Domestic secondary wood products manufacturers are losing their competitive edge in the global economy. Foreign competition is steadily gaining market-share due to decreased labor costs. While domestic operations can not compete with labor costs available to foreign manufacturers, they may be able to remain competitive through product lead time reduction and on-time delivery to the final customer. Pull based manufacturing is one technique to reduce lead time increase on-time delivery. Value stream mapping was used in this project to evaluate a furniture rough mill located in Virginia to assess the current state, as well as develop 2 future state value streams. The current state evaluation found the system to be yield driven and production was based on a forecast. The lead time for internal nightstand components in the current state was found to be 15.1 hours. Using pull production and supermarket methodology in proposed future states, it was found that the lead time could be reduced to 7.5 hours. Lead times could be reduced by eliminating yield increasing non-value added activities currently in place which not only increase lead time, but also manufacturing waste as defined by lean manufacturing concepts. A cost analysis found that the labor and overhead costs associated with yield increasing activities in the current state outweighed the costs of a decreased yield measurement in the future state. While this project was limited to one rough mill and one product family of a lesser valued wood species it represents what is possible for assisting secondary manufacturers to remain competitive. The once successful traditional yield driven rough mill does not guarantee internal customer satisfaction and in this project is not cost effective. Future research should focus on the implications of the furniture rough mill's inability to meet downstream demand to internal customers. / Master of Science

No description available.

The food production system has been acknowledged as a problem that needs to be addressed in order to achieve a sustainable society. Hertwich and Peters (2009), estimate that 10-30% of an individual’s environmental impact is related to the industrial production and consumption of food. The problem is aggravated by the wastage of one third of the global food production. The consequences of the wastage of food are the loss of resources, such as energy, water, land and labour and unnecessary emissions of pollutants. In order to address this problem several actions have been proposed. The Sustainable Development Goal 12.3, which Sweden has committed to fulfil, aims to reduce by half the amount of food waste along the production and supply chain by 2030. Retail is an important player in the food supply chain. Its influence spreads both upstream to suppliers and downstream to consumers. Therefore, this research aims to contribute to reduction of the environmental impacts related to food waste in retail, by identifying products with high environmental impacts. The main goals of this study are 1) the quantification of food waste produced by the supermarket and 2) to examine the environmental impacts of selected products in order to assess the impacts generated by the waste production at the supermarket. The findings of the research revealed 1) the importance of not only measuring the food waste in terms of mass, but also in terms of environmental indicators and costs. The results indicate bread as an important contributor for the environmental footprint of the supermarket and a potential product for interventions 2) Sorting the organic content of the products from its packaging before sending it to the current waste treatment leads to a reduction in the carbon footprint. The research identified the following recommendations: 1) increasing supermarket personnel and consumers’ awareness regarding the environmental impact of food waste, 2) finding alternative routes for waste treatment and 3) improving logistic operations.

Desde a segunda metade da década de 1990 profundas mudanças vêm ocorrendo no segmento supermercadista brasileiro. Dessas destacam-se a crescente internacionalização, desnacionalização e concentração econômica dessa modalidade de comércio nas mãos de grandes empresas: Pão de Açúcar, Carrefour e Wal-Mart. Com a finalidade de atingir uma maior competição, profundas mudanças têm ocorrido na forma de gestão do trabalho e no uso de tecnologias, levando a um novo arranjo dos trabalhadores pelos supermercados. Esse arranjo passa a ser marcado por uma maior flexibilidade funcional e pela intensificação do trabalho, que ocorre em consonância com a utilização de novas tecnologias, a exemplo do código de barras que impulsionou o processo de automação comercial. Neste contexto esta pesquisa procura estudar de maneira conjunta as transformações na organização do trabalho e na automação comercial no segmento supermercadista. A análise tem como foco a situação dos trabalhadores que residem no Grajaú, Zona Sul da cidade de São Paulo e atuam ou atuaram como operador de supermercado e operador parttime nas lojas CompreBem e Pão de Açúcar pertencentes ao Grupo Pão de Açúcar. A escolha dos cargos de operador de supermercado e operador part-time deve-se ao seu caráter operacional e flexível. Esses cargos autorizam os trabalhadores a exercerem um maior número de tarefas, desde a frente de caixa ao depósito de um supermercado. Tal fato permite a utilização mais intensa da força de trabalho sem significativa contrapartida salarial. / Since second half of the 1990 profound changes have been occurring in the Brazilian supermarket segment. Growing internationalization, denationalization and economic concentration of this type of trade in charge of big companies: Pão de Açúcar, Carrefour and Wal-Mart. In order to achieve more competition, profound changes have occurred in management of labor and the use of technology, leading at a new arrangement the workers by the supermarkets. This is now marked by greater functional flexibility and the intensification of labor, which is consistent with the use of new technologies, such as the bar code that drove the process of commercial automation. In this context this research studies the changes at work organization and automation commercial in the supermarket segment. The analysis focuses at the situation of workers who lives in Grajaú, South Zone of São Paulo and act or acted as an operator of supermarket and part-time operator in shops CompreBem and Pão de Açúcar, belonging to Grupo Pão de Açúcar. The choice of positions of operator of supermarket and part-time operator depends on the characteristic of the operational nature and flexibility. These positions allow workers to do a greater number of tasks, from the front to the deposit box at a supermarket. This fact allows more intensive use of the labor without significant salary counterpart.

