<p><strong>Master’s Thesis in Logistics and Supply Chain Management</strong></p><p><strong>_____________________________________________________</strong></p><p><strong>Title:                 Postponement in Retailing Industry- A case study of SIBA</strong></p><p><strong>Authors:         Ahmed Kemal & Naqvi Syed Mohammad</strong></p><p><strong>Tutor:               Helgi Valur Fredriksson, Dr.</strong></p><p><strong>Date:               May, 2010</strong></p><p><strong>Key Words:   Speculation, Postponement, Customer Order Decoupling point,</strong></p><p><strong> Retailing, Supply Chain Flexibility, Agility</strong></p><p><strong>______________________________________________________________</strong></p><p><strong>Abstract</strong><strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Problem: </strong>Today's business environment is characterized by changing customer demands, increasing cost pressures on retailers, shorter product life cycles and products becoming obsolete shortly after their introduction. The above factors make it difficult for electronics retailers to balance the costs of dealing with excessive inventory and not be out of stock. To be competitive, retailers should delay some of their activities until customer demand becomes visible. This brings us to the phenomenon of postponement. Electronics market in Sweden faces continuous growth, although at a declining rate. This is indicative of a saturation that this sector, as a whole, is approaching to. The above problems are due to the speculative approaches and standardized products policies that are in practice. Loss of sales and customers result from these practices. The current study analyses the importance of postponement strategy and the benefits it offers. This study also tries to explore the potential solutions for retailers that postponement may relate to.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Purpose:</strong> The scope of this study is to identify possible postponement strategies needed for SIBA.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>A case study approach has been taken. The choice of the method is qualitative with an inductive approach. This involved personal communications during interviews with the managers of SIBA, using semi structured questions to collect data.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The concepts of postponement, supply chain flexibility, agility and customer order decoupling points (CODP) are closely related to one another and it has been shown that as the depth of postponement increase from right to left in the CODP continuum, the CODP changes its position, moving along the CODP continuum from right to left and towards the upstream. With this movement, the flexibility and agility in the chain increases. Our finds suggest that postponement is rather underutilized and that wastes (by way of lost sales and customers, obsolete inventory costs and storage costs) in the retailing process occur due to speculative approaches in application at the retail level. We have suggested logistics postponement for two out of three product categories and enumerated the ensuing benefits that the retailer can derive by way of enhanced flexibility, agility and reductions in wastages and satisfied customers.</p>

<p>This paper focuses on four interrelated strategies: postponement, mass customization, modularization and customer order decoupling point. The goal of the postponement is to delay the customization as late as possible in the supply chain. It is also known as delayed differentiation. Mass customization is a relatively new term, which began to gain attention in the industry a decade ago. It was an obligatory invention as a response to the global market which becomes more turbulent day by day for the last two decades. Its goal is to produce customized products at low costs. Modularization is a common term that is used in many areas. In this study, we will focus on product architecture modularity and process modularity. Customer order decoupling point, which is also known as order penetration point, is used to distinguish the point in the supply chain where a particular product is associated to a specific order.</p><p>Our target is building a model that explains how these four concepts are related. In order to achieve this, we will, first, research every concept individually; we will state the definitions, levels, benefits, enablers, success factors, drivers, etc. of the concepts. Then we will study the pair-wise relationships of these strategies. We will build our model according to the findings we have found in the literature. After building our model, we will explore it in Autoliv Electronics to see how it works in practice.</p><p>Briefly, our model states the following:</p><p>Modularization is an enabler of customization and it is necessary for the success of mass customization where set-up costs are critical. Product architecture modularity provides rapid assembly and cost efficiency that is required for postponement and mass customization. In addition, it is used to measure the mass customization degree according to some others.</p><p>Postponement requires process modularity, and it moves the customer order decoupling point downstream in the value added material flow. It contributes the mass customization by increasing both the leanness and agility.</p><p>Customer order decoupling point uses the customer requirements and existing capabilities of the mass customization for optimizing the flexibility-productivity balance.</p>

