Applying total cost of ownership for strategic procurement : three industrial case studies.

In this paper we elaborate on a Total Cost of Ownership supplier selection methodology that we have constructed using three real life case studies which are presented in this article. Analysing the value chain of the firm, data on the costs generated by the purchasing policy and on supplier performance are collected using Activity Based Costing (ABC). Since a spreadsheet cannot encompass all these costs, let alone optimise the supplier selection and inventory management policy, a mathematical programming model is used. Possible savings of between 6 and 14% are obtained for the three cases.Case studies; Studies;

Empirical Evidence of RFID Impacts on Supply Chain Performance

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the actual benefits of radio frequency identification (RFID) on supply chain performance through the empirical evidence. Design/methodology/approach - The research reviews and classifies the existing quantitative empirical evidence of RFID on supply chain performance. The evidence is classified by process (operational or managerial) and for each process by effect (automational, informational, and transformational). Findings - The empirical evidence shows that the major effects from the implementation of RFID are automational effects on operational processes followed by informational effects on managerial processes. The RFID implementation has not reached transformational level on either operational or managerial processes. RFID has an automational effect on operational processes through inventory control and efficiency improvements. An informational effect for managerial processes is observed for improved decision quality, production control and the effectiveness of retail sales and promotions coordination. In addition, a three-stage model is proposed to explain the effects of RFID on the supply chain. Research limitations/implications - Limitations of this research include the use of secondary sources and the lack of consistency in performance measure definitions. Future research could focus on detailed case studies that investigate cross-functional applications across the organization and the supply chain. Practical implications - For managers, the empirical evidence presented can help them identify implementation areas where RFID can have the greatest impact. The data can be used to build the business case for RFID and therefore better estimate ROI and the payback period. Originality/value - This research fills a void in the literature by providing practitioners and researchers with a better understanding of the quantitative benefits of RFID in the supply chain

Information visibility and its effect on supply chain dynamics

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2000.Includes bibliographical references (p. 61-64).Supply chains are nonlinear dynamic systems, the control of which is complicated by long, variable delays in product and information flows. In this thesis, we present a novel framework for improving the visibility of information in supply chains by reducing the delays in information flow. We first analyze the growth and evolution of production and operations management software over the past three decades, and the current trends in their development, coupled with recent advances in radio frequency technology, wireless communications, data representation methods, and the internet. Information visibility is identified as one of the key elements for successful implementation of any such software. We analyze the dynamics of a supply chain under different scenarios of information visibility and forecasting decisions with the help of simulations. Possible improvements in supply chain costs are identified, provided information visibility. We propose a framework to achieve information visibility in the supply chain using radio frequency tags, tag readers, product identification codes, an object description language, and the internet.by Yogesh V. Joshi.S.M

Backlogs through Bottlenecks in Warehouse Pickups Areas: A Case Study - Gulf Nails manufacturing LLC

Purpose The study aims to investigate backlogs within the picking procedures, to find out what is causing storage picking bottlenecks, and to estimate its effect on creating throughout warehouse picking operations. Design/methodology/approach For this study, a survey questionnaire was used to collect data from a primary source. The staff of the Gulf Nails Enterprise was taken into account as the population of the study. A total of 20 responses were recorded from the population of 50 persons employed in the company. The collected data was analyzed quantitatively to bring out the results. Findings The findings confirmed that the most of the warehouse pickup area bottlenecks occur due to least adaptation towards technologies. It is shown that the bottleneck issue could affect 20 to 30 percent of the production line. It is also evidenced that not only tools but strategic planning and efforts by the staff are extremely important in solving a bottleneck issue. Research limitations/implications The study recommended that an inventory management system would keep the bottlenecks in check. Introducing modern technology, could help to solve such issues so that human efforts would not be wasted. It is also suggested that the firm should not rely fully on the technology solutions as it is also one of the causes of bottlenecks. Social implications This paper will help understand, recognize and solve the various issues faced by the majority of companies in the area of warehouse pickups, not only in Oman but outside as well. Originality/Value There has been a lot of studies and research on several areas of warehouse operations but none so far on the topic of the general pickup area of the warehouse

Fraud and Performance Monitoring of Credit Card Tokenization Using Business Intelligence

This project major objective is to gather all the necessary data to analyze and deliver a best analytical reporting platform. This product developed for the analysts is expected to extensively use for insights on the token provisioning and its varied utilization with the banks and merchants. Also to monitor fraudulent occurring patterns and initiate necessary steps to avoid facing any adversities in the future. The reports are generated using the principles supporting descriptive analytics. Using many different KPIs, metrics and scorecards, etc., to support the analysis has given an advantage for better yield. These analytical dashboard has given a deep dive insight for the analysts. This project has been used by many analysts to come to an agreement on different patterns noticed by each individual. Also for the Senior Executives to get a profound understanding of how the widely different tokenization are used and its different attribute wise segregation

Rohr Corporation

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Optimizing the Performance of Robotic Mobile Fulfillment Systems

A robotic mobile fulfillment system is a novel type of automated part-to-picker material handling system. In this type of system, robots transport mobile shelves, called pods, containing items between the storage area and the workstations. It is well suited to e-commerce, due to its modularity and it's ability to adapt to changing orders patterns. Robots can nearly instantaneously switch between inbound and outbound tasks, pods can be continually repositioned to allow for automatic sorting of the inventory, pods can contain many different types of items, and unloaded robots can drive underneath pods, allowing them to use completely different routes than loaded robots. This thesis studies the performance of robotic mobile fulfillment systems by solving decision problems related to warehouse design, inventory and resource allocation, and real-time operations. For warehouse design, a new queueing network is developed that incorporates realistic robot movement, storage zones, and multi-line orders. For inventory allocation, we develop a new type of queueing network, the cross-class matching multi-class semi-open queueing network, which can be applied to other systems as well. Resource (re)allocation is modeled by combining queueing networks with Markov decision processes while including time-varying demand. This model compares benchmark policies from practice wit