Javad Soroor’s research while affiliated with K.N.Toosi University of Technology and other places

A best-in-class solution to the supplier selection problem has been presented by means of an intelligent evaluation engine to rank suppliers via a hybrid fuzzy mechanism. A single-product supply chain to provide a standard component of the product has been assumed here. In order to comply with customer suggestions and manufacture the product according to design specifications, two corresponding groups of evaluation criteria have been considered. The proposed mechanism has been carefully implemented and verified via a real world case study in a large building and construction corporation. The main advantages of the model include: removing direct human intervention, overcoming the complexity of computations in resulting algorithm by means of multi agent modules, and ranking suppliers based on both voice of customer and engineering characteristics during all stages of the process. The model includes implications for development of an integrated total system for autonomous supply chain coordination.

The main idea of this research is to devise the smart module to pick the best supplier bid(s) automatically. The hybrid model is composed of three useful tools: fuzzy logic, AHP, and QFD. The approach has been carefully implemented and verified via a real-world case study in a medium-to-large industry manufacturing vehicle tires and other rubber products. A collection of 12 assessment criteria classified into two categories have been considered. Eight factors are derived from customer suggestions and the other four are design specifications required to manufacture the product. The main outcomes are: a hybrid autonomous model to evaluate supplier bids without direct human intervention; devising a hybrid three-module method and overcoming complexity of computations in resulting algorithm by means of agents; outlining the best criteria to assess suppliers; evaluating the suppliers based on voice of customer during all stages of the process; and discussing analysis, design, and implementation issues of the evaluation agent. The paper includes implications for development of an integrated total system for supply chain coordination. The most important advantages of this work over earlier researches on supplier selection are: implementation of an autonomous assessment mechanism using intelligent agents for the first time, making the best out of three widely applied methodologies all at once, evaluation process mainly based on features of customer order, coordination of supply job based on a bidding system, and portal-mediated operation and control.

The article proposes a hybrid model to be applied by evaluation agents to pick the best supplier bid(s) in real-time supply network coordination. Softbots act without direct human intervention and make use of three powerful techniques of fuzzy logic, quality function deployment and analytical hierarchical process to evaluate and select the best alternative(s). Suppliers are ranked based on both voice of customer and technical requirements via an online bidding system. The resulting evaluation engine is embedded in an integrated total system for supply chain coordination. The mechanism is verified in theory and practice and has been implemented in real-world cases.

Intelligent evaluation agent has been the most recent attempt toward automated supplier bid selection based on customer preferences. It has been proven to have advantages for successful supply chain coordination. Based on a formerly implemented real-time supply chain coordination system using intelligent agents, this work further investigates the problem to devise an intelligent fuzzy algorithm to evaluate supplier bids without direct human intervention. The general decision model of agent technology adoption has been explained in detail to provide a roadmap for managers and engineers in their movement toward multi-agent working environments. Then, the hybrid evaluation mechanism has been discussed step-by-step. Afterward, the approach has been carefully implemented and verified via a real-world case study. In this regard, a collection of twelve assessment criteria classified in two categories of customer suggestions and design specifications have been considered. This work has key advantages over earlier ones, including: modeling agent technology adoption in supply networks, description of an autonomous assessment mechanism using intelligent agents, making the best out of three useful methodologies of F-AHP-QFD, considering features of customer order and his/her preferences throughout the decision making process, and coordination of supply processes using a bidding system based on pervasive and ubiquitous computing mechanisms.

Supply chain management (SCM) emphasises the overall and long-term benefit of all parties on the chain through cooperation and information sharing. This signifies the importance of communication and the application of IT-enabled systems in SCM. A supply chain management information system (SCMIS) is usually user-interfaced and designed to provide information and information processing capability to support the strategy, operations, management analysis, and decision-making functions in an organisation's supply network. SCMIS provides high quality, relevant and timely information flow that effectively supports decision-making for inventory replenishment, capacity activation, and for synchronising material flows at all tiers within the supply chain. In recent years, there have been some efforts on designing efficient information systems for supply chain management; but many of them have led to failure. Using a critical failure factor (CFF) approach and based on a perfect study, we investigate this crucial issue in-depth and put forward feasible solutions regarding failure prevention in such systems throughout this article. Three main purposes of this paper are to: (1) identify SCMIS and its characteristics, (2) introduce and categorise the critical failure factors of SCM and SCMIS, and (3) investigate the explanatory power of these CFFs on the performance of supply channel processes performed through SCMIS.

