+ Models
COMIND-1922; No of Pages 12
Integration of Web Services technology with business models within
the total product design process for supplier selection
Jiachen Hou, Daizhong Su
*
Advanced Design and Manufacturing Engineering Center, School of Built Environment, Nottingham Trent University,
Burton Street, Nottingham NG1 4BU, UK
Accepted 27 April 2006
Abstract
Supplier selection plays a vital role in the process of product development. The purpose of this research is to integrate the state of the art Web
technologies with business theories to establish a Web-based distributed environment for supplier selection. A Web Services-oriented multi-
possibility supplier selection system has been developed, which helps manufacturers to make decisions for selecting supplier more effectively and
accurately. The business theories and analytic hierarchy process approach have been applied in combination with Web Services and J2EE
Technology in the system. In this paper, a brief review of the current supplier selection issues are addressed first, followed by the presentation of the
methodologies employed and description of the system structure and main features, an example is given in the end.
# 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Web Services; Supplier selection; Business models; Enterprise JavaBeans; Analytical hierarchy process
1. Introduction
Nowadays, with the rapid development of technologies and
turbulent market environment, organizations shift their con-
ventional way of running business, from product-driven to
demand-driven. Hence, manufacturing industry is challenged
with the task of designing customized products in a timely and
cost-efficient manner. Supplier selection has been stressed as
one of the most crucial issues in the process of product design
[1–3]. It is important for manufacturers to spend the least time
to find the best suppliers in order to achieve competitive
advantages [4].
The relationship between manufacturers and suppliers is
influenced by the level of dependency of the one on the other
and the degree of turbulence in the market [5]. In general, a
manufacturer can have different types of relationships with
suppliers for different purposes and must be able to match
the optimal type of relationship to various product, market,
and supplier conditions [1]. Traditionally, potential suppliers
are evaluated on several criteria such as technical capability,
material selection, production technology, costs, product
quality, service and geographical location [6]. Extensive
research reveals that the selection of suppliers not only is a
technical decision, but also need to consider several factors
from business perspective [4,7]. As a business decision, an
organization’s vision, mission, priority and criteria must be
taken into consideration. With regard to these issues, tangible
criteria inevitably need to be counted, such as pricing structure,
delivery capability, product quality, technology capability,
service issues, etc. In addition, intangible factors also need to be
taken into account, such as affects by the external changes.
However, little has been done to integrate organization’s
development strategies with supplier selection criteria. In fact,
research in integration of business theories into manufacture
procedure has been far behind the development of each
individual area of business and manufacture.
In order to fill in the gap, a Web Services-oriented multi-
possibility supplier selection (WMPSS) system has been
developed to help manufacturers to identify suitable suppliers
for the components, materials and services required within the
procedure of product design and manufacture. In the
development of the WMPSS, the business models and the
analytic hierarchy process (AHP) approach are integrated with
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Computers in Industry xxx (2006) xxx–xxx
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 115 848 2306; fax: +44 115 848 6506.
(D. Su).
0166-3615/$ – see front matter # 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compind.2006.04.008
Please cite this article as: Jiachen Hou, Daizhong Su, Integration of Web Services technology with business models within the total product
design process for supplier selection, Computers in Industry (2006), doi:10.1016/j.compind.2006.04.008
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