CONVENIENCE STORE PRACTICES AND PROGRESS WITH EFFICIENT CONSUMER RESPONSE: THE MINNESOTA CASE

The adoption of Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) practices by Minnesota convenience store (C- store) is explained in this study. Data were collected through a mail survey distributed to more than 250 Minnesota C-stores ranging in size from single, independently owned stores to over 100 store chains. The survey instrument was developed to collect data on the following components important to C-store operations and the implementation of ECR: information systems, ordering, receiving, inventory management, and pricing practices. Findings are presented from three distinct perspectives: 1. Location: Rural C-stores, which often meet customer needs that were once met by small supermarkets, carried a wider range of products and offered more services than C-stores in urban and suburban locations. However, rural stores had the lowest adoption rate for practices related to the ECR initiative. Urban chains coordinated business practices with suppliers to a greater degree than suburban and rural chains. 2. Chain size: Larger chains were more likely to have implemented the more costly technological practices than were small chains. This was expected since large chains can spread the fixed costs of ECR adoption over a larger number of stores. Larger chains also cooperated and communicated more with their suppliers than small chains. Again, this was expected, since larger chains can economize on transaction costs involved in maintaining these business relationships. 3. ECR practices: ECR adoption and superior performance were positively related. Having adopted six to nine practices was positively correlated with higher inside and outside sales per square foot of selling area and higher annual inventory turns. However, it was not clear whether there was a causal relationship in either direction between ECR practices and store performance. The C-store industry is changing, as new information technologies, new business practices, and new retail strategies are developed. The results from this survey can serve as a baseline for future research monitoring the adoption of these innovations and assessing their impact on productivity and profitability. Minnesota C-Stores appear to be smaller but more productive than the national average. Overall, it appears ECR is just beginning to impact the Minnesota C-store industry. Nonetheless, regression analyses confirmed ECR practices are positively related to store sales performance and those stores adopting the most practices had higher productivity measures.Industrial Organization, Marketing,

Experimental Studies of NaCs

We present experimental studies of excited electronic states of the NaCs molecule that are currently underway in our laboratory. The optical-optical double resonance method is used to obtain Doppler-free excitation spectra for several excited states. These data are being used to obtain RydbergKlein-Rees (RKR) or Inverse Perturbation Approach (IPA) potential curves for these states. We are also trying to map the bound portion of the 1(a) 3Σ + potential using resolved laser-induced fluorescence and Fourier transform spectroscopy to record transitions into the shallow well. Bound-free spectra from single ro-vibrational levels of electronically excited states to the repulsive wall of the 1(a) 3Σ + state are also being recorded. Using the previously determined excited state potentials, we can fit the repulsive wall of the 1(a) 3Σ + state to reproduce the experimental spectra using LeRoy’s BCONT program. A slightly modified version of BCONT will also be used to fit the relative transition dipole moments, µe(R), as a function of internuclear separation R, for the various bound-free electronic transitions

Stable surface oxides formed during oxidation of lignite chars

The author's pdf has been posted with the permission of the editor.Temperature Programmed Desorption (TPD) experiments were conducted to investigate the properties of stable surface oxides formed during low temperature oxidation of lignite chars. For both Loy Yang and Bowmans char, TPD spectra demonstrate a transition at low conversion. A linear increase is found in the fraction of remaining carbon associated with stable surface oxides as conversion increases for both chars. Compared to Loy Yang char, Bowmans char has a significantly greater number of stable surface oxides yielding CO2 during TPD. It is proposed that the abundant inorganic material in Bowmans char catalyses the formation of CO2- yielding stable surface oxides

STORE-LEVEL INNOVATION IN THE RETAIL FOOD INDUSTRY: THE ECR INITIATIVE AND BEYOND

Agribusiness,

The effect of dewatering on the combustion behaviour of Loy Yang coal in a drop tube furnace

