Operations and Supply Chain Management Commons^™

Flexibility Is Key: Managing Rubber’S Elastic Sourcing Demands, Alexander Kennedy

Honors Projects

A contemporary study of how tire manufacturers are responding to supply chain challenges resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine by comparing them to actions taken during World War II. Supply chain management principles are applied within the context of the tire and rubber industry to provide recommendations for dealing with supply disruptions in future conflicts.

Essays On Supply Chain Economic Networks For Disaster Management Inspired By The Covid-19 Pandemic, Mojtaba Salarpour

Doctoral Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic, which was declared by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020, negatively impacted virtually all economic and social activities across the globe. As of March 7, 2022, more than 6 million deaths have been associated with COVID-19 disease. This health disaster, unlike many other disasters, is not limited to time or location. It has resulted in intense global competition for many essential products, from Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to ventilators and vaccines and food products. In this dissertation, I construct, analyze, and quantitatively solve a spectrum of supply chain economic network models inspired by realities in …

Optimising Cold Chain Asset Locations With Real-Estate Considerations: A China Perspective, Chaik Ming Koh

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This thesis explores the logistics costs optimization of a cold chain logistics network with a real estate perspective. This study draws on data and experience of a cold chain player in China. This study seeks to help users who are currently renting large amounts of warehouse space to quantitatively and systematically evaluate if they should construct their own warehouses and then do a sale-and-leaseback to achieve economic benefits. Using a computing optimization model, the study was able to find the optimized parameters of warehouse capacity, warehouse quality to build as well as the recommended existing network warehouses to use, to …

Business Plan: Consulting Firm Focused On Manufacturing Digitalization, Edward Mulford

Honors Theses

The goal of this paper outlines a business framework for the development of a digitization consulting firm focused on the manufacturing sector. The firm’s goal is to help organizations in Michigan leverage technology to keep their business vibrant and workers skilled. The primary services for the firm will be related to the implementation of products and services within Industry 4.0, the cyber-physical smart factory industrial revolution. The beginning of the paper explains the ecosystem surrounding digitalization as well as the nine technologies (ex: big data, simulation, additive manufacturing) driving the innovation. The framework for this business plan uses the business …

Theory And Practice Of Supply Chain Synchronization, Michael Prokle

Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, we develop strategies to synchronize component procurement in assemble-to-order (ATO) production and overhaul operations. We focus on the high-tech and mass customization industries which are not only considered to be very important to create or keep U.S. manufacturing jobs, but also suffer most from component inventory burden. In the second chapter, we address the deterministic joint replenishment inventory problem with batch size constraints (JRPB). We characterize system regeneration points, derive a closed-form expression of the average product inventory, and formulate the problem of finding the optimal joint reorder interval to minimize inventory and ordering costs per unit …

Implementation Of A Supply Chain Management "Intern For A Day" Program, Erin K. Mcconnell

Honors Projects

This program was developed to send students to local corporations to attain a better understanding of a business professional environment and the Supply Chain Management departments at those companies. Students were sent to Therma Tru Doors, in Maumee, Ohio to be "interns for a day". They received the chance to shadow employees in all aspects of the Supply Chain field and learn about what their day to day job responsibilities entail. There are many benefits to this externship program for both the students and Therma Tru. Students gain valuable experience and knowledge while Therma Tru gains access to some of …

Modeling And Analysis Of Value-Based Healthcare Delivery, Tannaz Mahootchi

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Healthcare reforms are emerging in order to control the increasing healthcare expenditures and to improve the health outcomes. In the context of the Value-based Healthcare Delivery reform, Michael Porter defines value as a patient's health outcome per dollar spent. Porter's proposal is comprised of organizing care around a medical condition (or around patient segments for primary care). Specifically, care will be provided by a dedicated, multidisciplinary team of providers, an Integrated Practice Unit (IPU). The IPU is jointly accountable for the health outcomes of patients and the costs of providing care during the full cycle of care.

The main objective …