Abstract
In order to address the market trends especially footwear companies are now forced to address the market and especially the individual customer with increased attention concerning the fulfillment of specific requirements. In that context, consumer needs and expectations of specific target groups such as diabetic persons are posing challenging opportunities. Reality has shown that the production of shoes for patients with diabetic foot is quite different from traditional footwear production. This occurs because each shoe has to be fully adapted for each patient and in accordance with a set of requirements prescribed by the podiatrist. This reality raises several procedural and information related constraints in the way the orthopedic manufacturer has to deal with the customer demand. Framed in this goal, the present work specifically addresses the information infrastructure support required for the diabetic foot patient's prescription process by proposing an overall approach based on web-based tools and innovative integration of technological solutions. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer review under responsibility of CENTERIS/SCIKA - Association for Promotion and Dissemination of Scientific Knowledge

Abstract
In order to stay competitive, European manufacturing companies need to enter new market segments implementing innovative production methodologies to strengthen their collaborative networks. Consumer needs and expectations of specific target groups - such as elderly, obese, disabled, or diabetic persons - are arising as challenging opportunities for European consumer goods companies which are asked to supply small series of functional and fashionable products of high quality, affordable price and eco-compatible. This paper aims at proposing an innovative collaborative Reference Model that supports in Textile, Clothing and Footwear (TCF) supply networks in meeting the needs of specific consumer target groups. © 2012 IEEE.

Abstract
Due to the dramatic change of the market competition for industrial manufacturers - especially in TCFI (Textile, Clothing and Footwear Industry) - in the recent past resulting from the globalization and consequent openness of the markets together with the financial crisis, resulted in an increased need of networked collaborative approaches and tools. This pressing need of collaboration among SMEs (small medium enterprises) is changing the overall strategic approaches of the companies in the way they address the market demand. Company managers are realizing that in order to compete in open markets with increased responsiveness, they need to develop and provide new, complex and high configurable products and services supported in fully functional collaborative networks. This paper presents a new collaborative aggregated planning approach for supplier networks, where groups of SMEs collaborate in the formation of the network, the definition of the operations plans, in replying to customer inquiries and the release of individual production orders for each unit in the network. The proposed approach promotes the definition of multi-criteria evaluated production plans through collaborative negotiation and individual capacity checking validation. © 2012 IEEE.

Abstract
The increasing globalization of the past decades forces the companies to update its supply network strategy in line with the new and challenging context of a competitive market and additional uncertainty. This research, through the development of a model, wants to shed light on which are the most important determinants that influence the supply chain configuration and strategy and how they impact on the performance of the whole supply chain. © 2012 IEEE.

Abstract
In clothing and footwear business sector, consumer needs and expectations of specific target groups - such as elderly, obese, disabled, or diabetic persons - are arising as challenging opportunities for European companies that are asked to supply small series of innovative and fashionable goods of high quality, affordable price and eco-compatible. This paper aims at propose a three level (strategic, tactical, and operational) reference model to support the Textile, Clothing and Footwear (TCF) collaborative supply networks in addressing the need for Fashionable and Healthy Clothing & Footwear products.

Abstract
The paper proposes a Flexibility Requirements Model and a Factory Templates Framework to support the dynamic Virtual Organization decision-makers in order to reach effective response to the emergent business opportunities ensuring profitability. Through the construction and analysis of the flexibility requirements model, the network managers can achieve and conceive better strategies to model and breed new dynamic VOs. This paper also presents the leagility concept as a new paradigm fit to equip the network management with a hybrid approach that better tackle the performance challenges imposed by the new and competitive business environments.