The Mechanical Thermal Expression (MTE) process is an efficient means of removing water from low-rank coal, however the effect of dewatering on the combustion properties of lignite is largely unknown. This work examines the burnout performance of both dewatered lignite and untreated lignite in a drop tube furnace. The results show that combustion of the MTE-processed lignite is approximately 20% slower under conditions relevant to pulverised-fuel flames. This is apparently due to the reduction in pore volume which occurs during coal dewatering by the MTE process.T. R. Ballantyne, P. J. Ashman and P. J. Mullinge

The agglomeration behaviour of lochiel coal during fluidised bed gasification

Fluidised bed gasification (FBG) is a promising process for utilising high-sodium and highsulphur coals, but agglomeration and defluidisation are potential problems. Experiments have been conducted to investigate these phenomena, to assist in elucidating the mechanisms at play and to develop operating solutions. It was found that agglomeration and defluidisation of Lochiel coal occur, within the 4-hour timeframe of these experiments, only when bed temperature exceeds 850°C and the air/fuel ratio is above 2.5. Agglomerates are composed mainly of silicate material, in combination with Na, Ca, Mg, Al and Fe in varying amounts. It is surmised that non-crystalline phases in agglomerates are sodium disilicate, with inclusions of Ca, Fe, Mg and Al that are expected to lower the mixture melting point, causing FBG operating problems when the total inorganic content of the bed rises above approximately 88wt% and with temperatures exceeding 850°C. It is expected that defluidisation can be avoided if operation is maintained outside of these conditions.D. P. McCullough, P. J. Mullinger and P. J. Ashma

Gasification of Victorian lignite in a laboratory scale fluidised bed gasifier

Posted with permission of the Organising Committee, 5th Asia Pacific Conference on Combustion, The University of Adelaide, ASPACC05.A 200-mm diameter, laboratory-scale atmospheric-pressure fluidised-bed reactor was designed and constructed by the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Clean Power from Lignite. The purpose of this facility is to obt ain experimental data for the air/steam gasification of Australian lignite in order to validate the Centre’s mathematical model of a bubbling fluidised bed gasifier. An air-dried mixture of low-ash Victorian lignite has been used in air-steam and air-only gasification tests. The product syngas composition demonstrated successful gasification of coal with carbon monoxide and hydrogen concentrations each in the range 16-20 vol%. More carbon monoxide was measured in the syngas during coal gasification with air only. The gas composition of major species was observed to be relatively constant within the freeboard of the gasifier

The influence of image interactivity upon user engagement when using mobile touch screens

Touch screens are a key component of consumer mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, as well as an increasingly common self-service component of information retrieval on fixed screens and mobile devices in-store. The ubiquity of touch screens in daily life increases consumer accessibility and extended use for shopping, whilst software innovations have increased the functionality of touch screens, for example the extent to which images respond to fingertip control. This study examines how users engage with interactive visual rotation and tactile simulation features while browsing fashion clothing products on touch screen devices and thus contributes to retail touch screen research that previously focused on in-store kiosks and window displays. Findings show that three dimensions of user engagement (endurability, novelty and felt involvement) are positively influenced by both forms of manipulation. In order to examine the extent to which touch screen user engagement varies with individual preferences for an in-store experience, the paper also examines whether user engagement outcomes are mediated by an individual's need for physical touch. Findings indicate that the need for touch does not explain the variance between individuals. We conclude that touch screen technology complements the physical retail environment

Expansion Of Meteorological Satellite Potential

Meteorological satellites in polar and geostationary orbit are presented in this paper along with examples and limitations. NOAA and NASA satellite programs, present and future in the meteorological field, are discussed along with spectral interval, ground resolution and operational applications. The USAF/AWS Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) is scheduled for operation at the Air Force Eastern Test Range (AFETR) in the Spring of 1974. The DMSP acquisition system is described with respect to sensor type and satellite orbital parameters. Two satellites are in orbit at any given time providing real time, visual and infrared, imagery every six hours. Imagery examples depicting meteorological, geophysical, oceanographic, and earth resources applications are presented. Some added benefits with regard to the energy crisis are a possibility with the DMSP system or similar sensor use