This paper examines the centralised monitoring of an upstream supply chain (USC) in the context of a mass customisation production system. We propose an adaptation of the material requirement planning framework to manage demand uncertainty at each stage of the USC. New analytical relations that...

The standardization of partially substitutable components destined to meet a set of needs is studied. The monocriterion approach to standardization proposed in the last century is highlighted by taking into account several criteria and an economic valorization through modeling by linear...

The design and topology of a neural network is still an important and difficult task. To solve the problems of topology posed by the introduction of connexionism, new approaches are proposed, and especially a combination of induction rules with a statistical estimation of the neuron coefficients...

This research seeks to explore some aspects of how control operates as a package of control practices (Malmi and Brown 2008 ; Ahrens & Chapman 2007 a, Chenhall 2003). Given the pervasiveness of technology use today, we aim at developing an approach that takes into account the role of technology....

We consider the multi-level lot-sizing problem in a rolling-schedule environment as it occurs in Material Requirements Planning systems, with no capacity constraints and a time-invariant cost structure. We show that the performance of fixed-horizon methods can be improved drastically in a...

In an upstream supply chain dedicated to the mass production of customized products, many sources create production instability: the level and structure of production in the final assembly line, variability of lead times, quality issues, packaging and loading constraints on transportation,...

In an upstream supply chain (USC) dedicated to the mass production of customized products, decentralized management is possible and performing in the steady state, if all the links that precede the final assembly line use periodic replenishment policies. These policies require appropriate safety...

Our incentive is to assess the impact of demand forecast errors on the cost performance of several lot-sizing techniques in a multi-level context. Unpredicted changes in demand keep on plaguing consumer product companies. However, efforts to improve demand forecast accuracy may not be rewarded...

Several formulations to the mixed-model assembly line have been proposed in the literature. Such a problem is concerned with the production of a variety of product models. Vehicles fall into that category. The underlying assumptions of those models are often restrictive, therefore limiting their...