The Impact of Subsidies on Production Innovation and Sustainable Growth

This paper investigates correlation between subsidies to invest in development projects, innovation, financial performance and sustainable growth. The focus of the study is on subsidies for co-financing purchases of new technological equipment aimed at promoting innovation and production of new products. Subsidies are distributed based on the prepared European Union (EU) and national programs for the purposes of faster economic growth in accordance with the policies and guidelines of the EU. The paper employs a combination of enterprises’ accounting data, data on subsidies and unique in-depth data obtained through a survey at the enterprise level. The results revealed a positive impact of subsidies on financial indicators, and only limited effect on innovation. While analyzing sustainable growth, we have established that the enterprises that received subsidies had a higher growth of financial indicators.

Comparative Analysis of Machinability of Nitinol Alloy Using Weighted Radar Diagram

The paper presents an attempt to analyze comparative machinability of two different varieties of nitinol alloy type, or compare the susceptibility of these materials to change the volume, shape and dimension of adopted machining conditions. The machinability of the material can not be fully determined numerically by only one independent factor. Therefore multivariate analysis technique of weighted diagram radar was developed by authors. This technique allowed for the comprehensive identification machinability analyzed varieties of nitinol alloy exclusively on the basis of the specified in literature directional material properties and general recommendations tool manufacturers on the cutting conditions. In the paper the full usefulness of this technique to demonstrate the differences in machinability of different varieties of the same species alloy, without the need for lengthy and cost-intensive experimental trials was presented.

A Dual Perspective of Value in a Bundle of Product and Service

Focusing on value creation in marketing has always been the key to success for companies. As a result, the definition, analysis and communication of value has gained importance. Companies are making an attempt to make a value proposition that is not only lucrative for the customer, but also has great returns for the company itself. Although this might sound simple on paper, since it is the basis for business logic, it is much more complicated in real life situations. With the service elements in the offering and the emergence of technologies such as smart and connected phenomenon, the business models become more innovative and more complexity is added to the analysis of value.The objective of this paper is to introduce a method for the dual perspective of value in a bundle of product and service in a smart and connected context. This method draws from the customer value and customer lifetime value concepts to offer an all-inclusive study on value. This assists companies in crafting an appealing value proposition in a cost-saving offering for a client that offers value to the company over its lifetime. This study specifically deals with the state of the arts smart and connected phenomenon and provides a view on how value works in that context.The framework created through this study serves to help the company choose a client that is of most value to the firm over the time of their cooperation. It then leads the company towards a better fabrication of the offering that is not only an attractive proposition to the client but also for the company. It gives a close insight onto where the benefit comes from and how a smart and connected bundle of products, services and relationships must be put together for maximum results in the modern age.

Influential Factors Affecting Materials Management in Construction Projects

Construction projects are more often than not plagued by poor performances such as delays, cost overrun, low productivity, construction wastes and compromised quality. Amongst the critical contributory factors of poor project performances, is the ineffectiveness of materials management occurring in the construction sites. Indeed, materials management is a very important component for construction projects. However, there are only limited numbers of research available regarding this topic. Thus, this research focuses its study on materials management, specifically in identifying the influential factors that affect materials management in the construction project activities. Literatures from books, journal articles and conference papers related to poor project performances and materials management have been reviewed. Consequently, this study sorted the salient influential factors and categorized them based on their specific group. Out of 47 factors identified, they are classified into 8 groups. They are (1) site condition; (2) planning and handling on site; (3) management; (4) materials; (5) supplier and manufacturer default; (6) transportation; (7) contractual; and (8) governmental interferences. In conclusion, this study contends that by identifying the influential factors affecting materials management, it will help construction players to avoid the occurrence of those factors and will minimize the negative impacts on the overall performance of construction projects. Hence, the handling-over of project will be according to schedule and not delayed by materials mismanagement.

Stimuli of Collaboration in Product Development: A Case Study in a Project Manufacturing Company

There is already a wide acceptance on the importance of involving supplier and customer companies in product development. Decent understanding prevails on the relationship-oriented approach to product development including various collaboration forms. However, there is less research on the factors explaining the decision of attending to joint product development. In addition, less studies have examined the integrated role of both suppliers and customers in product development initiatives. This study searches answers to the following research questions: 1. What is the role of different actors in product development initiatives? 2. What factors motivate suppliers and customers to participate in product development? The research is carried out as an in-depth qualitative single case study in a large project manufacturing company. It takes the perspective of a focal company striving for product improvements. The first part of the empirical study consists of 15 semi-structured interviews. The second part includes two discursive workshops and builds upon the results of the interviews. This study contributes to the existing research by explaining the challenges and conditions facilitating joint product development with supplier and purchaser companies. The results highlight the role of customers in improving the effectiveness of product development. As a practical contribution, the paper reports the application of workshop method as a facilitator of collaboration between supplier, purchaser (focal company) and customer companies.

