Study On Quick Response System For Apparel Supply Chain Based On Web Services

The problem of the coexistence of high inventory and low customer service level has been long perplexing most apparel enterprises in China. The causes of the problem may be concluded as the extra length of the apparel supply chain and the changing nature of the apparel market. The supply chain involves a great number of function departments and as many links as supply of raw materials, spinning, weaving, dyeing, after-finishing, tailoring, sewing, ironing, packing, wholesaling and retailing. Besides, closely influenced by the fashion trends, the apparel has to change after a certain period of time, putting it into the short-life-cycle product catalogue. In addition to the variety of needs in different seasons, it is also hard to predict customers’ demands, which are becoming increasingly individualized, small in quantities and diversified in assortments. A feasible way to effectively solve the problem is quick response.However, its realization is not an easy job. The production planning of the production departments and the organization of control systems are relatively fixed and hard to change. What is worse, the information systems of relevant enterprises on the apparel supply chain, even those of the departments within one enterprise, all work in their own way and are not incompatible with each other. Therefore, to realize quick response, the basic information assurance should be reached, by breaking the information barriers of the information systems, transferring information in a fast and smooth way, and widely sharing of the transaction processing functions.In the circumstances of the Internet, Web services can help to realize autonomous system integration among information systems of business partners. An enterprise system can encapsulate its business functions into independent web services and release them onto the UDDI for future enterprise clients to find and integrate with. On the other hand, they can find latent supplier enterprises on the UDDI and integrate suppliers’services, such as order processing, style designing, customer supporting in a fast and convenient way without any bothering about details. These unique characteristics of the web services, on the basis of the full use of the already existing information systems, can help systems, while enormously protecting the value of the existing information investments, develop new business functions, thus providing new strategies for garment enterprises of middle to small scales, who suffer low level of informatization. Meanwhile, web services can provide technical support for quick demand-based information reconfiguration and business reconfiguration. All these help to lay foundations for the fast and smooth transmission, wide sharing, and fast collaborative reaction of demands information.The quick response system of the apparel supply system based on web services, by applying web services and relevant technology, aims to optimize the information processing on the supply chain and to enable all the information systems on the chain, in a fast, convenient and demanded-based way, to realize fast integration of all the information resources and processes of every relevant enterprise, thus to realize transparency and sharing of CPFR, demands prediction/planning, supply capacity, collaborative forecast, planning, and collaborative decision-making.The main research work of the thesis can be summarized as follows:(1) Has analyzed the quick response process of the apparel supply chain from the perspective of information processing.Proceeding from the basic course of response, the thesis has made a systematic analysis of the quick response in the information processing of the apparel supply chain, and made a thorough discussion of the problems confronting every link in the information processing, thus getting a model for quick response in information processing of the apparel supply chain.(2) Has provided multiple-view information architecture to realize the quick response system in the apparel supply chain.In accordance with the information processing for quick response of apparel supply chain, the thesis, after analyzing the requirements to information integration system by the quick response in the apparel supply chain, has explored, by combining web services technology and UDDI-based information releasing and discovering mechanism, an information sharing model of the apparel supply chain and a theoretical framework for the information integration system. And then an interpretation of that integration system has been made from the function view, resourse view, organization view, and process view of that integration system.(3) Has studied the organizing, designing and realizing of the web services in the quick-response information integration system of the apparel supply chain. Proceeding from the web service resources, the smallest unit that supports the quick-response information integration system of the apparel supply chain, the thesis has made a thorough sorting of all the basic services that need to be constructed in the information integration system, and interpreted the design, realization, encapsulation and management of every sort of services. Furthermore, the thesis, by explaining the operation process among services through examples, has testified the driving impact of the information integrating pattern in web services in quick response in apparel supply chain.(4) Has studied a fast-recommend algorithm for node enterprise of apparel products, which is based on an analysis of QoS of web service, node enterprises’preference and customer demands.The thesis, proceeding from the QoS of web service, has put forward the source of QoS of node enterprise, presentation, normalization and adjustment model of QoS, and then made a richly detailed analysis on QoS. Then a QoS configuration based on customers’ demands is given. Thereafter, based the QoS, a fast-recommend algorithm is put forward, which is in accordance with customers’ preferences and evaluative value of comprehensive evaluation degree of node enterprises, thus providing new strategies to fast meet customers’ demands.The innovation of the thesis is represented in the following aspects:1) The thesis, from the perspective of the systematic analysis based on information processing, has made an exploration in the quick response process research on apparel supply chain. Currently, the quick response process research of apparel supply chain is mainly in the light of the general management and the quick-response realizing strategies. However, the thesis has focused on the implementation of information system of apparel quick response, made more comprehensive and systematic analysis on the apparel supply chain quick response process based on its information processing flow.2) The thesis has made a combination between web service architecture and the apparel supply chain quick response mechanism. According to the information processing systematic analysis of the apparel supply chain quick response process,the thesis, thus, has put forward an organizational and systematic architecture for quick response system of the apparel supply chain and presented an entire scene of the information system integration organization from the perspective of the functions, resouces, organizations as well as processes to promote the ability of information acquirement, perception and treatment supporting the quick response of the apparel supply chain.3) The thesis, based on an analysis of Similar Preference, has presented a fast-recommend algorithm for node enterprise of apparel supply chain. Through the extended service of QoS on the basis of UDDI service discovery, the thesis has integrated the information released by the node enterpises and the third monitoring groups as well as the comments from the cooperative partners. Thus, has achieved a comprehensive node enterpise evaluation algorithm based on the node enterpise preference algorithm and intuitionistic fuzzy numbers. Finally, the thesis has given out a systematic architecture for the node enterpise selection strategy.