Road Map to the Development of European SME Networks (eBook)

Agostino Villa was made a full professor in 1990 and since 1991 has taught Production Planning and Control, and Performance Analysis of Industrial Production Systems at the Polytechnic University of Torino. He is currently President of the International Foundation for Production Research( IFPR), Vice-Chairman of the Technical Committee MIM (Manufacturing Modeling, Management and Control) of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC). Dario Antonelli got his Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering in December 1990. After being a researcher at the Fiat Research Center, he became an associate professor at the Politecnico di Torino in 2001, in the scientific sector Technology and Production Systems. He now teaches Production Systems at the same University and is responsible for all the graduation courses at the Faculty of Management and Industrial Engineering. His scientific activity covers the numerical modelling and simulation of production processes and its experimental verification.

Preface 5
Acknowledgments 7
Contents 8
Analysing Collaborative Demand and Supply Networks in a Global Economy 12
1.1 SME Networks: a European Way 13
to Collaborative Innovation 13
1.2 Industrial Districts: Historical Tools for Complex Systems 16
1.3 Motivations for a New Analysis Methodology 24
References 30
A View of SME Clusters and Networks in Europe 33
2.1 An Overview of SME Networks Across Europe 34
2.2 Poles of Competitiveness in France 39
2.3 Science Parks in Greece 48
2.4 Outsourcing Networks in Ireland 55
2.5 Industrial Districts in Italy 64
References 70
Promote Aggregation of SMEs: Suggestions and Actions 71
3.1 Strengthening SME Network Governance 71
3.2 Addressing Collaboration in Industrial Networks 80
3.3 Improving SMEs from a Supply Chain Perspective: 86
a QFD-Based Approach 86
3.4 SMEs in Supply Chain Networks: 96
Cooperation and Competition 96
3.5 Trust in Demand and Supply Networks 104
3.6 Training Networks in Ireland 106
3.7 SME Networks for Car Recycling in Hungary: 113
an Agent-Based Approach 113
References 121
The CODESNET Approach to SME Networks Analysis 126
4.1 A Model to Represent SME Networks: 126
Structure, Governance and Interactions with Markets 126
4.2 A SME Networks Model for Performance Analysis 131
Through Comparison 131
4.3 A Formal Model for SME Networks Performance 135
Understanding 135
4.4 An Example of Cluster Analysis 138
4.5 The SME Network Analysis Methodology 145
References 153
The CODESNET Website: a Portal Supporting SME Network Innovation 154
5.1 The CODESNET Website Structure 154
5.2 CODESNET: a Bridge Between Academia and Industry 166
5.3 Analysing and Comparing SME Networks 172
Through the CODESNET Website 172
References 188
Authors 189
Index 194