This dissertation presents analytical solutions to address several unresolved issues on the modeling of CO₂ flow in permeable media. Analytical solutions are important as numerical simulations do not yield explicit expressions in terms of the model parameters. In addition, simulations that provide the most comprehensive solutions to multiphase flow problems are computationally intensive. Accordingly, we address the following topics in this dissertation. The method of characteristics (MOC) solution of the overall mass conservation equation of CO₂ in two-phase flow through permeable media is derived in the presence of compressibility. The formally developed MOC solutions rely on the incompressible fluid and rock assumptions that are rarely met in practice; hence, the incompressible assumption is relaxed and the first semi-analytic MOC solution for compressible flow is derived. The analytical solution is verified by simulation results. Fractional flow theory is applied to evaluate the CO2 storage capacity of one-dimensional (1D) saline aquifers. Lack of an accurate estimation of the CO₂ storage capacity stands in the way of the fully implementation of CO₂ storage in aquifers. The notion of optimal solvent-water-slug size is incorporated into the graphical solution of combined geochemical front propagation and fractional flow theory to determine the CO₂ storage capacity of aquifers. The analytical solution is verified by simulation results. The limits of the Walsh and Lake (WL) method to predict the performance of CO₂ injection is examined when miscibility is not achieved. The idea of an analogous first-contact miscible flood is implemented into the WL method to study miscibly-degraded simultaneous water and gas (SWAG) displacements. The simulation verifies the WL solutions. For the two-dimensional (2D) displacements, the predicted optimal SWAG ratio is accurate when the permeable medium is fairly homogeneous with a small cross-flow or heterogeneous with a large lateral correlation length (the same size or greater than the interwell spacing). We conclude that the WL solution is accurate when the mixing zone grows linearly with time. We examine decoupling of large and small-scale heterogeneity in multilayered reservoirs. In addition, using an analytical solution derived in this research, the fraction of layers in which the channeling occurs is determined as a function of the Koval factor and input dispersivity. We successfully present a simulation configuration to verify the off-diagonal elements of the numerical dispersion tensor. Numerical dispersion is inevitably introduced into the finite difference approximations of the 2D convection-dispersion equation. We show that the off-diagonal elements of the numerical dispersion tensor double when the flow velocity changes with distance. In addition, the simulation results reveal that the flow becomes more dispersive with distance travelled if there is convective cross-flow. In addition, local mixing increases with the convective cross-flow between layers. A numerical indicator is presented to describe the nature of CO₂ miscible displacements in heterogeneous permeable media. Hence, the quantitative distinction between flow patterns becomes possible despite the traditionally qualitative approach. The correlation coefficient function is adopted to assign numerical values to flow patterns. The simulation results confirm the accuracy of the descriptive flow pattern values. The order-of-one scaling analysis procedure is implemented to provide a unique set of dimensionless scaling groups of 2D SWAG displacements. The order-of-one scaling analysis is a strong mathematical approach to determine approximations that are allowed for a particular transport phenomenon. For the first time, we implement the scaling analysis of miscible displacements while considering effects of water salinity, dissolution of CO₂ in the aqueous phase, and complex configurations of injection and production wells. / text

Distributed energy resources like solar power (PV Panels) are usually connected to the AC grid through a single phase voltage source inverter (VSI). The major drawback associated with single phase grid tie inverters is the double frequency component of the grid that appears on the DC bus link. Large electrolytic capacitors are generally employed in the inverters to eliminate the ripple component. However, their bulkiness and relatively short lifetime are motivational factors to replace them with small film capacitors. This paper presents a synchronous boost/buck based active power decoupling circuit in parallel with the dc-bus link capacitor and discusses the different types of control strategies implemented. Simulation results are presented for each control technique and it is shown that the ripple on the DC bus link is largely reduced due to inclusion of this circuit along with an expected extension of the lifetime due to the reduction in the amount of dc-bus capacitance used. / text

