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This book constitutes the refereed post-conference proceedings of the International IFIP WG 5.7 Conference on Advances in Production Management Systems, APMS 2016, held in Iguassu Falls, Brazil, in September 2016. The 117 revised full papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 164 submissions. They are organized in the following topical sections: computational intelligence in production management; intelligent manufacturing systems; knowledge-based PLM; modelling of business and operational processes; virtual, digital and smart factory; flexible, sustainable supply chains; large-scale supply chains; sustainable manufacturing; quality in production management; collaborative systems; innovation and collaborative networks; agrifood supply chains; production economics; lean manufacturing; cyber-physical technology deployments in smart manufacturing systems; smart manufacturing system characterization; knowledge management in production systems; service-oriented architecture for smart manufacturing systems; advances in cleaner production; sustainable production management; and operations management in engineer-to-order manufacturing. 

The world over, clusters are home to leading firms and institutions that compete on the edge of technology. They can be found in developed and developing countries alike and comprise such famous ones as Silicon Valley, London ‟s financial center, ceramic tile and fashion in north Italy, wine in Bordeaux, automotive in Stuttgart and Munich, software in Bangalore, and manufacturing in China ‟s Pearl-river delta. Today they are studied by a variety of scholars from different fields including economists, social scientists, and strategists, but also by a growing number of business practitioners and policy makers.3 As a result, knowledge on the capacity of clusters to promote regional economic development and national prosperity and the role of local industrial policy in creating new clusters has increased rapidly in recent years The present research is best described as being exploratory in nature. It elaborates and extends existing theory. By doing so, it takes up a distinct position within scientific theory that is defined by three levels of analysis: (1) the meta-methodological level, (2) the methodological level, and (3) the theoretical level.