Search

The combination of product and service to provide customer’s satisfaction has been known since 1990s in the aerospace industry, particularly within MRO (Maintenance-Repair-Overhaul) service providers. Initially, the OEMs offered servitisation solutions by bundling the product with services. However, to remain competitive, the non-OEM MRO service providers also initiated bundling its service with products as offerings. This productisation business model is a reverse approach of a servitisation business model. This paper identifies and proposes five types of the productisation business model and each of these types will be shown with a descriptive analysis and illustrations to highlight the understanding of the evolution towards providing offers by bundling services with products. Through this study, non-OEM aero-engine MRO service providers will be able to assess the most suitable business model, based on the MRO service provider’s strengths and challenges.

ICMR2013 was organised by Cranfield University on the 19-20 September 2013. The conference focuses on any aspects of product development, manufacturing technology, manufacturing systems, information systems and digital technologies. It provides an excellent avenue for researchers to present state-of-the-art multidisciplinary manufacturing research and exchange ideas. In addition to the four keynote speeches from Airbus and Rolls-Royce and three invited presentations, there are 108 papers in these proceedings. These papers are split into 24 technical sessions. The International Conference on Manufacturing Research is a major event for academics and industrialists engaged in manufacturing research. Held annually in the UK since the late 1970s, the conference is renowned as a friendly and inclusive environment that brings together a broad community of researchers who share a common goal; developing and managing the technologies and operations that are key to sustaining the success of manufacturing businesses. For over two decades, ICMR has been the main manufacturing research conference organised in the UK, successfully bringing researchers, academics and industrialists together to share their knowledge and experiences. Initiated a National Conference by the Consortium of UK University Manufacturing Engineering Heads (COMEH), it became an International Conference in 2003. COMEH is an independent body established in 1978. Its main aim is to promote manufacturing engineering education, training and research. To achieve this, the Consortium maintains a close liaison with government bodies concerned with the training and continuing development of professional engineers, while responding to the appropriate consultative and discussion documents and other initiatives. COMEH is represented on the Engineering Professor’s council (EPC) and it organises and supports national manufacturing engineering education research conferences and symposia.

This paper describes an industrial project aiming to enhance the existing simulation modeling suites used at a car engine factory in the UK. The company continues to enhance its simulation modeling capabilities towards so called the `total plant modeling' which not only covers the production facilities but also key ancillary facilities. Tool delivery is one such ancillary process. The existing modeling practices at the company are limited to modeling tool changes and assume that tools meet their expected life and the replacement is always available. In reality, the tools are not always reaching the expected life, the facilities in the tool crib are a limiting resource and the tool inventory has to be minimized. The tool delivery system developed in this project has specific features that model how the tool crib operates, how tools are supplied to the machining lines and various operating strategies

ABC classification is a widely used technique for setting inventory policies for large inventories. Recently a novel cost-based approach, which seeks to minimise holding costs subject to target service levels for each class, has shown a potential for significant cost savings over more traditional approaches. As part of a study to adapt this approach to the particular characteristics of military inventories, a bespoke discrete-event simulation has been developed to validate the predictions of a theoretical model which implements the approach. Because the two models thus use radically different approaches to generate predictions which can be directly compared with each other, developing the simulation logic has provided an illuminating opportunity to evaluate the assumptions underlying the theoretical model. This informs a comparative analysis of the service levels and holding costs predicted by the two models. Various software design measures taken to optimise runtime performance are also described.

Investment in capacity expansion remains one of the most critical decisions for a manufacturing organisation with global production facilities. Multiple factors need to be considered making the decision process very complex. The purpose of this paper is to establish the state-of-the-art in multi-factor models for capacity expansion of manufacturing plants within a corporation. The research programme consisting of an extensive literature review and a structured assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the current research is presented. The study found that there is a wealth of mathematical multi-factor models for evaluating capacity expansion decisions however no single contribution captures all the different facets of the problem.

Mass Customisation (MC) has been perceived in many articles as a strategy of choice for any company. However, Mass Customisation (MC) can be easily discussed at a strategic level; but it is rather more complicated to undertake it organisationally and operationally. The aim of this paper is to explore an effective framework that can support the development of Mass Customisation approaches. Two main contributions are addressed in this paper. One is to prove the insufficiency of current Value-Chain-Based (VCB) MC approaches by using empirical evidence; the other is to propose an online Life-Cycle-Based (LCB) acquisition framework which can be used for developing more comprehensive MC approaches.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on an investigation into the selection and evaluation of a suitable strategic positioning methodology for SMEs in Singapore. Design/methodology/approach – The research methodology is based on critical review of the literature to identify the potentially most suitable strategic positioning methodology, evaluation and testing of the methodology within the context of SME's in Singapore, and analysis to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the methodology and opportunities for further research. Findings – This paper illustrates a leading integrated strategic positioning decision making process, which has been found to be potentially suitable for SMEs in Singapore, and the process is then applied and evaluated in two industrial case studies. Results in the form of strengths, weaknesses and opportunities are evaluated and discussed in detail, and further research to improve the process has been identified. Practical implications – A practical and integrated strategic supply chain positioning methodology for SMEs to define their own competitive space, among other companies in the manufacturing supply chain, so as to maximize business competitiveness. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the knowledge of the strategic positioning decision process as well as identifies further research to adapt the process for SMEs in Singapore.