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  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 15
    Citation - Scopus: 20
    A Survey of Partner Selection Methodologies for Virtual Enterprises and Development of a Goal Programming-Based Approach
    (Springer London Ltd, 2016) Nikghadam, Shahrzad; Sadigh, Bahram Lotfi; Ozbayoglu, Ahmet Murat; Unver, Hakki Ozgur; Kilic, Sadik Engin
    A virtual enterprise (VE) is a platform that enables dynamic collaboration among manufacturers and service providers with complementary capabilities in order to enhance their market competitiveness. The performance of a VE as a system depends highly on the performance of its partner enterprises. Hence, choosing an appropriate methodology for evaluating and selecting partners is a crucial step toward creating a successful VE. In this paper, we begin by presenting an extensive review of articles that address the VE partner selection problem. To fill a significant research gap, we develop a new goal programming (GP)-based approach that can be applied in extreme bidding conditions such as tight delivery timelines for large demand volumes. In this technique, fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (F-AHP) is used to determine customer preferences for four main criteria: proposed unit price, on-time delivery reliability, enterprises' past performance, and service quality. These weights are then incorporated into the GP model to evaluate bidders based on customers' preferences and goals. We present a case study in which we implement the F-AHP-GP technique and verify the model's applicability, as it provides a more flexible platform for matching customers' preferences.
  • Article
    Citation - WoS: 12
    Citation - Scopus: 19
    An Ontology-Based Multi-Agent Virtual Enterprise System (omave): Part 1: Domain Modelling and Rule Management
    (Taylor & Francis Ltd, 2017) Sadigh, Bahram Lotfi; Unver, Hakki Ozgur; Nikghadam, Shahrzad; Dogdu, Erdogan; Ozbayoglu, A. Murat; Kilic, S. Engin
    New advancements in computers and information technologies have yielded novel ideas to create more effective virtual collaboration platforms for multiple enterprises. Virtual enterprise (VE) is a collaboration model between multiple independent business partners in a value chain and is particularly suited to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The most challenging problem in implementing VE systems is ineffcient and inFLexible data storage and management techniques for VE systems. In this research, an ontology-based multi-agent virtual enterprise (OMAVE) system is proposed to help SMEs shift from the classical trend of manufacturing part pieces to producing high-value-added, high-tech, innovative products. OMAVE targets improvement in the FLexibility of VE business processes in order to enhance integration with available enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. The architecture of OMAVE supports the requisite FLexibility and enhances the reusability of the data and knowledge created in a VE system. In this article, a detailed description of system features along with the rule-based reasoning and decision support capabilities of OMAVE system are presented. To test and verify the functionality and operation of this system, a sample product was manufactured using OMAVE applications and tools with the contribution of three SMEs.