Budapest Business University

The mission of FVC is to explore the present and future development of global value chains from macro- and micro perspectives with special emphasis on the impact of digital transformation. Therefore the Centre:

• Conducts research,
• Engages in educational activities,
• Develops knowledge base for vocational training programmes,
• Accomplish projects lead by the needs of business organisations exploiting the benefits of industry-university relationships.

The research activities of FVC are focusing on two, interrelated and complementary aspects, which designate the two research streams of the Centre:

1. Analysing the structural changes of global value chains (macro approach)
2. Exploring the changes in business management, highlighting the impact of digital technologies on productivity and efficiency (micro approach)

The combination of the macro- and micro aspects in the research approach will lead to a more complex understanding of these structures, because the international flow of products and services is the sum of the values added and the economic results in the various layers of global value chains.

The Macroeconomic Stream goes in quest of global value chains (GVCs) in two directions.

First, we explore the macroeconomic aspects of the GVC organisation; including methodological questions, theoretical-structural research and industry analyses. The team follows different aspects of research. One is international economics, which addresses the potential and the distribution of value added to evaluate value chains. Technology and innovation, another aspect, explores how GVCs are organised from a technological point of view, how they change and what impact they have on the macro economy. The strategic perspective focuses on the dynamics of global value chains in terms of organisational restructuring and the mobility options of the chain participants.

As another pivot the stream is involved in strategic foresight research. The team discusses present theoretical and methodological issues of futures studies with special attention to GVC applications and the development of future generations. Colleagues and PhD students of the different faculties of the BBU as well as of other universities work together in order to contribute to the global value chains research. 

In order to ensure the best possible material flow in the supply chain and to produce the volume of the order, it is necessary to reduce the lead time as much as possible, at the same time to ensure the output of faultless products. It is only possible, if:

• the time and cost of transportation are the optimal,
• the production process is optimal throughout the production line as well as in each cells, and
• scrap products are filtered out in time and as accurately as possible.

Ensuring this automatically is of utmost importance, as the human factor can lead to error in many cases.

For this reason, the aim of the Centre's research is to develop models, procedures and methods, with the help of which we explore the operational problems of certain elements of the supply chain, and then improve and optimize these processes. During our work, we constantly take into account the aspects of environmental protection.

Here are a few major research lines within this stream:

• modelling and examining the refuelling problems related to shipping,
• production logistics: optimization of scheduling problems in production lines with the help of AI tools,
• production logistics: handling problems with AI-tools arising during production control and quality control,
• applicability of blockchain technology in supply chain management.

This research stream is supported by the Smart Shop Floor Logistics Simulation Labor. This is a practice-oriented lab for students which provides opportunities to explore the latest industry 4.0 technologies introduced in logistics (e.g. AR, RFID, tracking technologies, ERP) and a potential platform for university-industry collaboration. In addition, there are plans to set up a research lab for business informatics students where students will face practical problems directly.

• “Gazdaságok a globális értékláncokban (Economies in the global value chains)” course of the IBE MA study,
• “Macroeconomic analysis” course of the IBE MA study.

• Digitális ellátási lánc (Digital supply chain” – 4-day course on supply chains and various digital technologies
• Technologies at the Smart Shop Floor Logistics Simulation Lab – 1-day introductory course
• “Innovation: how it moves the 21^st century’s economy?” - 1-day course on innovation, innovation processes in theory and in practice (case studies)
• “Egy leendő közgazdász világa? Technológiai paradigmák és gazdasági jövőképek (The future world of an economist? Technology paradigms and economic forecasts) – half-day course

• Collaboration with Bosch on training at the Smart Shop Floor Logistics Simulation Lab
• Dissemination of knowledge within the Researchers’ Night initiative

The Lab makes modern, Industry 4.0 technologies available and testable, the application of which at the company level can have a significant efficiency-increasing effect. Laboratory users can first view the possibilities of developing a Smart Factory concept with the help of a physical model, and then they can perform the development and simulation of the concept themselves in an AR (Augmented Reality) environment.

There are various Industry 4.0 tools and methods as part of the production line simulation: RFID (automatic presence detection of materials), XDK sensor (real-time detection of physical parameters), AR (Augmented reality applications), VR (Virtual reality - virtual reality applications) SAP ERP (enterprise structure mapping into an integrated digital environment), IRID-RTLS infrared indoor localization technology.

