scholarly journals BM_Virtual Enterprise Architecture Reference Model for Concurrent Engineering: An experiment

2009 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio José Caulliraux Pithon ◽  
Goran D. Putnik
Keyword(s):  
Product Quality ◽  
Concurrent Engineering ◽  
Enterprise Architecture ◽  
Reference Model ◽  
Virtual Enterprise ◽  
Work Organization ◽  
Virtual Team ◽  
Team Work ◽  
Quality Aspects ◽  
Organizational Principles

In order to test the potential of Virtual Enterprise (VE) organizational principles for Concurrent Engineering (CE) team work organization, an experiment applying the BM_Virtual Enterprise Architecture Reference Model (BM_VEARM) is organized. Three CE teams are asked to create a web site. The teams have been organized as follows: 1) CE distributed team (virtual team according to literature); 2) CE agile team (agile organization according to BM_VEARM) and 3) CE virtual team (virtual organization according to BM_VEARM), in order to complete the required task. The main objective of the experiment is to show that the three organization models of CE teams work effectively, and analyse the performance according to previously defined criteria. In this paper the results in terms of product quality are presented. The experiment has shown that better product quality, for the product quality aspects analysed, is achieved in cases when VE organization is applied.

BM_VE Architecture Reference Model for Concurrent Engineering

2011 ◽  
pp. 74-81
Author(s):  
Antonio José Caulliraux Pithon ◽  
Goran D. Putnik
Keyword(s):  
Concurrent Engineering ◽  
Work Teams ◽  
Reference Model ◽  
Work Groups ◽  
Virtual Enterprise ◽  
Work Organization ◽  
Geographic Location ◽  
Cooperative Work ◽  
New Organizational Forms ◽  
Product And Process

To support the requirements for the new organizational forms of enterprises, the cooperative work and work groups approach has appeared. Cooperative work may be defined as one where a group of people, physically separated or not, articulate the accomplishment of a common task in a synchronous or asynchronous form. In order to cooperate, a previous agreement should be considered. All should be committed to work to reach a common objective (Borges, 1995). It is supposed that the agility, that is, dynamics, with which these work groups may be created and reconfigured, makes it possible to use the best “resources,” the (best) individuals capable to add value to one defined task, independently of their (the individuals’) (geographic) location and, consequently, contribute to the product and process quality. In that sense, it is supposed that application of virtual enterprise (VE) organizational principles contributes to the agility of the work teams, that is, to the concurrent engineering (CE) work teams, or team work, organization.

Market of Resources

2010 ◽  
pp. 891-898 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Manuela Cunha ◽  
Goran D. Putnik
Keyword(s):  
Enterprise Architecture ◽  
Reference Model ◽  
Virtual Enterprise ◽  
Organizational Model ◽  
Enterprise Integration ◽  
Dynamically Reconfigurable ◽  
Main Requirement ◽  
Business Alignment ◽  
Monitoring And Enforcement ◽  
High Dynamics

Partners search and negotiation, selection, establishment of contracts, virtual enterprise integration, monitoring and enforcement of contracts, and so forth are complex and risky activities required by the virtual enterprise (VE) model. The need to keep a close alignment with the market environment in permanent change implies the high dynamics of the organizations’ structure reconfigurability, introducing a new concept of dynamically reconfigurable global networked structures, traduced by the agile/virtual enterprise (A/VE) organizational model. In the BM_virtual enterprise architecture reference model, Putnik (2001) presents “fast adaptability” or “fast reconfigurability” as the main enabler of business alignment and the main requirement for competitiveness.

BM_Virtual Enterprise

2011 ◽  
pp. 124-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Goran D Putnik ◽  
Maria M. Cunha ◽  
Rui Sousa ◽  
Paulo Avila
Keyword(s):  
Formal Specification ◽  
Basic Concept ◽  
Enterprise Architecture ◽  
Reference Model ◽  
Virtual Enterprise ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Dynamically Reconfigurable ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Structural Aspects

BM_virtual enterprise (BM_VE) is a virtual enterprise (VE) in a total or partial conformance with the BM_virtual enterprise architecture reference model (BM_VEARM). BM_VE is a kind of VE characterized as a dynamically reconfigurable network integrated over the global domain, satisfying the requirements for integrability, distributivity, agility, and virtuality as competitiveness factors. BM_VE uses three main mechanisms, or tools: market of resources, broker, and virtuality. This chapter presents the three fundamental mechanisms for the VE reconfiguration dynamics and virtuality; introduces the basic concept of the BM_VEARM, which serves as the conceptual and formal base for building BM_VE instances; shows the formal specification and theory of the structural aspects of the BM_VE as well as some aspects of the BM_VE reconfiguration dynamics; presents the BM_VE as an agile/virtual enterprise (A/VE); and finally, describes some important consequences of virtuality in BM_VE, i.e., that the BM_VE structure is hierarchical, a new definition of the VE (in which the network as the VE characteristic is irrelevant from the operational unit’s point of view), and the process of a “traditional” enterprise virtualization.

