Cloud Manufacturing: Strategic Alignment between Manufacturing Industry and Cloud Computing

218 Pages·2016·29.44 MB·English

by  Yuqiuge Hao

YUQIUGE HAO
Cloud Manufacturing
Strategic Alignment between
Manufacturing Industry and
Cloud Computing
ACTA WASAENSIA 364
INDUSTRIAL MANAGEMENT 43
Reviewers Professor Lihui Wang
KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Industrial Engineering and
Management
SE-100 44 STOCKHOLM
SWEDEN
Professor Jorge Pinho de Sousa
University of Porto, Faculty of Engineering, Department of
Industrial Engineering and Management
Rua Dr. Roberto Frias
4200-465 PORTO
PORTUGAL
III
Julkaisija Julkaisupäivämäärä
Vaasan yliopisto Joulukuu 2016
Tekijä(t) Julkaisun tyyppi
Yuqiuge Hao Artikkeliväitöskirja
Julkaisusarjan nimi, osan numero
Acta Wasaensia, 364
Yhteystiedot ISBN
Vaasan yliopisto 978-952-476-714-9 (painettu)
Teknillinen tiedekunta 978-952-476-715-6 (verkkojulkaisu)
Tuotantotalouden yksikkö ISSN
PL 700 0355-2667 (Acta Wasaensia 364, painettu)
FI-65101 VAASA 2323-9123 (Acta Wasaensia 364, verkkojulkaisu)
1456-3738 (Acta Wasaensia. Tuotantotalous 43,
painettu)
2324-0407 (Acta Wasaensia. Tuotantotalous 43,
verkkojulkaisu)
Sivumäärä Kieli
218 englanti
Julkaisun nimike
Pilvivalmistus: valmistuksen ja pilvilaskennan strateginen linkki
Tiivistelmä
Pilvilaskenta (cloud computing) on saavuttanut suosiota viimeisen
vuosikymmenen aikana monilla eri aloilla. Tämä väitöstutkimus käsittelee
pilvilaskennan ja valmistavan teollisuuden välistä yhteyttä ja pyrkii osoittamaan,
miten pilvitekniikan käyttö voi tukea valmistavia yrityksiä kehitettäessä
kilpailukykyä.
Viime aikoina pilvivalmistusta on ehdotettu tutkimuksissa vastauksena erilaisiin
valmistuksen haasteisiin, kuten esimerkiksi asiakaskohtaiset maantieteellisesti
hajautetut skaalautuvat joustavat järjestelmät. Uudet teknologiat, kuten asioiden
Internet (IoT) ja palveluperusteiset arkkitehtuurit (SOA) ovat
integroituneet tähän älykkääseen valmistusviitekehikkoon. Monet yritykset
epäröivät siirtyä pilvivalmistukseen. Tämän taustalla on osaamisen puute ja
haaste linkittää liiketoiminnan ja pilvivalmistuksen strategiat.
Tämän vuoksi tutkimus keskittyy pilvivalmistuksen käsitteen ymmärtämiseen ja
tarkastelee pilvivalmistuksen mahdollisia toteuttamistapoja. Seitsemän
kuvailevaa tapaustutkimusta on käsitelty neljässä erikokoisessa ja eri toimialan
yrityksessä. Tapauksissa on analysoitu tapoja liittyä erilaisiin pilvivalmistuksen
ekosysteemeihin.
Pilvivalmistus on määritelty tässä tutkimuksessa kollaboraatioalustaksi. Yritykset
tekevät yhteistyötä eri kumppanien, toimittajien ja asiakkaidenkin kanssa
tavoitteenaan tietty liiketoimintamahdollisuus. Pilvivalmistusalusta (Cloud
manufacturing platform-CMP) mahdollistaa valmistavien yritysten resurssien ja
kyvykkyyksien jakamisen, valmistuspalveluiden jakamisen ja tukee tasapainoista
yhteistyötä yritysten välillä. Strateginen yhteys näiden välille on esitetty Cloud
manufacturing strategic model (CMSM)–mallissa. Tämän mallin avulla yritykset
voivat mukautua erilaisiin ympäristöihin tehokkaasti ja pystyvät säätämään
liiketoimintatavoitteitaan.
Asiasanat
Pilvilaskenta, pilvivalmistus, strategiamalli

