Ibus – an integrated business model for customer driven custom product supply chains
The overall objective for iBUS is to develop and demonstrate by 2018 an innovative internet based business model for the sustainable supply of traditional toy and furniture products that is demand driven, manufactured locally and sustainably, meeting all product safety guidelines, within the EU. The iBUS model focuses on the capture, creation and delivery of value for all stakeholders – consumers, suppliers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers.
The main focus of iBUS is to drive sales for EU traditional toy and furniture manufacturers by leveraging internet based technologies, focusing on safe products, quality, design and innovation. In this new iBUS model consumers become designers, designing, customising and placing orders for their own products online in the iBUS cloud. They will be supported by embedded services in iBUS, developed in the main by SME Technology providers. These services include augmented reality design assistants, design verification tools for compliance with EU product safety guidelines, analysis of environmental footprint and prototyping with additive layer / 3D printing. Subsequently, parametric engineering design principles will take the design from concept to demand. This demand will then be synchronised and optimised across the supply chain, supported by the embedded supply chain optimisation tools, to produce sustainable demand driven production and supply plans. Manufacturers will then produce the furniture and toys in small scale series production driven by the actual customer demand. Suppliers will have visibility of, and make decisions based on, end-customer demand. Likewise customers will have visibility of their orders through all stages of production and delivery. The infrastructure will be cloud based using internet and social media technologies, allowing interaction and collaboration, but also accessible to home-based or small business users, promoting social inclusion.