Automation of inventory management

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2002.Includes bibliographical references.Qualcomm Wireless Business Solutions (QWBS) provides communication equipment and services used to track trucking fleets and other capital assets via satellite. Order fulfillment and inventory management practices in QWBS were non-uniform and manually intensive. Buyers used their own intuition and rules-of-thumb to decide how many parts to order and how many parts should be held in stock to buffer against unexpected demand fluctuations. Non-uniform, manual inventory management practices resulted in higher inventory levels, lower customer service, and higher operational costs than can be achieved with uniform, formal management practices. This thesis describes the design and implementation of an automated inventory management system that optimizes inventory levels and alleviates manual effort. Benchmarking was used to show how a similar firm used inventory management techniques to improve efficiency and reduce costs. Quantitative analysis was used to develop an inventory management simulator that allowed alternative management strategies to be tested before implementing changes to the real system. Simulation results showed that QWBS inventories for fiscal year 2001 (FY01) could have been reduced by 40% had an automated inventory management policy been in place. In addition, automation would have reduced the manual effort of buyers by about 32%. Results from the simulator motivated the formation of the Automated Inventory Manager (AIM) project team. AIM is designed to automate order fulfillment and inventory management tasks and allow procurement's human resources to be redirected from low level transaction processing tasks to more value-added tasks. AIM is expected to liberate $700K in working capital and save approximately$240K per year in ongoing inventory and labor cost reductions, representing a 1-year ROI of 200%. However, AIM represents only the first step in a recommended cost reduction program to streamline the fulfillment of customer orders and reduce organizational redundancies.by James Robert Anderson.S.M

The Use of Computerized HRM Systems by Companies in Saudi Arabia

This paper investigates the Human Resource systems situation in the Saudi market by surveying 60 companies. Human Resource and IT managers completed a questionnaire to reflect the current state of Human Resource systems in Saudi Arabia. In the course of the study, eight hypotheses were investigated and proved: HR system users in the companies account for less than half of the total staff; most of the companies use Human Resource systems as a part of their automated HR system; several companies use Human Resource management applications developed by their own specialists; the companies’ degree of satisfaction with their Human Resource management systems’ performance; the readiness of companies to implement new and efficient solutions into their practices; the readiness of companies to adopt an SaaS model; businesses have the potential to make great progress despite obstacles. Results have shown that the Saudi market is ready to adopt and implement such new techniques, but satisfaction levels with current solutions are comparatively low and need urgent measures. Progress, particularly on the source of an SaaS model, is needed to improve the companies’ situations and allow them to take a step towards a more successful future by improving their competitive advantage. Keywords: HRM systems, SaaS model, HR in Saudi, On-demand software, Human capital management, Talent management, Human Resource management systems

Catalog of Approaches to Impact Measurement: Assessing Social Impact in Private Ventures

To inform action impact investors could take to measure impact in a coordinated manner, The Rockefeller Foundation commissioned the study of impact assessment approaches presented here.It is natural to hope to find a single, turnkey solution that can address all measurement needs. In this study we conducted a survey of impact investors and complemented it with seven years of experience in the field of impact investing to discover what these investors want from impact measurement, and conducted in-depth interviews with over twenty entities that have developed and implemented approaches to measuring impact. Our survey of existing approaches was thorough but surely is not comprehensive; however the approaches are a good representation of the current state of play. What we found is that there is not one single measurement answer. Instead the answer depends on what solution is most appropriate for a particular investor's "impact profile" defined as the investor's level of risk tolerance and desired financial return, the particular sector in which the investor operates, geography, and credibility level of information about impact that the investor requires

Autonomous Systems as Legal Agents: Directly by the Recognition of Personhood or Indirectly by the Alchemy of Algorithmic Entities

