The impact of supply chain analytics on operational performance: a resource-based view

This study seeks to better understand the role of supply chain analytics (SCA) on supply chain planning satisfaction and operational performance. We define the architecture of SCA as the integration of three sets of resources, data management resources (DMR), IT-enabled planning resources and performance management resources (PMR), from the perspective of a resource-based view. Based on the data collected from 537 manufacturing plants, we test hypotheses exploring the relationships among these resources, supply chain planning satisfaction, and operational performance. Our analysis supports that DMR should be considered a key building block of manufacturers’ business analytics initiatives for supply chains. The value of data is transmitted to outcome values through increasing supply chain planning and performance capabilities. Additionally, the deployment of advanced IT-enabled planning resources occurs after acquisition of DMR. Manufacturers with sophisticated planning technologies are likely to take advantage of data-driven processes and quality control practices. DMR are found to be a stronger predictor of PMR than IT planning resources. All three sets of resources are related to supply chain planning satisfaction and operational performance. The paper concludes by reviewing research limitations and suggesting further SCA research issues

Effect of Different Combinations of Soybean and Wheat Bran on Enzyme Production from Aspergillus oryzae S

AbstractTo investigate the enzyme production from Aspergillus oryzae S. NPUST-FS-206-A1, different combinations of soybean and wheat bran (40%:60%, 50%:50%, and 60%:40% w/w) in koji were used as substrates in soybean koji fermentation. During cultivation period, pH change of various samples was similar. However, moisture content of koji obviously decreased. Koji with high content of soybean conducted high protease activity. After 48h of cultivation, koji containing 60% soybean showed the highest neutral protease activity of 84.38 U/g dry weight. Sample with high amount of wheat bran presented high amylase activity of 731.53 U/g dry weight. Reducing sugar content of koji was related to amylase activity. Moreover, different inoculum sizes of A. oryzae S. spore had no effect on the enzyme production

Online Manufacturer Referral to Heterogeneous Retailers

Since the development of the Internet, thousands of manufacturers have been referring consumers visiting their websites to some or all of their retailers. Through a model with one manufacturer and two heterogeneous retailers, we investigate whether it is an equilibrium for the manufacturer to refer consumers exclusively to a retailer or nonexclusively to both retailers. Our analysis indicates that nonexclusive referral is the manufacturer\u27s equilibrium choice if the referral segment market size is sufficiently large; otherwise, exclusive referral is the equilibrium choice. In exclusive referral, the manufacturer would refer consumers to the more cost-efficient and smaller retailer. In the presence of infomediary referral, it is less likely for both exclusive and nonexclusive referrals to be an equilibrium, as the infomediary referral segment grows. We also show our qualitative results are robust even if there were price discrimination among consumers, referral position disparity, local consumers, and asymmetric referral market sizes

Efficacy of purchasing activities and strategic involvement: an international comparison

The purchasing function plays a strategic role in a company’s ability to compete. As globalization continues to increase, what becomes interesting is the effect that national culture may have on purchasing activities and, ultimately, manufacturing competitiveness. This study examines the effects of purchasing activities and the purchasing function’s involvement with corporate strategy on manufacturing competitiveness as it is affected by national differences. In particular, we are interested in the research question: Do purchasing theories built on samples from mainly North American and Western European countries apply in other countries with different cultural contexts? The statistical results provide evidence that the engagement and efficacy of purchasing activities and strategic involvement within companies vary by national culture. Moreover, a particular cultural dimension, Long-term orientation, is significantly related to the efficacy of purchasing activities and strategic involvement. This finding has important implications from the perspective of purchasing decision-making in global operations. Specifically, top managers from different nations could adopt and implement similar purchasing activities, but those activities could lead to different outcomes depending on the culture. The paper concludes by reviewing research limitations and suggests further examination of operations management theories

Identification of the NLS and NES motifs of VP2 from chicken anemia virus and the interaction of VP2 with mini-chromosome maintenance protein 3

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>VP2 of chicken anemia virus (CAV) is a dual-specificity phosphatase required for virus infection, assembly and replication. The functions of the nuclear localization signal (NLS) and nuclear export signal (NES) of VP2 in the cell, however, are poorly understood. Our study identified the presence of a NLS in VP2 and showed that the protein interacted significantly with mini-chromosome maintenance protein 3 (MCM3) in the cell.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>An arginine-lysine rich NLS could be predicted by software and spanned from amino acids 133 to 138 of VP2. The critical amino acids residues between positions 136 and 138, and either residue 133 or 134 are important for nuclear import in mammalian cells based on systematic mutagenesis. A NES is also predicted in VP2; however the results suggest that no functional NES is present and that this protein is CRM1 independent. It was also shown that VP2 is a chromatin binding protein and, notably, using a co-immunoprecipitation assay, it was found that VP2 association with MCM3 and that this interaction does not require DSP activity.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>VP2 contains a NLS that span from amino acids 133 to 138. VP2 is a CRM1 independent protein during nuclear export and associates with MCM3 in cells.</p

Development and characterization of a potential diagnostic monoclonal antibody against capsid protein VP1 of the chicken anemia virus

