Cost Based Performance Evaluation Of Supply Chain Types Regarding Demand Uncertainty: A Proposed Mathematical Model

Tez (Yüksek Lisans) -- İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi, Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü, 2009Thesis (M.Sc.) -- İstanbul Technical University, Institute of Science and Technology, 2009Talep dağılımını ve varyasyonunu tahmin etme, talep işlevsel ürünlerden tüketiciye duygusal yönden çekici gelen yenilikçi ürünlere kaydığı için gittikçe çok daha zor bir hal almaktadır. Bu ürünler daha yüksek kar paylarına, ancak daha yüksek pazarlama maliyetlerine ve daha kısa yaşam döngülerine sahiptirler. Öte yandan, halen duygusal olarak değerlendirilmesi mümkün olmayan dolayısıyla daha düşük kar paylarına ve istikrarlı talep yapısına sahip birçok ürün bulunmaktadır. Küresel rekabet ve ürün eğilimleri düşünüldüğünde, talep dalgalanmalarına uygun tedarik zinciri seçimi çok önemli olur. Bu çalışmanın odak noktası, belirli tedarik zinciri türlerinin maliyet tabanlı performansını farklı talep özellikleri altında ve talep belirsizliğini göz önünde bulundurarak değerlendirmektir. Bu sebepten, bir genel toplam maliyet modeli, hangi tedarik zincirinin yapısının en uygun seçim olabileceği sorusunu cevaplandırabilmek için uyarlanarak bir matematiksel model önerilmiştir. Bunun yanısıra, bir tedarik zinciri yapısı üzerinde dağıtımdaki erteleme etkisini canlandırarak karar vericiye yardımcı olan amaca özel bir karar destek sistemi geliştirilmiştir. Ayrıca, model parametrelerini daha iyi kavramak için bu sistem aracılığıyla bir grup hassasiyet analizi gerçekleştirilmiştir.Predicting demand distribution and variation is becoming much harder than ever as the demand moves from functional products to innovative products that seduce customers emotionally. These products have higher profit margins but higher marketability costs and shorter life cycles. On the other hand, there are still many products that cannot be evaluated emotionally, therefore, having lower profit margins and stable demand characteristics. When global competition and product trends are considered, selecting a supply chain structure suitable for the fluctuations in demand becomes vital. The main focus of this research is to evaluate the cost based performance of certain supply chain types under different demand characteristics regarding demand uncertainty. Hence, a mathematical model has been proposed by enhancing a general total cost model to answer which supply chain structure might be the most appropriate choice. Besides, a purpose-specific decision support system that helps the decision maker by simulating the effect of outbound postponement on a supply chain structure has been developed; what is more, a range of sensitivity analyses have been carried out through this system to achieve a better understanding of the model parameters.Yüksek LisansM.Sc

Modular product development for mass customization

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Risk management in plant investment decisions: risk typology, dimensions and process

Managing risk associated with plant location decisions are growing concern as companies seek to reassure investors about the robustness of their strategies. Little attention has been paid however to the systematic evaluation of risk associated with new plants. This paper investigates risk management practices in plant investment decisions through detailed case investigations in a cross section of industrial businesses at different levels of maturity in order to observe current practices, identify common principles and to synthesis systematic approaches to risk management where appropriate. It identifies key risk categories and dimension of the risk management. It builds on the three key bodies of literature – global manufacturing, investment and risk management.Internal research fundThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Taylor & Francis via http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2016.1166280

Co-evolution in Manufacturing Systems Inspired by Biological Analogy

The artificial world experiences continuous changes that result in the evolution of design features of products and the capabilities of the corresponding manufacturing systems similar to the changes of species in the natural world. The idea of simulating the artificial world, based on the analogy between the symbiotic behaviour of products and manufacturing systems and the biological co-evolution of different species in nature, is expressed by a model and novel hypotheses regarding manufacturing co-evolution mechanism, preserving that co-evolution and using it for future planning and prediction. Biological analogy is also employed to drive the mathematical formulation of the model and its algorithms. Cladistics, a biological classification tool, is adapted and used to realize evolution trends of products and systems and their symbiosis was illustrated using another biological tool, tree reconciliation. A new mathematical method was developed to realize the co-development relationships between product features and manufacturing capabilities. It has been used for synthesizing / predicting new species of systems and products. The developed model was validated using machining and assembly case studies. Results have proven the proposed hypotheses, demonstrated the presence of manufacturing symbiosis and made predictions and synthesized new systems and products. The model has been also adapted for use in different applications such as; system layout design, identifying sustainable design features and products family redesign to promote modularity. The co-evolution model is significant as it closes the loop connecting products and systems to learn from their shared past development and predict their intertwined future, unlike available unidirectional design strategies. The economic life of manufacturing systems can be extended by better utilizing their available capabilities, since the co-evolution model directs products - systems development towards reaching a perfect co-evolution state. This research presents original ideas expressed by innovative co-evolution hypotheses in manufacturing, new mathematical model and algorithms, and demonstrates its advantages and benefits in a wide range of applications