BM_Virtual Enterprise as an Agile/Virtual Enterprise Model

2011 ◽  
pp. 80-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Manuela Cunha ◽  
Goran D. Putnik
Keyword(s):  
Enterprise Architecture ◽  
Reference Model ◽  
Virtual Enterprise ◽  
Physical Structure ◽  
Dynamically Reconfigurable ◽  
Rights Protection ◽  
Enterprise Model ◽  
The Hierarchical Structure ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
And Control

Chapter III presents the BM_Virtual Enterprise (BM_VE) model, as an Agile/Virtual Enterprise, in total or partial conformance with the BM_Virtual Enterprise Architecture Reference Model (BM_VEARM) (i.e., as a dynamically reconfigurable network integrated over the global domain, satisfying the requirements for integrability, distributivity, agility and virtuality as the competitiveness factors). According to BM_VEARM, a virtual enterprise (VE) is “… an optimized enterprise, synthesized over a universal set of resources, with a real-time replaceable physical structure, and when the synthesis and control are performed in an abstract or virtual environment.” The importance of presenting the BM_VE is in the fact that VE, or Agile/Virtual Enterprise (A/VE), implementation and management is not possible without Market of Resources (MR), and similarly defined structures and/or organizations, as an external independent institution that would serve as an environment to support the VE dynamic integration, operation and reconfiguration, as well as “boost” to the networking (VE) dynamics, providing overcoming (i.e., minimizing) of the twofundamental networking disablers: (1) “transaction” (i.e., reconfigurability) costs, and (2) the VE partners’ knowledge and rights protection. Market of Resources is the third mechanism, or tool, that BM_VE, or any VE conceived as a dynamically reconfigurable enterprise network uses. It is an institution, or enterprise, operating as a meta-enterprise of the operating VE. BM_Virtual Enterprise uses three main mechanisms, or tools: Broker, Virtuality and Market of Resources. Broker is the agent of agility and virtuality. Virtuality as a tool is a specific organizational structure pattern that contributes to further improvement of agility/reconfiguration dynamics. The consequences of virtuality, as defined in BM_VE model (i.e., in BM_VEARM), are: (1) the hierarchical structure of VE, or A/VE, organization, (2) the Resource-centered Virtual Enterprise Definition (in a way the inverse definition of the “traditional” VE definitions), and (3) the virtualization process. The consequences of virtuality in BM_VE, following BM_VEARM, the Resource centered Virtual Enterprise Definition, and the process of virtualization, following BM_VE and BM_VEARM, directly implied by the (BM_VE) VE Extended Life Cycle, characterized by the “contractualization of the Market of Resources” environment, or a meta-enterprise for its (VE) implementation and management. BM_VE is a ubiquitous enterprise too. This is exactly because ubiquitousness is necessarily based on the Resource-centered Virtual Enterprise Definition. Market of Resources, and similarly defined environments, enable VE, or A/VE, to operate as a ubiquitous enterprise too. Ubiquitous enterprise, and VE as a ubiquitous enterprise, could be considered as the next generation (enterprise) organizations.

Information Technology Infrastructure and Solutions

2011 ◽  
pp. 351-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria M. Cunha ◽  
Goran D. Putnik ◽  
Joaquim Silva
Keyword(s):  
Enterprise Architecture ◽  
Reference Model ◽  
Virtual Enterprise ◽  
Technology Infrastructure ◽  
Information Technology Infrastructure ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Software Platforms ◽  
Dynamic Integration ◽  
Organisational Model ◽  
High Flexibility

Agile and virtual enterprise (A/VE) is a leading organisational model characterized by a high flexibility and a fast reconfigurability or adaptability of the networked structure to face the dynamically changing market. A Market of Resources is a tool proposed in the BM_virtual enterprise architecture reference model (BM_VEARM) as an appropriate environment to accomplish the intrinsic requirements of the A/VE model, by supporting the creation, dynamic integration, and operation of A/VEs. The Market of Resources is an electronic and virtual market matching the offer and demand of resources providers, the basic elements that will integrate the A/VE. The existing e-marketplaces support a wide range of features required by the Market of Resources. Given the available software development platforms based on the existing technology and standards that support the e-marketplaces, we discuss in this chapter the feasibility the Market of Resources and its implementation using those software platforms.