V
Publisher Date of publication
Vaasan yliopisto December 2016
Author(s) Type of publication
Yuqiuge Hao Doctoral thesis by publication
Name and number of series
Acta Wasaensia, 364
Contact information ISBN
University of Vaasa 978-952-476-714-9 (print)
Faculty of Technology 978-952-476-715-6 (online)
Department of Production ISSN
P.O. Box 700 0355-2667 (Acta Wasaensia 364, print)
FI-65101 Vaasa 2323-9123 (Acta Wasaensia 364, online)
Finland 1456-3738 (Acta Wasaensia. Industrial
Management 43, print)
2324-0407 (Acta Wasaensia. Industrial
Management 43, online)
Number of pages Language
218 English
Title of publication
Cloud Manufacturing: Strategic Alignment between Manufacturing Industry and
Cloud Computing
Abstract
Cloud computing is a popularly multidisciplinary term in current decade. This
thesis deals with the junction of cloud computing and the manufacturing
industry and shows how the cloud can support manufacturers in developing
substantial competitive advantages.
Recently, cloud manufacturing is proposed in research to deal with current
manufacturing challenges, such as customer-driven strategy, geographical
distributed factories, and scalable and flexible manufacturing, etc. State-of-the-
art technologies such as internet of things, cloud computing, big data, service-
oriented architecture, etc., are integrated to uphold this intelligent
manufacturing framework. However, many companies have doubts about moving
to cloud manufacturing owing to their inadequate knowledge about it and a lack
of skills to align their business with cloud manufacturing strategies.
Therefore, this research mainly focuses on proving a comprehensive
understanding of cloud manufacturing, and investigating possible
implementations of cloud manufacturing. Seven exploratory cases studies were
applied in four companies in various fields and sizes to provide a conceptual
approach for manufacturers to think critically about adapting their business to a
cloud manufacturing ecosystem.
Cloud manufacturing is defined as a system of collaborations in this research.
Companies are able to collaborate with various partners, suppliers, and even
customers to fulfill a specific business opportunity. Cloud manufacturing
platform (CMP) is an integrated platform that enables manufacturers to share
resources/capabilities, provides manufacturing services, and also supports
harmonious collaboration. A proper alignment strategy, named cloud
manufacturing strategic model (CMSM) was proposed to allow companies to
adapt to this environment efficiently and easily achieve their business objectives.
Keywords
Cloud computing, cloud manufacturing, strategy alignment model

VII
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I have talked a lot about “cloud” in the past four years. Finally, the “cloud” feds
away, and “Every cloud has a silver lining.” However, doctoral study is all about
work hard and have fun. This is my attitude towards everything around me
during this long journey.
I was thinking about this acknowledgment for a long time. But now, I am sitting
here actually writing down my gratitude to the people who did help me along the
way, I found the list is too long to name each of them.
First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my principal
supervisor, Prof. Petri Helo. He does not only inspire all the students by his
knowledge and expertise but also acts as “halo” around all of us. Prof Jussi
Kantola, as my second supervisor, has provided immense advice and invaluable
support on both an academic and a personal level, for which I am incredibly
grateful.
Second, I offer my sincere thanks to all my colleagues at the University of Vaasa,
for their time and assistance to provide a stimulating atmosphere to work in.
Special thanks go to my friends from Department of Production, where we could
talk and support each other. Thank you to all the wonderful people who have
helped me enormously and who I did not mention here. I am lucky to have many
friends’ help in time of need and standing by my side.
I would like to thank Prof. Marja Naaranoja for the inspiring discussions and
moral help. I am indebted to Ms. Ulla Laakkonen and Mr. Petri Ingström for
their amazing work and encouraging in my difficult time to complete this piece of
work. I would also like to thank Evald and Hilda Nissi and University of Vaasa
foundations for funding my doctoral studies and conference trips.
Finally, my special thanks are reserved for my dearest family. Without my
parents’ love, I would not have come this far. The final thank you is for Mr. W
with all my love.
Helsinki, June 2016
Yuqiuge

