4,403 research outputs found
Business integration between manufacturing and transport-logistics firms
Purpose - This paper analyses how manufacturers and transport-logistics service providers (TLSPs) work together and integrate their business processes. The information technologies used to support the integration, the processes currently integrated, and the expected future integration, are searched. Design/methodology/approach - Six in-depth case studies were conducted among leading companies in the electrical, electronics, mechanical, food processing, and transport-logistics industries. The data was collected using comprehensive semi-structured interviews. Findings - Most of the firms are coupled electronically through EDI. The current business integration practices are primarily restricted to some sub-processes in three key SC processes: Customer service management, order fulfillment and backwards logistics. In the future the manufacturers want a better integration with the TLSPs, but at the same time, manufacturers would like to have the freedom of breaking the relationship, if the party does not fulfill the requisites and expectations. The future developments associated to the "commoditization" of TLSPs’ services would reinforce this trend. Originality/value - This research has shed light on a relatively unexplored area related to the integration between manufacturers and transport-logistics firms. Our research has highlighted the complexity of the integration between the two echelons, and has helped to the identification of current areas of integration. This research has also contributed to understand how the integration occurs in real contexts, by uncovering with a high degree of detail, what manufactures do to integrate their business with the TLSPsSupply chain management; Business process integration; Information technologies (IT); Standardization; Manufacturers; Transport and Logistics Service Providers (TLSPs)
A local Bayesian optimizer for atomic structures
A local optimization method based on Bayesian Gaussian Processes is developed
and applied to atomic structures. The method is applied to a variety of systems
including molecules, clusters, bulk materials, and molecules at surfaces. The
approach is seen to compare favorably to standard optimization algorithms like
conjugate gradient or BFGS in all cases. The method relies on prediction of
surrogate potential energy surfaces, which are fast to optimize, and which are
gradually improved as the calculation proceeds. The method includes a few
hyperparameters, the optimization of which may lead to further improvements of
the computational speed.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
Linear density response function in the projector-augmented wave method: Applications to solids, surfaces, and interfaces
We present an implementation of the linear density response function within
the projector-augmented wave (PAW) method with applications to the linear
optical and dielectric properties of both solids, surfaces, and interfaces. The
response function is represented in plane waves while the single-particle
eigenstates can be expanded on a real space grid or in atomic orbital basis for
increased efficiency. The exchange-correlation kernel is treated at the level
of the adiabatic local density approximation (ALDA) and crystal local field
effects are included. The calculated static and dynamical dielectric functions
of Si, C, SiC, AlP and GaAs compare well with previous calculations. While
optical properties of semiconductors, in particular excitonic effects, are
generally not well described by ALDA, we obtain excellent agreement with
experiments for the surface loss function of the Mg(0001) surface with plasmon
energies deviating by less than 0.2 eV. Finally, we apply the method to study
the influence of substrates on the plasmon excitations in graphene. On
SiC(0001), the long wavelength plasmons are significantly damped although
their energies remain almost unaltered. On Al(111) the plasmon is
completely quenched due to the coupling to the metal surface plasmon.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, articl
Screening model for nanowire surface-charge sensors in liquid
The conductance change of nanowire field-effect transistors is considered a
highly sensitive probe for surface charge. However, Debye screening of relevant
physiological liquid environments challenge device performance due to competing
screening from the ionic liquid and nanowire charge carriers. We discuss this
effect within Thomas-Fermi and Debye-Huckel theory and derive analytical
results for cylindrical wires which can be used to estimate the sensitivity of
nanowire surface-charge sensors. We study the interplay between the nanowire
radius, the Thomas-Fermi and Debye screening lengths, and the length of the
functionalization molecules. The analytical results are compared to
finite-element calculations on a realistic geometry.Comment: 4 pages including 2 figures. Accepted for AP
Lacto
