Keywords: open innovation, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), network business environment, technological infrastructure, legal framework, model of innovation for SMEs .Abstract. The SMEs represent an important factor of growth in both developed and developing countries, into which, however, they face different obstacles in the process of innovation. This paper analyses how open communication and collaboration can help SMEs in their struggle for sustainable innovation and profitable market competition. Based on a literature review, a number of obstacles that SMEs have to overcome in their current activity and possible support to be competitive are revealed. The main benefits and particularities of implementing open innovation in SMEs are presented. The necessity of a supportive business environment for SMEs is demonstrated. An outline of an improved model for SMEs is presented.

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This paper presents a bidirectional load planning procedure for job-shops with availability time-windows for specific machines. This heuristic procedure uses priority rules and reverse planning directions to progressively construct two schedules: one for machines with availability constraints (the bottlenecks) and upstream, and other for bottlenecks downstream. Bottlenecks schedule is driving the schedule for all other non-bottleneck machines. Makespan reduction for aggregate schedule is finally performed if possible, by left shifting scheduled operations to their earliest start times.

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This paper analyses the issue of ensuring enhanced productivity and robustness to work schedules designed for multi-operational batch production processes, when a fixed, limited number of workstations can be used for production. The productivity of a batch production schedule for a specific quantity of items is measured by the length of its cycle time, while the robustness of the schedule is given by the size and distribution of operational slack times that are ensured during the production process run. It is mathematically demonstrated that a simple process planning solution may be the key for meeting the above mentioned objectives, if it is possible to be applied in practice in combination with the lot streaming strategy for the production flow.