Theory and Practice of Supply Chain Synchronization

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 of time. Thereafter, we discuss exact solution approaches and the case of variable reorder intervals. Computational examples demonstrate the power of our methodology. In the third chapter, we incorporate stochastic demand to the JRPB. We propose a joint part replenishment policy that balances inventory and ordering costs while providing a desired service level. A case study and guided computational experiments show the magnitudes of savings that are possible using our methodology. In the fourth chapter, we show how lack of synchronization in assembly systems with long and highly variable component supply lead times can rapidly deteriorate system performance. We develop a full synchronization strategy through time buffering of component orders, which not only guarantees meeting planned production dates but also drastically reduces inventory holding costs. A case study has been carried out to prove the practical relevance, assess potential risks, and evaluate phased implementation policies. The fifth chapter explores the use of condition information from a large number of distributed working units in the field to improve the management of the inventory of spare parts required to maintain those units. Synchronization is again paramount here since spare part inventory needs to adapt to the condition of the engine fleet. All needed parts must be available to complete the overhaul of a unit. We develop a complex simulation environment to assess the performance of different inventory policies and the value of health monitoring. The sixth chapter concludes this dissertation and outlines future research plans as well as opportunities

Sensor Path Planning for Emitter Localization

The localization of a radio frequency (RF) emitter is relevant in many military and civilian applications. The recent decade has seen a rapid progress in the development of small and mobile unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which offer a way to perform emitter localization autonomously. The path a UAV travels influences the localization significantly, making path planning an important part of a mobile emitter localization system. The topic of this thesis is path planning for a UAV that uses bearing measurements to localize a stationary emitter. Using a directional antenna, the direction towards the target can be determined by the UAV rotating around its own vertical axis. During this rotation the UAV is required to remain at the same position, which induces a trade-off between movement and measurement that influences the optimal trajectories. This thesis derives a novel path planning algorithm for localizing an emitter with a UAV. It improves the current state of the art by providing a localization with defined accuracy in a shorter amount of time compared to other algorithms in simulations. The algorithm uses the policy rollout principle to perform a nonmyopic planning and to incorporate the uncertainty of the estimation process into its decision. The concept of an action selection algorithm for policy rollout is introduced, which allows the use of existing optimization algorithms to effectively search the action space. Multiple action selection algorithms are compared to optimize the speed of the path planning algorithm. Similarly, to reduce computational demand, an adaptive grid-based localizer has been developed. To evaluate the algorithm an experimental system has been built and the algorithm was tested on this system. Based on initial experiments, the path planning algorithm has been modified, including a minimal distance to the emitter and an outlier detection step. The resulting algorithm shows promising results in experimental flights

Management: A continuing literature survey with indexes

This bibliography lists 782 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in 1977. The citations, and abstracts when available, are reproduced exactly as they appeared originally in IAA and STAR, including the original accession numbers from the respective announcement journals. Topics cover the management of research and development contracts, production, logistics, personnel, safety, reliability and quality control citations. Includes references on: program, project and systems management; management policy, philosophy, tools, and techniques; decisionmaking processes for managers; technology assessment; management of urban problems; and information for managers on Federal resources, expenditures, financing, and budgeting

Designing Data Spaces

This open access book provides a comprehensive view on data ecosystems and platform economics from methodical and technological foundations up to reports from practical implementations and applications in various industries. To this end, the book is structured in four parts: Part I “Foundations and Contexts” provides a general overview about building, running, and governing data spaces and an introduction to the IDS and GAIA-X projects. Part II “Data Space Technologies” subsequently details various implementation aspects of IDS and GAIA-X, including eg data usage control, the usage of blockchain technologies, or semantic data integration and interoperability. Next, Part III describes various “Use Cases and Data Ecosystems” from various application areas such as agriculture, healthcare, industry, energy, and mobility. Part IV eventually offers an overview of several “Solutions and Applications”, eg including products and experiences from companies like Google, SAP, Huawei, T-Systems, Innopay and many more. Overall, the book provides professionals in industry with an encompassing overview of the technological and economic aspects of data spaces, based on the International Data Spaces and Gaia-X initiatives. It presents implementations and business cases and gives an outlook to future developments. In doing so, it aims at proliferating the vision of a social data market economy based on data spaces which embrace trust and data sovereignty

Managing Fish or Governing Fisheries? An Historical Recount of Marine Resources Governance in the Context of Latin America – The Ecuadorian Case

The narratives and images about ocean and its resources governance, their use and value have deep roots in human history. Traditionally, the contemporary images of fish and fisheries have been shaped under the cultural construction of power, wealth and exclusion, and also as one of poverty and marginalization. This perception was formed on early notions of natural (marine) resources access and use that were born within the colonial machinery that ruled the world from the Middle Ages until late XVII. This research explores the historical overview of marine resources usage and governance in Latin America, from a ‘critical approach to development’ perspective, by following a narrative description based on a ‘three acts’ format. It illustrates how and to what extent politics, power and knowledge have deeply influenced policies and practices at exploring the marine and terrestrial resources and at managing fish and seafood, historically, and how the fisheries resources’ management practices are influenced by principles of appropriation, regulation and usage, put in place already in the XV century that were imposed at the conquering and colonization of the Americas, disregarded previous governance practices. This article argues that fisheries governance cannot be improved without some appreciation for the social, historical, geopolitical, and cultural significance of the fishing resources themselves, of the perceptions of them by humans, and of the interactions Global North-Global South. The analysis also opens the dialogue about what kind of ocean and governance “science” we want, to support decisions, policies and practices regarding fisheries governance. Final thoughts highlight a reflection about whose knowledge is created and used to support decision and policy making in Ecuador

