performance. Based on the simulation results, we conclude: (1) Under different RS, the ranking performance of the two models remains the same when changing parameters, e.g., the distribution of input variables; (2) Under different RS, when technical inefficiency (compared with random noise) is more important, the two models have satisfactory performance by providing rankings that are close to, or the same as, the "true" ones; (3) The L-L model has better performance than the AP model and is more robust. (4) Under different RS, when technical inefficiency is less important, both models have unsatisfactory ranking performance; and (5) The relative importance of technical inefficiency plays an important role in ranking efficient DMUs.

Research paper thumbnail of Optimal selection of retailers for a manufacturing vendor in a vendor managed inventory system

European Journal of Operational Research, 2013

A Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) system consists of a manufacturing vendor and a number of retail... more A Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) system consists of a manufacturing vendor and a number of retailers. In such a system, it is essential for the vendor to optimally determine retailer selection and other related decisions, such as the product's replenishment cycle time and the wholesale price, in order to maximize his profit. Meanwhile, each retailer's decisions on her willingness to enter the system and retail price are simultaneously considered in the retailer selection process. However, the above interactive decision making is complex and the available studies on interactive retailer selection are scarce. In this study, we formulate the retailer selection problem as a Stackelberg game model to help the manufacturer, as a vendor, optimally select his retailers to form a VMI system. This model is non-linear, mixed-integer, game-theoretic, and analytically intractable. Therefore, we further develop a hybrid algorithm for effectively and efficiently solving the developed model. The hybrid algorithm combines dynamic programming (DP), genetic algorithm (GA) and analytical methods. As demonstrated by our numerical studies, the optimal retailer selection can increase the manufacturer's profit by up to 90% and the selected retailers' profits significantly compared to non-selection strategy. The proposed hybrid algorithm can solve the model within a minute for a problem with 100 candidate retailers, whereas a pure GA has to take more than 1 h to solve a small sized problem of 20 candidate retailers achieving an objective value no worse than that obtained by the hybrid algorithm.

Research paper thumbnail of Towards a BIM Approach for a High Performance Renovation of Apartment Buildings

IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, 2014

Building renovation is a key issue for energy saving in the future. The goal of this article is t... more Building renovation is a key issue for energy saving in the future. The goal of this article is to show how this traditional activity can be industrialized thanks to a BIM supported process. The critical needs are explained and the proposed BIM presented.

Research paper thumbnail of Some Experimental Results Relevant to the Optimization of Configuration and Planning Problems

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2012

This communication deals with mass customization and the association of the product configuration... more This communication deals with mass customization and the association of the product configuration task with the planning of its production process while trying to minimize cost and cycle time. We consider a two steps approach that first permit to interactively (with the customer) achieve a first product configuration and first process plan (thanks to non-negotiable requirements) and then optimize both of them (with remaining negotiable requirements). This communication concerns the second optimization step. Our goal is to evaluate a recent evolutionary algorithm (EA). As both problems are considered as constraints satisfaction problems, the optimization problem is constrained. Therefore the considered EA was selected and adapted to fit the problem. The experimentations will compare the EA with a conventional branch and bound according to the problem size and the density of constraints. The hypervolume metric is used for comparison.

Research paper thumbnail of Modeling Supply Chain Configuration Based on Colored Petri Nets

This paper introduces an integrated modeling and analysis formalism based on colored Petri nets (... more This paper introduces an integrated modeling and analysis formalism based on colored Petri nets (CPNs) for supply chain configuration and evaluation. The structural changes of different configurations are explicitly expressed and formalized as CPNs. The formalism can deal with such issues as generic variety representation, constraint compliance and material flow control. The rationale of modeling supply chain configuration is to capture explicitly important information related to the supply chain network in conjunction with product, process and logistics decision making.

Research paper thumbnail of An empirical study on product configurators' application: Implications, challenges, and opportunities

As computer systems, product configurators have been widely applied in practice for configuring a... more As computer systems, product configurators have been widely applied in practice for configuring a right amount of product variety. While studies have been reported to shed light on how product configurators’ application achieves time reduction and quality improvement in fulfilling customer orders, empirical investigations addressing the implications of product configurators’ application for companies’ business activities are very limited. However, understanding the implications is very important for companies because with such an understanding, they can better plan actions and make changes to embrace the implementation of product configurators. Thus, based on a survey, this study investigates the implications of product configurators’ application. The results indicate (i) how product configurators’ application affects companies’ business activities, (ii) the difficulties in designing, developing, and using product configurators, and (iii) the potential barriers preventing companies ...

