Dispersed Manufacturing Networks provides new perspectives of dispersed manufacturing systems from three points of view. The first is that offered by complex systems theory, particularly on how agents in these industrial networks interact and how that provides possibility for coordination. The book also elaborates on issues of coordination and planning, as well as examining new solutions and challenges for logistics problems and collaboration in engineering networks within the internationalisation perspective. The impact of globalization is discussed for both managerial decision-making and operational performance of supply chains. A strong emphasis is placed on the need for continuous decision-making with recognition of the fact that networks of loosely connected agents require different approaches. Both researchers and professionals will welcome Dispersed Manufacturing Networks. It is an informative guide for those researching and working across a range of fields.

Dispersed Manufacturing Networks can act as organizational manifestation for collaboration and coordination across loosely connected agents. Industrial networks provide an answer to the current challenges of innovative potential, responsiveness and flexibility through their capability for absorbing change and capturing market opportunities.

Enterprise Networks and Logistics for Agile Manufacturing presents a focused collection of quality chapters on state-of-the-art research efforts in the areas of enterprise networks and logistics, as well as their practical applications towards agile manufacturing. With the increasing decentralisation of manufacturing systems and outsourcing of processes, more robust and practical approaches and systems are needed to support agile manufacturing operations. Enterprise Networks and Logistics for Agile Manufacturing consists of two major sections: the first presents a broad-based review of the key areas of research in enterprise networks and logistics; the second focuses on an in-depth treatment of a particular methodology or system relevant to the book title. Examples include: • sustainable green supply chain; • value creation and supplier selection; • extended enterprise network management; • reverse logistics; and • innovative supply chain systems. The authors take into account the need to pose intellectual challenges while retaining a balanced approach in terms of scope versus depth and theory versus applications. Enterprise Networks and Logistics for Agile Manufacturing can be beneficial to academic researchers, practicing engineers and managers, and graduate students with an interest in any manufacturing sectors. It can enable them to better understand the present state and future trends of research in this important area, in order to position themselves strategically for future challenges as we enter the era of agile and distributed manufacturing.

Innovation in Manufacturing Networks A fundamental concept of the emergent business, scientific and technological paradigms ces area, innovation the ability to apply new ideas to products, processes, organizational practices and business models - is crucial for the future competitiveness of organizations in a continually increasingly globalised, knowledge-intensive marketplace. Responsiveness, agility as well as the high performance of manufacturing systems is responsible for the recent changes in addition to the call for new approaches to achieve cost-effective responsiveness at all the levels of an enterprise. Moreover, creating appropriate frameworks for exploring the most effective synergies between human potential and automated systems represents an enormous challenge in terms of processes characterization, modelling, and the development of adequate support tools. The implementation and use of Automation Systems requires an ever increasing knowledge of enabling technologies and Business Practices. Moreover, the digital and networked world will surely trigger new business practices. In this context and in order to achieve the desired effective and efficiency performance levels, it is crucial to maintain a balance between both the technical aspects and the human and social aspects when developing and applying new innovations and innovative enabling technologies. BASYS conferences have been developed and organized so as to promote the development of balanced automation systems in an attempt to address the majority of the current open issues.

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.

To stay competitive and meet market expectations in a global economy, both domestic and foreign companies must realign their manufacturing processes, make improvements, and increase their manufacturing capabilities. With large numbers of employees working in a network of domestic and foreign facilities, production processes are as varied as the products being produced. Manufacturing managers need a manufacturing plan or strategy that will bring structure to this complex environment. In Manufacturing Strategy: How to Formulate and Implement a Winning Plan, 2nd Edition, John Miltenburg offers a sensible and systematic method to: (1) evaluate domestic and foreign factories and international manufacturing and (2) plan the appropriate manufacturing strategy to be first in the market. Incorporating comments and suggestions from managers who used the first edition of Manufacturing Strategy, John Miltenburg expands and improves on his focus in the areas of: International Manufacturing — where the focus is on a company's international network of factories; Competitive Strategy — where managers must understand the role manufacturing strategy plays in their company's business strategy; and Manufacturing Programs — showing how programs such as quality management, six sigma, agile manufacturing, and supply chain management fit within the manufacturing strategy. Manufacturing Strategy gives managers a common language for dealing with manufacturing problems at both strategic and operational levels. It improves communication between manufacturing managers and those outside manufacturing (who will now have a better understanding of what manufacturing can and cannot do).

Firms in the clothing industry engage in global sourcing and operate in global markets. Their global production networks have often been subject to scrutiny as the power relationships between buyer firms in developed countries and supplier firms in developing countries raise issues concerned with 'fast fashion', the role of brands, labour standards in developing countries, job losses among the most vulnerable workers in Europe and the US, and the growing differentiation within the bloc of developing countries between the least developed and fast developers, such as China and India. This book analyses the way British, American and German firms in the clothing industry (manufacturing and retail) co-ordinate and govern their global production networks/value chains. It offers a multi-level study, concerned with processes of economic interaction between international, regional, and national economic institutions and actors. This combines an analysis of international/regional regulatory systems, global markets and conditions in the developing countries where suppliers are found, with a focus on the recent development of the clothing industry in three western countries. The analysis of firms' global networks focuses on the power relationships between western producers and retailers on the one hand and between buyer firms in developed and supplier firms in developing countries on the other, as well as their impact on labour. Utilising over one hundred interviews in six countries on three continents, it follows the value chain from developed to developing countries and studies the many issues which confront students of globalization at the current time. The study combines theoretical perspectives from economic sociology, political economy and management and seeks to utilise the complementary strengths of the Varieties of Capitalism approach and that of Global Production Networks/Value Chains. It will appeal to advanced students and academics interested in processes of economic globalization and the way firms manage them, as well as to those looking for a study of the clothing industry which combines theoretical depth with broad empirical coverage.