Thesis (M.A.)--Texas State University-San Marcos, 2007. / Vita. Appendices: leaves 102-145. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 146-157).

Abstract Supply chain performance measurement – the process of qualifying the efficiency and effectiveness of the supply chain. The aim of this study is to create a supply chain measurement framework for manufacturing industry, define what data should be measured and verify the measurement framework in the case company's supply chain. The research approach is hermeneutic and the research was a qualitative, constructive single case study research. The case company operates in the steel industry and provides prefabricated products for customers. The case supply chain was defined to be one supply chain in a plant where prefabricated products are produced. There is a review of the current understanding of supply chain management and literature related to supply chain performance measurement and the study creates a framework for supply chain measurement. This study presents the main theory framework of supply chain performance measurement. The key elements for the measurement framework were defined as time, profitability, order book analysis and managerial analysis. The measurement framework is tested by measuring case supply chain performance. The measurement framework is a valid framework for supply chain performance measurement in manufacturing industry. It is stated that supply chain performance measurement is extremely important in developing supply chain. The measurement framework in this study offers guidelines for measuring the supply chain in manufacturing industry but the measurement framework could be used in different areas of industry as well.

Supply Planning in the Automotive Industry is a vital ingredient for Supply Chain Integration. The role and function of a Supply Planner, although clearly defined in European developed methods, lacks the practical dimension. This paper describes such a practical approach that was developed for Supply Planning in the South African Automotive Industry. The framework highlights all the aspects – from a business and functional perspective - that need to be considered on a global and local scale. The framework describes the role and responsibilities of the Supply Planner as an active supply chain designer during the product/production development process. / Dissertation (MEng (Industrial Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Industrial and Systems Engineering / unrestricted

This study investigated the potential application of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in water supply, taking cognisance of the water demand and supply in the Central Coastal Namibian (CCN) mines. NamWater does not meet demand for the existing and planned mines in the CCN. Primary objective was to investigate and analyse water demand and supply as well as the effectiveness of PPP as a solution by exploring its potential, successes and challenges. In order to obtain relevant information, literature review was used to collect evidence on water demand and supply in the north-central Namibia as well as the application of PPP in provision of water supply. Multi-case studies were carried out on three operational mines, namely; Rio Tinto Rössing Uranium Mine, Langer Heinrich Uranium Mine and Areva Trekkopje Uranium Mine to attain empirical data on water supply requirements. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data supplemented by interviews with NamWater, operational mines within the study area, government institutions, and knowledgeable consultants on water and the mining environment. The key findings included: institutional weaknesses and lack of legislation frameworks to support PPP projects; skills shortage; and financing problems were identified as major challenges. Results further show that these problems could be resolved by effectively implementing a PPP approach, whereby the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) enters into a contract with the public authority. The study concludes that there is a need to increase water output to meet current and future supply requirements to these mines. This situation should be addressed by all stakeholders, from government to private sectors. The study recommends that a sea water desalination plant should be developed to increase water capacity supply to the existing operational and prospective mines in the area. The PPP approach is proposed as a possible solution to water supply infrastructure service delivery problem to ensure long-term water security in the CCN mines.

Práce se zabývá problematikou řízení rizika v logistických řetězcích se zaměřením na jeden konkrétní článek řetězce. Definuje základní oblasti risk managementu, jeho hlavní aspekty a systém spojitého plánování. Zabývá se bezpečností práce v pojetí EU, České republiky a Velké Británie. V aplikační části uvádí řízení rizika v jednom článku logistického řetězce, skladu poskytovatele logistických služeb ve Velké Británii.

This diploma thesis has been created based on the demand of the management of DHL Exel Supply Chain and Swindon Pressings Limited to increase the efficiency and utilization of resources employed within they operations. The theoretical introduction part is first of dealing with the terms "logistics" and "supply chain management" in the perspective of their use in the contemporary logistics theory, comparison of their meaning (are there differences) and explanation of their use in this thesis. Subsequently I am explaining "reverse logistic" and its position in the structures of corporations and logistics itself. Supply chain management and the concept of lean manufacturing combined with the six sigma approach are, from my point of view, essential for today's supplier-customer relationships. That is why those topics are examined in the last part of the theoretical chapter. Returnable packaging and the transport process are key elements of the second part -- practical part, the reengineering of logistics processes which occurred at Swindon Pressings Limited. The aim of this thesis is to analyze the give problem, develop problem solving options and critically comment them. Finally choose one of the options, implement it and document the process of "going live".

