ABC Analysis For Inventory Management: Bridging The Gap Between Research And Classroom

ABC analysis is a well-established categorization technique based on the Pareto Principle for determining which items should get priority in the management of a company’s inventory.  In discussing this topic, today’s operations management and supply chain textbooks focus on dollar volume as the sole criterion for performing the categorization.  The authors argue that today’s businesses and supply chains operate in a world where the ability to deliver the right products rapidly to very specific markets is key to survival.  With suppliers, intermediaries, and customers all over the globe, and product lives decreasing rapidly, this focus on a single criterion is misplaced.  The large body of research was summarized based on multiple criteria ABC analysis that has accumulated since the 1980s and recommend that textbooks incorporate their key findings and methods into their discussions of this topic.  Suggestions are offered on how this discussion might be structured

The Treatment of Six Sigma in Introductory Operations Management Textbooks: Clearing Up the Confusion

This paper critically examines the treatment of the statistical basis for Six Sigma and process capability in popular operations management textbooks. It discusses areas of confusion and suggest ways of treating the topic that make sense to instructors as well as students. Even though Six Sigma was introduced almost 30 years ago, misconceptions persist. In the textbooks we have found no consistency of approach or understanding of the statistical underpinnings (3.4 defects per million opportunities) of Six Sigma. Sometimes statements are made that are factually incorrect and cause frustration for students and instructors. Similar difficulties are encountered in discussions of the related concept of process capability. The paper suggests changes that will help resolve these issues and bring much-needed clarity to discussions of these important ideas. Students will find the material much more accessible and instructors will find it much easier to convey the concepts underlying this important topic

ABC Analysis for Inventory Management: Bridging the Gap between Research and Classroom

ABC analysis is a well-established categorization technique based on the Pareto Principle for determining which items should get priority in the management of a company\u27s inventory. In discussing this topic, today\u27s operations management and supply chain textbooks focus on dollar volume as the sole criterion for performing the categorization. The authors argue that today\u27s businesses and supply chains operate in a world where the ability to deliver the right products rapidly to very specific markets is key to survival. With suppliers, intermediaries, and customers all over the globe, and product lives decreasing rapidly, this focus on a single criterion is misplaced. The large body of research was summarized based on multiple criteria ABC analysis that has accumulated since the 1980s and recommend that textbooks incorporate their key findings and methods into their discussions of this topic. Suggestions are offered on how this discussion might be structured

ABC Analysis For Inventory Management: Bridging The Gap Between Research And Classroom

ABC analysis is a well-established categorization technique based on the Pareto Principle for determining which items should get priority in the management of a company’s inventory.  In discussing this topic, today’s operations management and supply chain textbooks focus on dollar volume as the sole criterion for performing the categorization.  The authors argue that today’s businesses and supply chains operate in a world where the ability to deliver the right products rapidly to very specific markets is key to survival.  With suppliers, intermediaries, and customers all over the globe, and product lives decreasing rapidly, this focus on a single criterion is misplaced.  The large body of research was summarized based on multiple criteria ABC analysis that has accumulated since the 1980s and recommend that textbooks incorporate their key findings and methods into their discussions of this topic.  Suggestions are offered on how this discussion might be structured.

Enhancing Forage Production through Silvipastoral System in Arid Regions

Livestock based farming system makes significant contribution for livelihood security of farmers in arid zone of India. However, availability of fodder for livestock is not sufficient due to water scarcity and land degradation leading to low productivity of grazing land. The arid zones are less suitable for crop production due to inherent soil constraints like low water retentivity, sandy texture, shallow depth, occurrence of rocks and stones, however some grasses and tree species of forage value and economic importance can grow well and help in augmenting forage production. Silvipasture offers a sustainable land use system which increases overall productivity of land and makes efficient utilization of natural resources. Silvipastoral system has special significance in arid and semi-arid region (Tiwari et al., 1999)

