Value Analysis approach in the resources pre-selection of agile/virtual enterprises: Domain of applicability and selection time

For the project of an Agile/Virtual Enterprise (A/V E) the resources selection is a key factor. The resources systems (output of the selection process) should be prepared to guarantee quality, efficiency and cost-attractiveness, in order to ensure the agility and integrability of the A/V E. This is a difficult matter because it can be a combinatorial and multi-criteria problem. Despite the potential of Value Analysis (VA), none of the resources selection models found in the literature incorporates the evaluation of the resources value. They approach mainly the factors cost and/or time. So, our model constitutes an innovative approach because it gives the highest importance to the value of the resources systems, through the incorporation of VA. The main objective is to quantify the selection process performance with VA integrated into the pre-selection of resources in accordance with the developed model. The paper contribution is the positive confirmation, through the simulation results analysis, of the benefits of VA integration in the resources selection process: greater applicability domain for candidate resources and number of tasks; and reduction of the selection time. In conclusion, the increased efficiency and the superior applicability domain of the model are demonstrated.