Mitigating supply and production uncertainties with dynamic scheduling using real-time transport information

Supply and production uncertainties can affect the scheduling and inventory performance of final production systems. Facing such uncertainties, production managers normally choose to maintain the original production schedule, or follow the first-in-first-out policy. This paper develops a new, dynamic algorithm policy that considers scheduling and inventory problems, by taking advantage of real-time shipping information enabled by today’s advanced technology. Simulation models based on the industrial example of a chemical company and the Taguchi’s method are used to test these three policies under 81 experiments with varying supply and production lead times and uncertainties. Simulation results show that the proposed dynamic algorithm outperforms the other two policies for supply chain cost. Results from Taguchi’s method show that companies should focus their long-term effort on the reduction of supply lead times, which positively affects the mitigation of supply uncertainty

Sea use planning and the north sea.

Sea-use planning and maritime resource management in the southern North Sea is the subject of an investigation at the Centre for Marine Law and Policy. University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology, Cardiff, and sponsored by the UK Science Research Council as an item in their Marine Technology Programme. The project presently consists of three main elements, including the identification and definition of the major systems involved within a geographical framework, a review of legal and administrative organization, and an investigation of the nature and quality of data. From this a systems approach for maritime resource management is aimed at with special emphasis on technical evaluation of procedures and database management systems

The human side of lean logistics

Logistics is a highly competitive industry, hence logistic service providers (LSP) generally tend to get small margins on their activities. This promotes a managerial tendency to see labor as a source of costs that needs to be disciplined and controlled, rather than a source of added value that needs to be fostered. As a consequence, work pressure is high and the motivating potential of jobs may suffer. In this paper we contend that the concept of “creative tension” (Womack, Jones, & Roos, 1990) taken from the lean production (LP) philosophy may provide for the LSP a way to reconcile the need for added value and the need for cost control. Lean jobs not only require workers to continuously reduce waste in the work environment, but they also bestow on them certain responsibilities to create value. Their contributions to Kaizen support a company’s lean journey. In this paper we show that lean can overcome the misfit between worker expectations and job characteristics which will enhance employees’ personal outcomes. The fit between job characteristics and workers’ expectations and preferences was investigated using Hackman & Oldham’s job characteristics model (JCM; Hackman & Oldham, 1976). A survey to measure the variables from the JCM was administered to a sample of 32 employees from a Dutch LSP. The most important result indicated that the extent to which the level of creativity desired by workers fitted the level of creativity required by their jobs was a strong predictor of psychological states (e.g. meaningfulness) and outcomes (e.g. turnover intent) Given the possibilities offered by the concept of creative tension, we argue that the lean philosophy provides the tools to promote the human side of logistics

The North Sea Sea use management and planning

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