The financial results of any manufacturing company can be dramatically impacted by the repetitive decisions required to control a complex production network be it a network of machines in a factory; a network of factories in a company; or a network of companies in a supply chain. Decision Policies for Production Networks presents recent convergent research on developing policies for operating production networks including details of practical control and decision techniques which can be applied to improve the effectiveness and economic efficiency of production networks worldwide. Researchers and practitioners come together to explore a wide variety of approaches to a range of topics including: WIP and equipment management policies, Material release policies, Machine, factory, and supply chain network policies for delivery in the face of supply and demand variability, and Conflicts between complex production network models and their controlling policies. Case studies and relevant mathematical techniques are included to support and explain techniques such as heuristics, global and hierarchical optimization, control theory and filtering approaches related to complex systems or traffic flows. Decision Policies for Production Networks acts as handbook for researchers and practitioners alike, providing findings and information which can be applied to develop methods and advance further research across production networks.

The financial results of any manufacturing company can be dramatically impacted by the repetitive decisions required to control a complex production network be it a network of machines in a factory; a network of factories in a company; or a network of companies in a supply chain. Decision Policies for Production Networks presents recent convergent research on developing policies for operating production networks including details of practical control and decision techniques which can be applied to improve the effectiveness and economic efficiency of production networks worldwide. Researchers and practitioners come together to explore a wide variety of approaches to a range of topics including: WIP and equipment management policies, Material release policies, Machine, factory, and supply chain network policies for delivery in the face of supply and demand variability, and Conflicts between complex production network models and their controlling policies. Case studies and relevant mathematical techniques are included to support and explain techniques such as heuristics, global and hierarchical optimization, control theory and filtering approaches related to complex systems or traffic flows. Decision Policies for Production Networks acts as handbook for researchers and practitioners alike, providing findings and information which can be applied to develop methods and advance further research across production networks.

The financial results of any manufacturing company can be dramatically impacted by the repetitive decisions required to control a complex production network be it a network of machines in a factory; a network of factories in a company; or a network of companies in a supply chain. Decision Policies for Production Networks presents recent convergent research on developing policies for operating production networks including details of practical control and decision techniques which can be applied to improve the effectiveness and economic efficiency of production networks worldwide. Researchers and practitioners come together to explore a wide variety of approaches to a range of topics including: WIP and equipment management policies, Material release policies, Machine, factory, and supply chain network policies for delivery in the face of supply and demand variability, and Conflicts between complex production network models and their controlling policies. Case studies and relevant mathematical techniques are included to support and explain techniques such as heuristics, global and hierarchical optimization, control theory and filtering approaches related to complex systems or traffic flows. Decision Policies for Production Networks acts as handbook for researchers and practitioners alike, providing findings and information which can be applied to develop methods and advance further research across production networks.

The three volumes IFIP AICT 438, 439, and 440 constitute the refereed proceedings of the International IFIP WG 5.7 Conference on Advances in Production Management Systems, APMS 2014, held in Ajaccio, France, in September 2014. The 233 revised full papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 271 submissions. They are organized in 6 parts: knowledge discovery and sharing; knowledge-based planning and scheduling; knowledge-based sustainability; knowledge-based services; knowledge-based performance improvement, and case studies.

No other book has been published giving a single-volume introduction and survey to production planning in distributed manufacturing networks. The published literature so far includes conference proceedings only.

Despite sophisticated technology and knowledge, the strategic networks and games required to solve uncertainties becomes more complex and more important than ever before.

This book presents endeavors to join synergies in order to create added value for society, using the latest scientific knowledge to boost technology transfer from academia to industry. It potentiates the foundations for the creation of knowledge- and entrepreneurial cooperation networks involving engineering, innovation, and entrepreneurship stakeholders. The Regional HELIX 2018 conference was organized at the University of Minho’s School of Engineering by the MEtRICs and Algoritmi Research Centers, and took place in Guimarães, Portugal, from June 27th to 29th, 2018. After a rigorous peer-review process, 160 were accepted for publication, covering a wide range of topics, including Control, Automation and Robotics; Mechatronics Design, Medical Devices and Wellbeing; Cyber-Physical Systems, IoT and Industry 4.0; Innovations in Industrial Context and Advanced Manufacturing; New Trends in Mechanical Systems Development; Advanced Materials and Innovative Applications; Waste to Energy and Sustainable Environment; Operational Research and Industrial Mathematics; Innovation and Collaborative Arrangements; Entrepreneurship and Internationalization; and Oriented Education for Innovation, Engineering and/or Entrepreneurship.