Improving sustainability performance through supplier relationship management in the tobacco industry

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore how tobacco manufacturing companies can improve their sustainability performance via effective supplier relationship management (SRM). Design/methodology/approach: This study has adopted a single case study of an international tobacco company. The primary data involved semi-structured interviews with participants from the case company who are familiar with sustainable SRM in the tobacco industry and are engaging in various techniques to improve sustainability performance. Findings: The drivers for sustainable SRM commonly identified in literature are observable within the case company. There is also clear evidence of integrating sustainability in its SRM processes. However, the perception of sustainability as a requirement to meet stringent regulations limits its scope and drive in pursuing sustainable SRM. It has also limited supplier sustainability evaluation and performance metrics. Furthermore, the findings of this paper reinforce the importance of a procurement team’s ability to work with other functional teams in implementing sustainable SRM. The findings also contribute to the emerging literature on the impact of sustainability on supplier segmentation and multi-tier supplier management. Research limitations/implications: This study provides insight into the varying SRM methods used in the tobacco industry to ensure compliance and improve sustainability performance. However, further research is required to explore the generalisability of the findings of this study derived from a single case study. Originality/value: The tobacco industry is an under-researched industry, particularly in terms of sustainable operations and supply chain management practices. The findings of this study seem to be relevant to those comparable industries with stringent regulations as well

A First-Order Logic Formalization of the Industrial Ontology Foundry Signature Using Basic Formal Ontology

Basic Formal Ontology (BFO) is a top-level ontology used in hundreds of active projects in scientific and other domains. BFO has been selected to serve as top-level ontology in the Industrial Ontologies Foundry (IOF), an initiative to create a suite of ontologies to support digital manufacturing on the part of representatives from a number of branches of the advanced manufacturing industries. We here present a first draft set of axioms and definitions of an IOF upper ontology descending from BFO. The axiomatization is designed to capture the meanings of terms commonly used in manufacturing and is designed to serve as starting point for the construction of the IOF ontology suite

The Role of mediator organisations in the making of innovation systems in least developed countries. Evidence from Tanzania

This paper examines the linkages and interactive learning processes between foreign and local actors in an innovation system in Tanzania. Specifically, the importance of a mediator organization to absorb and transfer knowledge from the foreign to the local sector is examined. The potential application of emerging knowledge spillovers to wider local users is thus evaluated. Empirical evidence suggests that although the potential exists for the wider application of technology and knowledge spillovers, a number of key constraints partly hinder the achievement of this potential and the proper functioning of an innovation system.Innovation system; Technology and knowledge transfer; Multinational Enterprises (MNEs); Foreign direct investment (FDI); least developed countries (LDCs); intermediate organisation; Tanzania

Kinetic models of migration of melamine and formaldehyde from melamine kitchenware with data of liquid chromatography

European legislation has established a specific migration limit (SML) of 15 mg kg−1 for formaldehyde and 2.5 mg kg−1 for melamine. Formaldehyde resins are used in the manufacture of melamine kitchenware. Formaldehyde is listed in group 1 of the IARC list of carcinogenic compounds. To determine the quantity of formaldehyde and melamine as potential migrants from different types of melamine kitchenware (glass, mug, cutlery, big cup and bowl), a HPLC-DAD method has been implemented. This method is an alternative to the ones proposed in technical guidelines to determine formaldehyde by UV–vis spectrophotometry and melamine by HPLC. The final objective was to fit the migration kinetic curves of these two analytes in melamine kitchenware. After the method was validated, decision limit (CCα) and detection capability (CCβ) were calculated for both analytes, when the probabilities of false positive (α) and false negative (β) were fixed at 0.05; being CCβ 0.269 mg L−1 and 0.311 mg L−1 for melamine and formaldehyde respectively. CCα and CCβ were also calculated at the SML of both analytes. The migration testing were conducted with simulant B (3% acetic acid (w/v) in aqueous solution), the conditions of each exposure being 70 °C for 2 h. The quantities of melamine and formaldehyde found in the third exposure of the total kitchenware analysed were between 0.21 and 1.09 mg L−1 and between 0.55 and 3.86 mg L−1, respectively. Migration kinetic curves were built for each type of kitchenware with the data of sixteen consecutive migration cycles (70 °C each 30 min). The SML for melamine was surpassed in the mug, in the big cup and in the bowl after eleven, thirteen and one cycles, respectively. When more cycles were carried out in the mug, the values of the accumulated quantity of formaldehyde and melamine were 15.30 and 6.79 mg L−1, respectively, after thirty-two cycles. Both concentrations exceeded the corresponding SML.MINECO (AEI/FEDER, UE) and Consejería de Educación de la Junta de Castilla y León through projects CTQ2017-88894-R and BU012P17 respectively (all co-financed with FEDER funds