The relationship between cellular proliferation and differentiation is a major topic in cell biology. What we know comes from models of somatic cell differentiation, where it is widely viewed that cycling and differentiation are coupled, antagonistic phenomena linked at the G1 phase. The extension of this view to stem cells, however, is unclear. One potential possibility is that stem cells also tightly link their G1 phase with their differentiation, indicating a similarity between the differentiation of stem cells and the differentiation of more mature somatic cells. On the other hand, stem cells may utilize different mechanisms or adaptations that confer on them some aspect of uniqueness or "stemness." In this case, stem cells will not exhibit the same coupling with the cell cycle as in many somatic cell models. In this thesis, we examined mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs), a stem cell that is pluripotent and rapidly cycling with a highly condensed G1 phase. Direct extension of the somatic view posits that elongation of their G1 phase to somatic lengths by cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) activity inhibition should induce or increase differentiation of these stem cells. Evidence supporting this claim has been contradictory. We show that elongation of the cell cycle and elongation of G1 to somatic lengths is fully compatible with the pluripotent state of mESCs. Multiple methods that lengthen the cell cycle and that target CDK activity or that trigger putative downstream mechanisms (i.e. Rb and E2F activity) all fail to induce differentiation on their own or even to facilitate differentiation. These results indicates that the model of linkage between the G1 phase and differentiation in mESCs is incorrect and leads us to propose that "stemness" may have a physiological basis in the decoupling of cell cycling and differentiation. In summary, we provide evidence that there is a resistance of mESCs to differentiation induced by lengthening G1 and/or the cell cycle. This could allow for separate control of these events and provide new opportunities for investigation and application.

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Tyrimo objektas – tiesioginė parama. Tyrimo dalykas – tiesioginės paramos schemos. Darbo tikslas - ištirti tiesioginės paramos schemų pokyčius ir įvertinti paramos atsiejimo nuo gamybos poveikį žemės ūkiui. Uždaviniai: 1. Identifikuoti tiesioginių išmokų kaip tiesioginės paramos reikšmę ir nustatyti jų vietą agrarinės politikos priemonių sistemoje; 2. Išnagrinėti tiesioginės paramos schemų pokyčius ir atlikti jų palyginamąją analizę; 3. Išanalizuoti ir įvertinti tiesioginės paramos atsiejimo nuo gamybos poveikį Lietuvos žemės ūkiui. Tyrimo metodai: literatūros sisteminės analizės ir sintezės; grafinio vaizdavimo metodai; statistinių duomenų palyginimo; indukcijos ir dedukcijos; modeliavimo ir konstrukcinių skaičiavimų metodai; prognozuojamiems dydžiams nustatyti panaudota modeliavimo programa GAMS; loginio mąstymo ir atsiribojimo metodai. Ištyrus tiesioginės paramos schemas ir jų poveikį žemės ūkiui pagal Lietuvos ir užsienio šalių mokslinius veikalus, periodinę literatūrą, konferencijų medžiagą ir interneto puslapių duomenis, identifikuota tiesioginės paramos kaip agrarinės politikos priemonės esmė ir formos, išnagrinėti schemų pokyčiai, įvertintas atsiejimo nuo gamybos poveikis žemės ūkio plėtotei. / Research object - direct support. Research subject – direct support schemes. Research aim – explore direct support schemes changes and measure decoupling impact for agriculture. Objectives: 1. Identify direct payments import in concept of direct support and establish them position in agricultural policy system; 2. Scrutinize direct support schemes changes and make comparable analysis of them; 3. Traverse and measure direct support decoupling form productivity impact for Lithuania agriculture. Research methods – special literature analysis and synthesis; graphical modeling; statistic data comparison; induction and deduction methods; modeling and contraction; GAMS program for future date research; logical and abstraction methods. By exploring direct support schemes and them impact for agriculture by the Lithuanian and the other countries scientific, periodical literature, conferences stuff, web pages data was identified direct support like measure of agricultural policy point and form; scrutinize the changes of schemes, measured direct support decoupling form productivity impact for agriculture.