Justification of RFID Implementation. A Case Study of White Goods Manufacturer

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a rapidly emerging technology with a wide range of impact and still not fully exploited potential applications. The impact of RFID is not limited to the area of its direct application. There are many possible benefits to be gained from RFID application, but it must be preceded with careful analysis as its implementation is not always reasonable. A new method for an assessment of RFID technology was presented and explained on the case of a white goods manufacturer. There was a lack of such a method allowing for relatively quick and flexible assessment, which is important for decision makers, who do not want to become involved in very sophisticated and time-consuming analysis at the early stage of decision making. The method supports early phases of decision making related to RFID implementation. Conclusions derived from the analysis of the case study confirmed that the method applied allows for rationalizing decision making and answers whether RFID could generate strategic advantage, in which area RFID should be applied, how RFID-supported processes will be executed and what benefits would be expected. previous papers focused only on answering specific questions from the above list, without showing a holistic approach. the approach to answer questions about execution of processes and benefits was not considered earlier at all. The paper illustrates details of using a new method of an assessment of RFID technology (ART) using a real industrial example.

Cluster and R&D Affecting the Competitive Advantage of the Mould and Die Sector in the Thai Automotive Industry

This study concerned clusters as well as research and development affecting the competitive advantage of the Thai automotive industry’s mould and die sector. The study of development, examination of the consistency of the structural equation model, and the direct influence of linkage and association of cluster, as well as research and development for competitive advantage of operational locations in the Thai automotive mould & die sector was carried out as well. Data was collected from 320 mould and die industry operators in Thailand with the goal of obtaining key information to align the business direction in response to market opportunities. An additional goal was to elevate the competitiveness of the Thai automotive mould and die industry toward positive growth and continual sustainability.

Building Virtual Reality Applications for Engineering with Knowledge-Based Approach

The paper presents a novel methodology of building industrial Virtual Reality applications with use of a knowledge-based approach. Virtual Reality is becoming more and more wide-spread in engineering applications. However, most solutions are immediate and not flexible, especially in maintenance. Traditional way of programming VR applications makes all the knowledge about a product or a process hard-coded, effectively losing access to it from the outside of the programming software. Besides, making new solutions without any methodology whatsoever makes the process longer and less effective. The author proposes to use general rules of available Knowledge Engineering methodologies in order to make the process of building VR applications more effective and to ensure their flexibility and access to stored knowledge, even after an application is deployed. The presented methodology is supported with practical case studies.

A Comprehensive Assessment Model for Critical Infrastructure Protection

International business demands seamless service and IT-infrastructure throughout the entire supply chain. However, dependencies between different parts of this vulnerable ecosystem form a fragile web. Assessment of the financial effects of any abnormalities in any part of the network is demanded in order to protect this network in a financially viable way. Contractual environment between the actors in a supply chain, different business domains and functions requires a management model, which enables a network wide protection for critical infrastructure. In this paper authors introduce such a model. It can be used to assess financial differences between centralized and decentralized protection of critical infrastructure. As an end result of this assessment business resilience to unknown threats can be improved across the entire supply chain.

Development of an Innovative Approach for Complex, Causally Determined Failure Chains

A high number of examples in today’s global industry prove that it is difficult to ensure a certain level of quality. One possible reason is the increasing complexity of modern mechatronic product systems. Interface problems due to several involved science disciplines and the lack of understanding subsystems, which are delivered by different suppliers, make it difficult to identify critical components and specifications of elements. Furthermore, it is even harder to estimate the effects of elements because of their unknown dependencies and relations. Therefore it becomes more and more improbable to develop a safe, sustainable and high quality product right from the beginning. In order to understand failures in complex system structures today’s engineering industries need a generic approach that increases the understanding of systems, identifies critical components and considers the different levels of a system. It shall examine failures that cause system errors but also failures that limit system functions. Thus, it is necessary to model and simulate the causally failure chains and analyse over several system levels and elements with their dependencies. This leads to a better understanding of the whole picture of cause and effect. This research paper points out which requirements this new model-based approach has to fulfill and how it is possible to link quality and reliability methods to achieve an overall understanding and analysis of a complex system to assure high quality and sustainability.