KEEPING JOBS IN EU · How revolutionary queuing based modelling software helps keeping jobs in Europe. The creation of a lead time reduction software that increases industry competitiveness and supports academic research

Periodic Report Summary - KEEPING JOBS IN EU (How revolutionary queuing based modelling software helps keeping jobs ?a software that increases industry competitiveness and supports academic research)

How revolutionary queuing based modelling software helps keeping jobs in Europe. The creation of a lead time reduction software that increases industry competitiveness and supports academic research. What does European industry need to know about 'time'? Although there is a wide-spread belief that low-cost companies will gain market share over more expensive competitors there are considerable opportunities for more expensive producers/service providers as long as they provide a certain value-added for their customers, i.e. customised products as well as services and at the same time much faster delivery. Improving knowledge within manufacturing as well as service providing companies can shorten their delivery lead times, improve their service level and thus substantially increase their competitiveness. This will not only help to keep jobs in Europe but also contribute to the scientific field of operations management, service operations management as well as supply chain management. Within the project the rapid modeller has been developed, which is a state of the art software tool that supports lead time reductions in service as well as manufacturing industry. The rapid modeller allows standardised modelling of order fulfilment processes to analyse them quickly based on well-established queuing theory. The software helps companies to understand and reconfigure their processes in an efficient and effective way. The implementation as Java web start application guarantees high flexibility and easy usage. Several case studies from manufacturing and service companies demonstrate the practical applicability of the approach and the software. Furthermore, the first rapid modelling conference took place in Neuchatel from 29 June 2009 to 1 July 2009 to exchange knowledge between participants of academia and industry. The contributions of 46 authors from 14 countries are published in the book 'Rapid modelling for increasing competitiveness, tools and mindset' (ISBN 978-1-84882-747-9), which gives a comprehensive overview on the subject of increasing competitiveness through speed. The next Rapid Modelling Conference is titled 'Quick Response: Intersection of Theory and Practice' and will take place in Neuchatel from 30 August 2010 to 1 September 2010 (see http://www2.unine.ch/rmc10 online). The ultimate long-term goal is to change how companies think about operations management practices, in particular the design, analyses, evaluation as well as improvement of business processes. In view of that, the Rapid Modelling Society has been established, to offer a platform for the development and dissemination of tools and mindsets within academia and industry. So far the Rapid Modelling Society has been joined by seven research institutions from Algeria, Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Italy, and Switzerland. After the successful development of methods and tools the main focus is now on the dissemination of the project results. An important next step is the business dissemination of the results, e.g. the commercialisation of the software. Moreover, various activities are ongoing to create awareness and transfer knowledge, like organising and visiting conferences and workshops, publishing in academic journals as well as non-academic media, and networking within relevant target groups. The project 'Keeping jobs in EU' is receiving funding from the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013), funding scheme Marie Curie Actions - Industry-Academia Partnerships and Pathways (IAPP) under grant agreement 217891. The project coordinator is the University of Neuchatel (Switzerland) and further beneficiaries are the University of Lausanne (Switzerland), Lancer Callon Ltd. (UK), Rehau GmbH (Austria), and Softsolution GmbH (Austria).

Data: CORDIS, © European Union