Complementary resources, entry mode and the performance of diversified subsidiaries: empirical research based on China National Tobacco Corporation

This dissertation explores the relationship between the complementary resources and entry mode in diversification transformation strategy of China National Tobacco Corporation adopting resource dependence theory and resource base theory. We use "multiple regression empirical analysis method" and "longitudinal case study" approach to test whether the complementary resources and entry mode are related to diversified subsidiary’s performance. We address two main research questions: a) how does diversified subsidiary’s dependence on the main business’ resources affect its performance? And b) whether do entry mode have influence on the relationship between the complementary resources and diversified subsidiary’s performance. We conduct an extensive literature review and proposed relevant theoretical hypotheses of the relationship among the complementary resources, entry mode, and diversified subsidiary’s performance. We survey on resource complementarity, entry mode and performance based on questionnaire distributed to the top management in both CNTC and its subsidiaries and verify our hypotheses using raw date from 196 valid questionnaires. It is found that remarkable positive relation is only found between resource complementarity and diversified subsidiary’s financial performance, and diversified entry modes exert a moderating effect on resource complementarity’s relations with diversified subsidiary’s performance, financial performance and growth performance. Further, we explore the evolving relationship of the resource dependency and entry mode in the corporation’s diversification in a dynamic perspective based on a longitudinal case drawing on a rich array of documents from CNTC’s progressing in strategic transformation. Our findings have practical significance in the design of a gradual diversification transformation strategy, and especially to managers of CNTC which diversification has become an inevitable choice due to increasingly tight smoke-free policy.Esta dissertação explora a relação entre os recursos complementares e modo de entrada na estratégia de transformação de diversificação da China National Tobacco Corp, adoptando a teoria de dependência de recurso e teoria de base de recurso. Utilizamos a abordagem do "método de análise empírica de regressão múltipla" e "estudo de caso longitudinal" para testar se os recursos complementares e o modo de entrada estão relacionados como desempenho do subsidiário diversificado. Abordamos duas questões de pesquisa principais: a) como é que a dependência do subsidiário diversificado nos recursos do negócio principal afecta o seu desempenho? E b) se o modo de entrada tem influência na relação entre os recursos complementares e o desempenho do subsidiário diversificado. Realizamos uma revisão literária extensa e propomos as hipóteses teóricas relevantes da relação entre os recursos complementares, modo de entrada e desempenho do subsidiário diversificado. Pesquisamos a complementaridade de recurso, modo de entrada e desempenho com base no questionário distribuído na gestão de topo da CNTC e suas subsidiárias e verificamos as nossas hipóteses utilizando os dados de 196 questionários válidos. Descobrimos que a relação positiva notável é unicamente encontrada entre a complementaridade de recurso e o desempenho financeiro do subsidiário diversificado, e modos de entrada diversificados exercem um efeito moderado nas relações de complementaridade de recurso com o desempenho do subsidiário diversificado, desempenho financeiro e desempenho de crescimento. Além disso, exploramos a relação em evolução da dependência de recurso e modo de entrada na diversificação da corporação numa perspectiva dinâmica com base num desenho de caso longitudinal sobre uma matriz rica de documentos do progresso de transformação estratégica da CNTC. Os nossos resultados têm um significado práctico no design de uma estratégia de transformação de diversificação gradual, e especialmente para os gestores da CNTC os quais a diversificação se tornou uma escolha inevitável devido à política contra o tabaco cada vez mais apertada

