Faculty Book Chapters

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  Implementing Business Intelligence in the Dynamic Beverages Sales and Distribution Environment

  Mahmoud Sami Akabawi and Heba Hodeeb

  To compete successfully in today’s retail business arena, senior management are often demanding fast and responsive Information Systems that enable the company not only to manage its operations but to provide on-the-fly performance measurement through a variety of tools. Use of (ERP) systems have been slow in responding to these needs, despite the wealth of the internally generated business databases and reports as a consequence of functional integration. The specific nature and demands by those senior management staff require the congregation of many external data elements and use data mining techniques to provide fast discovery of performance slippages or changes in the business environment. Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence (BI) applications, evolved during the past few decades, have been implemented to respond to these needs. In this case write-up, we present how the ERP system was utilized as the backbone for use by BI tools and systems to provide Sales and Marketing units in a transnational company subsidiary in Egypt to actively respond to the demands for agile information services. The Egypt subsidiary is the HQ of the African region’s operations of several franchises and distributers of the company products, in addition to operating a beverage concentrate manufacturing plant in Egypt, which services the entire region’s beverage products needs.

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  Ghabbour group ERP deployment: Learning from past technology failures

  M. S. Akabawi

  Ghabbour group "GB Auto," an Egyptian auto trading and manufacturing establishment, has gone through two ERP successive implementations within the past 12 years. The newer implementation has experienced several impediments. The executives and the Board of Directors at the group have thoroughly and aggressively examined the status of the IS services provided by this ERP system and assessed their impact on the quality of decision making at all levels of management. The driver for this was to secure all the necessary platforms and management tools for enabling growth and improving efficiency and effectiveness of the company's business operation and resources. The extent of lack of control and effective utilization of the use of resources in the group has been cited by the top management in many interviews. Following its public offering and registration in the CASE and CMA, GB Auto was legally demanded to provide annual and quarterly audit reports of its varied LOBs' performance. The existing information management infrastructure was not providing such agile services. The trajectory of implementations of integrated Enterprise Information Systems at the group was reviewed in this case study and was duly investigated to assess the effectiveness and appropriateness in servicing those purposes and increasing the company's competitive advantage. © 2011, IGI Global.

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  Rethinking opportunistic routing using space syntax

  Amr Aljarhi, Hend Arafa, Khaled A. Harras, and Sherif G. Aly

  [abstract not available]

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  Testing of first and second order delta-sigma converters for catastrophic faults

  M. H. Amin, M. B. Abdelhalim, and H. H. Amer

  [abstract not available]

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  Experimental implementation of a cantilevered piezoelectric energy harvester with a dynamic magnifier

  M. Arafa, W. Akl, A. Aladwani, O. Aldraihem, and A. Baz

  [abstract not available]

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  Cooperative web caching of dynamic web content

  Mohamed R. Atassi, Sherif G. Aly, and Amr El-Kadi

  [abstract not available]

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  Mona El Fadly: Spinning Off the Supply Chain

  Ali Awni and Menna Kamel

  This case examines a business in the food catering industry and demonstrates the importance of supply chain practices even to an entrepreneur’s small business. The business is legally registered as ‘El Yosr Food Corner’ and has been operating in Egypt since 1997. It provides standardized as well as customized home-made oriental dishes at competitive prices. By 2009, the surge in the growth of the business had strained the company’s operational capabilities in various ways. Furthermore, the business had encountered a number of hitches as a result of inefficiencies in supply chain management. Menna Reda, El Yosr’s consultant, was called in to advise the enterprise owner and managing director, Mona El Fadly, of the proper course of action to address these challenges.

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  KOHLER®: Forecasting For Project-Based Market

  Ali Awni and Mohamed Nada

  A newly appointed Middle East regional marketing manager for a major sanitary ware producer is exploring options to improve sales forecasts. The old forecasting method, which was based on historical sales from distributors’ retail stores, performed very poorly. Regional sales were driven mainly by large construction projects in the Gulf countries. A new approach that explicitly considers the status of each project and the stock-keeping units (SKUs) demanded shows promise.