Intelligent Wireless Web (IWW) employs the capabilities of high speed wireless networks and exploits the parallel advancements in Internet-based technologies such as the Semantic Web, Web Services, Agent-based Technologies, and context awareness. Considering its great potentials to be applied in business systems, we have devised an innovative model, based on the IWW services, for a typical mobile real-time supply chain coordination system which has been developed and tested in a real operational environment. Our article investigates the proposed system in this way: at the start, the building blocks of the IWW are discussed in detail. Then, we fully explain the basic concepts of mobile real-time supply chain coordination and concentrate on the motivations to implement such a modern system. The vision of intelligent wireless web services, as discussed in this paper, centers on the need to provide mobile supply chain members highly specific data and services in real-time on an as-needed basis, with the flexibility of use for the user. In this regard, we investigate nine enabling technologies of the IWW for our system and discuss how, by exploiting the convergence and synergy between different technologies, it has become possible to deliver intelligent wireless web support to mobile real-time supply chain coordination. Afterwards, a practical framework is clearly established in four phases. This initiative system has been implemented in the laboratory and has passed the evaluation processes successfully. Further details will be announced in near future in another research article.

Notice of retraction: “Theoretical and practical study of supply chain coordination” by Javad Soroor, Mohammad J. Tarokh and Ali Shemshadi, Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Volume 24 Number 2, 2009, pp. 131‐42. The Publisher of Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing wishes to retract the article “Theoretical and practical study of supply chain coordination” by Javad Soroor, Mohammad J. Tarokh and Ali Shemshadi which appeared in the Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Volume 24 Number 2, 2009, pp. 131‐42. It has come to our attention that large sections of the article (including much of the introduction, literature review, research propositions, research methodology, data collection and analysis, coordination points, results, discussion and conclusions) have been copied from, and did not reference, an earlier work: “Supply chain coordination in a fashion firm” written by Togar M. Simatupang, Indah Victoria Sandroto and S.B. Hari Lubis which appeared in Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, Volume 9 Number 3, 2004, pp. 256‐68. The submission guidelines for Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing make it clear that submissions must be original and must not infringe any existing copyright. The Publisher sincerely apologises to the readers and to the authors of the earlier article: Togar M. Simatupang, Indah Victoria Sandroto and S.B. Hari Lubis.

With the emergence of high speed wireless networks and parallel advancements in Internet-based technologies such as the semantic Web, Web services, agent-based technologies, and context awareness, the realization of the vision of the intelligent wireless Web (IWW) has become a possibility. Under a project named SWESS (Smart WEb-based Supply chain coordination Software) in Shiraz University of Technologypsilas IT Laboratory, we simulated software that implements previous proposed framework. In this paper, after taking a brief look at a practical framework for mobile real-time supply chain coordination via IWW, we are going to investigate how we simulated such system and its performance.

With the rapid developments in e-learning and educational systems, updating and redesigning a learning activity is too costly and time-consuming. Web-based educational systems must be designed in order to enable reusing and repurposing of learning activities. As the most adopted framework in e-learning systems offered by ADL, SCORM can help us to reuse previous Content Objects again for developing a new learning activity. On the other hand, Agent-based systems technology has generated lots of excitement in recent years because of its promise as a new paradigm for conceptualizing, designing, and implementing software systems. This promise is particularly attractive for creating software that operates in environments that are distributed and open, such as the Internet and we believe this could be the same for e-learning systems. The components and technologies discussed in the first and second sections constitute the building blocks for the realization of the futuristic vision of the new generation of SCORM conformant e-learning systems, which would allow intelligent access to highly specific and customized learning content by users.