Interest in sour milk drinks has become quite general in recent years through the work and teaching of Metchnikoff, who believes that their use will aid materially in prolonging life and delaying the changes incident to old age. However, most people dislike sour milk and will not use it, so several years ago the writer undertook to prepare sour milk drinks so flavored with fruit juices as to make them more palatable. The dairy section of the Iowa Agricultural Experiment station took up these experiments and produced a frozen sour milk product of the consistency of ice cream and possessing a delicate and agreeable flavor. This frozen product was called “lacto” and as such became widely known, not merely in this country but in other countries as well
Soft Cheese Making
Cheese eating would be greatly Increased In the United States If the value of this food were generally understood. Pound for pound cottage cheese, for example, contains more protein, or tissue building material, than the various meats; It contains from one-third to three-fourths as much of the energy supplying materials as meat. The value of cheese has long been recognized In Europe. While In 1913 the people of the United States ate only 3.45 lbs. of cheese per person, the people of England ate 5.19 lbs. per person. In Holland, 8.07 lbs. per person was eaten In 1911. It\u27s use would undoubtedly Increase if the economy of cheese were more generally known for some of the soft cheeses appeal especially to American taste
The scattering of a cylindrical invisibility cloak: reduced parameters and optimization
We investigate the scattering of 2D cylindrical invisibility cloaks with
simplified constitutive parameters with the assistance of scattering
coefficients. We show that the scattering of the cloaks originates not only
from the boundary conditions but also from the spatial variation of the
component of permittivity/permeability. According to our formulation, we
propose some restrictions to the invisibility cloak in order to minimize its
scattering after the simplification has taken place. With our theoretical
analysis, it is possible to design a simplified cloak by using some peculiar
composites like photonic crystals (PCs) which mimic an effective refractive
index landscape rather than offering effective constitutives, meanwhile
canceling the scattering from the inner and outer boundaries.Comment: Accepted for J. Phys.
Reexamination of Hagen-Poiseuille flow: shape-dependence of the hydraulic resistance in microchannels
We consider pressure-driven, steady state Poiseuille flow in straight
channels with various cross-sectional shapes: elliptic, rectangular,
triangular, and harmonic-perturbed circles. A given shape is characterized by
its perimeter P and area A which are combined into the dimensionless
compactness number C = P^2/A, while the hydraulic resistance is characterized
by the well-known dimensionless geometrical correction factor alpha. We find
that alpha depends linearly on C, which points out C as a single dimensionless
measure characterizing flow properties as well as the strength and
effectiveness of surface-related phenomena central to lab-on-a-chip
applications. This measure also provides a simple way to evaluate the hydraulic
resistance for the various shapes.Comment: 4 pages including 3 figures. Revised title, as publishe
Pasteurization of cream for buttermaking
In some European countries the pasteurization of cream for buttermaking is extensively practiced. Butter manufacturers in the United States have long recognized that this is a desirable procedure and they have written numerous letters to the experiment stations seeking information regarding it. In many cases it has been more or less difficult to answer these inquiries because of the comparatively small amount of experimental work which has been done along this line.
The purpose of the experiments herein reported was to determine the value of pasteurization to those engaged in the manufacture of butter. In this connection the effect of pasteurization on the flavor of the butter, on the keeping quality, on the body, on the chemical composition, and on the mechanical losses was considered and an effort was made to determine the relative merits of the various methods of pasteurization
Observation of Three-dimensional Long-range Order in Smaller Ion Coulomb Crystals in an rf Trap
Three-dimensional long-range ordered structures in smaller and
near-spherically symmetric Coulomb crystals of ^{40}Ca^+ ions confined in a
linear rf Paul trap have been observed when the number of ions exceeds ~1000
ions. This result is unexpected from ground state molecular dynamics (MD)
simulations, but found to be in agreement with MD simulations of metastable ion
configurations. Previously, three-dimensional long-range ordered structures
have only been reported in Penning traps in systems of ~50,000 ions or more.Comment: 5 pages; 4 figures; to appear in Phys. Rev. Lett.; changed content
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