Snabbmatsrestauranger har svårt att hålla en bra lagerstyrning på grund av föråldrade inventeringsmetoder. Där manuell inventering sker varje dag för att kontrollera vad som finns i lager. Detta är en tidskrävande process som kräver arbetskraft att utföra. Det uppstår ofta fel i lagersaldo på grund av manuell kontroll, då det handlar om många varor på en liten yta och med en hög lageromsättningshastighet. I andra lagermiljöer används vägning som inventeringsmetod för att underlätta lagerstyrningen. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka om vägningen är en lämplig metod för att kontrollera lagersaldo i små manuella lager med hög omsättningshastighet hos snabbmatsrestauranger. En empirisk studie genomfördes i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer. Två snabbmatsrestauranger var inblandade, där fyra personer intervjuades, alla respondenterna jobbade inom forskningsområdets specifika lagermiljö och har hand om lagerstyrningen för dessa lager. Två forskningsfrågor besvarades utifrån intervjuerna, vilket bidrog till att uppfylla syftet med studien. En innehållsanalys utfördes på den empiriska datan som samlades in från intervjuerna, för att underlätta bearbetningen av datan och få ut information som kan besvara forskningsfrågorna och syftet med studien. Tidigare forskning visar att vägning är en användbar metod för att kontrollera lagersaldo. Den empiriska studien gav en bättre uppfattning om tekniken skulle kunna användas i små manuella lager med hög omsättningshastighet hos snabbmatsrestauranger. Där svarade respondenterna att denna lagermiljö inte är anpassad för att kunna införa ett fungerande vägningssystem som kan ge ett korrekt lagersaldo. Då det finns många hinder som kan uppstå med att implementera ett fungerande vägningssystem. Ett hinder är att det förvaras många olika artiklar i lagret på en liten yta, vilket leder till problem vid vägningen av varorna. Att det skulle vara svårt att kunna urskilja alla olika artiklar och få ett korrekt vägningsresultat. Ur intervjuerna kom det även fram att förvaring av artiklarna i lagren inte förvaras likadant, vissa produkter staplas på backvagnar, en del förvaras på hyllor medan vissa artiklar är staplade på varandra från marknivå. Vilket försvårar användningen av ett vägningssystem. Under höga försäljningsperioder kan det bli problematiskt med ett vägningssystem, då det kan krävas att artiklar lagras i andra utrymmen än i lagren. Vilket gör ett sådant system irrelevant om den inte kan väga alla artiklar och ge ett korrekt lagersaldo. / Today, fast food restaurants find it difficult to maintain good inventory management due to outdated inventory methods. Where manual inventory takes place every day to check what is in stock. This is a time-consuming process that requires manpower to perform. There are often errors in the stock balance due to manual control, as it involves many goods in a small area and with a high stock turnover rate. In other warehouse environments, weighing is used as an inventory method to facilitate inventory control. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether weighing is a suitable method for controlling inventory balance in small manual warehouses with high turnover rates in the fast foodindustry. An empirical study was conducted in the form of semi-structured interviews. Two fast food restaurants were involved, where four people were interviewed and all the respondents worked within the specific warehouse environment of the research area and are in charge of inventory control for these warehouses. Two research questions were answered based on the interviews, which contributed to fulfilling the purpose of the study. A content analysis was performed on the empirical data collected from the interviews. To facilitate the processing of the data and obtain information that can answer the research questions and the purpose of the study. Previous research shows that weighing is a useful method of controlling inventory balance. The empirical study gave a better idea of whether the technology could be used in small manual warehouses with a high turnover rate. There, the respondents answered that this warehouse environment is not necessarily adapted to be able to introduce a functioning weighing system that can provide an accurate inventory balance. As there are many obstacles that can arise in implementing a functioning weighing system. An obstacle is that many different articles are stored in the warehouse on a small surface, which leads to problems when weighing the goods. That it would be difficult to distinguish all the different articles and get a correct weighing result. The interviews also revealed that the storage of the articles in the warehouses is not the same, some products are stacked on back carts, some are stored on shelves while some articles are stacked on top of each other from ground level. Which complicates the use of a weighing system. During high sales periods, it can become problematic with a weighing system in the warehouse as it may sometimes be required that items be stored in areas other than the warehouses. Which makes such a system irrelevant if it cannot weigh all items and provide an accurate inventory balance.