Energy: A continuing bibliography with indexes, issue 19

A bibliographical list of 1339 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system from July 1, 1978 through September 30, 1978 are presented

Google search and the mediation of digital health information: a case study on unproven stem cell treatments

Google Search occupies a unique space within broader discussions of direct-to-consumer marketing of stem cell treatments in digital spaces. For patients, researchers, regulators, and the wider public, the search platform influences the who, what, where, and why of stem cell treatment information online. Ubiquitous and opaque, Google Search mediates which users are presented what types of content when these stakeholders engage in online searches around health information. The platform also sways the activities of content producers and the characteristics of the content they produce. For those seeking and studying information on digital health, this platform influence raises difficult questions around risk, authority, intervention, and oversight. This thesis addresses a critical gap in digital methodologies used in mapping and characterising that influence as part of wider debates around algorithmic accountability within STS and digital health scholarship. By adopting a novel methodological approach to Blackbox auditing and data collection, I provide a unique evidentiary base for the analysis of ads, organic results, and the platform mechanisms of influence on queries related to stem cell treatments. I explore the question: how does Google Search mediate information that people access online about ‘proven’ and ‘unproven’ stem cell treatments? Here I show that, in spite of a general ban on advertisements of stem cell treatments, users continue to be presented with content promoting unproven treatments. The types, frequency, and commercial intent of results related to stem cell treatments shifted across user groups including geography and, more troublingly, those impacted by Parkinson’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis. Additionally, I find evidence that the technological structure of Google Search itself enables primary and secondary commercial activities around the mediation and dissemination of health information online. It suggests that Google Search’s algorithmically-mediated rendering of search results – including both commercial and non-commercial activities - has critical implications for the present and future of digital health studies

Disseny d'un model d'avaluació de resultats de l'activitat de màrqueting per a empreses competint al mercat català i amb relació contractual amb els seus clients

L’objectiu de la tesi doctoral és el de desenvolupar un model que permeti valorar de forma objectiva les actuacions en matèria de màrqueting portades a terme per una organització. Aquest model està constituït per un conjunt de variables descriptives i quantitatives, anomenades variables de control, juntament amb una metodologia de càlcul i un sistema d’indicadors integrat que facilita la traçabilitat de les inversions de màrqueting i explicita la relació causa-efecte entre aquestes i el valor generat per a l’organització. El model s’utilitza per a valorar dades reals d’organitzacions que operin al mercat català i que compleixin la condició de basar la relació amb els seus clients en un model contractual (com veurem més endavant, és inviable aplicar un model comú per a tot tipus d’empresa). L’objectiu, doncs, és la valoració de l’acompliment dels seus objectius en relació als seus actius de mercat (marca i valor de client) i la creació d’un model específic, no generalitzable, per a aquest tipus d’empreses. Un segon objectiu d’aquest treball és l’anàlisi de les principals publicacions especialitzades referents des d’un punt de vista global i local, proposant en primer lloc una terminologia clara en relació a l’activitat de màrqueting, l’acompliment dels seus objectius i la conceptualització d’actius de mercat, i analitzant, en segon, l’impacte d’aquests àmbits i la seva evolució en els últims quinze anys. Alguns estudis previs (Llonch et al., 2002; Ambler i Xiucun, 2003; entre d’altres) es centren a comparar empreses per sectors, funcionalitats i països. És probable, com apunta Llonch et al. (2002) al fer això, que casuístiques atribuïbles a diferències geogràfiques i nacionals es tractin erròniament com a empresarials. A tal efecte, aquest estudi elimina la variabilitat per país i sector (parcialment, aquest darrer), proposant un model acotat, tal com recomanen Ambler et al., (2001), Llonch et al (2002), entre d’altres, que pugui servir de referència en la metodologia i en la validesa conceptual, i no tant en els resultats del model en un context més genèric. Pauwels (2009) demostra la relació entre la creació d’un model predefinit de variables i la millora del càlcul de l’eficiència en la despesa en màrqueting, pel que la creació d’aquest model integrat té l’objectiu d’esdevenir una eina de Gestió del Rendiment Corporatiu (GRC, en endavant1) (Bauer, 2004) aplicada a la gestió de màrqueting i els seus actius. Aquesta particularització del GRC rep el nom de Gestió del Rendiment de Màrqueting (GRM, en endavant2) (Ambler, 2000) i el seu objectiu és el d’augmentar la usabilitat i faciliti la generació d’informació per a la presa de decisions de la línia directiva de les organitzacions. L’abast de la tesi és el de crear el model des d’una perspectiva d’avaluació de l’activitat de màrqueting per part de la línia directiva, i no pas el desenvolupament informàtic d’una eina de suport a la presa de decisions ja que això, com apunten diversos autors (Dover, 2004; Schiff, 2008) i es tractarà amb més profunditat en el capítol 5, implicaria un nivell de personalització per cada empresa que no és objectiu d’aquesta tesi.The thes is aims to develop a practical model to asses m arketing perform ance within an organization. The model is basically structured around control metrics both from a qualitative and quantitatve approach, together with an integrated system of key performance indicators that enables marketing accountability through different organisational divisions, thus stating a solid cause/effect relationship between marketing activities and the value created for the organisation. The aformentioned model is used to assess marketing activites for catalan com panies with a contract-based customer relationship. Final assessment includes also a dynamic valuation of the company's market as sets . A second objective of the thes is is to review the current state of the art of marketing assessment literature from specialized journals both from a global and a local pers pective, defining a comprehensive list of related terms about marketing performance measurement, market-asset description and valuation and an accurate analysis about its evolution throughout the last 15 years.Postprint (published version