IX
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................ VII
1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. 1
Background ....................................................................................... 1
1.2 Research Objectives ................................................................. 7
1.3 Research Motivation ................................................................ 9
1.4 Research Method ................................................................... 10
1.5 Structure of the Study ............................................................ 12
2 LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................... 14
2.1 Conceptual Framework .......................................................... 14
2.2 Manufacturing Industry Trends and Challenges ..................... 16
2.3 Cloud Computing in the Context of Manufacturing ................ 20
2.4 Cloud Manufacturing ............................................................. 25
2.5 Research Contributions in Cloud Manufacturing .................... 29
2.5.1 Definitions and Taxonomy ...................................... 29
2.5.2 Comparison with Current Manufacturing Paradigms 31
3 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................... 34
3.1 Research Questions ............................................................... 34
3.2 Research Strategy .................................................................. 37
3.3 Research Approach ................................................................ 38
3.4 Case Studies Design .............................................................. 40
3.5 Data Collection and Analysis .................................................. 43
3.6 Quality Control in Qualitative Case Studies ............................ 46
4 RESULTS .......................................................................................... 48
4.1 Cloud Manufacturing Concept ............................................... 50
4.2 Cloud Manufacturing Business Implications ........................... 51
4.3 Cloud Manufacturing Technical Implications .......................... 52
4.4 Cloud Manufacturing Applications ......................................... 54
4.5 Summary and Contributions .................................................. 56
5 DISCUSSION ..................................................................................... 59
5.1 Benefits of Cloud Manufacturing ............................................ 60
5.2 Cloud Manufacturing: System of Collaborations ..................... 61
5.3 Cloud Manufacturing Platform (CMP) Implementation ............ 64
5.4 Cloud Manufacturing Strategic Model (CMSM) ........................ 66
5.5 Summary and Contributions .................................................. 70
6 CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................. 72
6.1 Theoretical Implications ......................................................... 73
6.2 Managerial Implications ......................................................... 74
6.3 Limitations ............................................................................ 75
6.4 Future Research ..................................................................... 76
REFERENCES .......................................................................................... 78
X
Figures
Figure 1. The evolution path of manufacturing paradigms
(Adapted from Hao and Helo (2015) .......................... 3
Figure 2. Industrial trends in recent years ................................ 4
Figure 3. The scope of cloud computing adoption in the
manufacturing industry ............................................. 5
Figure 4. Outline of the dissertation ...................................... 13
Figure 5. Conceptual framework of the dissertation ............... 16
Figure 6. Issues in current manufacturing industry ................ 19
Figure 7. Holistic view of cloud manufacturing ....................... 26
Figure 8. Cloud manufacturing framework ............................. 28
Figure 9. General view of the research questions and approach
used in this dissertation .......................................... 34
Figure 10. Overview of the research themes and how the
selected publications are positioned ....................... 36
Figure 11. Five stages of the research methodology ................. 40
Figure 12. Cloud manufacturing concept ................................. 51
Figure 13. Cloud manufacturing business implications ............ 52
Figure 14. Cloud manufacturing technological implications ..... 53
Figure 15. Cloud manufacturing applications ........................... 56
Figure 16. The spectrum of cloud manufacturing ..................... 58
Figure 17. The potential benefits of cloud manufacturing ........ 60
Figure 18. Model of cloud manufacturing collaboration levels .. 62
Figure 19. Cloud manufacturing platform implementation map 65
Figure 20. Cloud manufacturing strategic model ..................... 68
Tables
Table 1. Economic and technological benefits of cloud computing
to manufacturing industry ............................................. 22
Table 2. Relevant technologies .................................................... 24
Table 3. Benefits of cloud manufacturing .................................... 28
Table 4. Comparison of definitions (Listed in chronological order)30
Table 5. Other manufacturing concepts proposed recently .......... 32
Table 6. All layers of the research onion elements and their
associated options ......................................................... 37
Table 7. Case company selection and reasoning of the selection . 42
Table 8. Summary of publications ............................................... 45
Table 9. Summary and contributions in brief ............................... 48
Table 10. Definitions of new spectrum of cloud manufacturing ..... 57
Table 11. Model of cloud manufacturing collaboration across
organization levels and information levels. .................... 63