A Modified Staggered Correction Arithmetic with Enhanced Accuracy and Very Wide Exponent Range

A so called staggered precision arithmetic is a special kind of a multiple precision arithmetic based on the underlying floating point data format (typically IEEE double format) and fast floating point operations as well as exact dot product computations. Due to floating point limitations it is not an arbitrary precision arithmetic. However, it typically allows computations using several hundred mantissa digits. A set of new modified staggered arithmetics for real and complex data as well as for real interval and complex interval data with very wide exponent range is presented. Some applications show the increased accuracy of computed results compared to ordinary staggered interval computations. The very wide exponent range of the new arithmetic operations allows computations far beyond the IEEE data formats. The new arithmetics would be extremly fast, if an exact dot product was available in hardware (the fused accumulate and add instruction is only one step in this direction)

A theoretical model for testing new product sales velocity at small format retail stores

The present study proposes a theoretical model to test sales velocity for new products introduced in small format retail stores. The model is designed to distinguish fast moving products within a relatively short period. Under the proposed model, the sales of a newly introduced product are monitored for a prespecified period T, e.g., one week, and if the number of items sold over T is equal to a prespecified integer k or more, the product is considered a fast moving product and is carried over to the following sales periods. A slow moving product could be quickly replaced with alternative merchandise in order to make best use of shelf space. The paper first presents definitions of fast and slow moving products, and then a proposed sales test policy based on the model is formulated, where the expected loss is to be minimized with respect to the integer k. Numerical examples based on actual data collected from a convenience store in Japan are also presented to illustrate the theoretical underpinnings of the proposed sales test model

A cradle to handover life cycle assessment of external walls: choice of materials and prognosis of elements

This research focuses on a comparison of 20 external wall systems that are conventionally used in Spanish residential buildings, from a perspective based on the product and construction process stages of the life cycle assessment. The primary objective is to provide data that allow knowing the environmental behavior of walls built with materials and practices conventionally. This type of analysis will enable promoting the creation of regulations that encourage the use of combinations of materials that generate the most environmentally suitable result, and in turn, contribute to the strengthening of the embodied stages study of buildings and their elements. The results indicate that the greatest impact arises in the product stage (90.9%), followed by the transport stage (8.9%) and the construction process stage (<1%). Strategies (such as the use of large-format pieces and the controlled increase in thickness of the thermal insulation) can contribute to reducing the environmental impact; on the contrary, practices such as the use of small-format pieces and laminated plasterboard can increase the environmental burden. The prediction of the environmental behavior (simulation equation) allows these possible impacts to be studied in a fast and simplified wayPeer ReviewedPostprint (published version

A low-rank isogeometric solver based on Tucker tensors

We propose an isogeometric solver for Poisson problems that combines i) low-rank tensor techniques to approximate the unknown solution and the system matrix, as a sum of a few terms having Kronecker product structure, ii) a Truncated Preconditioned Conjugate Gradient solver to keep the rank of the iterates low, and iii) a novel low-rank preconditioner, based on the Fast Diagonalization method where the eigenvector multiplication is approximated by the Fast Fourier Transform. Although the proposed strategy is written in arbitrary dimension, we focus on the three-dimensional case and adopt the Tucker format for low-rank tensor representation, which is well suited in low dimension. We show in numerical tests that this choice guarantees significant memory saving compared to the full tensor representation. We also extend and test the proposed strategy to linear elasticity problems.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figure

THE ROLE OF THE PURCHASING DEPARTMENT IN PRODUCT INNOVATION: THE CASE OF FAST MOVING CONSUMER GOODS COMPANIES IN FRANCE.

The globalization of the business environment over the last decades and the increase of the competition between global retail firms have forced the companies to reorganize their internal organization and some functions that were support activities in the past have now become strategic primary functions. The purchasing department is one of these functions. This thesis is studying how the purchasing function is incrementally integrating marketing aspects in order to be a driver of product innovation inside FMCG companies. Much has been studied in the literature about the interaction between the purchasing and marketing department, but the integration of marketing aspects in the function has been globally understudied. Previous studies have also proved that the purchasing department has to be involved in the new product development and the capture of innovation. However this study aims to explore the causal relation between theses two aspects, meaning how the integration of marketing aspects in the purchasing function is enhancing product innovation. From a theoretical point of view, a literature review has been conducted concerning the concepts of purchasing, marketing and innovation and how theses concepts are connected with each other, in order to have a better global understanding of the key elements. From an empirical point of view, the study case analyses the role of the purchasing function in product innovation for four Fast Moving Consumer Goods companies in France by interviewing eight respondents. This study case highlights why the marketing aspects are now intrinsic to the purchasing function and how this integration is enhancing the capture of product innovation. The main finding is that nowadays a buyer in the retail sector has to have a very strong customer (or market) orientation in order to be able to find successful product innovation. Finally the thesis makes a contribution to the existing literature by proposing a new definition of the purchasing function towards product innovation. This new definition is drawn in the form of a summary scheme.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format