Operations and Supply Chain Management Commons^™

A Decision Support Approach To Designing The Inland Logistics Network In China, Hokey Min, Hyun-Jeung Ko, Chin-Soo Lin

Journal of Transportation Management

With the unprecedented growth of international trade, a growing number of multinational firms have coped with logistical challenges of shipping products to and from unfamiliar territories in many countries. These logistical challenges include the cross-border transportation of products originated from inland port to another inland port isolated from major waterways. In particular, the lack of access to major waterways would not only constrain the intermodal transportation option, but also make door-to-door, containerized delivery services nearly impossible. Such a limited option would eventually lead to increased transportation costs and transit time, and thereby offset low-cost global sourcing advantages. To aid multinational …

U.S. Firm Outsourcing/Offshoring Practices And Plans: An Update, Robert L. Cook, Brian J. Gibson

Journal of Transportation Management

A study of U.S. firm outsourcing and offshoring practices and future plans regarding supply chain activities provides an update for supply chain managers. Specifically, the reported information provides supply chain managers of manufacturing/ merchandising firms with a competitive benchmark; facilitates third party logistics manager strategic planning efforts and provides an input to U.S. transportation planners who determine future transport and infrastructure requirements. The study reports the responses of 151 Chief Purchasing Officers from U.S. firms. Firms are benefiting from outsourcing logistics and production activities and over one-third of the firms plan to increase outsourcing spend. In addition, 60 percent of …

Transportation Management Systems: An Exploration Of Progress And Future Prospects., Stanley E. Griffis, Thomas J. Goldsby

Journal of Transportation Management

This research reports the experiences of both adopters and non-adopters of transportation management system (TMS) technology. TMS adopters represent a diverse array of companies, with a surprisingly high percentage of adopters using outsourced services for decision support activities. Motives for adoption tend to align with the firm’s strategic needs though functionality focuses on the shipper’s day-to-day operational needs. While expectations of system performance and return on investment vary greatly, TMS users illustrate a generally high level of satisfaction. Non-adopters view decision support for transportation activities as a low priority. The article explores future prospects for TMS development and adoption.

Carcass Composition And Meat Quality Of Three Different Iberian × Duroc Genotype Pigs, Rosario Ramírez, Ramon Cava

Slaughter and Slaughtering Practices Collection

Carcass composition and meat quality of Longissimus dorsi (LD) and Biceps femoris (BF) muscles from three different Iberian × Duroc genotype pigs were studied: GEN1: ♂ Iberian × ♀ Duroc1; GEN2: ♂ Duroc1 × ♀ Iberian; GEN3: ♂ Duroc2 × ♀ Iberian. Duroc1 (DU1) were selected for the manufacture of dry-cured meat products while Duroc2 (DU2) were pigs selected for meat production, with high percentages of meat cuts and low carcass fat. Genotype had a significant effect on the differences found while sex had not. GEN2 showed the highest weights at days 180 and 238 of weaning and the highest …

A Multi-Objective Decision-Making Model For Resources Allocation In Humanitarian Relief, Seungbae Park

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis addresses the critical resource allocation in the initial days of a disaster relief operation. One of the most important and essential components of relief operations is the allocation of scarce resources to accomplish the relief efforts. Every operation for disaster relief needs various critical resources whether they are personnel, equipment, supplies, or simply finances. Several research efforts for disaster relief have suggested methods to allocate scarce resources across a variety of competing objectives and programs in a disaster relief operation. Many of those efforts focused on optimizing a mathematical programming model subject to budget constraints. However, capturing the …

Effect Of Stall Base Type On Herd Health, Costs, And Producer Satisfaction, W. K. Fulwider, T. Grandin, D. J. Garrick, T. E. Engle, W. D. Lamm, N. L. Dalsted, B. E. Rollin

Housing and Confinement of Farm Animals Collection

The objective of this field study was to compare effect of stall base on herd health, stall maintenance, bedding cost, and producer satisfaction. Ninety-one dairies visited during a 4-mo period starting October 14, 2005 included 33 rubber-filled mattress (RFM), 27 sand, and 31 waterbed (WB) dairies. In this study, percent culled was higher for RFM (P = 0.001) and sand (P = 0.06) than WB stall base dairies. Percent of cows in fourth lactation or greater was higher on WB than either RFM (P = 0.01) or sand (P = 0.02) dairies. There was no difference between base types for …