Using all these technologies, the production line simulation consists of seven workstations and two supermarkets. The system provides an opportunity to compare production cycles based on the “traditional” and “smart factory” concepts, to learn about data-driven business procedures, and to present the role of business intelligence in supporting corporate decision-making. Digital tools - using modern Data Scientist, Business Analyst methods and technologies - also answer the important question of what environmental parameters should be measured to optimize business processes.

The data set created during the simulation activity can be processed with the help of modern analytical tools and methods in order to get a more accurate picture of what happened during the process, why it could have happened, and what could have happened based on all this. Thus, based on the historical data generated during the production simulation, the necessary analytical work (dashboards, KPIs, creation of analytical models) can be performed, and then predictive analytical models (ML / DL algorithms) can be used to create plans for the future in order to support decisions more effectively. Thus, in addition to becoming familiar with specific business processes and technologies, a business value-creating effect is also achieved.

The educational environment of the simulation lab aims to develop the hard and soft skills needed by future employees so that it can reduce the gap between industry and education and the corporate retraining periods in the most efficient way.

The role of universities in the society is undergoing significant changes around the world. In the past, higher education institutions have been places of teaching and research. Their diplomas and research findings were seen as a valuable contribution to society. In addition, however, society as a whole now expects universities to provide new services that include employable and responsible graduates and relevant, effective research, easily utilized by the business sector. Universities are able to do this by developing more relevant and deeper interactions, relationships and collaborations with their socio-economic environment than before, i.e. by strengthening their so-called "third mission”. This is also an important goal for BBS, and the Center of Excellence is an important “tool” for the university in building these economic relationships. The staff  of If you are interested and think that your business needs help in these or other related areas, feel free to contact the staff of the Center of Excellence.

The international scientific association EADI, the ELKH KRTK Institute of World Economy and the Center of Excellence for Future Value Chains of our university will jointly organize an international workshop from 9 to 10 December 2021, which aims to explore the linkages of multinational companies and global value chains in more detail and their role in the global economy.

We look forward to seeing you!

Participation information is available at the link ».

In today's economy, digitalisation is both a cause and a tool for many transformations, including the new market environment for businesses. One of the most important elements of the new features is the greater than ever before impact of customers, which is not only reflected in the shaping of demand, but also in the transparency of companies or the development of product supply. Gone are the days when economies of scale alone were the main drivers of business. In the 21st century, there is a growing demand for mass customization (see, for example, custom product design options offered by Nike, Rolls Royce). In this situation, it is an increasing challenge for businesses to meet diverse needs, an ever-expanding product range, while ensuring efficient operation, to which the flexible production system is the answer.

The publication, published with the contribution of Miklós Gubán and Ákos Gubán from FVC, focuses on the problem of how to create a computer application that can create a sufficiently efficient production system even in cases where companies have to cope with the production of small series, different products or individual orders. The article by Melinda Tímea Fülöp, Miklós Gubán, Ákos Gubán and Mihály Avornicului is published in the journal Processes entitled ‘Application research of soft computing based on machine learning production scheduling’. The paper presents a detailed mathematical model of the system under investigation, and then an IT model for a solution based on a soft calculation method which analyses the various versions through several practical problems.

Digitalisation is fundamentally changing how the economy operates, which is a challenge also for Hungarian small and medium-sized enterprises if they want to maintain their competitiveness and long-term success. However, determining exactly what a business have to do to meet the challenges of digitalisation is by no means an easy task. A recent article by Ágnes Sándor and Ákos Gubán, from JÉKK, entitled 'A Measuring Tool for the Digital Maturity of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises' can help with this task.

The aim of their article is to “define the concept of digital maturity, the theoretical foundations of the digital maturity model, and present a framework for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to understand where they are in digitalisation … to respond more quickly and effectively to environmental changes." The authors have created a dynamic model that supports management in their strategic, digital, and organizational developments. The model consists of 6 components and 28 components along IT and organizational dimensions. The ultimate goal of the study is to determine the weights of the components to create a neurofuzzy model. The article has been published in Management and Production Engineering Review.