More efficiency through cloud computing

Process management in collaborative networks

As part on an EU-funded project called GloNet, a network of small and medium-sized companies from the solar industry is working together to improve performance using cloud computing services for global business processes. The task set for the Steinbeis Transfer Center for Management – Innovation – Technology (MIT) was to define standardized business processes for networks of companies – processes that are designed to tackle customer-specific products and services.

Collaborative networks can be managed successfully as a coordinated function through global process management. Within the framework of the EU project “GloNet – Glocal enterprise network focusing on customer- centric collaboration” (cf. Kölmel, Bernhard [2011]: GloNet – STREPProposal ICT Call 7), business processes are controlled through cloud solutions and executed within a network of small and medium-sized companies for the planning, implementation and operation of customer- specific solar parks.

In manufacturing, there is a growing trend toward customized products, even toward single item manufacturing. This trend defines the term as “mass customization,” a design process which includes the customer, one where products and services are developed precisely in line with the customer’s specific needs. This presents various challenges for the manufacturing environment. Either a complicated technical infrastructure is needed or relatively high production requirements exist, as is the case for traditionally complex products such as customized kitchens:

  • The production of these products requires skills and resources, which an individual company may not have access to. The solution: collaborative networks between companies.
  • Most companies operate within a limited solutions framework which is guided by firm, if flexible, quickly reacting processes. These process benefit to a great extent from ICT support.
  • A complex product intended for multiple suppliers requires a high degree of customization benefits from respective services, which are more difficult to plan and implement than for standardized mass production products.
  • For customization, recipients of customized goods must define their precise needs and desires as fixed product specifications. This way, customers are included in the development of individual solutions.

Harmonizing the degree of customization offered by the manufacturer with the demands made by the customer is a decisive factor in the ultimate success of the project. Small and medium-sized European companies clearly benefit from receiving suitable ICT support environments for customized mass production, putting them ahead of competitors that focus on providing standard mass produced products. A collaborative network is needed for this to work.

This is where the EU project GloNet comes in. Its goal is to develop an innovative, dynamic software solution for the exchange of knowledge and information between project partners. This service should be provided through cloud computing services and a workflow should be established to automatically monitor implementation of the solution.

The industry-relevant use case for the GloNet project is found in the construction of solar parks. Infranet Partners is a network of small and medium-sized companies that focuses on the production and provision of highly advanced control technologies. The network was founded in 1999 and now includes nearly 20 partners. In the field of photovoltaics, products produced by partners of the network are used across the globe for the monitoring and control of solar park facilities and the processes these units carry out.

To improve customer satisfaction, particularly with respect to quality and speed in implementing customer projects, Infranet Partners tries to strengthen its role as a collaborative network. For example, customer service is offered by a single organization and the product palette is bundled under the single brand of Infranet Partners.

GloNet serves as a cloud-based approach to development and support environments. This way, support services can be expanded dynamically, without affecting the processes of various users. To do this, two workspaces are defined in GloNet: the collaborative solutions space in which customers, manufacturers and delivery service providers can collectively develop a product, and the service space, an area in which customers have access to services throughout the entire product lifecycle.

After the first year of the 3-year project, the foundations were laid for the collaborative solutions space by defining the business processes and scenarios that run between the partners of the collaborative network: the customers, product developers, manufacturers and product service partners. These business processes and scenarios are now supported by IT-based cloud services for companies using an open platform.

As an expert in the field of process management, the Steinbeis Transfer Center for MIT was heavily involved in defining the networked processes and their dependencies within the globally operating network of companies. The business scenarios derived from this work formed the basis for the development and implementation of the required software solutions. Over the further course of the GloNet project, the Steinbeis Transfer Center for Management – Innovation – Technology will take on the task of transferring project results within the business network.

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