How An Inventory Cost Misinterpretation Led To Chaos For Purchasing And Operations In A LEAN System

A firm engaging in lean production has employed a computer system to revise order quantities and lot sizes in real time.  What appears to be a minor misinterpretation of costs leads to radical fluctuations in inventory and efficiency.  Volumes of resources and products grow, contrary to the intent of the system and drastic action is taken to reduce costs, leading to a period of shortages and high administrative costs

G. LeBlanc Corporation, Relocating A Facility

This is a business case study describing a classical success story that brought a business from a store front music store to become the largest producer of brass and woodwind instruments in America. Additionally, the unique work environment and operating strategy of this firm was not only visionary, but enabled the company to prosper in a difficult labor market. Finally, the demise of the company when new management attempted to be a traditional company clearly indicates the important role of the entrepreneur. Although the focus of the case is on the decision to re-locate a facility, this is an excellent case for courses in entrepreneurship, strategy, and operations

Changes In The Horse Racing Industry And Impacts On The Indiana Economy: 2010 - 2014

A survey of the horse racing and horse breeding industry in Indiana was conducted in 2014 and the economic impact of this industry on the Indiana economy determined utilizing an input-output model.  Comparing the results to an identical study conducted in 2010, there are some interesting comparisons especially considering the economic challenges facing the racing and gaming sector of the economy.  These changes and the economic impact of these changes on the Indiana economy are the substance of this paper.  Specifically, the racetracks in Indiana are under a single ownership and racing composition was changed.  In a challenging economy, the competitive horse breeding segment of the industry has also undergone changes.  The consequences of these changes on the Indiana economy are measured and compared with the earlier study

Estimating The Annual Cost Of Ownership Of A Recreational Horse In Indiana

A number of studies have attempted to estimate the cost of horse ownership in various States.  These studies provided valuable information regarding the types of costs associated with horse ownership and an estimate of a grand average cost.  Horse ownership is more complex depending on a variety of factors including location, breed, horserelated activities, and potential revenues. In this study, a regression model is developed that provides insights into the factors most relevant to horse ownership costs as well as a more effective model for estimating horse ownership costs in Indiana when compared to an estimation of cost based on a general average

The Labor Agreements Between UAW And The Big Three Automakers-Good Economics Or Bad Economics?

On October 10, 2007, the UAW membership ratified a landmark, 456-page labor agreement with General Motors.  Following pattern bargaining, the UAW also reached agreement with Chrysler LLC and then Ford Motor Company.  This paper will examine the major provisions of these groundbreaking labor agreements, including the creation of the Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA), the establishment of a two tier wage structure for newly hired workers, the job security provisions, the new wage package for hourly workers, and the shift to defined contribution plans for new hires.  The paper will also provide an economic analysis of these labor agreements to consider both if the “Big Three” automakers can remain competitive in the global market and what will be their impact on the UAW and its membership

Did The Labor Contracts Between The UAW And The Big Three Automakers Work?

In the Fall 2007, there were landmark labor contracts agreed upon between the United Autoworkers (UAW) and the Big Three Automakers—General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and Chrysler LLC.  The impetus for these truly historic labor agreements was to afford the automakers to remain competitive in the global market while labor was to be protected.  Since the passage of these labor contracts, auto sales have continually declined to record lows due to the recession in the United States.  This paper will trace the major contractual provisions of these labor agreements and also analyze how effective they were in accomplishing the stated goals for both the UAW and the Big Three automakers.  Additionally, the paper will examine the necessary changes needed in these labor contracts if the automakers are to survive in the global economy

Space-Division Multiplexing in Data Center Networks: On Multi-Core Fiber Solutions and Crosstalk-Suppressed Resource Allocation

The rapid growth of traffic inside data centers caused by the increasing adoption of cloud services necessitates a scalable and cost-efficient networking infrastructure. Space-division multiplexing (SDM) is considered as a promising solution to overcome the optical network capacity crunch and support cost-effective network capacity scaling. Multi-core fiber (MCF) is regarded as the most feasible and efficient way to realize SDM networks, and its deployment inside data centers seems very likely as the issue of inter-core crosstalk (XT) is not severe over short link spans (<1  km ) compared to that in long-haul transmission. However, XT can still have a considerable effect in MCF over short distances, which can limit the transmission reach and in turn the data center’s size. XT can be further reduced by bi-directional transmission of optical signals in adjacent MCF cores. This paper evaluates the benefits of MCF-based SDM solutions in terms of maximizing the capacity and spatial efficiency of data center networks. To this end, we present an analytical model for XT in bi-directional normal step-index and trench-assisted MCFs and propose corresponding XT-aware core prioritization schemes. We further develop XT-aware spectrum resource allocation strategies aimed at relieving the complexity of online XT computation. These strategies divide the available spectrum into disjoint bands and incrementally add them to the pool of accessible resources based on the network conditions. Several combinations of core mapping and spectrum resource allocation algorithms are investigated for eight types of homogeneous MCFs comprising 7–61 cores, three different multiplexing schemes, and three data center network topologies with two traffic scenarios. Extensive simulation results show that combining bi-directional transmission in dense core fibers with tailored resource allocation schemes significantly increases the network capacity. Moreover, a multiplexing scheme that combines SDM and WDM can achieve up to 33 times higher link spatial efficiency and up to 300 times greater capacity compared to a WDM solution

Access and metro network convergence for flexible end-to-end network design

This paper reports on the architectural, protocol, physical layer, and integrated testbed demonstrations carried out by the DISCUS FP7 consortium in the area of access - metro network convergence. Our architecture modeling results show the vast potential for cost and power savings that node consolidation can bring. The architecture, however, also recognizes the limits of long-reach transmission for low-latency 5G services and proposes ways to address such shortcomings in future projects. The testbed results, which have been conducted end-to-end, across access - metro and core, and have targeted all the layers of the network from the application down to the physical layer, show the practical feasibility of the concepts proposed in the project

Limiting physical-layer attack propagation with power equalization placement in transparent WDM networks

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