Photocopy of typescript. / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

This research addresses the large-scale group fleet replacement problem with multiple vehicle types of multiple units, under budget and demand constraints. Past research in group fleet replacement is limited and has focused on one vehicle type, with multiples units and constraints. Many studies in fleet replacement have also dealt with single replacement, with single units, and with no constraints. The objective of this research is to find the methodology to solve the general large-scale group fleet replacement problem. A multi-phase methodology based on the grouping concept is presented and is integrated with optimization techniques. The vehicles are grouped according to various technology parameters. A two-level hierarchical replacement process, focusing on inter-group, and intra-group analysis, is developed and the resulting models are solved using integer programming. Finally, a case study using the Oregon Department of Transportation records is examined. The replacement model presented can incorporate complex variations in the large-scale group fleet replacement problem. It is flexible and can be used in wide variety of replacement problems. Used appropriately, the results from this methodology can result in reduced fleet replacement costs and operation costs. / Graduation date: 2001

Thesis--M. Phil., University of Hong Kong, 1979. / Xeorx copy of typescript.

No description available.

The central concern of this thesis is to identify and analyse the circumstances in which international trade in second-hand machines will take place, and to describe the consequences of such trade. It turns out that this topic is not so esoteric as it may initially seem, and part of the thesis is devoted to exploring alternative models of trade in capital goods, and to showing the extent to which all such models exhibit common features. The method of approach is theoretical and largely mathematical, although some empirical data from secondary sources are presented. A survey of discussions of the desirability of underdeveloped countries importing second-hand machines reveals considerable differences of opinion, and the absence of a consistent theoretical treatment. The larger part of Chapter 1 is taken up by a theoretical analysis of international trade in vintage models of capital formation. Within a unified framework of perfect competition and perfect foresight, a wide range of technical assumptions can be treated, and their economic consequences analysed. Fairly weak assumptions lead to the conclusion that the existence of factor price differentials will cause countries with lower wage rates to specialise exclusively in the use of old machines. The rather meagre empirical evidence available, of which a major part is evidence of intranational trade in Japan, is consistent with the hypothesis that factor prices differentials are the main force underlying this trade, although the evidence is by no means conclusive. It seems a reasonable conclusion that it is a pervasive feature of vintage models with factor price differentials that trade in secondhand machines takes place and that there is a tendency for particular countries to specialise in the use of particular vintages. At this level of generality, however, not much more may be said. In order to investigate more deeply the implications of trade in vintage models, it is necessary to concentrate on more rigidly specified cases. Chapters 2 and 3 analyse steady states in the model in which the technical specifications of the only type of machine available are exogenously determined and there is labour-augmenting embodied technical progress: the 'clay-clay' model. With two countries growing at the same steady rate, the country with the lower yage rate and higher profit rate uses only second-hand machines. To analyse the effects of trade, we need to make some assumption about saving behaviour so that comparisons between steady states with free trade and steady states in autarchy may be made. In the literature on dynamic trade models, one of two assumptions is normally chosen: that (gross) saving rates are kept fixed, or that profit rates are fixed. In vintage models there is a third potential candidate, the net saving rate, but it is here shown that it is unsuitable, not providing a well-defined description of saving behaviour. Chapter 2 adopts the fixed gross saying rate assumption and establishes that if the two countries have saving rates sufficiently far apart for factor price equalisation not to occur and if there is convergence to steady state, then trade will in the long run raise the consumption level in the high saving country which specialises in new machines, and raise the wage rate and lower the profit rate in the low saving country which specialises in old machines. It may allow full employment in the low saving country even if in autarchy it was unable to sustain full employment. Examples show that consumption in the low saving country may be lowered by trade, and the factor price ratio in the high saving country may move in either direction. The alternative assumption that profit rates are fixed ('classical saving 1) is analysed in Chapter 3, where trade is shown to raise wage rates in both countries, and to affect consumption through a combination of three effects: (a) static gains from trade tend to raise consumption in both countries, (b) the country with the higher profit rate specialises in old machines so tending to raise its immediate consumption and reduce its long run consumption, while the other country does the opposite, if each country has an.efficient saving objective, (c) trade tends to reduce the consumption of the more inefficient country to the benefit of the one with the higher profit rate, if there is inefficient saving. Chapter 4 analyses similarly the putty-clay model, in which there is the possibility of choice of technique. Remarkably, the fact that the low wage country now has the possibility of constructing machines more technically labour intensive than those in use elsewhere does not alter the pattern of trade: in this case also, the only machines it uses are second-hand machines imported from the high wage country. A major point of interest in all three chapters is the effect labelled (b) above: the fact that trade in second-hand machines typically is associated with intertemporal substitution of consumption. This phenomenon has been noted in the literature on trade in the two-sector model, and Chapter 5 aims to show that it is a typical feature of models of trade in capital goods. The pattern of trade in the vintage models is shown to be analogous to the pattern in the two-sector model and in linear models. At first sight this aspect of trade may seem far removed from traditional trade theory, but in fact it is readily rationalised: countries with high profit rates and low saving rates are like impatient consumers, and trade allows them to reduce the capital intensity of their production and substitute consumption now for consumption later. It emerges from some examples in Chapter 2 and from the analysis of Chapter 5 that the classical saving assumption that steady state saving programmes are characterised by fixed profit rates is in several respects more satisfactory and illuminating than the assumption of fixed saving rates. There are many limitations to the methods used in the thesis: neither saving assumption is likely to be an accurate description of reality; the assumption throughout that both countries have the same steady growth rate is implausible; there are no transport costs; there is no real uncertainty; comparisons are made only between free trade and autarchy, with no discussion of tariffs; there is no discussion of the stability of steady states; the vintage models of Chapters 2 to 4 are all one-sector models; and producers are assumed to be perfectly competitive and perfectly prescient. But the most important limitation is the absence of the sort of empirical evidence that would permit one to reach detailed policy conclusions: evidence on the existence of significant externalities, on the input requirements of different machines (e.g. the skill requirements of maintenance), and on the hypothesis of ex-post absence of substitutability. The thesis cannot therefore produce detailed practical recommendations, or blanket endorsement or condemnation of imports of used machines. Rather the aim is to clarify the nature of the issues involved and show what sort of considerations are relevant, to describe the pattern of trade that may usuallyj though not invariably , be expected to emerge, and to show that trade in models of capitalist production typically involves issues somewhat different from, though related to, the traditional concerns of trade theory.