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  Recognition of segmented online Arabic handwritten characters of the ADAB database

  Sherif Abdel Azeem and Hany Ahmed

  [abstract not available]

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  Arabic handwriting recognition using concavity features and classifier fusion

  Sherif Abdel Azeem and Maha El Meseery

  [abstract not available]

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  Olives: The Taste of Lebanon with a ‘Twist’

  Aliaa Bassiouny and Manar K. El-Batrawy

  Case setting is inside Olives, which despite its success in creating its brand name and capturing a significant number of customers, is facing challenges regarding its future expansion and financing alternatives. The case examines an example of a successful entrepreneur in Egypt and the key drivers to his/her success, the process through which he/she goes and the strategic decisions of timing and financing future expansion. The protagonist is Olives’ CEO Mr. Ayman Shaikhun, who has proven to be a successful entrepreneur that managed to grow and success in the unstable political and economic environment of Egypt. The case follows through the history of Olives and the owner, presenting the start-up and growth of Olives. It then moves on to outline the operations and financial standing of the business over the period of 2010-2014, where despite the Egyptian revolution and the instability of the country, the business managed to overcome the obstacles ahead of its sustainability.

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  Blending Information and Communication Technology (ICT) with an Accounting System: The Case of the Egyptian International Motors Company (EIM)

  Khaled Dahawy and Khaled Samaha

  Improving our understanding of the accounting information system development in a specific Egyptian context, this case aims to investigate the development of a redesigned automated accounting system in a privately owned Egyptian company that was planning material changes in its accounting systems and organizational structure through integrating ICT systems. In other words, this case attempts to explore the company’s strategic decisions regarding computerized accounting information system implementation choices, problems met during the implementation process, and the actions taken to takeover these problems to gain the potential accounting system redesign benefits. Tracking the automated accounting system redesign highlights some implementation success key factors and emphasizes that obtaining top management commitment to the process of an automated accounting system implementation is a prerequisite for success.

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  Turbulence and heat transfer measurements in an inclined large scale film cooling array - Part I, velocity and turbulence measurements

  Lamyaa A. El-Gabry, Douglas R. Thurman, Philip E. Poinsatte, and James D. Heidmann

  [abstract not available]

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  Estimation method of inelastic displacement demands of moment resisting-frame buildings in moderate seismic zones

  S. H. ElKassas and M. A. Haroun

  [abstract not available]

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  An original technique to characterize naturally fractured reservoirs frompressure transient analyses

  Tarek Elkewidy

  [no abstract provided]

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  The fractured triangle; A graphically aided technique to characterize naturally fractured reservoirs from pressure transient analyses

  Tarek Elkewidy

  This new technique is introduced to characterize all kinds of naturally fractured (secondary porosity) reservoirs, including carbonates, basements, and elastics on the Megascopic scale of well testing delineation. The technique is based on an original view of pressure transient data (buildup). In fact, this technique bridges between the Macro, Meso, and Megascopic scales of reservoir characterizations. Conventional well testing analysis techniques, e.g. Horner method, do not often work for naturally fractured reservoirs since they are based on a homogeneous reservoir model. In addition, all available techniques to characterize naturally fractured reservoirs from pressure transient analyses are very much theoretical models based on unrealistic geometrical assumptions. They lack practical applications and produce limited information. The new technique has the merit of working on real reservoir data. It utilizes pressure buildup data through the fact that formation fluids travel across different systems in heterogeneous naturally fractured reservoirs; matrix, fractures and the damaged area. A unique graphical characterization of shut-in well pressure versus time will illustrate the effect of fluid movements from the matrix system (or the tiny fractured system) through the main fracture system and across the damage area, if any, into the well. Fluid movements through each system are represented graphically. The technique is further optimized through application of pressure derivative methods to yield a very characteristic graphical representation (triangle) of each hydraulic "flow" unit in the reservoir. The presence of the triangle sides can be used to confirm the existence of a secondary porosity system (fractures) and/or damaged area. The slopes and intersection values of the straight lines are utilized into exclusive formulas to yield the most important petrophysical and engineering parameters about the heterogeneous naturally fractured reservoir (and, in many cases, other kinds of reservoirs) including: effective fractures, matrix and skin systems volumes, partitioning coefficient, fracture intensity index, formation resistivity factor, formation tortuosity, effective drainage radius, damage radius, effective cementation exponent, fracture porosity, matrix porosity, storativity ratio, in addition to fracture permeability, matrix permeability, damaged (skin) permeability, average permeability, pressure drop across the damage area, skin factor, damage permeability, average/dimensionless diffusivity factor, flow efficiency, damage ratio/factor, economic implication of formation damage, average hydraulic "flow" unit quality index. This document and presentation will cover the theory behind the technique and present actual field application examples. Copyright 2011, Society of Petroleum Engineers.

