Business Commons^™

Virtues Of Sorghum: Utilization And Supply Chain Management, Lloyd W. Rooney

INTSORMIL Presentations

Discusses the consumer demands, value-added supply chain, strategy for value-added products, functionality of sorghums and millets, sorghum food use in Central America, plant breeding and improvement of grain quality, sorghum image, special sorghums as a particularly healthy food item, food utilization, improving sorghum quality, effect of molds, insects, and weathering on grain quality, and mycotoxins.

Coordinating Production And Recycling Decisions With Stochastic Demand And Return, Jianmai Shi, Guoqing Zhang, Jichang Sha, Saman Hassanzadeh Amin

Mechanical, Automotive & Materials Engineering Publications

In this paper, the joint production and recycling problem is investigated for a hybrid manufacturing and remanufacturing system where brand-new products are produced in the manufacturing plant and recycled products are remanufactured into as-new products in the remanufacturing facility. Both the brand-new products and remanufactured products are used to satisfy customer demands. Returns of used products that are recycled from customers are assumed to be stochastic and nonlinearly price-dependent. A mathematical model is proposed to maximize the overall profit of the system through simultaneously optimizing the production and recycling decisions, subject to two capacity constraints — the manufacturing capacity and …

Business Process Management: Helping Organizations Remain Competitive, Kevin P. Duffy, Jeremy Humble

ISSCM Faculty Publications

Business process management involves the examination of business processes in organizations, in order to make them more effective and efficient. BPM changes the focus of analysis from the organization as a whole to the organizational process. A process is a series of steps that lead to an outcome and may be simple or complex, depending on the type and number of steps involved. A process within an organization by which the company either introduces new products or refreshes old ones with new features, thus providing the market with new product offerings.

How Purchasing Departments Can Take Advantage Of The Sluggish Economy To Achieve Strategic Opportunities Through Best Practices, Peter O'Reilly

Publications

Presentation objectives:

• What is a Strategic Best Practice and Why is it Important to a Purchasing Department?

Multi-Product Budget-Constrained Acquistion And Pricing With Uncertain Demand And Supplier Quantity Discounts, Jianmai Shi, Guoqing Zhang

Mechanical, Automotive & Materials Engineering Publications

We consider the joint acquisition and pricing problem where the retailer sells multiple products with uncertain demands and the suppliers provide all unit quantity discounts.The problem is to determine the optimal acquisition quantities and selling prices so as to maximize the retailer’s expected profit, subject to a budget constraint. This is the first extension to consider supplier discounts in the constrained multi-product newsvendor pricing problem. We establish a mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) model to formulate the problem, and developaLagrangian based solution approach.Computational results for the test problems involving up to thousand products are reported, which show that the Lagrangian …

Tls Newsletter Volume 4, Edition 3. November, 2010, Unf Transportation And Logistics Society

Transportation & Logistics Society Newsletter

Inside the Newsletter: In the Know--A Look Inside Jaxport. General Meeting and Professionals In Logistics Panel 11/3/2010. Life after Graduation with Rachel Cecil. Important Upcoming Dates. Get to Know TLS Secretary & Newsletter Editor Matthew Bullard.

Learning Computational Thinking From Rapid Digital Game Creation, Praveen Kuruvada, Daniel Asamoah, Nikunj Dalal, Subhash Kak

ISSCM Faculty Publications

Computational Thinking (CT) has been described as a universally applicable ability such as reading and writing. In this paper, we describe an innovative pedagogy using Rapid Digital Game Creation (RDGC) for learning CT skills. RDGC involves the rapid building of digital games with high-level software that requires little or no programming knowledge. We analyze how RDGC supports various CT concepts and how it may be mapped to equivalent Java concepts by building the same game using both RDGC and Java. We discuss the potential benefits of this approach for attracting computing majors, as a precursor to learning formal programming languages, …

The Impact Of Market Focus On Operations Practices, Tritos Laosirihongthong, Keah Choon Tan, Vijay R. Kannan

Management Faculty Publications

A key element of successful organisations is the alignment of their strategy and tactics. This study explores the relationship between a firm’s competitive strategy and its operations practices in the context of a developing economy. Two competitive strategies are examined; a niche market strategy characterised by targeting specific market segments, and a broad market strategy characterised by serving a wide range of market segments. Three sets of operations practices consistent with the adoption of lean manufacturing, Total Quality Management, and relationship development in a supply chain context, are explored. Using survey data from senior managers in Thailand, results show that …

Tls Newsletter Volume 4, Edition 2. October, 2010, Unf Transportation And Logistics Society

Transportation & Logistics Society Newsletter

Inside the Newsletter: In the Know--Join TLS, Prepare for the Future. General Meeting and Young Alumni Panel Ocotber 13th. Life after Graduation with Maria Lugovets. Important Upcoming Dates. Get to know TLS Recruitment Director Joseph Finnigan

Foodshed Foundations: Law's Role In Shaping Our Food System's Future, Margaret Sova Mccabe

Law Faculty Scholarship

[. . .] This symposium Article analyzes how we can rethink the architecture of law based on a foodshed model to provide a greater role for local, state, and regional government in the American food system. In turn, greater roles for different levels of government may help America achieve greater efficiencies in domestic food safety, nutrition and related public health issues, sustainability, and international trade.

Americans need a greater voice in the food system. The foodshed model is a powerful vehicle that allows us to conceptualize change, allowing greater citizen participation and a more nuanced approach to food policy. The …

Gains In The Life-Cycle Of Adaptable, Self-Organizing Material Handling Systems, Jan R. Nopper, Guido Follert, Michael Ten Hompel

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

Compared to conventional material flow controls, self-organized material handling systems and the Internet of Things in facility logistics promise several advantages during the life-cycle. Most important is the increased adaptability in case of expansions or modifications due to a consistent modular design; this also promotes an increased robustness due to clearly defined interfaces and a decreased complexity of each module. The use of RFID technology increases the availability of real-time data about the system and the transported units. However, the introduction of self-organized material handling systems also causes costs, e.g. for necessary RFID tags and readers. Against this background, it …

A Real-Time Picking And Sorting System In E-Commerce Distribution Centers, Yeming Gong, Erik M. M. Winands, Rene B. M. De Koster

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

Order fulfillment is the most expensive and critical operation for companies engaged in e-commerce. E-commerce distribution centers must rapidly organize the picking and sorting processes during and after the transaction has taken place, with the ongoing need to create greater responsiveness to customers. Sorting brings a relatively large setup time, which cannot be well admitted by existing polling models. We build a new stochastic polling model to describe and analyze such systems, and provide approximate explicit expressions for the complete distribution of order line waiting time for polling-based order picking systems and test their accuracy. These expressions lend themselves for …

Spiral Facility Layout Generation And Improvement Algorithm, Hatice E. Sanli, Fahrettin Eldemir

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

This study is concerned with construction and improvement of a facility layout heuristic called Spiral Facility Layout Generation and Improvement Algorithm (SFLA). The algorithm starts with positioning departments from center point and continues like a hologram from center to outside. The aim of any facility layout algorithm is to better allocate the departments within facility. SFLA is compared with the existing space filling curve methods, MCRAFT and MULTIPLE, that are available in the literature. To form an initial spiral curve, a block system is used, like the bands for MCRAFT. The width and length of the blocks are given by …

Merge Problems With High Speed Sorters, Dirk Jodin, Andreas Wolfschluckner

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

To meet customer demands on distribution the necessity of sorting systems for unit loads in regard to quantity and capacity is growing up constantly.

Due to that, manufactures offer powerful sorting machines with a capacity up to 15.000 pieces per hour. Those machines are for instance Crossbelt or Tilt-Tray sorters. The output of these sorters is calculated by the equation of throughput.

The point of interest is the merge, referring to the overall efficiency of the single sorter. The motion sequence during merging has to be absolutely quick and precise to achieve exact positioning using minimized distances of the single …

Dispatching Vehicles Considering Uncertain Handling Times At Port Container Terminals, Vu Duc Nguyen, Kap Hwan Kim

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

This paper considers the problem of vehicle dispatching at port container terminals in a dynamic environment. The problem deals with the assignment of delivery orders of containers to vehicles while taking into consideration the uncertainty in the travel times of the vehicles. Thus, a real-time vehicle dispatching algorithm is proposed for adaptation to the dynamic changes in the states of the container terminals. To evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm, a simulation study was conducted by considering various values of decision parameters under the uncertainty in travel times. Further, the performance of the proposed algorithm was compared with those …

Investigating Possible Synergies In Intermodal Operations With Truck And Rail, G. Don Taylor, Mia K. Burns, Gary L. Whicker