Applications of aerospace technology in biology and medicine

Utilization of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) technology in medicine is discussed. The objective is best obtained by stimulation of the introduction of new or improved commercially available medical products incorporating aerospace technology. A bipolar donor/recipient model of medical technology transfer is presented to provide a basis for the team's methodology. That methodology is designed to: (1) identify medical problems and NASA technology that, in combination, constitute opportunities for successful medical products; (2) obtain the early participation of industry in the transfer process; and (3) obtain acceptance by the medical community of new medical products based on NASA technology. Two commercial transfers were completed: the Stowaway, a lightweight wheelchair that provides mobility for the disabled and elderly in the cabin of commercial aircraft, and Micromed, a portable medication infusion pump for the reliable, continuous infusion of medications such as heparin or insulin. The marketing and manufacturing factors critical to the commercialization of the lightweight walker incorporating composite materials were studied. Progress was made in the development and commercialization of each of the 18 currently active projects

Performance improvement of production process using lean six sigma and overall labor effectiveness approach (case study : CV Cempaka Tulungagung)

Labor performance can be very critical to the company which is daily required to produce continuously. As a company that use manual labor in the production process, decline in labor performance may become thing that will disrupt the existing production schedule can even more makes companies stop operate for a while. The quality of the output is very dependent on the labor performance. The better the labor performance, the better the result that the company gets. CV. Cempaka is a company that produces cigarette. Cigarette products produced by this company are a filter cigarette product produced by machine and non-filter cigarette product that produced manually by labor. The company is currently focused on doing improvement to win the market and maintain customer loyalty. The problems faced by the company are the high number of workers absent due to illness and poor quality. To overcome these problems, it is necessary to use Lean Six Sigma methods which focus on waste reduction. Moreover, this method is used to minimize the resources that must be issued by the company in doing improvement, because by using this method, the focus will be more obvious, so there is no decision-making errors. In order to deepen the analysis and adjusting the observed object, then the labor performance will also be calculated using Overall Labor Effectiveness (OLE) and considered. Step of this study is based on Six Sigma DMAIC method. Use Big Picture Mapping (BPM), E-Downtime and Classification Activity to identify the problem. Based on these methods obtained the critical waste, namely Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) waste and Defect waste. As for the search for critical causes of those critical waste, use Pareto chart, Root Cause Analysis (RCA), and Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA). Based on the result found six alternatives, then parsed to be three alternatives. Of these three alternatives, then selected two alternatives of the results of the Value Engineering calculation, i.e. doing periodic maintenance, provide backup tools and chair replacement

The Application of Analytic Hierarchy Process in Supplier Selection for Specialty Paper Making Company, A case study in Anhui Welbon Gaosen Paper Co.,Ltd

Majority of enterprises choose to implement JIT procurement model to face the marketing fierce competition in recent decades. Single sourcing supplier is the main characteristic in JIT procurement, thence, selecting a suitable supplier become increasingly important. The purpose of the research is to select the most suitable supplier for the case company. More specifical, to identify supplier selection criteria for the case company, then exploiting a flexible analytic model which is AHP to help the case company choose a suitable supplier for implementing JIT Procurement, finally suggestions are given for case company in supplier relationship management, which based on implementing JIT Procurement. The study begins with literature review of purchasing behavior, supplier related theory and AHP method. Afterwards, qualitative research method of interview and quantitative research method of questionnaires were utilized to identify evaluation criteria and collect pair-wise comparison data for judgment matrixes. Finally, eigenvectors and eigenvalues of judgment matrixes were calculated for ranking priorities and all vectors were passed by consistency verification. Based on the result from previous research, supplier with the total highest score becomes the most suitable alternative. In addition, suggestions of supplier relationship management are given for the sake of success further implementation of JIT procurement in the case company.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

Microplastics and microfibers pollution: study of their environmental issues and evaluation of reduction alternatives

