Jean-Marie Proth

F. Dicesare

George Harhalakis

Manuel Silva-Suarez

F. Vernadat

M. Silva Significant changes have been occurring in industrialized countries since the Second World War. Production is moving towards sophisticated high qUality products, economy of scale has been replaced by economy of scope, jerky demands are progressively replacing steady demands, and competi tiveness is becoming a worldwide phenomenon. These trends require highly automated manufacturing systems with small set-up times and high flex ibility. As a consequence, implementation and running costs of modem manufacturing systems are drastically increasing, whereas their fields of application remain limited, and every day become even narrower, which increases the risk of early obsolescence. This is the reason why designers are trying to improve the preliminary design phase, also known as the 'paper study phase'. The preliminary design phase includes, but is not limited to, the func tional specification, and the evaluation of the system. Many tools exist to support the functional specification of manufactur ing systems. IDEFO is one of these tools. It leads, using a top-down ap proach, to a precise functional description of the required system. However, its use cannot be extended further. In general, the evaluation starts with a modeling step, which depends on the evaluation tool used, and ends by applying the model to find out its main dynamic characteristics. Two main approaches can be used to perform this task, namely simulation and math ematical approach. Using simulation, the modeling tool is either a classical computer language, or a simulation language.

Practice of Petri Nets in Manufacturing

Manish Govil

Supply Chain Design and Management introduces the concept of a sharing mechanism that will ensure the sustainability of a supply chain by fair distribution of costs and benefits. This book provides a holistic view of the supply chain from product development, purchasing, manufacturing, distribution and storage, to retailing. The presentation of the enabling technologies in supply chain management will help companies better understand their options. § Provides a step-by-step framework for designing supply chains at the strategic level § Written for those who deal with the supply chains on a day-to-day basis as well as those new to the field § Provides a synthesis of best practices for managing supply chains at the tactical level § Provides a review of the state-of-the-art in enabling information technologies and business applications § Explains the concepts with examples from the industry and simple mathematical formulations § Is accessible to graduate students for an excellent understanding of how supply chains work and can join the industry armed with the knowledge of the workings of supply chains

Jean-Marie Proth

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