<p>Volvo Powertrain tillverkar motorer och drivlinor till AB Volvos samtliga dotterbolag förutom Volvo Aero. Vid anläggningen i Skövde tillverkas motorer och delar till motorer och växellådor och vid anläggningen finns alla tre nödvändiga produktionsområden; gjuteri, bearbetning och montering. När rådande lågkonjunktur slog till stod bearbetningen med väldigt höga lagernivåer vilka företaget snabbt tvingades sänka då det blev huvudfokus från koncernledningen att minska det bundna kapitalet. Utan egentlig analys sattes nya gränsnivåer för lagren inom samtliga avdelningar på bearbetning och målet med examensarbetet har varit att ta fram en metod för att dimensionera säkerhetslagret på optimal nivå med bibehållen hög leveranssäkerhet. Därigenom skulle företagets lagernivåer kunna styrkas med hjälp av en teoretisk grund.</p><p>Som utgångspunkt har en lagernivådimensionering med servicenivåkonceptet SERV2 och där alla artiklar tillåts ha differentierade servicenivåer använts. Utifrån Volvo Powertrains förutsättningar har ett optimeringsproblem formulerats. Det visar sig vid närmare studie av detta problem att det är ett ickelinjärt heltalsproblem, vilket försvårar lösningsgången avsevärt. För att komma runt dessa beräkningsmässiga problem approximerades ett av bivillkoren för att ta fram en lösningsheuristik. Dock upptäcktes efter ett antal försök att denna inte uppfyllde samtliga bivillkor alla gånger varför det beslutades att låta heuristikens lösning fungera som startlösning till en sökmetod vid letandet efter lokalt optimum.</p><p>I rapporten beskrivs ingående vilka parametrar som behöver mätas och hur för att alla avdelningar ska använda samma mätmetod vid framtagande av nödvändiga indata. Metoden har implementerats i Excel där användaren får mata in värden på dessa parametrar vilka sedan används i de nödvändiga beräkningarna. De data som sedan presenteras som resultat är vilka batchstorlekar som ska produceras, vilken säkerhetslagernivå som ska gälla, vid vilken nivå en ny beställning ska genomföras samt uppnådd leveranssäkerhet.</p><p>Utöver denna del presenteras även ett nytt sätt att sköta lagerstyrningen i de fall där det finns en flaskhals tidigt i produktionsflödet och som därmed bestämmer produktionstakten i resten av flödet. Eftersom detta skapar en sugstyrning genom flödet där mellanlager är onödiga blir produktionen mer känslig för störningar, vilket leder till att tidigare dolda problem inom produktionen kommer upp till ytan.</p><p>Resultaten av genomförda simuleringar visar att metoden innebär minskade lagernivåer samtidigt som önskad leveranssäkerhet upprätthålls. Genom att implementera metoden kommer bearbetningen vid Volvo Powertrain i Skövde att få en metod att stödja sina beslut på vilken optimerar lagernivåerna samtidigt som en hög leveranssäkerhet garanteras.</p> / <p>Volvo Powertrain produces engines and drivelines to AB Volvo's subsidiaries except to Volvo Aero. At the plant in Skövde engines and parts for engines and transmissions are manufactured and the facility includes all three essential areas of production; casting, machining and assembly. When the current recession hit Volvo Powertrain were working with very high inventory levels, which the company was quickly forced to cut since it became the main focus of the group management to reduce the capital tied up. Without conducting any proper analysis were new stock limit levels set in all sections of the company. The aim of this master thesis was to develop a methodology for setting of safety stocks at optimum levels while maintaining high delivery reliability. This would allow the company's inventory levels to be defined using a theoretical basis.</p><p>As a starting point, a stock-level design with the service concept SERV2 together with allowing all articles to have differentiated levels of service was used. On the basis of Volvo Powertrain's conditions an optimization problem have been formulated. It turns out that this problem is a nonlinear integer problem, which makes solution very difficult. To overcome these computational problems one of the constraints were approximated in purpose to develop a heuristics. However, it was detected after several attempts, that the heuristics did not satisfy all the constraints at all times so it was decided to use the heuristic solution to act as a starting solution to a search method to search for a local optimum.</p><p>The report describes in detail the parameters that need to be measured and how to ensure that all departments are using the same method in the preparation of the necessary input data. The method has been implemented in Excel where the user may enter values for these parameters which are then used in the necessary calculations. The results that are presented includes what batch-sizes that are to be produced, the safety stock level to be applied, which re-order point  to be used and achieved service level.</p><p>In addition the report also presents a new way to manage stock control in cases where there is a bottleneck early in the production flow which therefore determines the rate of production in the rest of the flow. Since this creates a pull system through the process flow, the stock between the production steps is unnecessary. A drawback is that the production becomes more sensitive to disturbances but means that previously hidden problems in the production reach the surface.</p><p>The results of the simulations attempted show that the method involves reduction of inventory levels at the same time as the desired service level is maintained. By implementing the method Volvo Powertrain in Skövde will have a method to support their decisions which optimizes inventory levels at the same time as high service levels are guaranteed.</p>