The traditional metropolitan water -supply planning problem is characterized by two main steps: (a) project future water requirements based on present rates of economic growth,, and (b) schedule water development projects to be introduced into the system on time to meet these predicted requirements. The City of Tucson plans its water supply essentially in this manner. The prime objective of this phase of our research was to formally review the above problem and to formulate it in terms of concepts of management science. Implied commitments to accept Colorado River water and gradual changes in quality of Tucson's groundwater force serious consideration of the economic tradeoffs between alternative sources and uses of water. These alternatives lead to a need for a restatement of water - supply planning objectives in more precise forms than have heretofore been put forth. The doctoral dissertation by G. Clausen addresses itself to the above restatement with actual data on the Tucson basin. The various water -supply planning objective functions including the traditional one are all expressions which maximize the difference between gains and losses involved with water development. They can be expressed mathematically and differentiated on the basis of how these gains and losses are defined. In the traditional sense, gains derived from meeting projected requirements are assumed to be infinite, and losses are taken to be actual project costs and not social costs associated with undesirable economic growth. Therefore, maximization of net gains is accomplished by minimizing project costs, and gains do not even have to be expressed. Consideration of alternatives, however, requires that gains be expressed quantitatively as benefits to individuals, communities, or regions, i.e., primary, secondary, or tertiary benefits. The same logic holds for the expression of total costs. An objective function, used to express the water- supply problem in the Tucson Basin, considers gains as cash revenue to a hypothetical central water - control agency which sells water to the users within the basin. Losses are considered as marginal costs to the agency for producing, treating, and distributing water. The concept of economic demand is used to estimate the amount of water that municipal, industrial, and agricultural users will purchase at different prices. Linear demand functions are postulated. The possible sources of supply considered are groundwater from within the basin, groundwater from the neighboring Avra Valley Basin, reclaimed waste water, and Central Arizona Project water from the Colorado River. Constraints are formulated to allow for limits on water availability, for social limits on water prices, and for minimal requirements of each user over a specified time period; these permit a determination of optimal allocations of water under different conditions to answer "what if' questions, given the assumptions of the model. The resulting static model is termed a pricing model and is optimized by first decomposing the objective function into component parts with each part representing terms involving only one source of water. In instances involving inequality constraints, quadratic programming is used. In other instances where equality constraints or unconstrained conditions exist, Lagrange multipliers and calculus methods are used. These latter conditions arise when it is determined at which point certain constraints become inactive. In the completely general case, this type of decomposition is not possible, but it appears that in many specific uses objective functions of this nature can be profitably decomposed and optima determined much more conveniently than otherwise possible. The model clearly identifies the opportunity costs associated with the required use of Colorado River water in lieu of the cheaper Tucson groundwater.

This study considers whether or not optimizing process metrics and settings across a supply chain gives significantly different outcomes than consideration at a firm level. While, the importance of supply chain integration has been shown in areas such as inventory management, this study appears to be the first empirical test for optimizing process settings. A Partial Least Squares (PLS) procedure is used to determine the crucial components and indicators that make up each component in a supply chain system. PLS allows supply chain members to have a greater understanding of critical coordination components in a given supply chain. Results and implications give an indication of what performance is possible with supply chain optimization versus local optimization on simulated and manufacturing data. It was found that pursuing an integrated approach over a traditional independent approach provides an improvement of 2% to 49% in predictive power for the supply chain under study.

This research study seeks to identify possible barriers that may exist within supply chain organisations and prevent the full acceptance, integration and utilisation of Internet based information system technologies, as is required by the new information age. The barriers can possibly be behavioural in nature (in measuring the use of information technology applications), psychological (dealing with perceptions) or be based on organisational policies and technical know-how. By conducting an empirical research investigation into the perceptions of users at different levels of supply chain management activity, the intention is to help organisations capitalise on their investment in information technology systems by identifying barriers to its usage after implementation. The hypothesis is derived from existing literature about business organisations‘ experiences and best practices, albeit it beyond the borders of South Africa. The respondents’ perspective is tested in a questionnaire to determine the level of organisational Internet based SCM integration and information sharing in the current South African market. This survey was conducted over a period of four months and targeted 2568 respondents. Both qualitative and quantitative data analyses were used to improve the value of research findings. The value of this research investigation is to assist South African supply chain management practitioners and researchers in competing with global players, since competitive advantage depends on competent supply chains in today’s digital economy, according to Philip Kotler (2001: 3). All the research objectives were achieved from the research sample data analysis. From the empirical research, the findings concern their search for lower prices, the payment receipt of money electronically and their order placement amongst others. The two underlying constructs that govern respondents’ SC interaction and in particular their information sharing activities are confidence and confidentiality, however the null hypothesis cannot be rejected. The results of this study and the contribution to the multi-discipline research area could be improved by future studies taking an even larger sample of the sample population to include more heterogeneous technology users in the study. This could facilitate the extrapolation of the results to the South African SCM market with more certainty. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Business Management / MCom / unrestricted

Bibliography: pages 168-174. / The Emergency Electric Power Supply Systems at Pressurized Water Reactor Nuclear Power Plants are reviewed, problem areas are identified, and recommendations are made for existing and future Nuclear Power Plants. A simplified introduction to a typical Pressurized Water Nuclear Reactor is given and the problems associated with the commercial use of nuclear power are discussed. An overview of the Nuclear industry's solutions is presented and covers the Reliability of equipment and the American Regulatory requirements. The alternating and direct current power supply systems are examined in terms of plant operational state and equipment type (Diesel generators, Grid network, Lead-acid batteries, Battery chargers, Inverters, and Power Distribution networks). The trends in the design of Emergency Electric Power supply systems at Nuclear Power Plants are presented. The loss of all alternating current power, known as Station Blackout, is discussed and the American and European response to this. problem is presented. Problems experienced in the direct current systems are discussed and solutions are presented. The experience at Koeberg Nuclear Power station with Lead-acid batteries is included in the discussion. The thesis concludes with recommendations for designers and operators of the Electric Power Supply Systems at Nuclear Power Stations.