Abstract Owing to environment highly competitive, In order to reduce the cost or occupy market, the companies must seek the best new process or model to face this situation. Highly secret of Military Defence Industries is proprietary business in the domestic. The inbound process cannot satisfy requirements of user now. So, many opportunities of demand were lost. In recent years, the Defence budget deflated. How to use this geographic advantage¡H Not only sell the product, but also provide the more and best service. To cerate one position which cannot be replaceable. The research applies business process reengineering. Having two faults in current supply process of Military Defence Industries are¡G(1) It may restrict service to user.(2) It cannot control the conditions of product of using. When implement Integrated Logistics Support project, we cannot find the powerful point to link with user. Through the process reengineering thinking, we don¡¦t change the user organization process. Only change supplier the source of demand and the manufacturing & delivery planning. Apply Vendor Managed Inventory model, explicit objects can reach reducing supply cycle time. Improving the availability ratio of products. Implicit objects can control the conditions of products and real requirements of user. This information will also help to improve the quality of products and avoid put resource in wrong place.

Vendor managed inventory (VMI) is a form of automated replenishment under which a supplier takes responsibility for managing a customer¡¦s inventory levels for a given product or material. The promise of VMI was more efficient inventory management with less out-of-stock, improved sales and improved consumer satisfaction. Based on the sharing sales information, VMI makes suppliers reduce inventory and cost. Therefore, VMI is one of the most widely discussed initiatives for improving multi-firm supply chain efficiency. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the effect of supplier¡¦s expected cost by using the sharing sales information .We assume the underlying demand process faced by the retailer is ARMA(1,2). We model the supplier¡¦s delivery variance, optimal delivery-up-to level, and expected cost under three different levels of information sharing, namely no information sharing, partial information sharing, and total information sharing. Furthermore, we study the sensitivity analysis of supplier¡¦s delivery variance, optimal delivery-up-to level, and expected cost for the following four factors: lead-time l, correlation coefficient , tow-weights in ARMA(1,2), and , followed by numerical examples to verify our findings. The main results are as follows. 1¡B Information sharing stabilizes the supplier¡¦s delivery and reduces supplier¡¦s optimal delivery-up-to level as well as expected cost. 2¡B In each level of information sharing, there is positive effect to the supplier¡¦s delivery variance, optimal delivery-up-to level, and expected cost for every factor. 3¡B All the factors multiply the cost reduction effect contributed by increasing the level of information sharing. Among all, the lead time l and cause the most significant effect.

This study, one of four cohort studies, was designed to determine the relationship between student performance and leadership practices as perceived by principals and selected site-based decision making committee members of middle schools in the Region 5 Education Service Center area of Texas. Using the Leadership Practices Inventory developed by Kouzes and Posner, the study compared the perceptions of middle school principals and selected observers regarding leadership practices. These leadership ratings were compared to student achievement for each campus in the study. In addition, the study examined if selected demographic variables impact the perception of leaders and observers in regard to leadership. For schools in this particular study, there was no direct correlation between perceived leadership practices of the principals and student achievement as measured by the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) tests. This was true of total LPI scores and also of each individual practice measured by the LPI. The data revealed that principals in the study rated themselves higher as a group than their observers rated them on the LPI. This trend was consistent for the total instrument and for each leadership practice. There were also similarities, however, between the two groups. The practice Model the Way had the highest mean for both groups, while Inspire a Shared Vision and Enable Others to Act were rated lower by both groups of respondents. A researcher-developed questionnaire was used to gather demographic information about each respondent. Years of experience, age group, gender, and ethnicity were all studied to determine if they had any effect on responses. The results indicate that there were some differences when principals and observers were studied separately, but these differences were minimized when the two groups were combined. Of particular interest was the fact that younger principals and less experienced principals rated themselves more conservatively than their older and more experienced colleagues. Younger observers and less experienced observers, however, had a propensity to rate their leader high when compared to older observers and more experienced observers. Neither ethnicity nor gender had an impact on leader ratings.

Software development of R.O.C. military maintenance parts inventory control system¡¦s integrated requirement used to adopt data flow approach. Data flow approach not only flunks to guide users to describe their real need but also fails to provide a coalescence picture that integrates the operating personnel, materials data sources and logistic system together with completeness and consistency. Using architecture-oriented approach, structure elements, services, connections, and interaction behaviors of R.O.C. military maintenance parts inventory control system¡¦s integrated requirement are adequately documented. With this transparent document, developers and users shall obtain full integrality and consistency of technical support and requirement provision during the system development. This research embraces the structure behavior coalescence, abbreviated as SBC, approach to construct the architecture-oriented analysis-model of military maintenance parts inventory control system¡¦s integrated requirement, abbreviated as AOAMMMPICSIR. AOAMMMPICSIR shall be referred as an R.O.C. military architecture-oriented analysis tool and it shall help outsource the software development of military maintenance parts inventory control system¡¦s integrated requirement with success and quality.