The Welfare Of Animals In The Meat, Egg, And Dairy Industries

Agribusiness Reports

Each year in the United States, approximately 11 billion animals are raised and killed for meat, eggs, and milk. These farm animals—sentient, complex, and capable of feeling pain and frustration, joy and excitement—are viewed by industrialized agriculture as commodities and suffer myriad assaults to their physical, mental, and emotional well-being, typically denied the ability to engage in their species-specific behavioral needs. Despite the routine abuses they endure, no federal law protects animals from cruelty on the farm, and the majority of states exempt customary agricultural practices—no matter how abusive—from the scope of their animal cruelty statutes. The treatment of farm …

Welfare Issues With Selective Breeding Of Egg-Laying Hens For Productivity

Agribusiness Reports

Today’s commercial laying hens have been selectively bred to produce more than 250 eggs per year. This unnaturally high level of productivity is metabolically taxing, often causing hens to suffer from “production diseases,” including osteoporosis and accompanying bone fractures, and can lead to reproductive disorders. Research suggests that the problem of osteoporosis may be worsening, possibly due to industry’s continuous push toward maximizing productivity. For decades, economic considerations have been valued and emphasized over the welfare of individual birds. An immediate change in priorities is needed to aggressively address welfare problems associated with selective breeding for egg production.

Correlation Of Numerical Ability And Quality Technician Best Performers In Manufacturing Quality Control Applications, Charles Wesley Shelton

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The occupation of Quality Technician has many duties requiring numerical operations. Business and industry place considerable emphasis on numerical ability when evaluating the performance of a Quality Technician. In this study, the numerical ability and performance classification of Quality Technicians were analyzed using a correlation analysis. lll A single case study was used to investigate this relationship. A modified Delphi Method was used to determine characteristics of a Quality Technician. Quality Technicians were evaluated by their direct supervisor and completed a standardized numerical ability test. The evaluations by the supervisor were used to classify each technician based on their performance. …

Suggested Research Agenda For The Railroad Industry, Barton Jennings

Journal of Transportation Management

The railroad industry is experiencing a worldwide resurgence. International trade is booming as populations continue to grow and transportation infrastructures are nearing capacity. In the United States, the industry is being pressured to provide more services, while at the same time traffic levels are skyrocketing on a network that is much smaller than it was just fifty years ago. Additionally, security and safety issues are challenging the industry, as well as the regulatory agencies associated with railroading. To help with these problems, the industry is calling for more academic involvement through new degree programs and research initiatives. This paper reviews …

First Annual Logistics Faculty Salary Survey, M Theodore Ferris, Terrance L. Pohlen, Jerry W. Wilson

Journal of Transportation Management

While the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB) conducts an annual survey of business school faculty and administrative salaries, the data do not include salary figures for logistics (and related areas such as transportation and supply chain management) faculty. Since the growth in number of logistics faculty positions has continued to exceed the output of doctoral programs in the field for more than a decade, it is logical to assume that logistics faculty salaries, at all levels, are increasing. However, without factual data, what salary should a new logistics Ph.D. expect, and what should an administrator budget …

Smooth Sailing Or Rough Seas: The Future Of International Liner Shipping, David A. Menachof

Journal of Transportation Management

The last 5 years have been exciting for the world of international liner shipping. Mergers, new and larger vessels, charter rates becoming more volatile and demand continuing to increase are just part of this world of liner shipping. This article is an attempt to highlight some of the issues that will be affecting international shipping in the forthcoming years. At its best, this article will be right on the money. At its worst, readers will look back at this article and wonder how the author could have been so wrong. More likely is that some things will occur as predicted, …

Establishing A Motor Carrier Research Agenda, Carlo D. Smith, John L. Kent

Journal of Transportation Management

The motor carrier industry represents an important linkage in a variety of industry supply chains and accounts for a substantial level of total logistics cost. This article combines a review of motor carrier research over the past 10 years (1996-2006), with input from executives representing common and specialty carrier services, to identify key areas of interest to guide future motor carrier research.

