Advances in Networked Enterprises: Virtual Organizations, Balanced Automation, and Systems Integration(53 IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology)

New market trends and the emergence of the so-called Internet-based "new economy" are leading companies to new forms of organization, mostly relying on privileged co-operation links. Nowadays, most manufacturing processes are not carried out by single enterprises. Rather, organizations feel the need to focus on their core competencies and join efforts with others, in order to fulfill the requirements of new products/services demanded by the global market. In a co-operative networked organization, every enterprise is just a node that adds some value to the process; namely, a step in the manufacturing/supply chain. Furthermore, manufacturing companies increasingly encompass what has typically been regarded as the domain of the service sector. They try to establish long-term relationships with their customers, in order to service their needs around a manufactured product. For these reasons, the area of virtual organizations and industrial virtual enterprises is attracting growing interest in terms of research and development, and implementation approaches for new business practices. The main emphasis of this text is on virtual enterprises and other networked organizations, with special focus on: supporting infrastructures and management of distributed business processes, intelligent multi-agent systems, knowledge management, human interfaces, and socio-economical aspects. Also included in the book are related topics on automation, both in manufacturing and transportation. Special attention is assigned to the fact that advances in information technology and new organizational paradigms will be used not only to induce new economic structures, but also to help a sustainable migration of existing systems towards the new economy. When electronic business initiatives attract such widespread attention, it is important to conciliate the "old" and "new" economies under a balanced perspective. This text should be of interest to researchers and engineering, students in production engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, industrial sociology, and transportation, as well as for engineers and practitioners in manufacturing and transportation systems organization and planning.

Table of Contents:
1. Supporting Business Process Management and Coordination in a Virtual Enterprise.- 2. Towards Focused Markets of Resources for Agile Virtual Enterprise Integration.- 3. System Architectures for Manufacturing Co-Ordination in Complex Supply Networks.- 4. Federated Query Processing for Distributed Process Coordination in Virtual Enterprises.- 5. An Internet Solution for Virtual Enterprises Based on an Object-Oriented Real-Time Database.- 6. Enterprise Engineering and Integration in the Global Environment.- 7. Enacting Dynamic Distribution Networks — The DAMASCOS Project.- 8. For a Smart Coordination of Distributed Business Processes.- 9. Distributed Production with Specification-Generated Processes.- 10. Virtual Production Network Configuration: ACS-Approach and Tools.- 11. Virtual Industry Clusters: Foundation to Create Virtual Enterprises.- 12. A Method for Identifying and Evaluating Core Competencies’ Constituent Skills for Virtual Industry Clusters.- 13. Using Multiversion Web Servers for Data-Based Synchronization of Cooperative Work.- 14. Evaluation of Workflow Management Technology for the Co-Ordination of Telework.- 15. Learning Processes in Networked Enterprises.- 16. Adaptive Mobile Agents: Enhanced Flexibility in Internet-Based Remote Operation.- 17. Acquaintance Model in Re-Planning and Re-Configuration.- 18. Multi-Agent Based Supply Chain Management with Market Emergence Phenomenon.- 19. The Delta Model: A Framework for the Effective Implementation of It to Enable Organizational Change.- 20. Economic Evaluation of Delays Reduction: A Global Approach.- 21. E-Commerce: The Virtual Battlefield.- 22. Implementation Methodology of Complex Manufacturing Environment in a Brownfield Site.- 23. Complex Objects and Anthropocentric Systems Design.- 24. BalancingAutomation and Human Work in Environment Oriented Student Projects.- 25. Concept Sharing between Human and Interface Agent under Time Criticality.- 26. Virtual Reality User Interface for Autonomous Production.- 27. Design of Deadlock Avoidance Compensators for Anthropocentric Production Systems.- 28. Integration of Maintenance Constraints in Scheduling: Fuzzy Modelling and Multi-Agent Approach.- 29. Autonomous Multi-Agents Architecture for Control of Manufacturing Systems.- 30. A Genetic Algorithm for the Dynamic Single Machine Scheduling Problem.- 31. Multi-Agent Systems and Enterprise Modeling.- 32. Knowledge Management in a Distributed Organisation.- 33. Integrated Product Data Management Based on a Uniform User Interface.- 34. Evaluating Visual Display Designs in Vehicles: Advantages and Disadvantages of the Occlusion Technique.- 35. Objective Evaluation of the Complexity of Usage for Car Infotainment Systems.- 36. Human Interface for Heart Rate Control during Bicycle Ergometer Exercise.- 37. Modeling and Control of an Omnidirectional Mobile Robot.- 38. CNC Machine Ruled Surface Interpolation: A Neural Network Approach for Cheap Processing.- 39. Various Approaches in Classification of Technical Processes.- 40. A Simple Hand-Eye Calibration Method for a 3D Laser Range Sensor.- 41. Advanced Microwave Sensor Based Control Concept for Concrete Production.- 42. Electrical Energy Conservation in a Commercial Building with Systems Automation.- 43. Integrating Manufacturing Simulation Tools Using Distributed Object Technology.- 44. Simulation of Agent-Based Controlled Production Networks by Distributed Simulation Models.- 45. Multimodelling and Simulation: The First Step in the Implementation of an Automation Project in a SME.- Author Index.