This work is the compilation of the research carried out by Ph.D. student, Francisco Belzagui Elder, during his predoctoral stage in the Environmental Engineering research group (ENMA) of the Institute of Textile Research and Industrial Cooperation of Terrassa (INTEXTER) that belong to the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC).The microplastics (MPs) are small fragments (length < 5 mm) of non-chemically modified and/or non-biodegradable polymers. Rough estimations point that there are between 15 to 51 trillion buoyant items of MPs in marine environments and 14 million tons in the top 9 cm of sediments of the world’s oceans. According to the “European Chemical Agency”, chemically treated and/or nonbiodegradable textile microfibers (MFs) are a type of microplastics with a length to diameter ratio higher than 3 mm and a maximum length of 15 mm. One of the most renowned sources of MFs are those detached from every cycle of a textile article laundering. These are considered one of the most environmentally threatening pollutants as they have a continuous and cumulative entrance to the environment. Due to their small diameter they are more prone to be ingested by organisms, so high concentrations have been found in products for human consumption, as shellfish and tap water. In this research, the microfibers’ detachment rates of finished garments were evaluated. Results showed that MFs detachment ranges between 175 to 560 MFs/g or 30’000 to 465’000 MFs/m2 of garment. In addition, there was a high correlation between the MFs detachment and the textile article superficial density. As there are still no accurate models to assess the MFs pollution, in this thesis a method to estimate the mass flow of MFs detached from household laundry that reaches aquatic environments was developed. The method considered the following parameters: (1) the detachment rate of microfibers from different textile garments, (2) the volume of laundry effluents, (3) the percentage of municipal water that is treated, (4) the type of used-water treatment applied, and, (5) the proportion of front- versus top-loading washing machines. In this way, 0.28 million tons of microfibers per year were estimated to reach aquatic environments. Moreover, hypothetical situations were simulated to evaluate the reduction of microfibers by modifying some parameters at different levels (consumer, government entities, and industry). It was found that depending on the implanted alternatives, microfibers that reach the aquatic environments could be reduced between 30% to 65%. On the other hand, the current status of MFs as pollutants is reviewed, discussing possible alternatives from the manufacturing until the final disposition of MFs. There are many alternatives to reduce these pollutants but also gaps that need to be addressed. Some viable solutions to retain them are currently on the market. However, until this thesis was over, there was no single proposal on the destination of the retained MFs. Hence, in this research a filter has been developed to retain the MFs and a proposal to treat the retained MFs was evaluated, following the circular economy philosophy. Both processes were patented. The developed filtering system is totally made of recycled polymers. Its performance is higher than 97% of MFs’ removal from the washers’ effluents with a replacement time for the cartridge from 30 to more than 40 washing cycles. The retained MFs are subsequently immobilized in a polymeric matrix, turning them into a composite. Different proportions of polyester MFs were mixed with low-density polyethylene for immobilization of MFs. Results showed that the optimum composition, which improved some of the tensile mechanical properties, was 10% polyester MFs in the polymeric matrix. Finally, other sources of MFs were studied, specifically, cigarette butts. These contains the smoked filters (SF) and unsmoked rests of tobacco. SFs are hazardous debris composed of > 15’000 strands that can be detached as MFs. Their detachment rate, acute aquatic toxicity, and the aquatic-, thermooxidative-, and photo-degradability were evaluated. It was found that SFs detach approximately 100 small MFs (< 0.2 mm) per day. About 0.3 million tons of potential MFs might be annually reaching aquatic environments from this source. A significant difference of eco-toxicity and a low degradability rate was found when MFs are present in the leachate generated by the SFs. This implies that MFs from SFs constitute an important source of microplastics, which might partially explain the high concentration of artificial polymers found in the deep-sea sediments.This work was supported by INDITEX (2018-2021) through the call “Doctorats Industrials 2018”. This thesis was granted by the “Secretaria d'Universitats I Recerca del Departament d'Empresa I Coneixement de la Generalitat de Catalunya” (AGAUR) with the Grant “Doctorats Industrials 2018 DI 022”. Part of the chapter 7 of this thesis was funded by UPC through the project “MBBR carriers” (R-02058 – Ajut als instituts 2021).Postprint (author's final draft