Evaluating The Comparative Efficiency Of Eleven States’ Highway Expenditures, Hokey Min, Thomas Lambert

Journal of Transportation Management

In an era of budget deficits and financial cutbacks, the efficiency of state highway finances dictates future investment in road construction and maintenance. Considering the significant impact of highway infrastructure on the survival and competitiveness of the logistics industry, this paper aims to develop a meaningful set of benchmarks that will guide the state government authority in making wise investment decisions regarding road construction and maintenance. In particular, we propose a data envelopment analysis that is proven to be useful for measuring the operational efficiency of various profit or non-profit organizations. Using the examples of state highway finances for Kentucky …

Plant Supply Logistics: Balancing Delivery And Stockout Costs, Jennifer A. Pope, James A. Pope

Journal of Transportation Management

A manufacturer leases rail cars to transport raw material from the supplier to the factory. The manufacturer must balance the costs of leasing rail cars versus stockouts (leading to plant closings) and inventory carrying costs. Using a model of circular queues and a simulation, the cost implications of leasing different numbers of rail cars are analyzed. It is concluded that stockout costs exceed the cost of excess inventory and capacity in the logistics system.

What Do Third Party Logistics Buyers Really Want? An Empirical Analysis Utilizing Benefit Based Market Segmentation, Harry L. Sink

Journal of Transportation Management

No abstract provided.

Pure Pallets: Effectiveness And Efficiency Impacts On The Defense Transportation System, Michael B. Mongold, Alan W. Johnson

Journal of Transportation Management

The military supply chain must explore initiatives to improve its ability to meet warfighter needs. One initiative, developed during operations in Afghanistan and Iraq is the pure pallet process—by consolidating material early in the supply chain into user-specific pallets, these pallets are able to transit the defense transportation system without being broken down en route, theoretically arriving to the warfighter in less time than prior break-bulk methods required. The pure pallet initiative’s effectiveness and efficiency was assessed by measuring customer requisition wait time, cargo throughput, and revenue performance. It was found that effectiveness increased, without corresponding losses in efficiency.

Management Guidelines For Third-Party Logistics, Michael Maloni

Journal of Transportation Management

There is a significant amount of useful yet fragmented research in third-party logistics (3PL). This article seeks to review, summarize, and structure this 3PL research to provide a reference guide for managers interested in exploring, building, or improving logistics outsourcing opportunities. Topics covered include reasons to outsource, functions to outsource, 3PL provider evaluation, implementation and relationship success factors, contracts, and performance measures.

Working Toward A Seamless Supply Chain: An Exploratory Analysis Of The Impact Of Supply Chain On Company Performance, Carol J. Johnson, Lidiya Sokhnich, Charles Ng

Journal of Transportation Management

This paper explores the role that several supply chain dimensions play in achieving overall firm performance. Measures suggested in prior studies were factor analyzed for convergent and discriminant validity and then used in a regression model. This study uses data from the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) member firms, with top level supply chain managers as informants. The results suggest that of the three dimensions tested, two are significant contributors to firm profitability, including customer service and business process usage. Relationship confidence was not found to significantly impact overall firm performance.

Building A Consensus Forecast For Crude Oil Prices, Kenneth W. Burke

Theses and Dissertations

Skyrocketing fuel prices have stressed the Department of Defense's budget in recent years. In 2001 the DoD spent $4.7 Billion on fuel with the Air Force consuming $2.7 Billion. These figures have grown over due to these increases as well as the increased flying ours to support the Global War On Terror. In fact, the Fiscal Year 2007 budget has already been increased by $1.1 billion, or 1% of the total budget, to accommodate the increased price of fuel. Current forecasts of this resource have yielded poor results, impairing the DoD's ability to budget this critical expense. Further because the …

Evaluation Of Cauliflower And Broccoli Varieties: Summer Planting (November 2005 - February 2006), Department Of Food And Agriculture, Western Australia

Horticulture research reports

This document has been prepared from a cauliflower and broccoli variety evaluation trial conducted at the Manjimup Horticultural Research Institute, South Western Highway, Manjimup WA 6258. The results reflect the growth characteristics, yield, quality and density of the cauliflower and broccoli varieties as recorded at this site during the conditions of the growing period (November 2005 to February 2006).

This report is the first in a series of four produced from the evaluation of cauliflower and broccoli varieties conducted at the Manjimup Horticultural Research Institute.

The results are provided to allow seed suppliers, seedling nurseries, producers, packers and marketers to …

Evaluation Of Cauliflower And Broccoli Varieties: Winter Planting (April - August 2006), Kristen Stirling

Horticulture research reports

This document has been prepared from a cauliflower and broccoli variety evaluation trial! conducted at the Manjimup Horticultural Research Institute, South Western Highway, Manjimup WA 6258. The results reflect the growth characteristics, yield, quality and density of the cauliflower and broccoli varieties as recorded at this site during the conditions of the growing period (April - August 2006).

This report is the third in a series of four produced from the evaluation of cauliflower and broccoli varieties conducted at the Manjimup Horticultural Research Institute. The results are provided to allow seed suppliers, seedling nurseries, producers, packers and marketers to identify …

Improving Disaster Response Efforts With Decision Support Systems, Steven M. Thompson, Nezih Altay, Walter G. Green Iii, Joanne Lapetina

Management Faculty Publications

As evidenced by Hurricane Katrina in August, 2005, disaster response efforts are hindered by a lack of coordination, poor information flows, and the inability of disaster response managers to validate and process relevant information and make decisions in a timely fashion. A number of factors contribute to current lackluster response efforts. Some are inherent to the complex, rapidly changing decision-making environments that characterize most disaster response settings. Others reflect systematic flaws in how decisions are made within the organizational hierarchies of the many agencies involved in a disaster response. Slow, ineffective strategies for gathering, processing, and analyzing data can also …

The Role Of European Governments In The Digital Economy, Arnoud Cyriel Leo De Meyer

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

What is the role of government in the digital economy? It is not our intention to go into an in-depth ideological debate on whether governments should intervene in the business sector. We will try to adopt a pragmatic approach and explore what already happens in practice. It is up to the reader to make a judgment to what extent the governments should be involved in the ICT sector. There is enough indication that, due to network externality effects, governments need to take on an active role in stimulating an e-environment to jump-start the move toward a higher level of e-readiness.In …

Research On World Expo Shanghai 2010 Logistics Solutions, Yue Gao

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Location Decision Of Dry Port In The Hinterland Of Ningbo Port : An Ahp Approach, Li Yizhen

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Analysis On P Shipping Company's Capacity Rearrangement In Se Asia Feeder Route, Shenjun Zhang

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Effect Of Sand And Wood-Shavings Bedding On The Behavior Of Broiler Chickens, S. J. Shields, J. P. Garner, J. A. Mench

Housing and Confinement of Farm Animals Collection

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of 2 different bedding types, sand and wood shavings, on the behavior of broiler chickens. In experiment 1, 6 pens were divided down the center and bedded half with sand and half with wood shavings. Male broilers (10/pen) were observed by scan sampling at 5- or 12-min intervals throughout the 6-wk growth period during the morning (between 0800 to 0900 h), afternoon (1200 to 1500 h), and night (2300 to 0600 h). There was a significant behavior x substrate x week interaction during the day (P < 0.0001) and at night (P < 0.0002). Drinking, dustbathing, preening, and sitting increased in frequency on the sand side but decreased on the wood shavings side during the day, as did resting at night. In general, broilers performed a greater proportion of their total behavioral time budget on the sand (P < 0.0001) as they aged. Broilers used the divider between the 2 bedding types to perch; perching behavior peaked during wk 4. In experiment 2, male broilers were housed in 8 pens (50 birds/pen) bedded only in sand or wood shavings. Bedding type had no effect on behavioral time budgets (P = 0.8946), although there were age-related changes in behavior on both bedding types. These results indicate that when given a choice, broilers increasingly performed many of their behaviors on sand, but if only one bedding type was provided they performed those behaviors with similar frequency on sand or wood shavings.

Common Fare: An Example Of “Blanket” Rates In Hawai’I Waterborne Trade, Henry S. Marcus, H David Bess, Michael E. Valdez

Journal of Transportation Management

Blanket” rate structures apply uniform rates to a geographical region in spite of differences in the costs of carrying the goods. They are generally utilized by carriers to achieve some strategic objective, whether rate simplification, to be more competitive, or to meet some political objectives. While blanket rates are common in land transportation, the Hawai’i waterborne trade offers a unique example of this pricing mechanism. Further, given new and potential competitive factors in this trade, this is a unique case study for those interested in transportation pricing and the economic impacts of changes in the competitive struct ure in an …

Perceptual Differences Between Shippers And Motor Carriers Regarding The Importance Of Carrier Selection Criteria, Shane R. Premeaux, Lonnie Phelps

Journal of Transportation Management

The primary focus of this study is the identification of significant differences in the assessment of the importance of 36 carrier selection variables by both carriers and shippers. This study is based on the original 1992 investigation. Currently, statistically significant differences resulted between shipper and carrier mean ratings for nine of the thirty-six selection criteria. In the original study, there were significant differences for nineteen of thirty-five selection variables. The rating and ranking discrepancies in this study indicate that shippers and carriers do not classify the importance of some selection variables similarly, but carrier understanding seems to be improving. Carriers …