Volvo Powertrain tillverkar motorer och drivlinor till AB Volvos samtliga dotterbolag förutom Volvo Aero. Vid anläggningen i Skövde tillverkas motorer och delar till motorer och växellådor och vid anläggningen finns alla tre nödvändiga produktionsområden; gjuteri, bearbetning och montering. När rådande lågkonjunktur slog till stod bearbetningen med väldigt höga lagernivåer vilka företaget snabbt tvingades sänka då det blev huvudfokus från koncernledningen att minska det bundna kapitalet. Utan egentlig analys sattes nya gränsnivåer för lagren inom samtliga avdelningar på bearbetning och målet med examensarbetet har varit att ta fram en metod för att dimensionera säkerhetslagret på optimal nivå med bibehållen hög leveranssäkerhet. Därigenom skulle företagets lagernivåer kunna styrkas med hjälp av en teoretisk grund. Som utgångspunkt har en lagernivådimensionering med servicenivåkonceptet SERV2 och där alla artiklar tillåts ha differentierade servicenivåer använts. Utifrån Volvo Powertrains förutsättningar har ett optimeringsproblem formulerats. Det visar sig vid närmare studie av detta problem att det är ett ickelinjärt heltalsproblem, vilket försvårar lösningsgången avsevärt. För att komma runt dessa beräkningsmässiga problem approximerades ett av bivillkoren för att ta fram en lösningsheuristik. Dock upptäcktes efter ett antal försök att denna inte uppfyllde samtliga bivillkor alla gånger varför det beslutades att låta heuristikens lösning fungera som startlösning till en sökmetod vid letandet efter lokalt optimum. I rapporten beskrivs ingående vilka parametrar som behöver mätas och hur för att alla avdelningar ska använda samma mätmetod vid framtagande av nödvändiga indata. Metoden har implementerats i Excel där användaren får mata in värden på dessa parametrar vilka sedan används i de nödvändiga beräkningarna. De data som sedan presenteras som resultat är vilka batchstorlekar som ska produceras, vilken säkerhetslagernivå som ska gälla, vid vilken nivå en ny beställning ska genomföras samt uppnådd leveranssäkerhet. Utöver denna del presenteras även ett nytt sätt att sköta lagerstyrningen i de fall där det finns en flaskhals tidigt i produktionsflödet och som därmed bestämmer produktionstakten i resten av flödet. Eftersom detta skapar en sugstyrning genom flödet där mellanlager är onödiga blir produktionen mer känslig för störningar, vilket leder till att tidigare dolda problem inom produktionen kommer upp till ytan. Resultaten av genomförda simuleringar visar att metoden innebär minskade lagernivåer samtidigt som önskad leveranssäkerhet upprätthålls. Genom att implementera metoden kommer bearbetningen vid Volvo Powertrain i Skövde att få en metod att stödja sina beslut på vilken optimerar lagernivåerna samtidigt som en hög leveranssäkerhet garanteras. / Volvo Powertrain produces engines and drivelines to AB Volvo's subsidiaries except to Volvo Aero. At the plant in Skövde engines and parts for engines and transmissions are manufactured and the facility includes all three essential areas of production; casting, machining and assembly. When the current recession hit Volvo Powertrain were working with very high inventory levels, which the company was quickly forced to cut since it became the main focus of the group management to reduce the capital tied up. Without conducting any proper analysis were new stock limit levels set in all sections of the company. The aim of this master thesis was to develop a methodology for setting of safety stocks at optimum levels while maintaining high delivery reliability. This would allow the company's inventory levels to be defined using a theoretical basis. As a starting point, a stock-level design with the service concept SERV2 together with allowing all articles to have differentiated levels of service was used. On the basis of Volvo Powertrain's conditions an optimization problem have been formulated. It turns out that this problem is a nonlinear integer problem, which makes solution very difficult. To overcome these computational problems one of the constraints were approximated in purpose to develop a heuristics. However, it was detected after several attempts, that the heuristics did not satisfy all the constraints at all times so it was decided to use the heuristic solution to act as a starting solution to a search method to search for a local optimum. The report describes in detail the parameters that need to be measured and how to ensure that all departments are using the same method in the preparation of the necessary input data. The method has been implemented in Excel where the user may enter values for these parameters which are then used in the necessary calculations. The results that are presented includes what batch-sizes that are to be produced, the safety stock level to be applied, which re-order point  to be used and achieved service level. In addition the report also presents a new way to manage stock control in cases where there is a bottleneck early in the production flow which therefore determines the rate of production in the rest of the flow. Since this creates a pull system through the process flow, the stock between the production steps is unnecessary. A drawback is that the production becomes more sensitive to disturbances but means that previously hidden problems in the production reach the surface. The results of the simulations attempted show that the method involves reduction of inventory levels at the same time as the desired service level is maintained. By implementing the method Volvo Powertrain in Skövde will have a method to support their decisions which optimizes inventory levels at the same time as high service levels are guaranteed.

Thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Master's Degree of Technology: Information Technology, Durban University of Technology, 2008. / Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) allows for the wireless transfer of data between a small electronic transmitting tag and a reader without the necessity of line-of-sight. A feature of RFID, is that this read operation may occur over long distances and that multiple reads may occur. The aim of this study is to analyse the nature and extent of RFID adoption in the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa. The study fits within the theory of innovation diffusion and is concerned with issues around technology diffusion, adoption rates, and its associated critical success factors. The estimation of RFID diffusion rate in the study is based on a telephonic survey of 140 companies. The respondents were chosen from a marketing database that had extensive information on South African companies. Size was determined to be the selection criterion as the literature indicates that size is the most compelling concomitant to innovativeness. In this study, size was deemed to be companies that had more than 50 PC’s in one geographic unit, of the company, in KwaZulu-Natal. The key research result locates the RFID diffusion rate in KwaZulu-Natal to be around 19% which corresponds to points beyond the “chasm” as defined by innovation diffusion theory. The second phase of the study comprised the administration of a questionnaire to two groups of IT professionals with the aim of comparing perceptions and other characteristics between the two groups. The 140 respondents were asked to submit as many professional staff as they could for an in-depth interview. The result was that 21 companies submitted 30 candidates. This yielded the two groups: the Adopter sample with 14 respondents, and the non-adopter sample with 16 respondents. The analysis of results shows the two groups have similar views on many strategic factors such as privacy, security, cost and standards etc. Adopters perceive that the following factors impacts RFID adopting decisions more (than non-adopters): Turnover, Having labour cost savings, RFID ubiquity, It will take as long for my company to adopt RFID as it did for barcode, RFID cost awareness. On the other hand non-adopters felt that the following factor impacts non-adoption of RFID Technology unproven or immature, Human skills non-availability, Implementation costs, Corporate resistance, and, Support Concerns.

Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: RFID technology may be the most capable technology to address the track and trace requirements within the Agri-food supply chain. RFID technology has become a prominent research area in recent times, with multiple benefits being promised and envisaged. The list of applications and deployments within the supply chain is numerous, with the ambassadors of this technology promising increased supply chain effectiveness, inventory management capabilities and enhanced information visibility. Deregulations within the South African citrus industry created changes to the internal structure of the industry, with the requirements of enhanced information visibility for traceability becoming a high priority. Current information structures and initiatives are providing the basic requirements for the changing business environment, with limitations to real-time and visible information for improved decision-making and planning initiatives. The purpose of this exploratory study was to identify the critical success factors for RFID technology deployment in supply chains in general and to identify the critical success factors relevant to the South African citrus industry. The study also researched the benefits and challenges of deploying RFID technology within the South African citrus industry, relating to citrus supply chain performance improvements of RFID adoption. The research indicates that certain limitations and challenges pertinent to the citrus industry exist, which would require industry level priority for successful implementation of RFID technology within the South African citrus industry. This study provides the South African citrus industry with a guideline to address the current non-collective management of information, information systems and requirements and collaboration initiatives. The use of this research should be of great assistance to the South African citrus industry role-players by providing a strategic framework for addressing information improvement initiatives. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: RFID tegnologie kan moontlik die mees bevoegde tegnologie wees om die naspeurbaarheid vereistes van n Agri-voedsel voorsiening ketting aan te spreek. RFID tegnologie is huidiglik 'n prominente navorsingsgebied, met beloofde meervoudige voordele. Die lys van aanwendings en toepassings binne die voorsiening ketting is veelvoudig, met beloftes van die ambassadeurs van die tegnologie, vir verbeterde voorsienings ketting doeltreffendheid, inventaris bestuur en verhoogde inligtings sigbaarheid. Deregulasie van die Suid Afrikaanse sitrus industrie het interne strukturuele veranderinge in die industrie teweeg gebring, met prioriteit fokus vir verhoogde inligting sigbaarheid vir naspeurbaarheid doeleindes. Huidige inligting strukture en initiatiewe verskaf die basiese grondslag vir