Denna uppsats syfte har varit att undersöka hur det flexibla arbetet upplevs och hanteras av fackförbund. Studiens huvudobjekt har varit tjänstemannaförbundet Unionen där fyra kvalitativa intervjuer gjorts och en rad officiella dokument granskats. Utöver Unionen så har två intervju gjorts med en deltagare var från Vision och Handelsanställdas förbund.Fackförbund möter idag nya typer av frågor. Det handlar om frågor som rör hur arbete idag organiseras och hur medlemmarnas inställning till fackens verksamhet förändrats. Det flexibla arbetet är en sådan fråga. Flexibelt arbetet som fenomen framstår som något komplext för fackförbund. Komplexiteten skapar en situation där problem befaras uppstå om inga förhindrande insatser görs samtidigt som det förekommer relativt få konkreta fall eller ärenden hos Unionen. Unionens arbete med flexibilitet analyseras utifrån ett legitimitetsperspektiv i förhållande till sin omgivning. Hur Unionen hanterar frågor kring det flexibla arbetet problematiseras också i förhållande till mer övergripande utmaningar som dagens fackförbund ställs inför såsom medlemsförluster, individualisering av samhället och nya former för att organisera arbete. / The aim with this paper has been to explore how flexible work is perceived and handled by trade unions. The study's main focus has been the white-collar union Unionen, where four qualitative interviews were conducted and a number of official documents were reviewed. In addition to the interviews with Unionen two interviews were held with participant from Vision and Handelsanställdas förbund. Trade unions today face new challenges. These challenges involve questions that relate to how work today is organized and how members' attitude towards unions and their activities have changed. Flexible work is one such challenge. Flexible work as a phenomenon appears to be somewhat complex for Unionen. This complexity creates a situation where problems are expected to present themselves if no preventive efforts are made, while in reality there are relatively few actual errands for Unionen. Unionens work with flexibility is analysed from a legitimacy perspective in relation to Unionens environment. How Unionen works in relation to flexible work is also problematized in relation to the challenges of today’s unions where they are faced with decreasing number of members, individualization of society and new forms for organizing work.

Abstract In fashion industry, customer demand is constantly changing. One of the main reasons is due to the time of delicate fashion awareness among the consumers, which has come into larger variety and frequent assortment changes. The changing trends in fashion industry allow researchers to get into the postponement strategy as a customized operation in order to focus on quality and flexibility. In today’s fashion market the key for success is to keep an eye on and react to the customer demand. H&amp;M is Europe’s second largest fashion retailer in terms of sales and our work will reflect on H&amp;M supply chain particularly. We try to figure out business strategies such as mass customization and standardization, which H&amp;M is using in their entire supplier chain and in his different processes. Keeping this view in mind, we design our research question, which is about mass customization and standardization and we try to relate these business strategies to the postponement. We try to find out the structure and implementation of these strategies in H&amp;M supply chain with the help of our respondent answers in our proposed questionnaire. For this purpose, an electronic interview with the H&amp;M senior merchandiser in Pakistan liaison office was carried out. The questionnaire contains different questions related to postponement strategy, customization, and standardization and other processes which are used in the supply chain of any fashion industry. The questionnaire consists of 22 major questions. Our research is purely qualitative. We include both types of the data; namely secondary and primary. Secondary data was collected from earlier studies of the literature and related theories of postponement, customization, and standardization and certain areas of fashion retailing, whereas primary data was collected through the electronic interview with Mr. Syed Naqeeb who is working in H&amp;M liaison office as a senior merchandiser in Pakistan. After receiving the questionnaire, we have tried to highlight our research questions with the help of our proposed Frame of Reference in Chapter 2. The Frame of Reference consists of theories which will help the reader to get the clear picture of fashion retailing and the related theories. In the Analysis section, we talk about the activities of H&amp;M and its background followed by its business concept. We define H&amp;M SCM model and draw a figure of H&amp;M complementarities, which we developed by the help of electronic interview. In the Conclusion part, we come to the point that customization and postponement affect fashion retailing by choosing raw material, components, and apparel accessories plus logistic management. The other aspect of our research area is standardization. After the analysis we come to know that Standardization and postponement are also used together in the supply chain of H&amp;M, in raw material, cotton and yarn, dying, packaging and in the care instruction of labels (washing instructions).

Closing the control loop of a manipulator robot with vision feedback is widelyknown. It concerns nowadays all areas of robotics. Such a return can make a comparison between a desired state and current state, using visual measurements. The main objective of this doctoral thesis is to design several types of kinematic control laws for stereo visual servoing. It strongly involves the formalism of the task function which is a well-known and useful mathematical tool to express the visual error as a function of state vectors.We have investigated the decoupling between the rotational and translational velocities control laws together with the epipolar constraint with a stereo visual feedback.That is why, the visual measurements and features used in this thesis are the 3Dstraight lines.The interests of this type of visual features rely on the robustness against the noise, and the possibility to represent straight lines or other features like points or planes pairs by the Plücker coordinates, as a 3D straight line can be represented as well by two points or the intersection of two planes. This makes all the control laws designed in this thesis valid for another visual features like points