Partner selection and information infrastructure of a virtual enterprise network

Citation
Hcw. Lau et Ett. Wong, Partner selection and information infrastructure of a virtual enterprise network, I J COMP IN, 14(2), 2001, pp. 186-193
Citations number
20
Categorie Soggetti
Engineering Management /General
Journal title
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMPUTER INTEGRATED MANUFACTURING
ISSN journal
0951192X → ACNP
Volume
14
Issue
2
Year of publication
2001
Pages
186 - 193
Database
ISI
SICI code
0951-192X(200103/04)14:2<186:PSAIIO>2.0.ZU;2-X
Abstract
With the rapid development of transportation and Internet technology, more and more businesses are being organized as manufacturing networks of differ ent units. Some of these units are wholly owned by the core company, others are outsourced to service providers. The formation of virtual enterprises is becoming a growing trend as companies concentrate on lean manufacturing, core competence and economic benefit. Study indicates that the administrat ion and management of these networks, which involves a number of partner co mpanies with dissimilar business natures and mostly geographically disperse d, is an important issue to be addressed. Owing to the diverse interests, c ompetence and business culture of individual partner companies, the selecti on of manufacturing partners is a key success factor. In addition, the capa bility of the information flow infrastructure is another consideration sinc e it affects the performance of the virtual network. This paper attempts to address both of these issues with the objective of showing how small firms can make use of the emerging technology. A case example is presented to il lustrate the manufacture of electronic pagers via the virtual enterprise ne twork.