SN 2007uy - metamorphosis of an aspheric Type Ib explosion

The supernovae of Type Ibc are rare and the detailed characteristics of these explosions have been studied only for a few events. Unlike Type II SNe, the progenitors of Type Ibc have never been detected in pre-explosion images. So, to understand the nature of their progenitors and the characteristics of the explosions, investigation of proximate events are necessary. Here we present the results of multi-wavelength observations of Type Ib SN 2007uy in the nearby ($\sim$ 29.5 Mpc) galaxy NGC 2770. Analysis of the photometric observations revealed this explosion as an energetic event with peak absolute R band magnitude $-18.5\pm0.16$, which is about one mag brighter than the mean value ($-17.6\pm0.6$) derived for well observed Type Ibc events. The SN is highly extinguished, E(B-V) = 0.63$\pm$0.15 mag, mainly due to foreground material present in the host galaxy. From optical light curve modeling we determine that about 0.3 M$_{\odot}$ radioactive $^{56}$Ni is produced and roughly 4.4 M$_{\odot}$ material is ejected during this explosion with liberated energy $\sim 15\times10^{51}$ erg, indicating the event to be an energetic one. Through optical spectroscopy, we have noticed a clear aspheric evolution of several line forming regions, but no dependency of asymmetry is seen on the distribution of $^{56}$Ni inside the ejecta. The SN shock interaction with the circumburst material is clearly noticeable in radio follow-up, presenting a Synchrotron Self Absorption (SSA) dominated light curve with a contribution of Free Free Absorption (FFA) during the early phases. Assuming a WR star, with wind velocity \ga 10^3 {\rm km s}^{-1}, as a progenitor, we derive a lower limit to the mass loss rate inferred from the radio data as \dot{M} \ga 2.4\times10^{-5} M$_{\odot}$, yr$^{-1}$, which is consistent with the results obtained for other Type Ibc SNe bright at radio frequencies.Comment: 22 pages, 13 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

SN 2008in—Bridging the Gap between Normal and Faint Supernovae of Type IIP

We present optical photometric and low-resolution spectroscopic observations of the Type II plateau supernova (SN) 2008in, which occurred in the outskirts of the nearly face-on spiral galaxy M61. Photometric data in the X-ray, ultraviolet, and near-infrared bands have been used to characterize this event. The SN field was imaged with the ROTSE-IIIb optical telescope about seven days before the explosion. This allowed us to constrain the epoch of the shock breakout to JD = 2454825.6. The duration of the plateau phase, as derived from the photometric monitoring, was ~98 days. The spectra of SN 2008in show a striking resemblance to those of the archetypal low-luminosity IIP SNe 1997D and 1999br. A comparison of ejecta kinematics of SN 2008in with the hydrodynamical simulations of Type IIP SNe by Dessart et al. indicates that it is a less energetic event (~5 × 10^(50) erg). However, the light curve indicates that the production of radioactive ^(56)Ni is significantly higher than that in the low-luminosity SNe. Adopting an interstellar absorption along the SN direction of AV ~ 0.3 mag and a distance of 13.2 Mpc, we estimated a synthesized ^(56)Ni mass of ~0.015 M_☉. Employing semi-analytical formulae derived by Litvinova and Nadezhin, we derived a pre-SN radius of ~126 R_☉, an explosion energy of ~5.4 × 10^(50) erg, and a total ejected mass of ~16.7 M_☉. The latter indicates that the zero-age main-sequence mass of the progenitor did not exceed 20 M_☉. Considering the above properties of SN 2008in and its occurrence in a region of sub-solar metallicity ([O/H] ~ 8.44 dex), it is unlikely that fall-back of the ejecta onto a newly formed black hole occurred in SN 2008in. We therefore favor a low-energy explosion scenario of a relatively compact, moderate-mass progenitor star that generates a neutron star

Single lesion multibacillary leprosy, a treatment enigma: a case report

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

SN 2008gz - most likely a normal type IIP event

We present BV RI photometric and low-resolution spectroscopic investigation of a type II core-collapse supernova (SN) 2008gz, which occurred in a star forming arm and within a half-light radius (solar metallicity region) of a nearby spiral galaxy NGC 3672. The SN event was detected late and a detailed investigation of its light curves and spectra spanning 200 days suggest that it is an event of type IIP similar to archetypal SNe 2004et and 1999em. However, in contrast to other events of its class, the SN 2008gz exhibits rarely observed V magnitude drop of 1.5 over the period of a month during plateau to nebular phase. Using 0.21 mag of Av as a lower limit and a distance of 25.5 Mpc, we estimate synthesized $^{56}$Ni mass of 0.05 \pm 0.01 M* and a mid-plateau Mv of -16.6 \pm 0.2 mag. The photospheric velocity is observed to be higher than that was observed for SN 2004et at similar epochs, indicating explosion energy was comparable to or higher than SN 2004et. Similar trend was also seen for the expansion velocity of H-envelopes. By comparing its properties with other well studied events as well as by using a recent simulation of pre-SN models of Dessart, Livne & Waldman (2010), we infer an explosion energy range of 2 - 3 x 10$^{51}$ erg and this coupled with the observed width of the forbidden [O I] 6300-6364 {\AA} line at 275 days after the explosion gives an upper limit for the main-sequence (non-rotating, solar metallicity) progenitor mass of 17 M*. Our narrow-band H{\alpha} observation, taken nearly 560 days after the explosion and the presence of an emission kink at zero velocity in the Doppler corrected spectra of SN indicate that the event took place in a low luminosity star forming H II region.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRA