Analysis and design of power management scheme for an on-board solar energy storage system

This paper investigates the power management issues in a mobile solar energy storage system. A multi-converter based energy storage system is proposed, in which solar power is the primary source while the grid or the diesel generator is selected as the secondary source. The existence of the secondary source facilitates the battery state of charge detection by providing a constant battery charging current. Converter modeling, multi-converter control system design, digital implementation and experimental verification are introduced and discussed in details. The prototype experiment indicates that the converter system can provide a constant charging current during solar converter maximum power tracking operation, especially during large solar power output variation, which proves the feasibility of the proposed design. © 2014 IEEE.

Detecting EPCIS exceptions in linked traceability streams across supply chain business processes

The EPCIS specification provides an event oriented mechanism to record product movement information across stakeholders in supply chain business processes. Besides enabling the sharing of event-based traceability datasets, track and trace implementations must also be equipped with the capabilities to validate integrity constraints and detect runtime exceptions without compromising the time-to-deliver schedule of the shipping and receiving parties. In this paper we present a methodology for detecting exceptions arising during the processing of EPCIS event datasets. We propose an extension to the EEM ontology for modelling EPCIS exceptions and show how runtime exceptions can be detected and reported. We exemplify and evaluate our approach on an abstraction of pharmaceutical supply chains.

Representing supply chain events on the Web of data

The Electronic Product Code Information Service (EPCIS) is an EPCglobal standard, that aims to bridge the gap between the physical world of RFID1 tagged artifacts, and information systems that enable their tracking and tracing via the Electronic Product Code (EPC). Central to the EPCIS data model are "events" that describe specific occurrences in the supply chain. EPCIS events, recorded and registered against EPC tagged artifacts, encapsulate the "what", "when", "where" and "why" of these artifacts as they flow through the supply chain. In this paper we propose an ontological model for representing EPCIS events on the Web of data. Our model provides a scalable approach for the representation, integration and sharing of EPCIS events as linked data via RESTful interfaces, thereby facilitating interoperability, collaboration and exchange of EPC related data across enterprises on a Web scale.

Advances in decision support systems on the endeavour for supply chain optimality

Industry practitioners are seeking to create optimal logistics networks through more efficient decision-making leading to a shift of power from a centralized position to a more decentralized approach. This has led to researchers, exploring with vigor, the application of agent based modeling (ABM) in supply chains and more recently, its impact on decision-making. This paper investigates reasons for the shift to decentralized decision-making and the impact on supply chains. Effective decentralization of decision-making with ABM and hybrid modeling is investigated, observing the methods and potential of achieving optimality.

Is more capability always beneficial for firm performance? Market orientation, core business process capabilities, and business environment

This study examines the role of capabilities in core marketing-related business processes–product development management (PDM), supply chain management (SCM) and customer relationship management (CRM)–in translating a firm’s market orientation (MO) into firm performance. The study is the first to examine the interplay of all three business process capabilities simultaneously, while investigating how environmental conditions moderate their performance effects. A moderated mediation analysis of 468 product-focused firms finds that PDM and CRM process capabilities play important mediating roles, whereas SCM process capability does not mediate the relationship between MO and performance. However, the relative importance of the capabilities as mediators varies along the degree of environmental turbulence, and under certain conditions, an increase in the level of business process capability may even turn detrimental.

Knowledge sources, innovative activity and the performance of UK new technology based firms

We present an innovation value chain analysis for a representative sample of new technology based firms (NTBFs) in the UK. This involves determining which factors lead to the usage of different knowledge sources and the relationships that exist between those sources of knowledge; the effect that each knowledge source has on innovative activity; and how innovation outputs affect the performance of NTBFs. We find that internal (i.e. R&D) and external knowledge sources are complementary for NTBFs, and that supply chain linkages have both a direct and indirect effect on innovation. NTBFs' skill resources matter throughout the innovation value chain, being positively associated with external knowledge linkages and innovation success, and also having a direct effect on growth independent of the effect on innovation. ©2010 IEEE.

