Abstract
In the recent years, it has been confirmed both by theory and by practice that organisational models need to include networking strategies to cope with the current competitive environment. Different collaboration levels can characterise supply chains, virtual organisations (VO) and business communities; however, managing different networking scenarios is extremely important to allow SMEs to respond to market opportunities, ensuring a quick response, unique products with competitive prices and high product quality. This paper proposes an innovative methodological approach to support collaboration amongst SMEs for customised product design and manufacturing based on the VO concept. The work is based on mapping the methodology with the most important processes characterising the life of a VO and defining the operative practices to be performed within this type of network. This paper presents two case studies in the fashion industry, where the proposed approach for network management was tested and analysed.

Abstract
In fashion business, 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 proposing a reference model to support collaborative supply networks in addressing the need for Fashionable and Healthy Clothing and Footwear products. In particular this work describes the implementation of the model in a real case highlighting the developments and changes implied at network level. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2013.

Abstract
This paper presents a framework to support the full life-cycle of extended manufacturing enterprises, from creation to operation and dissolution phases. The deployment and operation of such enterprises can be compared with the concept of 'plug-and-play', as the internal processes and legacy systems of the companies involved are smoothly integrated within an overall business process designed, validated and executed according to a specific business opportunity. During the plug phase, the specific business requirements are elicited and integrated with the design of the extended business processes. On the other hand, in the play phase, those predefined processes are executed in order to run the extended enterprise successfully. The paper describes an application case regarding an engineer-to-order and one-of-a-kind engineering product. This scenario is common to a large number of technology-driven SMEs, and illustrates the value of the framework to exploit business opportunities that require a combination of skills and resources that do not exist in-house. The case shows how the platform addresses the two main challenges in the deployment of an extended enterprise. The first challenge is finding the right set of partners to address a new business opportunity and the design of the underlying collaborative processes. The second challenge is mostly technical, and focuses on the integration of the legacy systems of the partners participating in the network so that cooperation can take place quickly and seamlessly.

Abstract
Since the automotive industry is one of the most competitive markets, key players should be capable of evolving their management strategy from a reactive to proactive approach. This way, it is critical for this type of companies to explore a new performance management approach where an effective interaction between the strategic and operational layers should be achieved. In line with this vision, a framework is presented that helps stakeholders make decisions based on the ability to anticipate future performance behaviours. Using leading indicators as reference, the key idea is to structure and model the existing knowledge within a mathematical tool, in order to project the manufacturing system's behaviour into the future. In order to show the reliability and importance of this framework, this paper presents a research performed at an automotive plant. The aim is to model the factors affecting energy consumption and thus estimate the future behaviour in terms of sustainability issues.

Abstract
Hybrid simulation is nowadays a valid alternative for studying complex manufacturing environments. Some challenges exist in this context, as the ambiguous use of terms and definitions in the literature; and the demanding skills required for developing hybrid models. A structured literature review provides an overview of the use of hybrid simulation in manufacturing business performance and its most important advantages and drawbacks. A classification scheme for the 51 analysed papers is presented, including interfaced, sequential, enrichment, and integrated taxonomies. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Abstract