Research paper thumbnail of PRODUCTION CONFIGURATION OF PRODUCT FAMILIES - An Approach based on Petri Nets

Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems, 2008

Configuring production processes for product families has been acknowledged as an effective means... more Configuring production processes for product families has been acknowledged as an effective means of dealing with product variety while maintaining production stability and efficiency. In an attempt to assist practitioners to better understand and implement production configuration, we study the underlying logic for configuring production processes for product families by means of dynamic modelling and visualization. Accordingly, we develop a formalism of nested colored timed Petri nets (PNs) to model production configuration. To cope with the modelling difficulties resulting from the fundamental issues in production configuration, three types of nets, namely process nets, assembly nets and manufacturing nets, together with a nested net system are defined by integrating the principles of colored PNs, timed PNs and nested PNs. An industrial example of electronics products is used throughout the whole paper to demonstrates how the proposed formalism is applied to specify production processes at differently levels of abstraction to achieve production configuration.

Research paper thumbnail of Using ERP Systems to Transform Business Processes: A Case Study at a Precession Engineering Company

International Journal of Engineering Business Management, 2009

Enterprises nowadays strive to keep transforming their business processes in accordance with the ... more Enterprises nowadays strive to keep transforming their business processes in accordance with the fast-changing customer demands so as to survive the intense global competition. In an attempt to provide practitioners with an insight into ERP implementation and the resulting business performances, this paper investigate how a successful ERP implementation can help transform enterprises processes. Case based research which is based on an in-depth observation under managerial and practitioner situation. A case study at a precession engineering company is conducted to evaluate the feasibility of the proposed strategic enterprise information model. This paper focuses on the implementation of Sales & Marketing and Warehouse modules of an ERP system. The key performance indicators are used to evaluate how the ERP implementation can improve the business processes. It is found that ERP helps to improve data visibility and improve on-time delivery but less effective on improving employee produ...

Research paper thumbnail of An integrated model for strategic supply chain design: Formulation and ABC-based solution approach

Expert Systems with Applications, 2016

This study develops a mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) model to design supply chains. ... more This study develops a mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) model to design supply chains. In view of the limitations of many available strategic supply chain design models, this model involves three major supply chain stages, including procurement, production, and distribution, and their interactions; it takes into account bill of materials constraints for modeling complex supply chain interrelationships. In addition, in accordance with the fact that companies nowadays develop product families, our model addresses multi-product supply chain design to respond to diverse customer requirements. Recognizing their importance, this study identifies and formulates constraints related to facility pairwise relationships and supplier priority along with the classical constraints from the available literature. To efficiently solve such a highly constrained, large scale MINLP model, we develop an approach based on an artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm. Bicycle design and production is used to demonstrate the potential of the MINLP model for designing supply chains and the performance of the ABC-based solution approach in solving the model. The proposed model and solution approach can be considered as two fundamental components of an expert system in the broad sense. Thus, this study is expected to stimulate more future research on the development of practical expert systems for designing supply chains.

Research paper thumbnail of Process Platform-Based Production Configuration

Volume 2: 31st Design Automation Conference, Parts A and B, 2005

In nowadays’ changing manufacturing environment, designing product families based on product plat... more In nowadays’ changing manufacturing environment, designing product families based on product platforms has been well accepted as an effective means to fulfill product customization. The current production practice and academic research of platform based product development mostly focus on the design domain, whereas limited attention is paid to how production can take advantage of product families for realizing economy of scale through enormous repetitions. This paper puts forward a concept of process platforms, based on which an efficient and cost saving production configuration for new members of a product family can be achieved. A process platform implies three aspects, including generic representation, generic structures and generic planning. The issues and rationale of production configuration based on a process platform are presented. A multilevel system of nested colored object-oriented Petri Nets with changeable structures is proposed to model the configuration of production ...

Research paper thumbnail of Integrated Product and Process Family Data Modeling for Product Lifecycle Management

2006 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Informatics, 2006

Recognizing the importance of product lifecycle management in current manufacturing environment, ... more Recognizing the importance of product lifecycle management in current manufacturing environment, we propose an integrated data framework of product and process families. The integrated data framework organizes all data of a product and the associated process families as a generic structure. Such integrated modeling lends itself to assist manufacturing companies in achieving design and production integration through managing product and process variety coherently. The unified modeling language is adopted in this research to shed light on the various elements of both product and process types and the complex relationships to be included in the integrated data framework. The framework has been tested in a local electronics company that produces a high variety of vibration motors for mobile phones. I. INTRODUCTION URING the past several decades, customers have imposed diverse individual wishes on the products that they want. Traditional approaches to developing single products failed in adapting manufacturing companies to respond quickly to the rapid customer demand changes. To survive from intense business competition through satisfying each customer's own expectations, companies have struggled with designing and producing timely product families at low costs. One of the major concerns in family-based design and production is the management of product variety and the resulted process variety [1]. Product lifecycle management (PLM) has been accepted by both the academia and industrial alike as fundamental to the product development process in such manufacturing environment. As a strategic approach, PLM applies a set of business solutions in support of an integrated product design, realization, resource utilization, and supply chain management [2]. While many researchers have dedicated themselves to addressing product lifecycle concerns with focus on product platform and product family design [3], not much attention has been paid to the backend of product fulfillment, i.e., production [4]. Furthermore, it is at the production stage that product costs Manuscript