The term resource is used to refer to a machine, tool-group, piece of equipment or personnel. Optimization models for resource maintenance are obtained in conjunction with other production related decisions like production planning, production scheduling, resource allocation and job inspection. Emphasis is laid on integrating the above inter-dependent decisions into a unified optimization framework. This is accomplished for large stationary resources, small non-stationary resources with high breaking rate and for resources that form a part of a network. Owing to large problem size and high uncertainty, the optimal decisions are determined by formulating and solving the above problems as Markov decision processes (MDPs). Approximate dynamic programming based algorithms are used for solving the large optimization problems at hand. The performance of resulting near optimal policies is compared with that of traditional formulations in all cases. The latter treat the resource maintenance decisions independent of other manufacturing related decisions. In certain formulations, the resource state is not completely observable. This results in a partially observable MDP (POMDP). An alternative algorithm for the solution of POMDP is developed, where several mixed integer linear programs (MILPs) are solved during each ADP iteration. This helps obtain better quality solutions for the POMDPs with very large or continuous action spaces in an efficient manner.

Various studies have pointed out the growing need to assess the availability of water sources in regions around the world as future forecasts suggest that water demands will increase significantly for agricultural, industrial and human consumption while freshwater resources are being depleted. One such emerging issue is the effect of industrial operations on said resources, specifically from automobiles. With numerous localities experiencing stresses on water availability, key stakeholders - suppliers, automakers, and vehicle end-users - need to better realize the effect vehicle manufacturing, usage, and disposal have on water resources. While efforts to improve the overall environmental performance of vehicles have mainly concentrated on improving technologies, there has also been considerable effort devoted to characterizing the life-cycle performance of the vehicle product system. However, much of this work has focused on energy consumption and carbon emissions while few studies have examined water. The difference between water use versus water consumption were highlighted and the life-cycle water consumption of a gasoline-powered midsize vehicle were analyzed from material extraction through production, use, and final disposition/end of life. This analysis examines each of the phases to determine a carâ s water footprint using data from the EcoInvent Life Cycle Analysis database as well as data collected from literature sources. Although water use is typically metered at the factory level, water consumption (i.e., water lost through evaporation and/or incorporation into a material, part, and/or product) is much harder to quantify. As shown in this thesis, the difference can be an order of magnitude or more because much of the water that goes into the different processes is either reused, recycled, or discharged back to its original source. The use phase of a vehicle has the biggest impact on the overall vehicle water consumption, followed by material production, whereas water consumption for the end of life processing seems to be relatively insignificant. It is also shown that the impact of energy consumption as part of the total water footprint is very large when compared to the other processes given the dependence on water for energy production. The assessment in this thesis represents a life-cycle inventory and serves as an initial benchmark as no previous study has been completed to determine the water consumption for the life of a vehicle, let alone for most other products. The impact of water consumption varies by region and locality, and a differentiation of impact would still be needed to determine whether the water consumption actually happens in water scarce regions or not.

<p>Introduction:</p><p>The growth of small business is fast and their impact on the economy is becoming bigger. How to manage the inventory effectively and efficiently often is a challenge for these small businesses. The study took place at HEM-SOL FORSALJNINGS AB, a company involved in gym sports equipment wholesale. For HEM-SOL two inventory problems, stock-out and overstock occur frequently. The company wants to improve its efficiency and is con-sidering a change in the inventory management.</p><p>Purpose:</p><p>The purpose of this study is to investigate the reasons behind the inventory management inefficiency in HEM-SOL, and then the proposed managerial suggestions will be presented to deal with the issues.</p><p>Method:</p><p>The study is considered as qualitative single-case study. Data collection is mainly through the interviews with the top manager and other staff involved in inventory control opera-tions. Secondary data is retrieved from the information system to provide the annual pur-chasing and sales report about twenty items using a purposive sampling approach. Data analysis follows the theoretical framework.</p><p>Conclusion:</p><p>Small businesses have limited financial resources and bargaining power. Long-distance suppliers, big fluctuation of demand and lack of formalized inventory control system result in HEM-SOL bad performance on inventory management. The authors analyze the col-lected data and establish a formal inventory control system as the solution to improve the company’s inventory management.</p>