die deurlopende veranderende besigheids omgewing, met intyd en sigbaarheids inligtings beperkinge, vir verbeterde besluitneming en beplanning initiatiewe. Die doel van die ondersoekende studies was om die generiese kritieke sukses faktore van RFID tegnologie implementering en die kritieke sukses faktore direk verwant tot die Suid Afrikaanse sitrus industrie te identifiseer. Die studie het ook die voordele en uitdagings van RFID implementering binne die Suid Afrikaanse sitrus industrie nagevors, spesifiek verwant tot die prestasie verbeterings van RFID implementering in die sitrus voorsienings ketting. Die navorsing dui aan dat sekere beperkinge en uitdagings spesifiek tot die sitrus industrie bestaan wat industrie vlak prioriteit vereis, vir suksevolle implementasie van RFID tegnologie binne die Suid Afrikaanse sitrus industrie. Die resultate van die studie verskaf die Suid Afrikaanse sitrus industrie met 'n riglyn om die uitdagings van die huidige nie-kollektiewe bestuur van inligting, inligting stelsels en vereistes en samewerkings initiatiewe aan te spreek. Die gebruik van die navorsing behoort van groot waarde te wees vir die rolspelers van die Suid Afrikaanse sitrus industrie, in die verskaffing van 'n strategiese raamwerk vir die aanspreking van inligting verbeterings intiatiewe.

In the sea trade, the traditional paper-based bill of lading has played an important role across the globe for centuries, but with the advent of advanced commercial modes of transportation and communication, the central position of this document is under threat. The importance of the bill of lading still prevails as does the need of the functions that this document served in the past, although in a changed format. In the recent past, the world has witnessed a lot of debate about replacing this traditional paper-based document with an electronic equivalent that exhibits all of its functions and characteristics, both commercial and legal. More specifically, unlike many rival travel documents, such as the Sea Waybill, a bill of lading has two prominent features, that is to say, its negotiability and its acceptability as a document of title in certain legal jurisdictions that are required to be retained in an electronic bill of lading so as to also retain the prominence of this document in the future landscape. This thesis is, however, more concerned about the legal aspects of adopting the electronic bill of lading as a traditional paper-based legal document as well as an effective legal document in the present age. However, the scope of this debate remains primarily focused on the USA and UK jurisdictions. In the course of this thesis, it is observed that, in the past, the bill of lading has been subject to a variety of international regimes, such as The Hague Rules and The Hague-Visby Rules, and presently efforts are being made to arrive at a universal agreement under the umbrella of The Rotterdam Rules, but such an agreement is yet to arrive among the comity of nations. On the other hand, efforts made by the business community to introduce an electronic bill of lading are much louder and more evident. The private efforts, such as the SeaDocs System, CMI Rules, and the BOLERO Project, etc., were, however, received by the fellow business community with both applause as well as suspicion. At the same time, there are a number of concerns voiced by the international business community on the legislative adoptability in national and international jurisdictions and the courts’ approach in adjudicating cases involving electronic transactions and these are making the task of adoption of electronic bill of lading in the sea-based transactions a difficult task. Therefore, in the absence of any formal legal backing from national and international legislations, these attempts could not achieve the desired results. In this thesis, the present situation of the acceptability of electronic transactions in general, and of the electronic bill of lading specifically, has also been discussed with reference to certain national jurisdictions, such as Australia, India, South Korea and China, in order to present comparative perspectives on the preparedness of these nations. On the regional level, the efforts made by the European Union have also been discussed to promote electronic transactions within its jurisdiction. All the discussion, however, leads to the situation where the level of acceptability of electronic bill of lading in the near future is found to be dependent upon the official efforts from the national governments and putting these efforts towards arriving at an agreement on Rotterdam Rules as early as possible. The other area of importance revealed in this thesis is the need for change in juristic approach by the courts while interpreting and adjudicating upon cases involving electronic transactions. On the whole, this thesis has provided a cohesive and systematic review, synthesis and analysis of the history of the bill of lading, its importance as a document of title, and attempts to incorporate its important functions within the fast-paced electronic shipping commerce of today. In such a way it has provided a valuable contribution to the literature by providing a comprehensive resource for jurists, policy-makers and the business community alike, as they work towards adapting the bill of lading so that it might be successfully applied in electronic form.

