Using Google Analytics Data to Expand Discovery and Use of Digital Archival Content

This article presents opportunities for the use of Google Analytics, a popular and freely available web analytics tool, to inform decision making for digital archivists managing online digital archives content. Emphasis is placed on the analysis of Google Analytics data to increase the visibility and discoverability of content. The article describes the use of Google Analytics to support fruitful digital outreach programs, to guide metadata creation for enhancing access, and to measure user demand to aid selection for digitization. Valuable reports, features, and tools in Google Analytics are identified and the use of these tools to gather meaningful data is explained

Inventory drivers in a pharmaceutical supply chain

In recent years, inventory reduction has been a key objective of pharmaceutical companies, especially within cost optimization initiatives. Pharmaceutical supply chains are characterized by volatile and unpredictable demands –especially in emergent markets-, high service levels, and complex, perishable finished-good portfolios, which makes keeping reasonable amounts of stock a true challenge. However, a one-way strategy towards zero-inventory is in reality inapplicable, due to the strategic nature and importance of the products being commercialised. Therefore, pharmaceutical supply chains are in need of new inventory strategies in order to remain competitive. Finished-goods inventory management in the pharmaceutical industry is closely related to the manufacturing systems and supply chain configurations that companies adopt. The factors considered in inventory management policies, however, do not always cover the full supply chain spectrum in which companies operate. This paper works under the pre-assumption that, in fact, there is a complex relationship between the inventory configurations that companies adopt and the factors behind them. The intention of this paper is to understand the factors driving high finished-goods inventory levels in pharmaceutical supply chains and assist supply chain managers in determining which of them can be influenced in order to reduce inventories to an optimal degree. Reasons for reducing inventory levels are found in high inventory holding and scrap related costs; in addition to lost sales for not being able to serve the customers with the adequate shelf life requirements. The thesis conducts a single case study research in a multi-national pharmaceutical company, which is used to examine typical inventory configurations and the factors affecting these configurations. This paper presents a framework that can assist supply chain managers in determining the most important inventory drivers in pharmaceutical supply chains. The findings in this study suggest that while external and downstream supply chain factors are recognized as being critical to pursue inventory optimization initiatives, pharmaceutical companies are oriented towards optimizing production processes and meeting regulatory requirements while still complying with high service levels, being internal factors the ones prevailing when making inventory management decisions. Furthermore, this paper investigates, through predictive modelling techniques, how various intrinsic and extrinsic factors influence the inventory configurations of the case study company. The study shows that inventory configurations are relatively unstable over time, especially in configurations that present high safety stock levels; and that production features and product characteristics are important explanatory factors behind high inventory levels. Regulatory requirements also play an important role in explaining the high strategic inventory levels that pharmaceutical companies hold

The Impact of Extended Warehouse Management System Implementation on Warehouse Operational Performance: A Case Study of Fast Moving Consumer Goods Industry

Warehouses operating in the Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry are affected by the supply chain disruptions. Therefore, it is critical to develop faster and effective mechanisms of managing warehouse operational performance. In this regard, this paper aims to evaluate the impact of Extended Warehouse Management System (EWMS) implementation on warehouse operational performance. It intended to achieve two objectives: to examine the advanced features of EWMS and the impact of EWMS implementation on warehouse operational performance. The case study method gathered operational quantitative and qualitative data from multiple sources, ensuring data richness. Descriptive statistics and mean comparison tests through hypothesis testing were used as quantitative data analysis techniques, using the IBM SPSS Statistics 21 statistical analysis software package. The Framework Approach was used to analyse qualitative data. By mapping Process Flowcharts before and after the implementation, the improvements and drawbacks were identified with their root causes. Advanced features of EWMSs are presented by reviewing the literature. The study's findings reveal that implementation of EWMS increases the throughput, average receiving rate, average allocation and picking rate, average loading rate, average last truck dispatch time, and average on-time delivery. The scope of the research is limited to evaluating the EWMS implementation impact on warehouse operational performance in a selected FMCG warehouse. Future researchers can focus on the effects of EWMS on supply chain capability enhancements and the strategic performance of supply chain partners. The in-depth analysis of performance improvements in the extent of the throughput, average receiving rate, average allocation and picking rate, average loading rate, average last truck dispatch time, and average on-time delivery signals warehouse managers in decision making on effective utilisation EWMS implementation. This paper is among the very few evaluating Extended WMS, specifically, empirical investigation of the impact of EWMS system implementation on FMCG warehouse operational performance. Keywords: Extended Warehouse Management Systems, Advance Features, FMCG Warehouses, Warehouse Operational Performanc

Large-volume metrology instrument selection and measurability analysis

A wide range of metrology processes are involved in the manufacture of large products. In addition to the traditional tool-setting and product-verification operations, increasingly flexible metrology-enabled automation is also being used. Faced with many possible measurement problems and a very large number of metrology instruments employing diverse technologies, the selection of the appropriate instrument for a given task can be highly complex. Also, as metrology has become a key manufacturing process, it should be considered in the early stages of design, and there is currently very little research to support this. This paper provides an overview of the important selection criteria for typical measurement processes and presents some novel selection strategies. Metrics that can be used to assess measurability are also discussed. A prototype instrument selection and measurability analysis application is also presented, with discussion of how this can be used as the basis for development of a more sophisticated measurement planning tool. © 2010 Authors

A Tripartite Framework for Leadership Evaluation

The Tripartite Framework for Leadership Evaluation provides a comprehensive examination of the leadership evaluation landscape and makes key recommendations about how the field of leadership evaluation should proceed. The chief concern addressed by this working paper is the use of student outcome data as a measurement of leadership effectiveness. A second concern in our work with urban leaders is the absence or surface treatment of race and equity in nearly all evaluation instruments or processes. Finally, we call for an overhaul of the conventional cycle of inquiry, which is based largely on needs analysis and leader deficits, and incomplete use of evidence to support recurring short cycles within the larger yearly cycle of inquiry

Aerospace medicine and biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes (supplement 333)

This bibliography lists 122 reports, articles and other documents introduced into the NASA Scientific and Technical Information System during January, 1990. Subject coverage includes: aerospace medicine and psychology, life support systems and controlled environments, safety equipment, exobiology and extraterrestrial life, and flight crew behavior and performance

On optimal use of radiation in cardiological procedures

In this thesis, the use of radiation in contemporary interventional cardiology (IC) has been investigated. The focus of the study is on patient doses in various minimally invasive procedures with higher doses. Patient exposure to radiation can be measured with Kerma area product (KAP) and its diagnostic reference levels (DRLs), maximum skin dose (MSD) and absorbed organ doses. In this thesis, all three doses are explored with accurate and repeatable methods and curiosity toward the causes behind the dose level variation. KAP results show that the highest patient doses in IC occur in transaortic valve implantations (TAVIs) and percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) with significant variation between hospitals and countries. In TAVIs, this variation is partly due to the novelty of the procedure, but in PCIs, the need for difficulty levels in the DRLs is apparent. The machine learning methodology used in this thesis provides insight into how such difficulty levels can be determined and what kinds of features they should be comprised of. The MSD measurements performed with Gafchromic films show significantly higher dose levels in TAVIs than in other procedures and KAP and air kerma alert levels were proposed accordingly in Publication 3 of this thesis. The MSD levels show a high variance between hospitals and local DRLs were calculated for two of the participating hospitals. With the observed variation in respect to both KAP and air kerma, a good alternative to these alert levels are automatic skin dose estimations provided by the angiosystem manufacturers. In this work, two such algorithms were compared to the measured doses and the results were very promising. Heart organ dose was measured with radiophotoluminescence (RPL) dosimeters and an anthropomorphic phantom in both a computed tomography (CT) scan routinely performed before a TAVI procedure and in a typical TAVI procedure. The results show that a majority of the dose is caused by the CT scan and that the dose from the procedure is relatively low compared to other published results. In total, the thesis illustrates good investigative practices in radiation protection, their application to IC and results that benefit both contemporary cardiology and physicists working in the field

Visibility and variability in industrial operations

Protection and promotion of flow is the fundamental principle that businesses and the rules and tools they use should be built upon. Flow of information and materials must be relevant to the required output of the system. Visibility means relevant information for decision making. Variability is summation of differences between plans and what happens. Improved flow results from less variability. A change in variability is caused by a change in visibility. Variation experienced by an organization decreases when access to relevant information increases. Variation experienced by an organization increases when visibility is blocked or inhibited, or irrelevant information for decision making is generated. The importance of visibility for flow based operating models is only rarely addressed in literature. With a constructivism approach, this thesis investigates how visibility is understood and implemented in the relevant literature and in the operations of the case company. The results of the research are represented according to a conceptual framework that is developed based on the review of relevant literature of the subjects of visibility and variability. The research is concluded with a proposal for potential future developments in the case organization and in relevant literature. The potential development areas are specific for the operations of the case company business units but generalizable for other organizations and studies.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

Internet Marketing for Profit Organizations: A framework for the implementation of strategic internet marketing

Merged with duplicate record 10026.1/828 on 13.03.2017 by CS (TIS)The development of the Internet has significantly changed the face of established markets and operation approaches across a tremendous spectrum of different industries. Within the competitive environment of those industries, the opportunities and risks derived from the new platform are so ubiquitous that unused opportunities quickly translate into potential risks. Those opportunities and risks demand for a structured approach how to implement a sustainable Internet marketing strategy that targets clear business objectives. Marketing and strategic management theory describes very clear structural principles towards their operational implementation. Based on those principles an extensive literature review has been conducted which confirms the result from representative statistics that demonstrate the lack of a comprehensive framework for strategic Internet marketing. The distinct result of this research is such a comprehensive framework which has been directly derived from the illustrated principles of strategic management and Internet marketing. All major components of this generic framework are designed, evaluated in dedicated surveys and validated in extensive case studies. The main achievements of the research are: • A comprehensive review of the current state-of-the-art Internet marketing strategies • Conceptual specification of a strategic Internet marketing framework with generic applicability to profit organizations • Demonstration of the practical feasibility of the proposed framework at the implementation level (via several examples like the SIMTF and SIMPF) • Confirmation of the applicability of the framework based upon a survey of potential beneficiaries • Validation of the effectiveness of the approach via case study scenarios Changing the understanding of a former technical discipline, the thesis describes how Internet marketing becomes a precise strategic instrument for profit organizations. The new structured, complete and self-similar framework facilitates sales organizations to significantly increase the effectiveness and efficiency of their marketing operations. Furthermore, the framework ensures a high level of transparency about the impact and benefit of individual activities. The new model explicitly answers concerns and problems raised and documented in existing research and accommodate for the current limitations of strategic Internet marketing. The framework allows evaluating existing as well as future Internet marketing tactics and provides a reference model for all other definitions of objectives, KPI and work packages. Finally this thesis also matures the subject matter of Internet marketing as a discipline of independent scientific research providing an underlying structure for subsequent studies.Darmstadt Node of the CSCAN Network at University of Applied Sciences, Darmstad