<p>Abstract</p><p>Kongsberg Automotive (KA), a first- and second-tier supplier to some of the largest</p><p>automotive manufactures, has acknowledged the need to enhance their competitiveness</p><p>and to collaborate within the supply chain. In order to do this, KA must improve the</p><p>current business processes by establishing long term relationships with their suppliers.</p><p>Today, KA face a high level of inventory, which has resulted substantial amount of tied</p><p>up capital and inefficient processes. Therefore, this study will evaluate KA’s and three</p><p>chosen suppliers’ possibilities and the effects that a vendor managed inventory (VMI)</p><p>partnership will imply.</p><p>VMI is a concept within supply chain management, where the supplier is fully responsible</p><p>for managing the customer’s inventory level. To achieve this, the supplier is given</p><p>access to sensitive information of the customer’s inventory level and demand and can,</p><p>thereby, replenish the customer’s stock when needed. Although, some firms have embraced</p><p>the concept with success, others have retreated forcefully.</p><p>To fulfil the purpose of this study, we have done a broad literature review regarding</p><p>VMI and performance measurements, as well as, organisational structures and information</p><p>sharing in collaborative partnerships. Further, to better understand the implementation</p><p>and effects of VMI, a benchmarking study was made at Volvo Powertrain in</p><p>Skövde, an early VMI pioneer. In addition to the thorough study of KA’s processes,</p><p>field visits were made at the suppliers’ to visualize their material and information flow in</p><p>order to examine in what areas VMI would have an impact.</p><p>The conclusion of this study is that a VMI strategy, in supplement with a consignment</p><p>stock policy, is possible for KA. However, issues concerning responsibilities and ownership</p><p>have become apparent throughout the study that needs to be agreed upon. Further,</p><p>the study indicates that the benefits from a VMI implementation will be greater for KA,</p><p>than for the suppliers. Specifically, a reduction in inventory value can be attained by KA,</p><p>while the suppliers only can obtain minor improvements within the areas of inventory,</p><p>production, and order processing. On the other hand, the suppliers will face drawbacks,</p><p>mainly in their order processing, which will result in increased costs. However, we advice</p><p>KA to further discuss and test the VMI and consignment stock strategy in a pilot</p><p>project in order to find the right solution for the company and the suppliers.</p>

<p>This thesis studies the allocation of stock in a two-level inventory system with stochastic demand. The system consists of one central warehouse which supplies N non-identical retailers with one single product. Customer demand occurs solely at the retailers and follows independent Poisson processes. The purpose is to investigate the value of using a more advanced allocation policy than First Come-First Serve at the central warehouse. The focus is on evaluating how well the simple First Come-First Serve assumption works in a system where the warehouse has access to real-time point-of-sale data, and where shipments are time based and consolidated for all retailers. The considered allocation policy is a myopic policy where the solution to a minimization problem, formulated as a constrained newsvendor problem, determines how the warehouse allocates its stock to the retailers. The minimization problem is solved using (a heuristic method based on) Lagrangian relaxation, and simulation is used to evaluate the average inventory holding costs and backorder costs per time unit when using the considered policy. The simulation study shows that cost savings around 1-4 percent can be expected for most system configurations. However, there were cases where savings were as high as 5 percent, as well as cases where the policy performed worse than First Come-First Serve. The study also shows that the highest cost savings are found in systems with relatively low demand, few retailers, short transportation times and a short time interval between shipments.</p>

<p>Bakgrund: Den logistiska kedjan från producent till konsument blir alltmer komplex på grund av att ett ständigt ökande antal artiklar tillverkas utifrån kundens behov och önskemål. För att kunna tillgodose dessa behov och önskemål har företag historiskt sett haft stora lager. VMI tar problemet med att hantera och utveckla effektiva lager till en ny nivå. Att arbeta med VMI innebär stora fördelar för många olika företag när det gäller informationsspridning, partnerskap och lagerföring. Trots de omfattande fördelar som beskrivs i de flesta teorier om VMI finns det en del framförd kritik. I och med detta ligger det i vårt intresse att undersöka huruvida företag som arbetar med ett VMI-system upplever de teoretiska effekterna och om det finns effekter av VMI-samarbeten som teorin inte beskriver.</p><p>Problemformulering: Vilka effekter, angående de logistiska aktiviteterna, innebär ett VMI-samarbete i en dyad inom tillverkningsindustrin och hur stämmer de överens med de effekter teorin beskriver?</p><p>Metod: Genom att använda fallstudien som forskningsmetod, har vi undersökt vårt problem. Vidare har vi använt oss av ett kvalitativt tillvägagångssätt vid datainsamlingen. De undersökta företagen har valts ut genom ett icke-sannolikhetsurval och när vi har dragit våra slutsatser har vi utgått från en deduktiv ansats.</p><p>Teori: Vi har byggt vår teori på fyra huvudområden/logistiska aktiviteter, leveransservice, logistikkostnader, produktion och lagerhållning. Vidare har vi beskrivit hur områdena påverkas positivt såväl som negativt av VMI.</p><p>Empiri: Vår empiriska undersökning har genomförts i två dyader, inom tillverkningsindustrin, som använder eller har använt sig av VMI. Vi har undersökt hur företagen har upplevt/upplever samarbetet och vilka effekter de har erfarit/erfar inom de fyra logistiska aktiviteterna.</p><p>Resultat: Resultatet har vi grundat på en jämförelse mellan vår teoretiska och empiriska undersökning. Vi har här kommit fram till att de positiva effekterna, som teorin beskriver, i större utsträckning stämmer överens med vad företag inom tillverkningsindustrin upplever än de negativa effekterna. Hur väl effekterna överensstämmer skiljer sig åt mellan de olika logistiska aktiviteterna.</p>