Development and validation of an instrument to measure and manage organizational process variety

Organizational processes vary. Practitioners have developed simple frameworks to differentiate them. Surprisingly, the academic literature on process management does not–it typically strives for one method to manage all processes. We draw on organizational information-processing theory to systematically develop a new, theoretically motivated classification model for organizational processes. We validate this model using survey data from 141 process practitioners of a global corporation. We derive three distinct types of processes and demonstrate that an understanding of process variety based on process dimensions can differentiate processes better than existing frameworks used in practice. Our findings can enable process managers to make informed decisions and serve as a basis for contingent process management

Platform Determination Modeling for Existing and New Product Family

Today\u27s automotive market is a highly competitive industry as many global manufacturing enterprises are competing to increase and dominate market shares. Automotive and other major manufacturers must focus on product differentiation to fulfill customer demands and expectations, increase market share globally and domestically, and reduce design and manufacturing cost. To meet market demand, enterprises must understand current and future customer expectations as perceptions evolve overtime. Product platform and products family strategies have been implemented widely to offer variations. Assessing and benchmarking platforms and families differentiations - within an enterpriser -are tools used to support and create the most effective balance between market demands and product variations; to avoid self-competition. It has been noted that there has been insufficient researches to identify the gaps in products differentiations within an enterprise and the market. Differentiations with consideration of the dynamic market, market share analysis, globalization factors, functions, function attributes, and sales prices. The focus of this research is to identify the ultimate number of product platforms and product families of existing and prospective products of an enterprise. The mathematical model discovers the top features and functions needed in the market, and eliminates weak car models which do not meet customer expectations. This identification is achieved through analyzing current products diversification, degree of diversification, product saturation and ability to accommodate more functions. The developed mathematical model is demonstrated and validated using case studies based on examples from actual situations. It applies to both product platforms and product families. The results showed that the developed model is not limited to the automotive industry only, but it can be applied to other products and industries as well. This work supports the product designer and strategy-makers in the activity decision process to identify needed functions and features to increase market shares and allocate resources efficiently

Innovation in the Russian Oil & Gas sector - prepared for Arctic offshore development?

Masteroppgave i bedriftsledelse (MBA) - Universitetet i Nordland, 201

The Time of Family Formation. An Examination of Selected Mechanisms Influencing Childbirth and breastfeeding

Die kumulative Dissertation „Die Zeit der Familiengründung“ besteht aus drei eigenständigen Fachartikeln sowie einer gemeinsamen Einleitung. Die Artikel untersuchen jeweils familiale Entscheidungen während der Familiengründungsphase, die vor dem Hintergrund eines Konfliktes mit dem Arbeitsmarkt getroffen werden. Dieser Konflikt gilt in dieser Phase – die daher auch als „rush hour of life“ betitelt wird – als besonders virulent. Den theoretischen Rahmen bilden das allgemeine Modell soziologischer Erklärung sowie die Familienökonomie. Alle drei Beiträge verfolgen einen empirisch-analytischen Ansatz und nutzen quantitative Methoden der Sozialforschung. Zwei Beiträge befassen sich mit dem Zusammenhang zwischen Bildungsrichtung und Fertilität, der Dritte mit dem Konflikt zwischen Erwerbstätigkeit der Mutter und dem Stillen eines Kindes in dessen ersten Lebensmonaten

Flexible product platforms

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2005.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 155-162).The research contributes to the uncertainty management of engineering systems by proposing and demonstrating a way to implement flexible platform strategy to respond to future uncertainties. In today's competitive market, where market segments are becoming more fragmented, pressure to develop and market diverse sets of products is increasing. To meet such market needs and reduce production cost at the same time, product platform strategy has been implemented in several different industries. Using a core set of common platform elements and variant-specific unique elements, a family of products can be produced to satisfy various market segments. However, the growing cost of platform development and undesired side effects of the strategy (e.g. performance tradeoff, cannibalization) is forcing companies to design their platforms with flexibility, so they can accommodate product variants, differentiate these variants, and be economically flexible to respond to specified future uncertainties. This thesis introduces a design process to architect flexible product platforms. The proposed process is demonstrated in two automotive application case studies.(cont.) In the first case study, a vehicle floor pan is designed to satisfy two different length requirements, while being economically robust to future specification change and component demand. The second case study investigates a vehicle platform, where the flexible body in white (BIW) platform is designed for a family of three vehicle variants through identification of critical elements subset. Results showed that the flexible BIW platform is less profitable than the inflexible BIW platform, but when the degree of future uncertainty increases, the flexible design eventually becomes more profitable. This research provides additional examples that yet again confirms the general proposition "flexibility gains value as the degree of uncertainty increases."by Eun Suk Suh.Ph.D