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  Simulating the effect of access road route selection on wind farm construction

  Mohamed El Masry, Khaled Nassar, and Hesham Osman

  [abstract not available]

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  Novel modified energy detection spectrum sensing technique for FM wireless microphone signals

  Salwa Elramly, Fatma Newagy, Hatem Yousry, and Ayman Elezabi

  [abstract not available]

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  Contact resistivity of laser annealed SiGe for MEMS structural layers deposited at 210°C

  Joumana El-Rifai, Ann Witvrouw, Ahmed Abdel Aziz, Robert Puers, and Chris Van Hoof

  [abstract not available]

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  Laser annealed SiGe devices for MEMS applications at temperatures below 250C

  J. El-Rifai, S. Sedky, R. Van Hoof, S. Severi, and D. Lin

  [abstract not available]

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  Effect of holding time before solidification on double-oxide film defects and mechanical properties of aluminium alloys

  M. El-Sayed, H. Salem, A. Kandeil, and W. D. Griffiths

  [abstract not available]

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  An on-line Arabic handwriting recognition system: Based on a new on-line graphemes Segmentation Technique

  Hesham M. Eraqi and Sherif Abdel Azeem

  [abstract not available]

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  Quantitative analysis of materials substitution in motorcars: How can light and advanced materials help the industry meet its challenges?

  Mahmoud M. Farag

  The automotive industry, more than ever before, is faced with great technical and economic challenges. The new generations of cars are expected to comply with increasing restrictions on emission, lower energy usage over the lifecycle of the car, and higher requirements for recoverability and recyclability of components. Research has shown that reducing the weight of the motorcar and selecting appropriate materials are among the most important factors that can be used to meet these challenges. It is known that about 85% of the total lifecycle energy consumption occurs during the operation phase of the motorcar and this is directly related to its weight of the car, especially in city driving. In electric and hybrid cars, the size and the distance travelled between consecutive battery charges are also related to the weight of the car. Weight reduction can be achieved by using high performance structures as well as lightweight and advanced materials in the design and manufacture of the motorcar frame, engine, chassis and components. For example, aluminum die castings and extrusions can be used for making the space frame, magnesium castings for engine blocks and instrument panels, fiber reinforced plastics for exterior and internal panels, metal matrix composites for engine components, and power metallurgy and thermal spray coating processes for transmission and engine parts. The light and advanced materials and the processes used for their manufacture are relatively more expensive than their traditional counterparts and are expected to increase the purchase price of the motorcar. However, the economic balance may considerably change if the lifecycle costs are considered. In addition to technical and cost considerations, safety, aesthetic and comfort issues need to be considered in materials substitution for the motorcar. This chapter discusses the different types of new materials and manufacturing processes that can be used to substitute current materials in modern motorcars to enable them to meet the technical and economic challenges that the automotive industry is now facing. A case study is presented to illustrate how quantitative methods can be used in materials substitution. Two methods (Performance/Cost Analysis and the Analytic Hierarchy Process) are introduced and used to reach rational decisions on optimum materials for interior body panels. Natural fiber reinforced plastics are shown to be the optimum materials for economy models and wood is shown to be optimum for luxury models. © 2010 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

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  Class-A stacked SiGe HBT power amplifier at millimeter-wave

  Thomas J. Farmer, Ali Darwish, Benjamin Huebschman, Edward Viveiros, and H. Alfred Hung

  [abstract not available]

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  Technology and the growth of the manufacturing firm

  Steven D. Formaneck

  Using a linked survey datasets in Canadian manufacturing (The Survey of Advanced Technology in Canadian Manufacturing the Annual Survey of Manufactures surveys), complementarities among 28 different Advanced Manufacturing Technologies (AMT) are empirically tested as well as substitute qualities, based on the success of the firm. Hypotheses generated from the AMT literature are explored. The main results show evidence against the classic theory that all forms of AMT are complementary. In addition, complementarity of AMT appears to aid in the growth of Canadian firms more so than short-term profit and productivity. Finally, there is evidence to suggest size and industry classification has an effect on AMT complementarity. © 2011 IEEE.