Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 1971. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 216-227). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center.

No description available.

Thesis (MTech (Business Administration))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 63-64). Also available online.

Thesis (MTech (Business Administration))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2007 / The dissertation focuses on sharing experiences related to the shortcomings in the discipline of inventory management and control. The research was limited to inventory management and control practices in select manufacturing and production sites in Saldanha Bay on the Cape west coast. The shortcomings identified may be seen as holistic in inventory management and control and are thus not restricted to the Saldanha Bay area only. The results of the research provide comprehensive insight into the elementary aspects of managing inventories in fast- paced, industrial manufacturing environment. The dissertation touches on the problems that arise when inventory managers do not understand the concept of inventory management. The researcher witnessed the shortage of schooled and skilled inventory managers in both the public and privates sectors in South Africa. It is hoped that after reading the content of this research, the reader concerned with inventory management and control will be better equipped to address these issues.

In this research, we consider the spares provisioning problem, where a finite population of homogeneous machines are being deployed to meet a constant demand. While a machine is operating, it could become inoperable due to the failure of a critical built-in part in the machine. Before repairs on the machine can be initiated, however, a replacement part must be obtained. If a replacement part is available from stock, the machine is immediately transferred to the repair subsystem, in which one or more repair stations operate in parallel. If the replacement part is not in stock, then the machine waits in the ordering subsystem for the arrival of a new part. Once a machine is repaired, it is immediately deployed to meet demand if needed, else it joins a queue of standby machines. The spare machines have zero probability of failure and, if available, a spare replaces a deployed machine immediately upon the latter's failure. The machine operating time, repair time, and ordering time of the parts are assumed to be exponentially distributed. The ordering subsystem for the parts brings a new aspect to the spares provisioning problem, and dramatically increases its difficulty. This is because the queuing network model which describes the system is a non-product-form network in the case of finite nonzero stocking policy, and specification of closed-form solutions is highly unlikely for such networks. In this dissertation, we present efficient algorithms through which the optimal number of machines, repair stations and stocking level of the parts that minimize total operations costs subject to a service-level constraint can be obtained. The algorithms, which based on Little's result from queuing theory and some approximate models used for bounding, have proven to be extremely efficient in terms of computer storage and execution time, even for large problems. / Ph. D.

Vaccines have greatly contributed to the control of vaccine preventable diseases. The adoption of the Decade of Vaccines (DoV) by the World Health Assembly in 2011 is an indication of how the global community values the benefits of vaccines. Efforts by many countries to introduce new vaccines are a significant move towards attaining this vision. However, new vaccines put strain on vaccine supply chains. The immunization programme in South Africa has similar challenges, with indications of vaccine stock outs in clinics since the introduction of three new vaccines in 2009. This study set out to establish the status of availability of vaccines in Tshwane government clinics and associated factors. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a sample of randomly selected government clinics in Tshwane health district of Gauteng province. Data was collected using a structured measurement instrument during a visit to each of the participating clinics. Data was collated and analysed using excel based software. Results: A total of 31 clinics participated. In the preceding 12 months, clinics experienced vaccine stock outs, especially of the 3 new vaccines: pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV), rotavirus (RV) vaccine and Pentaxim ®. These were also out of stock for a long duration; for over 2 weeks in a majority of clinics. The causes of vaccine stock outs were: poor management of stock, depot out of stock, unreliable deliveries, lack of pharmacy assistants, and limited fridge capacity. Further burdening the situation is the emergency ordering system that does not function effectively. Conclusion: Significant vaccine shortages occur in Tshwane government clinics. It is recommended that the vaccine supply chain should be restructured and overhauled with the use of advances in technology. Urgent measures should be taken to address the identified causes of stock outs including ensuring reliable deliveries of stock and emergency orders.

Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Excessive shrinkage threatens the viability of retailers, especially grocery retailers because they operate on low profit margins. One possibility is for retailers to dismiss employees who are perceived to be responsible for excessive shrinkage, but South African law generally requires that the employer prove individual culpability or poor performance to justify a dismissal. In most cases, retailers are not able to identify the exact causes of shrinkage or those employees who may be responsible for the shrinkage. Pep Stores has developed a novel group dismissal model, using a poor performance process, in terms of which a store's entire staff complement is dismissed on the basis of collective responsibility for failing to avoid excessive shrinkage. The Pep model is attractive to retailers because it overcomes the retailer's inability to produce evidence relating to excessive shrinkage. This Study Project seeks to determine whether collective responsibility for shrinkage may be introduced in owner-managed grocery stores and, if not, whether adaptation of the model or new technology might facilitate its introduction. A further objective is to determine whether the applicability of the Pep model correlates to factors such as the size, activity level and complexity of retail stores. Three barriers to the application of the Pep model in grocery retail stores were identified: firstly, the determination of an "acceptable level of shrinkage" that is reasonably attainable; secondly, the conducting of sufficiently accurate stock takes to support dismissals and, thirdly, the existence or creation of circumstances allowing the implementation of collective responsibility for shrinkage. Grocery retailers have no difficulty in identifying an attainable "acceptable level of shrinkage" or in conducting highly accurate stock takes and stock counts. Circumstances allowing the imposition of collective responsibility for shrinkage were, however, clearly not present. Collective responsibility was precluded by the specialised nature of the employees' tasks and a lack of co-responsibility arising from employees' inability to directly observe each other. However, an adapted Pep model is applicable in grocery retail stores at departmental level if the departments are insulated from fraud or error by receiving clerks and cashiers. This insulation may be achieved by implementing joint receiving procedures that involve each department in receiving departmental stock and an increase in cashier monitoring. The introduction of Radio Frequency Identification Technology will ultimately facilitate the implementation of the Pep model through the enhanced insulation of departments. This enhanced insulation is achieved through the ability to track the movement of individual items in stores and the reduction of receiving and cashier error and fraud as a result of the automation of aspects of these functions. This technology, however, is unlikely to be implemented in the short term given the significant cost of RFID tags and the technical and organisational constraints to adoption. Perceptions on the applicability of the Pep model are correlated in smaller stores to total store floor areas, while the applicability of the model in larger stores is correlated to the size of staff complements. This suggests that the model may be ideally applicable in smaller stores, where the total store floor area is relatively smaller and in larger stores, where the staff complements are relatively larger. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Oormatige voorraadverlies bedreig die lewensvatbaarheid van kleinhandelaars, veral kruidenierswarehandelaars, omdat hulle met klein winsmarges werk. Een moontlikheid is dat kleinhandelaars werknemers ontslaan wat gesien word as die verantwoordelikes vir oormatige voorraadverlies, maar die Suid-Afrikaanse reg vereis oor die algemeen dat die werkgewer indiwiduele skuld of swak prestasie bewys om ontslag te regverdig. In die meeste gevalle is kleinhandelaars nie in staat om die presiese oorsake van voorraadverlies, of die werknemers wat vir die voorraadverlies verantwoordelik mag wees, te identifiseer nie. Pep Stores het 'n vindingryke groep-ontslagmodel ontwikkel, met gebruik van 'n swakprestasieproses, ingevolge waarvan 'n winkel se hele personeel ontslaan word op grond van kollektiewe verantwoordelikheid weens versuim om oormatige voorraadverlies te vermy. Die Pep-model is aantreklik vir kleinhandelaars, want dit oorkom die kleinhandelaar se onvermoë om bewys te lewer in verband met oormatige voorraadverlies. Hierdie navorsingsprojek probeer vasstel of kollektiewe verantwoordelikheid vir voorraadverlies ingestel kan word in eienaarbestuurde kruidenierswinkels en, indien nie, of aanpassing van die model, of nuwe tegnologie, die invoer daarvan sou kon fasiliteer. 'n Verdere doelstelling is om vas te stel of die toepaslikheid van die Pepmodel korreleer met faktore soos die grootte, bedrywigheidsvlak en kompleksiteit van kleinhandelwinkels. Drie struikelblokke vir toepassing van die Pep-model in kleinhandelkruidenierswinkels is geidentifiseer: eerstens, die bepaal van 'n "aanvaarbare voorraadverliesvlak" wat redelik haalbaar is; tweedens, die uitvoer van voldoende akkurate voorraadopnames om ontslag te steun en derdens die bestaan of skep van omstandighede wat die implementering van kollektiewe verantwoordelikheid vir voorraadverlies moontlik sal maak. Kruidenierskleinhandelaars ondervind geen probleme met die identifisering van haalbare "aanvaarbare voorraadverliesvlakke" of met die uitvoer van hoogs akkurate voorraadopnames en - tellings nie. Omstandighede wat die oplê van kollektiewe verantwoordelikheid vir voorraadverlies moontlik maak, was egter duidelik nie aanwesig nie. Kllektiewe verantwoordelikheid is uitgesluit weens die gespesialiseerde aard van die werknemers se take en 'n gebrek aan mede-verantwoordelikheid weens werknemers se onvermoë am mekaar direk waar te neem. 'n Aangepaste Pep-model is egter toepasbaar in kruidenierskleinhandelwinkels op departementele vlak indien die departemente van bedrog of foute deur ontvangsklerke en kassiere afgeskerm word. Die afskerming kan bereik word deur die implementering van gesamentlike ontvangsprosedures wat elke departement betrek by die ontvangs van departementele voorraad en verskerpte kassiermonitering. Die invoer van Radiofrekwensie-identifikasietegnologie sal uiteindelik die implementering van die Pep-model fassiliteer deur die verhoogde afskerming van departemente. Hierdie verhoogde afskerming word bereik deur die vermoë om die beweging van indiwiduele items in winkels na te speur en die vermindering van ontvangs- en kassierfoute en -bedrog as gevolg van die outomatisering van aspekte van die funksies. Hierdie tegnologie sal egter waarskynlik nie oor die korttermyn toegepas word nie weens die aansienlike koste van RFIO-etikette en die tegniese en organisatoriese beperkings op die invoer daarvan. Persepsies oor die toepasbaarheid van die Pep-model word in kleiner winkels gekorreleer met die totale winkelvloeroppervlak, terwyl die toepasbaarheid van die model in groter winkels gekorreleer word met die grootte van die personeelkorps. Dit suggereer dat die model ideaal toepasbaar mag wees in kleiner winkels waar die totale winkelvloeroppervlak relatief kleiner is en in groter winkels waar die personeelkorps relatief groter is.