Designing a Virtual Enterprise Architecture using Structured System Dynamics

2006 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-29
Author(s):  
Nikitas A. Assimakopoulos ◽  
Anastasios N. Riggas
Keyword(s):  
System Dynamics ◽  
Enterprise Architecture ◽  
Business Processes ◽  
Core Competencies ◽  
Virtual Enterprise ◽  
Business Goals ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Efficient Integration ◽  
Structured System ◽  
The Impact

The starting point for establishing a Virtual Enterprise is a set of existing enterprises which might contribute with some of their functionalities (core competencies) to the formation of the virtual entity. The most important issue, in this formation, is the rapid integration of the business processes of the participating companies. The architecture of the VE must assist companies desiring to enter into a virtual relationship by defining the functions and interfaces of critical business processes, thus allowing for a more rapid and efficient integration of the expertise which will be contributed by each partner in the virtual enterprise. While the integration of computer and communication technologies are no doubt critical issues, the successful attainment of the business goals of the virtual enterprise often depends on its ability to align the business processes and practices of partner enterprises. Focus of this paper, is the presentation of Structured System Dynamics (SSPS) multi-methodology for the design and the evaluation of a Virtual Enterprise Architecture. SSPS uses Systems Thinking and System Dynamics principles as launch pad for its approach. The Systemic Methodologies of Problem Structuring Methodology (PSM) and SAST are also integrated in this new Multi-Methodology. SSPS is a new practical and scientific tool in designing and evaluating a VE architecture providing the ability to determine the impact, reliability, success of the Architectures' models created, refine them and identify potential process improvements. A framework for the rapid and efficient integration of the business processes of the participating companies in the virtual enterprise is provided. For this multi-methodology, a real-life application is also presented for a Virtual Enterprise that constructs Wireless Payment Mechanisms.

Towards a Virtual Enterprise Architecture for the Environmental Sector

2008 ◽  
pp. 368-378
Author(s):  
Ioannis N. Athanasiadis
Keyword(s):  
Information Management ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Enterprise Architecture ◽  
Service Oriented Architecture ◽  
Virtual Enterprise ◽  
Knowledge Exchange ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
Management Ownership ◽  
Service Oriented

This chapter introduces a Virtual Enterprise architecture for environmental information management, integration and dissemination. On a daily basis, our knowledge related to ecological phenomena, the degradation of the natural environment and the sustainability of human activity impacts, is growing. As a consequence raises the need for effective environmental knowledge exchange and reuse. In this work, a solution among collaborating peers forming a Virtual Enterprise is investigated. Following an analysis of the main stakeholders, a service-oriented architecture is proposed. Technical implementation options, using web-services or software agents, are considered and issues related to environmental information management, ownership and standardization are discussed.

Custom-Made Cloud Enterprise Architecture for Small Medium and Micro Enterprises

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 52-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Promise Mvelase ◽  
Nomusa Dlodlo ◽  
Quentin Williams ◽  
Matthew O. Adigun
Keyword(s):  
Cloud Computing ◽  
Enterprise Architecture ◽  
Virtual Enterprise ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Virtual Enterprises ◽  
Custom Made ◽  
Market Opportunities ◽  
Ict Infrastructure ◽  
Micro Enterprises

Small, Medium, and Micro enterprises (SMMEs) usually do not have adequate funds to acquire ICT infrastructure and often use cloud computing. In this paper, the authors discuss the implementation of virtual enterprises (VE) to enable SMMEs to respond quickly to customers’ demands and market opportunities. The virtual enterprise model is based on the ability to create temporary co-operations and realize the value of a short term business opportunity that the partners cannot fully capture on their own. The model of virtual enterprise is made possible through virtualisation technology, which is a building block of cloud computing. To achieve a common goal, enterprises integrate resources, organisational models, and process models. Through the virtual business operating environment offered by cloud computing, the SMMEs are able to increase productivity and gain competitive advantage due to the cost benefit incurred. In this paper, the authors propose a virtual enterprise enabled cloud enterprise architecture based on the concept of virtual enterprise at both business and technology levels. The business level comprises of organisational models, process models, skills, and competences whereas the technology level comprises of IT resources.

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