Este trabalho tem por objetivo propor um método eficiente para avaliar gestão de estoque, aplicando conjuntamente a Teoria de Controle Ótimo (OCT), para obter funções de estocagem dinamicamente ótimas, e Análise Envoltória de Dados (DEA), para calcular as eficiências relativas. Tendo em vista esse objetivo foi desenvolvido um modelo integrado DEA-OCT para calcular a eficiência de custo otimizada ao longo do tempo, quando o sistema possui variáveis relacionadas entre si, como no caso de sistemas de controle de estoque, e para analisar produção e demanda (assim como a variável estoque, oriunda dessa relação), estendendo o modelo variacional. Este trabalho aplica o modelo proposto a 647 empresas das Américas do Sul e do Norte, depois faz uma comparação entre Brasil e Chile (países emergentes economicamente), posteriormente focando no setor de comércio, considerando seus sistemas produção-estoque com dados de variáveis contábeis. Os modelos minimizam os custos de produção e de estoque para calcular a eficiência de custo ao longo do tempo. O output (produto, ou variável de saída) é a demanda; o input (insumo, ou variável de entrada) é a produção, e o intermediate (variável intermediária) é o estoque. Seus custos são considerados na função objetivo. É acrescentada uma restrição variacional da OCT para descrever a relação entre demanda, produção e estoque. Em resumo, o modelo é relevante por calcular eficiência prevenindo a possibilidade de obter uma projeção que ignora a relação entre as variáveis, uma vez que essa relação sempre ocorre, na prática, em sistemas de controle de estoque. As principais contribuições são: possibilitar o uso de OCT como a ferramenta de benchmarking DEA no contexto de eficiência dinâmica, estender o modelo DEA variacional de Sengupta (1995), incluindo restrições de modelos mais recentes e possibilitar o cálculo de eficiência quando há relação entre as variáveis. / This work aims to propose an efficient method to evaluate inventory management, jointly applying optimal control theory (OCT), obtaining dynamically optimal production and inventory functions, and data envelopment analysis (DEA), calculating the relative efficiencies. With this objective in mind, it was developed a DEA-OCT integrated model to calculate allocative efficiency optimized over time, when systems have variable with relationship among themselves, like in the case of inventory control systems, and for analyzing production and demand (as the inventory variable obtained from this relationship), extending the variational model. This paper applies the proposed model to 647 companies from South and North America, after that it was made a comparison between Brazil and Chile (economically emerging countries), then focusing on the commercial sector, considering its production-inventory systems and data from accounting variables. The model minimizes the inventory and production costs to calculate the allocative efficiency over time. The output is demand; the input is production, and the intermediate variable is inventory. Their costs are considered in the objective function. A variational constraint OCT is added to describe the relationship among demand, production, and inventory. In summary, the model is relevant to calculate efficiency by preventing the possibility of finding a projection that ignores the relationship among variables, since this relationship always occur in practice in inventory control systems. The main contributions are: using OCT as the benchmarking tool DEA in the context of dynamic efficiency, extending the Sengupta (1995) variational DEA model, including constraints from recent model and making it possible to calculate efficiency when there is a relationship among variables.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-03T18:35:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Juraci_Aparecido_dos_Santos.pdf: 978135 bytes, checksum: 457e32b65b9c9718bcd0857eaab21654 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-03-26 / This paper was carried out to show the influence of provision on the fixation of the price of farm products in the operation capital of Cooperativa Agropecu??ria of Pedrinhas Paulista-SP, starting from the preparation, tabulation, and identification of the variations found out in the provisions of 2007 and 2008 in just one collection unit. The approach used comprised bibliographical and exploratory research in relevant documents, data collected in inventory reports and activity reports of the years at issue, besides the qualitative handling of data. In order to explain the current business scenario, one can find in this paper explanations about the cooperative system, the accounting features linked to provisions, and the management of risks in operations with farm commodities. The issue we broached here aimed at knowing the influence of provision on the fixation of price of farm