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

As the trucking industry continues to examine ways to provide better service at lower cost, many companies are more heavily utilizing intermodal (IM) strategies between truck and rail, especially for those loads that are relatively non-critical in terms of delivery time requirements and that have longer lengths of haul. As IM business grows, supporting dray infrastructure naturally develops around IM rail yards. What is unknown is whether it is best to have a dedicated set of drivers performing dray operations or if efficiency and cost savings can result when utilizing a joint driving fleet to concurrently support IM and traditionally …

Optimization Of Costs And Service Level By Choosing The Best Customer Order Decoupling Point, Michael Schmidt, Detlef Spee

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

The customer order decoupling point (CODP) as the link in the supply chain between processes based on uncertain information, such as sales forecasts, and certain information in the form of customer orders is crucial for production efficiency, storage costs, and the quality of logistics. This paper focuses on developing an approach for identifying a CODP that provides the highest potential for achieving business objectives. Within the context of the above-mentioned topics, this paper focuses on the interrelations and the tradeoffs that have to be made when positioning the COPD. The goal of the paper is to present an effective and …

Analysis Of Picker Blocking In Narrow-Aisle Batch Picking, Soondo Hong, Andrew L. Johnson, Brett A. Peters

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

This study analyzes impacts by batch picking on picker blocking in narrow-aisle order picking, and determines appropriate batch formations for a better order picking throughput. We present multiple-pick analytical models to offer insights about picker blocking in batch picking. Several simulation studies over a variety of batching situations scrutinize order batching situations which give throughput benefits in narrow-aisle configurations by satisfying the analytical results. Our results highlight three findings for narrow-aisle batch picking processes: 1) variation of pick probability in batch picking is inevitable and is a primary driver of picker blocking; 2) a near-optimal distance-based batching algorithm can experience …

Drive And Motion Design In Material Handling Equipment, Jorg Oser, Christian Landschutzer

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

Drives account in many cases up to one third of the costs of material handling equipment. This fact justifies a closer look to important drive and motion issues. Typical design criteria for drives are energy and power consumption, wear, heat and noise generation. Engineering design activities start with the generation of the system configuration, that is to make appropriate topological decisions where to locate the drives in the equipment structure. These decisions define to a great extent the functional quality of the mechanical structure and the distribution of forces in the power train. For early design stages an elasto-kinetic model …

The Effect Of Interaction Between The Production System (Ps) And A Looped Conveyor-Based Material Handling System (Lcmhs) In A Manufacturing Facility, Vernet Lasrado, Dima Nazzal

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

In this paper, we provide empirical evidence that shows the effect of the interaction between the production system (PS) and a looped conveyor-based material handling system (LCMHS) in a manufacturing facility. A rudimentary simulation model captures the interaction between the two systems. Varying several key factors, we test for a statistically significant difference in the work in process (WIP) of the production system with and without the LCMHS to find if the squared coefficient of variation (SCV) of the interarrival time distribution to the PS is affected. The results suggest the need to model the interaction between the two systems …

Multiple-Grooved Magnetic Traction Sheaves, Thorsten Schmidt, Thomas Leonhardt, Martin Anders

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

This paper discusses a new and innovative form of traction sheaves, which can be used in many hoisting applications that are driven with wire ropes in material handling systems. By use of high performance permanent magnets, integrated in the periphery of traction sheaves, a significant increase of driving capacity is achieved. In this special case it concerns high energy magnets consisting of rare earth materials known as NdFeB magnets. These magnets provide a 20 times higher force than conventional magnets. The results of the research show that the driving capacity of traction sheaves with a round groove design can be …

Determining Warehouse Storage Location Assignments Using Clustering Analysis, Carl Egas, Dale Masel

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

The methodology used to assign products to a storage location in a warehouse can have a significant impact on the amount of time required to retrieve all of the items needed to fill an order. This paper describes a methodology that uses a clustering approach to determine storage assignments, where the metric of the strength of the relationship between two stock-keeping units (SKUs) is the number of times that the SKUs appear in the same order. Clustering is performed to maximize the frequency with which SKUs in the same cluster are ordered together. In testing, the clustering assignments were compared …

Webasrs – A Web-Based Tool For Modeling And Design Of Abstract Unit-Load Picking Systems, Jeffrey S. Smith, Sabahattin Gokhan Ozden