The clinical manifestations of platelet dense (δ) granule defects are easy bruising, as well as epistaxis and bleeding after delivery, tooth extractions and surgical procedures. The observed symptoms may be explained either by a decreased number of granules or by a defect in the uptake/release of granule contents. We have developed a method to study platelet dense granule storage and release. The uptake of the fluorescent marker, mepacrine, into the platelet dense granule was measured using flow cytometry. The platelet population was identified by the size and binding of a phycoerythrin-conjugated antibody against GPIb. Cells within the discrimination frame were analysed for green (mepacrine) fluorescence. Both resting platelets and platelets previously stimulated with collagen and the thrombin receptor agonist peptide SFLLRN was analysed for mepacrine uptake. By subtracting the value for mepacrine uptake after stimulation from the value for uptake without stimulation for each individual, the platelet dense granule release capacity could be estimated. Whole blood samples from 22 healthy individuals were analysed. Mepacrine incubation without previous stimulation gave mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) values of 83±6 (mean ± 1 SD, range 69–91). The difference in MFI between resting and stimulated platelets was 28±7 (range 17–40). Six members of a family, of whom one had a known δ-storage pool disease, were analysed. The two members (mother and son) who had prolonged bleeding times also had MFI values disparate from the normal population in this analysis. The values of one daughter with mild bleeding problems but a normal bleeding time were in the lower part of the reference interval

The industrial relations implications of automation

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston Universit

Invest to Save: Report and Recommendations of the NSF-DELOS Working Group on Digital Archiving and Preservation

Digital archiving and preservation are important areas for research and development, but there is no agreed upon set of priorities or coherent plan for research in this area. Research projects in this area tend to be small and driven by particular institutional problems or concerns. As a consequence, proposed solutions from experimental projects and prototypes tend not to scale to millions of digital objects, nor do the results from disparate projects readily build on each other. It is also unclear whether it is worthwhile to seek general solutions or whether different strategies are needed for different types of digital objects and collections. The lack of coordination in both research and development means that there are some areas where researchers are reinventing the wheel while other areas are neglected. Digital archiving and preservation is an area that will benefit from an exercise in analysis, priority setting, and planning for future research. The WG aims to survey current research activities, identify gaps, and develop a white paper proposing future research directions in the area of digital preservation. Some of the potential areas for research include repository architectures and inter-operability among digital archives; automated tools for capture, ingest, and normalization of digital objects; and harmonization of preservation formats and metadata. There can also be opportunities for development of commercial products in the areas of mass storage systems, repositories and repository management systems, and data management software and tools.

Human-Robot Collaboration as a new paradigm in circular economy for WEEE management

E-waste is a priority waste stream as identified by the European Commission due to fast technological changes and eagerness of consumers to acquire new products. The value chain of the Waste on Electric and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) has to face several challenges: the EU directives requesting collection targets for 2019–2022, the costs of disassembly processes which is highly dependent on the applied technology and type of discarded device, and the sale of the obtained components and/or raw materials, with market prices varying according to uncontrolled variables at world level. This paper presents a human-robot collaboration for a recycling process where tasks are opportunistically assigned to either a human-being or a robot depending on the condition of the discarded electronic device. This solution presents some important advantages; i.e. tedious and dangerous tasks are assigned to robots whereas more value-added tasks are allocated to humans, thus preserving jobs and increasing job satisfaction. Furthermore, first results from a prototype show greater productivity and profitable projected investment

Troli tong gas

Tong gas adalah sebahagian daripada keperluan rumah yang sangat penting untuk kegunaan dapur. LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas), atau petroleum gas biasanya digunakan untuk aplikasi perumahan (tong gas masak) dan tujuan komersial. LPG terutamanya terdiri daripada campuran hidrokarbon seperti propana (C3H8), propene (C3H6), n-butana (C4H10), isobutena (metil-propana), dan pelbagai butanes lain (C4H8) (Mustapa, Gitano Briggs, 2008). LPG disimpan cair dalam tong pada tekanan tinggi, tekanan wap sekitar 6 hingga 7 bar (Petrolium Nasional Berhad, 2013). Oleh itu, tong gas perlu diperbuat daripada silinder keluli bertekanan tinggi. Tong gas digunakan hampir di semua perumahan, termasuk rumah pangsa, kondominium dan apartment. Kebiasaan penghuni perumahan bertingkat yang tidak mempunyai lift terpaksa mengangkat tong gas menggunakan tenaga empat kerat, kadang kala menggunakan troli biasa untuk menggangkut tong gas tersebut bagi memudahkan dan meringankan kerja. Troli adalah peranti yang digunakan untuk membawa beban atau memindahkan bahan dari satu tempat ke yang lain. Untuk aplikasi yang berbeza pelbagai jenis troli digunakan Kebanyakan pekerja domestik juga menggunakan tenaga tulang empat kerat untuk kerja-kerja pemindahan troli .