A value-oriented model for managing service supply chains

Service supply chain (SSC) has attracted more and more attention from academia and industry. Although there exists extensive product-based supply chain management models and methods, they are not applicable to the SSC as the differences between service and product. Besides, the existing supply chain management models and methods possess some common deficiencies. Because of the above reasons, this paper develops a novel value-oriented model for the management of SSC using the modeling methods of E3-value and Use Case Maps (UCMs). This model can not only resolve the problems of applicability and effectiveness of the existing supply chain management models and methods, but also answer the questions of ‘why the management model is this?’ and ‘how to quantify the potential profitability of the supply chains?’. Meanwhile, the service business processes of SSC system can be established using its logic procedure. In addition, the model can also determine the value and benefits distribution of the entire service value chain and optimize the operations management performance of the service supply.

Knowledge sources, innovative activity and the performance of UK new technology based firms

We present an innovation value chain analysis for a representative sample of new technology based firms (NTBFs) in the UK. This involves determining which factors lead to the usage of different knowledge sources and the relationships that exist between those sources of knowledge; the effect that each knowledge source has on innovative activity; and how innovation outputs affect the performance of NTBFs. We find that internal (i.e. R&D) and external knowledge sources are complementary for NTBFs, and that supply chain linkages have both a direct and indirect effect on innovation. NTBFs' skill resources matter throughout the innovation value chain, being positively associated with external knowledge linkages and innovation success, and also having a direct effect on growth independent of the effect on innovation. ©2010 IEEE.

Social sustainability initiatives in cocoa supply chains in Africa:an analysis of sustainability reporting of world's major chocolatiers

This research paper focuses on the self-declared initiatives of the four largest chocolate companies to tackle social problems within the context of establishing a sustainable supply chain. After the literature review of sustainability, supply chain management, and cocoa farming, this paper gives an assessment of the extant practices of the chocolatiers and makes a comparative analysis based on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainability Reports. This paper uses a case study approach based on secondary-data. A roadmap and benchmarking of social sustainability initiatives were conducted for the supply chain management activities of the world's four largest chocolatiers. This paper analyses the extant sustainability practices of the chocolatiers and offers a model framework for comparison of the measures taken. This paper is based on self-declared secondary data. There is a chance that some practices were not documented by the case companies; or that companies claim what they don't actually do. This paper provides a framework for agricultural businesses to compare their sustainability efforts and improve the performance of their supply chains. Originality and value of this research reside in terms of both literature and methodology. The framework for analysing the social sustainability aspects of agricultural supply chains is original and gives an up-to-date view of sustainability practices. The use of secondary data to compare self-declared initiatives is also a novel approach to business sustainability research.

Minor and major consolidations in inverse DEA:definition and determination

Many production systems have acquisition and merge operations to increase productivity. This paper proposes a novel method to anticipate whether a merger in a market is generating a major or a minor consolidation, using InvDEA model. A merger between two or more decision making units (DMUs) producing a single merged DMU that affects the efficiency frontier, defined by the pre-consolidation market conditions, is called a major consolidation. The corresponding alternative case is called a minor consolidation. A necessary and sufficient condition to distinguish the two types of consolidations is proven and two numerical illustrations in banking and supply chain management are discussed. The crucial importance of anticipating the magnitude of a consolidation in a market is outlined.

Prospect theory and the effects of bankruptcy laws on entrepreneurial aspirations

We apply prospect theory to explain how personal and corporate bankruptcy laws affect risk perceptions of entrepreneurs at time of entry and therefore their growth ambitions. Previous theories have reached ambiguous conclusions as to whether countries with more debtor-friendly bankruptcy laws (i.e. laws that are more forgiving towards debtors in bankruptcy proceedings) are likely to have more entrepreneurs, or whether, creditorfriendly regimes have positive effects on new ventures via enhanced incentives for the supply of credit to entrepreneurs. Responding to this ambiguity, we apply prospect theory to propose that entrepreneurs do not attach the same significance to different elements of bankruptcy codes—and to explain which aspects of debtor-friendly bankruptcy laws matter more to entrepreneurs. Based on this, we derive and confirm hypotheses about the impact of aspects of bankruptcy codes on entrepreneurial activity using the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor combined with data on both personal and corporate bankruptcyregulations for 15 developed OECD countries. We use multilevel random coefficient logistic regressions to take account of the hierarchical nature of the data (country and individual levels). Because entrepreneurs and creditors are sensitive to different elements of the codes, there is scope for optimisation of the legal design of bankruptcy law to achieve both an adequate supply of credit and to encourage high-ambition entrepreneurship.