products, of the Laranjeiras unit, on the operation capital of Cooperativa Agropecu??ria of Pedrinhas Paulista. The final results of the research we carried out allowed us to answer the following hypotheses: the cooperative which does not exert an adequate control of its own provision and the provision of others, may consequently endanger the operation capital in future years; the distribution of surplus of the cooperative may be influenced by the assessment of negative provisions. One could find out that, if the provisions of other cooperative members were sold in advance, the operation capital might undergo changes and, consequently, exert influence on the distribution of surplus. This research tried to make evident the risk taken in selling agricultural products in advance and proposes hedge operations to minimize that risk in forward and future markets. / Este trabalho teve como objetivo demonstrar a influ??ncia da provis??o para a fixa????o dos pre??os dos produtos agr??colas no capital de giro da Cooperativa Agropecu??ria de Pedrinhas Paulista-SP, a partir de levantamento, tabula????o e identifica????o das varia????es ocorridas nas provis??es dos anos de 2007 e 2008 de apenas uma unidade de recebimento. A metodologia utilizada contou com pesquisa bibliogr??fica e explorat??ria de car??ter documental, a partir de dados extra??dos dos informativos dos estoques e do relat??rio de atividades dos anos em estudo, al??m de tratamento qualitativo dos dados. Visando esclarecer ao leitor sobre o cen??rio atual do neg??cio, neste trabalho encontram-se explana????es sobre o sistema cooperativista, os aspectos cont??beis ligados aos estoques e ?? gest??o de risco nas opera????es com commodities. O problema estudado consistiu em saber qual a influ??ncia da provis??o para a fixa????o do pre??o dos produtos agr??colas, da unidade de Laranjeiras, no capital de giro da Cooperativa Agropecu??ria de Pedrinhas Paulista. Como resultados finais a pesquisa permitiu responder as seguintes hip??teses: a cooperativa que n??o possui um controle adequado dos estoques pr??prios e de terceiros, assim, poder?? ter seu capital de giro comprometido em exerc??cios futuros; a distribui????o de sobras da cooperativa poder?? ser influenciada pela avalia????o dos estoques negativos. Foi poss??vel constatar que, se os estoques de terceiros (cooperados) forem vendidos antecipadamente, o capital de giro poder?? sofrer altera????es e, consequentemente, haver?? reflexos na distribui????o de sobras. Este trabalho procurou evidenciar o risco na venda de produtos agr??colas antecipadamente e sugere as opera????es de hedge para minimizar este risco em mercados futuros ou a termo.

Nous analysons un type W de système de l’Assemble-à-commande avec des délais de livraison aléatoires, l'arrivée aléatoire de la demande et des ventes perdues, en temps continu. Nous formulons le problème en tant que processus de décision Markov à l'horizon infini. Nous nous éloignons de l'approche standard en caractérisant une région de l'espace d'état où toutes les propriétés de la fonction de coût tiennent. Nous caractérisons la politique optimale dans cette région. En particulier, nous montrons que, dans l'intérieur de la région récurrente, les composants sont toujours produits. Nous caractérisons également la politique d'allocation de composants optimale qui spécifie si une demande de produit arrivant devrait être remplie. Notre analyse révèle que la politique d'allocation optimale est contre-intuitive. Par exemple, même lorsqu'un produit domine l'autre, en termes de coût/taux de vente perdue, sa demande peut ne pas avoir une priorité absolue par rapport à la demande de l'autre produit. Une telle caractéristique n'a pas été observée dans de nombreux paramètres intégrés de production/inventaire où l'allocation d'inventaire suit une priorité fixe pour satisfaire les exigences. Nous montrons également que la structure de la politique optimale reste la même pour les systèmes à production par lots, les temps de production répartis par Erlang et la demande de produits non unitaire. Enfin, nous proposons des heuristiques efficaces qui peuvent être utilisées comme substitut à la politique optimale ou peuvent être utilisées comme une politique de départ pour les algorithmes communs utilisés pour obtenir une politique optimale dans le but de réduire leur temps de calcul. / We analyze a W-configuration assemble-to-order system with random lead times, random arrival of demand, and lost sales, in continuous time. We formulate the problem as an infinite-horizon Markov decision process. We deviate from the standard approach by first characterizing a region (the recurrent region) of the state space where all properties of the cost function hold. We then characterize the optimal policy within this region. In particular, we show that within the interior of the recurrent region components are