Research paper thumbnail of Process Platform and Production Configuration for Integrated Manufacturing and Service

2006 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Informatics, 2006

Research paper thumbnail of Generic modeling propositions for configuring, sale, product and production

2012 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management, 2012

Facilitating product customization, configuration has attracted much attention from both academia... more Facilitating product customization, configuration has attracted much attention from both academia and industry alike. However, the available studies and the reported systems focus on sales or product configuration while leaving other important issues in developing customized products unaddressed. In this study, we propose a new configuration concept: integrated SAles, Product and Production configuration (SAP 2 configuration) to accommodate the entire product customization process. In this study, we focus on the underpinning configuration model: the generic bill of functions, materials and operations (GBoFMO) and discuss it in detail.

Research paper thumbnail of Nuclear envelope protein MAN1 regulates clock through BMAL1

eLife, 2014

Circadian clocks serve as internal pacemakers that influence many basic homeostatic processes; co... more Circadian clocks serve as internal pacemakers that influence many basic homeostatic processes; consequently, the expression and function of their components are tightly regulated by intricate networks of feedback loops that fine-tune circadian processes. Our knowledge of these components and pathways is far from exhaustive. In recent decades, the nuclear envelope has emerged as a global gene regulatory machine, although its role in circadian regulation has not been explored. We report that transcription of the core clock component BMAL1 is positively modulated by the inner nuclear membrane protein MAN1, which directly binds the BMAL1 promoter and enhances its transcription. Our results establish a novel connection between the nuclear periphery and circadian rhythmicity, therefore bridging two global regulatory systems that modulate all aspects of bodily functions.

Research paper thumbnail of A Petri net model of process platform-based production configuration

Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 2013

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is twofold. In view of the importance of process platform‐based ... more PurposeThe purpose of this paper is twofold. In view of the importance of process platform‐based production configuration (PPbPC) in sustaining product family production efficiency, it is to study the underlying logic for configuring production processes for a product family based on a process platform. Second, it is to apply the Petri nets (PNs) techniques to model PPbPC, in attempting to shed light on the underlying logic.Design/methodology/approachThe authors first identify the fundamental issues in PPbPC, including variety handling, process variation accommodation, configuration at different abstraction levels, and constraint satisfaction. To accommodate the corresponding modelling difficulties, the authors develop a formalism of hierarchical colored timed PNs (HCTPNs) based on the principles of hierarchical PNs, timed PNs, and colored PNs. In the formalism, three types of nets together with a system of HCTPNs are defined to address the modelling of PPbPC.FindingsApplying HCTPNs...

Research paper thumbnail of Modeling production configuration using nested colored object-oriented Petri-nets with changeable structures

Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, 2008

Configuring production processes based on process platforms has been well recognized as an effect... more Configuring production processes based on process platforms has been well recognized as an effective means for companies to provide product variety while maintaining mass production efficiency. The production processes of product families involve diverse variations in manufacturing and assembly processes resulted from a large variety of component parts and assemblies. This paper develops a multilevel system of nested colored object-oriented Petri nets with changeable structures to model the configuration of production processes. To capture the semantics associated with production configuration decisions, some unique modeling mechanisms are employed, including colored Petri nets, object-oriented Petri nets, changeable Petri net structures, and net nesting. The modeling formalism comprises resource nets, manufacturing nets, assembly nets and process nets. The paper demonstrates how these net definitions are applied to the specification of production process variants at different levels of abstraction. Also reported is a case study in an electronics company. The system model is further analyzed with focus on conflict prevention and deadlock detection.

Research paper thumbnail of SysML-based design chain information modeling for variety management in production reconfiguration

Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, 2011

Satisfying diverse customer needs leads to proliferation of product variants. It is imperative to... more Satisfying diverse customer needs leads to proliferation of product variants. It is imperative to model the coherence of functional, product and process varieties throughout the design chain. Based on a model-based systems engineering approach, this paper applies the Systems Modeling Language (SysML) to model design chain information. To support variety management decisions, the SysML-based information models are further implemented as a variety coding information system. A case study of switchgear enclosure production reconfiguration system demonstrates that SysML-based information modeling excels in conducting requirements, structural, behavioral and constraints analysis and in performing trade-off study. In addition, it maintains semantic coherence along the design chain, keeps traceability across different levels of abstraction, thus improving interoperability among heterogeneous tools.