Chicken anemia virus (CAV) is an important viral pathogen that causes anemia and severe immunodeficiency syndrome in chickens worldwide. In this study, a potential diagnostic monoclonal antibody against the CAV VP1 protein was developed which can precisely recognize the CAV antigen for diagnostic and virus recovery purposes. The VP1 gene of CAV encoding the N-terminus-deleted VP1 protein, VP1Nd129, was cloned into an Escherichia (E.) coli expression vector. After isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactopyronoside induction, VP1Nd129 protein was shown to be successfully expressed in the E. coli. By performing an enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay using two coating antigens, purified VP1Nd129 and CAV-infected liver tissue lysate, E3 monoclonal antibody (mAb) was found to have higher reactivity against VP1 protein than the other positive clones according to the result of limiting dilution method from 64 clones. Using immunohistochemistry, the presence of the VP1-specific mAb, E3, was confirmed using CAV-infected liver and thymus tissues as positive-infected samples. Additionally, CAV particle purification was also performed using an immunoaffinity column containing E3 mAb. The monoclonal E3 mAb developed in this study will not only be very useful for detecting CAV infection and performing histopathology studies of infected chickens, but may also be used to purify CAV particles in the future

Canagliflozin and renal outcomes in type 2 diabetes and nephropathy

BACKGROUND Type 2 diabetes mellitus is the leading cause of kidney failure worldwide, but few effective long-term treatments are available. In cardiovascular trials of inhibitors of sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2), exploratory results have suggested that such drugs may improve renal outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes. METHODS In this double-blind, randomized trial, we assigned patients with type 2 diabetes and albuminuric chronic kidney disease to receive canagliflozin, an oral SGLT2 inhibitor, at a dose of 100 mg daily or placebo. All the patients had an estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of 30 to &lt;90 ml per minute per 1.73 m2 of body-surface area and albuminuria (ratio of albumin [mg] to creatinine [g], &gt;300 to 5000) and were treated with renin–angiotensin system blockade. The primary outcome was a composite of end-stage kidney disease (dialysis, transplantation, or a sustained estimated GFR of &lt;15 ml per minute per 1.73 m2), a doubling of the serum creatinine level, or death from renal or cardiovascular causes. Prespecified secondary outcomes were tested hierarchically. RESULTS The trial was stopped early after a planned interim analysis on the recommendation of the data and safety monitoring committee. At that time, 4401 patients had undergone randomization, with a median follow-up of 2.62 years. The relative risk of the primary outcome was 30% lower in the canagliflozin group than in the placebo group, with event rates of 43.2 and 61.2 per 1000 patient-years, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.59 to 0.82; P=0.00001). The relative risk of the renal-specific composite of end-stage kidney disease, a doubling of the creatinine level, or death from renal causes was lower by 34% (hazard ratio, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.81; P&lt;0.001), and the relative risk of end-stage kidney disease was lower by 32% (hazard ratio, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.54 to 0.86; P=0.002). The canagliflozin group also had a lower risk of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke (hazard ratio, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.67 to 0.95; P=0.01) and hospitalization for heart failure (hazard ratio, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.47 to 0.80; P&lt;0.001). There were no significant differences in rates of amputation or fracture. CONCLUSIONS In patients with type 2 diabetes and kidney disease, the risk of kidney failure and cardiovascular events was lower in the canagliflozin group than in the placebo group at a median follow-up of 2.62 years

A heuristic for designing manufacturing focus units with resource considerations

This paper presents a model of the plant-within-a-plant (PWP) design problem and demonstrates a heuristic for analyzing the problem. Although the benefits of a manufacturing focus have been articulated in the literature, methods for implementation with consideration for resource requirements have not been developed previously. In this study, we discuss the importance of including resource considerations and propose a methodology that can help managers arrive at a facility design with a high degree of focus and minimum resource needs. A heuristic is developed that incorporates the concept of order-winning criteria and volume into the focus design. The heuristic not only recognizes the effects of conflicting manufacturing tasks, but also considers resource costs and material flows between PWP units. Experimental results show that the proposed methodology offers managers the opportunity to generate and assess alternative PWP designs, which are otherwise unavailable. Overall, this research provides an analytical framework for further research in focused manufacturing

Relative impact of different ERP forms on global manufacturing organizations: an exploratory analysis of a global manufacturing survey

There are many types of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, ranging from very large and very functional vendor products such as provided by SAP and Oracle, through in-house systems, and smaller vendor products. Thus there is a substantial range of enterprise computing support available for manufacturing organizations and their manufacturing planning and control. The Global Manufacturing Research Group (GMRG) has collected a systematic survey of manufacturing organizations around the world, providing a picture of manufacturing operations. We have taken GMRG data and organized it around seven levels of ERP functionality, and analyzed this data in terms of effectiveness in terms of how ERP systems are used in global manufacturing firms, their role in accomplishing manufacturing planning and control, the relationship between ERP forms and data management practices, the satisfaction firms have across ERP forms, and finally relative perceived benefits and costs across ERP forms

The impact of advanced analytics and data accuracy on operational performance: a contingent resource based theory (RBT) perspective

This study is interested in the impact of two specific business analytic (BA) resources—accurate manufacturing data and advanced analytics—on a firms’ operational performance. The use of advanced analytics, such as mathematical optimization techniques, and the importance of manufacturing data accuracy have long been recognized as potential organizational resources or assets for improving the quality of manufacturing planning and control and of a firms’ overall operational performance. This research adopted a contingent resource based theory (RBT), suggesting that the moderating and mediating role of fact-based SCM initiatives as complementary resources. This research proposition was tested using Global Manufacturing Research Group (GMRG) survey data and was analyzed using partial least squares/structured equation modeling. The research findings shed light on the critical role of fact-based SCM initiatives as complementary resources, which moderate the impact of data accuracy on manufacturing planning quality and mediate the impact of advanced analytics on operational performance. The implication is that the impact of business analytics for manufacturing is contingent on contexts, specifically, the use of fact-based SCM initiatives such as TQM, JIT, and statistical process control. Moreover, in order for manufacturers to take advantage of the use of data and analytics for better operational performance, complementary resources such as fact-based SCM initiatives must be combined with BA initiatives focusing on data quality and advanced analytics