always produced. We also characterize the optimal component allocation policy which specifies whether an arriving product demand should be fulfilled. Our analysis reveals that the optimal allocation policy is counter-intuitive. For instance, even when one product dominates the other, in terms of lost sale cost and lost sale cost rate (i.e., demand rate times the lost sale cost), its demand may not have absolute priority over the other product’s demand. Such a feature has not been observed in many integrated production/inventory settings where inventory allocation follows a fixed priority in satisfying demands. We also show that the structure of the optimal policy remains the same for systems with batch production, Erlang distributed production times, and non-unitary product demand. Finally, we propose efficient heuristics that can be either used as a substitute for the optimal policy or can be used as a starting policy for the common algorithms that are used to obtain the optimal policy in an effort to reduce their computational time

Abstrakt Examensarbete. Civilekonomprogrammet, Logistik, Linnéuniversitetet, 4FE05E, Våren 2011. Författare: Alexander Avander och Erik Robertsson Handledare: Peter Berling   Titel: Batch size policy Thule Vehicle Solutions - A case study in Hillerstorp   Bakgrund: Företaget har för närvarande ingen tydlig batch policy och detta är ett område som uppmärksammats som ett område med potentiella förbättringsmöjligheter. Ett projekt har inletts där två flöden (en hög omsättare och en låg) skall kartläggas och generera ett förslag till en tvärfunktionell batch policy.   Syfte: Syftet med projektet är att med hjälp utav en ”current state map” föreslå en ny, kostnadseffektiv och tvärfunktionell batch policy samt jämföra detta med nuvarande policy för att påvisa potentiella förbättringsmöjligheter.     Metod: Projektet använder ett kvalitativt arbetssätt för att påvisa effekter utav batch storlekar. Data hämtas från det undersökta företaget och från tidigare forskningar inom området som samlats genom universitetets resurser.   Slutsatser: Företaget bör kunna eliminera ett flertal lager i sitt flöde som uppstått på grund av en batch policy där hela pallar föredras. En batch policy, där en storlek används till ett komponentlager och därefter en annan storlek som är en jämn del utav den första till slutlagret, har föreslagits som en tvärfunktionell batch policy. Detta förslag är testat i fyra versioner där samtliga var funna mer kostnadseffektiva än nuvarande policy. Att använda mindre batchstorlekar i den föreslagna policyn sänkte lagernivåer och ledtider. Dock var nuvarande, större batchstorleken mer optimal då lagerhållningskostnaderna är låga i förhållande till omställningskostnader.   Sökord: Batch size, batch size costs, cross functional, inventory control, lean management, production flow, supply chain integration, transportation costs, value stream mapping. / Abstract   Master Degree Project. Business Administration and Economics Programme, Linnaeus University, Logistics, 4FE05E, Spring 2011. Authors: Alexander Avander and Erik Robertsson Supervisor: Peter Berling   Title: Batch size policy Thule Vehicle Solutions - A case study in Hillerstorp   Background: The Company has currently no clear batch size policy and batch sizes are an area that has been recognized with potential earnings within the company. A project to map two flows (a high volume and a low volume) and suggest a new cross functional batch size policy has been initiated.   Purpose: The purpose of this project is to, with the help of a current state map, propose a new cost effective and cross functional batch size policy for the business unit car accessories and compare this to the present batch size policy to show possible earnings.     Method: This project uses a qualitative approach to show the effect of batch sizes with data supplied from the Thule Sweden AB and researched through the Linnaeus University’s recourses.    Findings: Thule Vehicle Solutions should be able to remove several inventories that have been caused by a batch size policy where whole pallets are preferred. A batch size policy where one batch size is used to the semi-finished inventory and another size, part of first batch size, from that inventory until the finished-goods inventory has been suggested as a cross functional batch size policy. This suggestion has been tested and in four different versions was found more cost effective than the current policy. Using smaller batch sizes in the suggested batch size policy decreased inventory levels and lead times. However, the current, larger batch size was more optimal as the holding costs are low and the set up costs are high.   Key words: Batch size, batch size costs, cross functional, inventory control, lean management, production flow, supply chain integration, transportation costs, value stream mapping.