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1990. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 94-95). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2009. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 58-59). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Alberta, 2010. / Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on June 22, 2010). A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Construction Engineering and Management, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (MTech (Business Administration))--Peninsula Technikon, 2001 / Maintenance of locomotives is the main function of Bellville Locomotive Traction Depot in the Western Cape. Therefore, it is important to have a sound maintenance plan in place, to prevent a negative impact on the availability and reliability of locomotive supply for hauling power to train services. The purpose of the research is to determine the causes of the increased frequency of maintenance through a case study relating to 35-class locomotives. The abnormal increased frequency of wheel change and inter-bogie control repairs on 35-class diesel locomotives is investigated. A research survey was adopted, which included questionnaires and personal interviews based on the literature search. The target group is L&N section, which includes below-deck maintenance, overhaul and change out, repairs to locomotive bogies, frames, wheels, snubbers, inter-bogie control and traction motors. Sixteen people are responsible for all below-deck repairs and service of 52 locomotives. The results of the research will expose the shortcomings of the maintenance plan and propose solutions. This will be achieved by testing the effectiveness of the existing maintenance plan at Spoornet through the identification of the causes for the abnormal increase in wheel changes and inter-bogie control repairs on 35-class diesel locomotives. The outcome from this case study research will be to quantify the benefits arising from the effective application of a maintenance plan.

The Struandale Engine Plant (SEP) was set up in 1924 and was the 16th Ford plant outside North America. The plant has since produced a variety of different components ranging from wheel hubs, to engine components such as crank shafts and cylinder blocks, to the assembly of engines. Manufacturing at this plant has predominantly been via the job-shop method, where mass production techniques were used. The RoCam programme preparation started in 1999. In 2001, SEP experienced a very steep ramp-up due to an unexpected surge in volume requirements. This forced the plant’s Human Resources team to embark on an “emergency” recruitment drive to cover the required human resources to support the programme. Due to this action being taken by the Human Resources department, the educational level of the employees was at a very basic level and had an adverse effect on productivity. The SEP operating committee made a decision in 2004 to focus on the implementation and maintenance of the Ford Production System (FPS). This initiative was important because ageing equipment needed to be maintained at predetermined intervals through continuous improvement techniques that form part of the FPS programme. If these techniques are not in place, the Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE) suffers. This programme comprises a number of critical elements such as FTPM that requires a certain education and skill level in effort to completely comprehend the system. Evidently, education was an issue and an effort had to be made to upgrade the workforce skill’s level, specifically the team leaders. On the 30th January 2008, Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa (FMCSA) had announced plans to invest more than R1.5-billion to expand its operations in South Africa for the production of Ford's next-generation compact pick-up truck iv and Puma diesel engine. In an effort to secure and retain the Puma contract at SEP, the plant had to prove that it could compete globally; hence it had to improve OEE levels to the world-class standard. The Puma engine contract had been contracted to South America, Turkey, Thailand, and South Africa. This was a strategic move in order to retain flexibility within the supply chain i.e. if one supplier / plant cannot deliver, demand can be shifted to one of three alternative suppliers. The problem statement which will be addressed by this research is: What are the main causes for the poor Overall Equipment Efficiency level (OEE) at the Struandale Engine Plant of Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa? The Primary Objective of this research is to: Identify the main causes for the poor Overall Equipment Efficiency level (OEE) at the Struandale Engine Plant of Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa