Enterprises have to react instantly to changing market conditions and disturbances that occur during execution of value creation processes. Depending upon the processes’ context, the goal is to significantly reduce lead times, reaction times, and time-to-market, among others. The vision of a real-time enterprise (RTE), which is able to sense and analyze events from internal and external sources, and perform adequate (re-)actions, has been envisaged by manufacturing enterprises. Daniel Metz presents a framework based on EDA and CEP towards the realization of RTE in manufacturing. The framework closes the vertical integration gap, and further, establishes feedback in (near) real-time among enterprise levels. As such, the framework provides a holistic and closed-loop control of (manufacturing) processes, and encompasses results and insights from management, engineering, and computer science. The framework has been implemented for a small and medium sized foundry in Germany. The developed control approach has led to a significant increase in (manufacturing) processes’ efficiency (i.e., performance, quality, and availability).

Enterprises have to react instantly to changing market conditions and disturbances that occur during execution of value creation processes. Depending upon the processes’ context, the goal is to significantly reduce lead times, reaction times, and time-to-market, among others. The vision of a real-time enterprise (RTE), which is able to sense and analyze events from internal and external sources, and perform adequate (re-)actions, has been envisaged by manufacturing enterprises. Daniel Metz presents a framework based on EDA and CEP towards the realization of RTE in manufacturing. The framework closes the vertical integration gap, and further, establishes feedback in (near) real-time among enterprise levels. As such, the framework provides a holistic and closed-loop control of (manufacturing) processes, and encompasses results and insights from management, engineering, and computer science. The framework has been implemented for a small and medium sized foundry in Germany. The developed control approach has led to a significant increase in (manufacturing) processes’ efficiency (i.e., performance, quality, and availability).

This book is organized and laid out to provide information in quickly understandable chapters and in sections within chapters. Each chapter stands on its own and provides a usable body of information on an aspect of the real-time enterprise. Chapters includes diagrams, tables, and lists to illustrate and summarize key points and real-world case studies and executive interviews to provide further insight into the subject matter presented in the chapter. Readers of this book will: Gain a clear picture of how organizations can profit from use of real-time operations Appreciate the theory, technology, and business practices that underpin the real-time enterprise Learn a pragmatic and efficient approach for developing real-time systems in their own organizations The author, Michael Hugos, is the chief information officer of Network Services Company, a $7 billion dollar distribution organization. He has over 20 years experience in applying technology to meet business challenges and he holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. His discussion of the real-time enterprise is a blend of both theoretical and practical perspectives based on his years of applying real-time concepts to actual business situations. He is also the author of Essentials of Supply Chain Management.

For any organization to be successful, it must operate in such a manner that knowledge and information, human resources, and technology are continually taken into consideration and managed effectively. Business concepts are always present regardless of the field or industry – in education, government, healthcare, not-for-profit, engineering, hospitality/tourism, among others. Maintaining organizational awareness and a strategic frame of mind is critical to meeting goals, gaining competitive advantage, and ultimately ensuring sustainability. The Encyclopedia of Organizational Knowledge, Administration, and Technology is an inaugural five-volume publication that offers 193 completely new and previously unpublished articles authored by leading experts on the latest concepts, issues, challenges, innovations, and opportunities covering all aspects of modern organizations. Moreover, it is comprised of content that highlights major breakthroughs, discoveries, and authoritative research results as they pertain to all aspects of organizational growth and development including methodologies that can help companies thrive and analytical tools that assess an organization’s internal health and performance. Insights are offered in key topics such as organizational structure, strategic leadership, information technology management, and business analytics, among others. The knowledge compiled in this publication is designed for entrepreneurs, managers, executives, investors, economic analysts, computer engineers, software programmers, human resource departments, and other industry professionals seeking to understand the latest tools to emerge from this field and who are looking to incorporate them in their practice. Additionally, academicians, researchers, and students in fields that include but are not limited to business, management science, organizational development, entrepreneurship, sociology, corporate psychology, computer science, and information technology will benefit from the research compiled within this publication.

In today’s world of manufacturing, it’s possible to be efficient but not profitable. How is this possible? While today’s manufacturing process control is real time, enterprise management remains transactional, and accounting systems remain structured for early 1800s piecework. Why are almost all of the productivity gains in manufacturing arising from better automation and control of processes (continuous, batch, hybrid, or discrete) and not from better chemistry, design, management, or financial controls? This book shows you exactly why this has happened and just how to fix it. The author details how automation and control can be applied to the supply chain, the enterprise, and to financial management. Inside, you’ll learn: • How to use the principles of real-time process control to better manage, measure, and control manufacturing businesses, both horizontally and vertically; • How to achieve much greater speed of information transfer for improved control over supply chain and distribution; and • How totally integrated inventory control, automated manufacturing, automated customer service, and smart pricing control ultimately lead to higher profits.

Speed as a factor for success Our modern industrial society lives life in the fast lane. The catchwords “faster”, “shorter”, “more powerful” reflect what we experience in almost all aspects of our lives. Whether at home or at work, we are constantly on the move and in a rush. In our private lives we find rapid exchange of inf- mation most entertaining and we are fascinated by the wide range of inf- mation that pours in on us from all around the world, mainly via the new media. It gives us the feeling of being a part of the action everywhere and all the time. Seldom are we aware that the only reason this flood of inf- mation, often referred to as “overstimulation”, does not lead to overkill is that we manage to organize our time effectively. There are many parallels to this in the business world. Here too, a great deal of time pressure is exerted from outside; goals are set ever higher and deadlines become tighter. In other words, demands on our time demand faster reaction. Crucial information travels around the globe – across all time zones – in a matter of seconds. In fact, instead of CET or CEST, it would make sense to have a single time zone for the worldwide network called GST for Global Simultaneous Time. In business more so than in p- vate life, we are almost constantly online.