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

This paper describes a web-based tool that supports the modeling and design of abstract unit-load picking systems. The term “abstract” implies that the model is not specific to any equipment or vendors’ products, but, instead, focuses on the generic system components such as pallets, racks, slots, forklifts, cranes, etc. that comprise typical unitload picking systems. The objectives of the tool are to support the design of an AS/RSbased or a manual forklift-based picking system based on a set of design parameters and to be able to convert from an AS/RS design to a flat warehouse design and vice versa. The …

The Future Of Modeling In Material Handling Systems, Leon F. Mcginnis

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

Today, when we talk about “modeling” in the context of material handling systems, invariably we are referring to a mathematical or computational model for analyzing some aspect of the system, such as its throughput rate, response time, cost of ownership, required storage capacity, etc. Creating these kinds of models requires considerable knowledge in at least two domains the material handling system domain, and the analysis methodology domain—and considerable skill in the “art of modeling” in order to express the former in the terms of the latter. The results can be somewhat ad hoc—e.g., two different modelers are likely to create …

A Flowshop Scheduling Problem With Transportation Times And Capacity Constraints, Abraham Mendoza, Jose A. Ventura, Kwei Long Huang

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

Although there are numerous methodologies and research studies on machine scheduling, most of the literature assumes that there is an unlimited number of transporters to deliver jobs from one machine to another for further processing and that transportation times can be neglected. These two assumptions are not applicable if one intends to generate an accurate schedule for the shop floor. In this research, a flowshop scheduling problem with two machines, denoted as M1 and M2, and a single transporter with capacity c is considered. The main focus is on the development of a dynamic programming algorithm to generate a schedule …

Using Data Envelopment Analysis To Evaluate The Performance Of Third Party Distribution Centers, Ching-Jung Ting, Hsueh-Lin Fang

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

There has been considerable interest worldwide in last few years in the growth of third party logistics (3PL) providers. 3PL distribution center (DC) enables firms to achieve reduced operating costs, increased revenues, and to focus on their core competence. This research aims to find the key performance indicators through a survey of a set of DCs and then evaluate their efficiency over the period 2005-2007 using data envelopment analysis (DEA) models based on selected performance indicators as inputs and outputs. Three inputs and two outputs for all DCs from the surveyed performance indicators were selected in this study. DEA is …

Class-Based Storage With A Finite Number Of Items, Yugang Yu, René B.M. De Koster

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

ABC class-based storage is widely studied in literature and applied practice. It divides all stored items into a limited number of classes according to their demand rates (turnover per unit time). Classes of items with higher turnovers are stored in a region closer to the warehouse depot. In literature, it is commonly shown that the use of more storage classes leads to shorter travel time for storing and retrieving items. A basic assumption in this literature commonly is that the required storage space of items equals their average inventory levels, which is right if an infinite number of items are …

Tls Newsletter Volume 4, Edition 1. September, 2010., Unf Transportation And Logistics Society

Transportation & Logistics Society Newsletter

In the newsletter: In the Know--Transportation & Logistics Fall Career Day. First TLS General Meeting of the semester September 15th. Life after graduation with Eric Bateh. Important Upcoming Dates. Get to Know TLS President Cole Norton

Freight Sequencing To Improve Hub Operations In The Less-Than-Truckload Freight Transportation Industry, Xiangshang Tong, Kimberly Ellis, Amy Brown Greer

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

In less-than-truckload freight transportation, hub operations affect the service levels that carriers are able to provide their customers. This paper focuses on improving the efficiency of hub operations by reducing freight handling time and cost. Specifically, the freight sequencing problem (FSP) is investigated to determine the freight unloading and loading sequence that minimizes the time for dock workers to transfer shipments from origin trailers to destination trailers. The FSP is modeled as a Rural Postman Problem (RPP) and three algorithms are compared: trailer-at-atime, nearest neighbor, and balance-and-connect. Using five industrial data sets, the results demonstrate the effectiveness, advantages, and disadvantages …

Towards A Physical Internet: The Impact On Logistics Facilities And Material Handling Systems Design And Innovation, Benoit Montreuil, Russell D. Meller, Eric Ballot

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

Aiming for a radical sustainability improvement, the Physical Internet has the potential of revolutionizing the fields of material handling, logistics, transportation and facilities design. It exploits the enabling concept of standardized, modular and smart containers as well as the universal interconnectivity of logistics networks and services. Its underlying paradigm shift creates a tremendous breakthrough innovation opportunity for the material handling and facility logistics community in terms of equipment, systems and facility design and operation. This paper provides a primer overview of a key subset of the physical elements serving as the foundation of the Physical Internet infrastructure, classified in three …