Presentation of IT perspective ofFLEXINET Research Project (EU FP7 Factories of the Future) at the Smarter Manufacturing Sustainable Futures Workshop for collaboration between EU research projects investigating aspects of IT support to Manufacturing.

1. FLEXINET Project: an IT perspective
Eva Coscia
Holonix
7th October 2014 – Coventry Workshop

2. 7th October 2014 – Coventry Workshop
Contents
The IT results expected in FLEXINET
Support to strategic and tactical decision
making
PSCoMS: package of applications for
Product-Service concepts management
Focus on the Cooperation Environment

3. Steps towards GPN configuration
innovative strategic business models
supporting the new product-service are
evaluated and a new business model is
selected (WP2).
reference organisational models and
processes are selected or designed (WP4)
Based on these models, what-if scenarios
are generated and optimal Global
Production Networks is calculated
through a DSS (WP5)
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Knowledge formalised
in reference ontologie
(WP3)

4. The IT support to flexible re-organisation of GPN
The PND – Production Network Design
configurator is the collaborative
infrastructure to deliver a GPN Decision
Support System (GPN-DSS)
GPN DSS provides applications and
services for representing, configuring and
evaluating global product-service
production networks.
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5. Positioning the PND configurator 5 of XX
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6. The PND applications
3 main packages:
ERAS: provides services to evaluate the risks
associated with a GPN, by checking the decisions
on innovative product-services to be produced
against economical and cost risks
PSCoMS: supports companies in the transition
from product-centered to service-centered offer
PNES: evaluates the impact of adoption of a
Business Model (high level) and new technologies
(low level) on the GPN; to reconfigure the
Production network accordingly
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7. The IT architecture of FLEXINET
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8. Focus on the PSCoMS
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9. Support to (new) Product-Service concept management
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10. PSCoMS applications
Idea Manager: to collect, organise, share
information about new P/S idea; search for similar
ideas proposed in the past
Collaboration Environment: to support multiple
player cooperation and decision making process
within virtual spaces, with shared tools (also from
FLEXINET)
Product-Service configuration: guiding the
technical department in the high-level configuration
of a new P/S solution
User Experience Analyser: to collect and analyse
data and feedback from trials to support re-engineering
of P/S solutions
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11. Why the Collaborative Environment
The process behind the approval and delivery
of new P/S idea goes through several
intermediate approval «gates»
Ideas are promoted to the next gate during
physical meetings where evaluations are
performed and results analysed
Collaborative Environment offer the
possibility of making the meeting virtual and
to make different information sources
available to empower the decision making
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12. Some background…
The FLEXINET Cooperation Environment is
based on the Obeya Methodology which
is…..
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13. The meaning of Obeya….
Obeya or Oobeya (from Japanese large room
or war room) refers to a form of project
management used in Asian companies (including
Toyota) and is a component of the Lean
Management.
Is a Visual Project Management technique, all
individuals involved with the planning gather in a
'Great Room' to achieve fastest communication
and shortest decision-making processes.
an Obeya will contain highly visual charts and
graphs depicting program timing, milestones and
progress to date and countermeasures to existing
timing or technical problems
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14. Traditional Obeya room
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15. The Virtualisation of the Obeya
A virtual space, provided through a web-available
application, to support remote participation to
meetings
In the room it is possible to share contents through
«visual» tools and any useful application and collect
feedback
The same tools and information are visualised on
multiple clients (browsers) allowing remote
connections to the same meeting
Access from people and visibility of widgets can be
filtered through a permission granting mechanism
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16. Example 1: Open Innovation Virtual meeting
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17. Example 2: Internal Meeting for GPN configuration
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18. 7th October 2014 – Coventry Workshop
Conclusions
Several applications will be combined into
the PND platform to provide an articulated
DSS for GPN configuration
Where we are now: detailed design
mockups available
What next: first prototypes ready by end
of 2014

19. 7th October 2014 – Coventry Workshop