Esta tese descreve a visão dos supermercadistas sobre as relações comerciais com fornecedores. O objetivo é identificar os fatores determinantes desse relacionamento de modo a compreender a gestão de compras das principais redes de supermercado no que diz respeito à seleção dos fornecedores, às atividades de valor que são exercidas em conjunto e aos principais aspectos relacionados à comercialização de marcas líderes. A metodologia do estudo fundamenta-se em duas grandes etapas que se complementam. A primeira refere-se ao levantamento bibliográfico e pesquisa em dados secundários, cujo objetivo era cobrir o referencial teórico de forma abrangente e conhecer os trabalhos já realizados anteriormente. Na segunda etapa foram realizados estudos de caso junto a três principais redes supermercadistas brasileiras que detêm grande parte das vendas do setor, utilizando-se da metodologia exploratória com entrevistas em profundidade. O trabalho oferece detalhes relevantes que apontam para a possibilidade de aperfeiçoamento das relações comerciais entre os supermercadistas e seus fornecedores ao apresentar os fatores determinantes de um forte, duradouro e profícuo relacionamento. No entanto, pontos distintos trazidos pelo estudo mostram que alguns varejistas possuem um maior número de cláusulas em seus contratos de fornecimento que outros, revelando a ausência de padronização. Tal aspecto mostra a existência de condições para que os instrumentos propostos nas teorias convertam-se em novos e importantes determinantes. / This thesis describes a retailing supermarket’s view about its commercial relations with suppliers. The objective of this study is to identify determining factors of this relationship in order to understand the management of purchasing of the main supermarket chains as far as their choice of suppliers, the value activities that take place and the main aspects related to commercializing top brands. The methodology of this study is derived from two steps that are complementary. The first one is founded on bibliographic research and secondary data, whose objective is to cover the theories thoroughly and also to learn from prior studies performed about this subject. The second step comes from case studies performed on three major retailing supermarket chains in Brazil that have a great market share in their sector, which was done through an exploratory research methodology that included careful interviews. This study offers revealing details about improving the commercial relations between retailing supermarkets and their suppliers given to the determining factors that are presented of a strong and long-lasting relationship. There are, however, distinct points brought up by this study that show that some retailers have a greater number of clauses in their supply contracts than others do, and therefore proving that there is a lack of standardization. This aspect proves that it is possible for some instruments proposed by the theories to become new and important determinants.

Desde a segunda metade da década de 1990 profundas mudanças vêm ocorrendo no segmento supermercadista brasileiro. Dessas destacam-se a crescente internacionalização, desnacionalização e concentração econômica dessa modalidade de comércio nas mãos de grandes empresas: Pão de Açúcar, Carrefour e Wal-Mart. Com a finalidade de atingir uma maior competição, profundas mudanças têm ocorrido na forma de gestão do trabalho e no uso de tecnologias, levando a um novo arranjo dos trabalhadores pelos supermercados. Esse arranjo passa a ser marcado por uma maior flexibilidade funcional e pela intensificação do trabalho, que ocorre em consonância com a utilização de novas tecnologias, a exemplo do código de barras que impulsionou o processo de automação comercial. Neste contexto esta pesquisa procura estudar de maneira conjunta as transformações na organização do trabalho e na automação comercial no segmento supermercadista. A análise tem como foco a situação dos trabalhadores que residem no Grajaú, Zona Sul da cidade de São Paulo e atuam ou atuaram como operador de supermercado e operador parttime nas lojas CompreBem e Pão de Açúcar pertencentes ao Grupo Pão de Açúcar. A escolha dos cargos de operador de supermercado e operador part-time deve-se ao seu caráter operacional e flexível. Esses cargos autorizam os trabalhadores a exercerem um maior número de tarefas, desde a frente de caixa ao depósito de um supermercado. Tal fato permite a utilização mais intensa da força de trabalho sem significativa contrapartida salarial. / Since second half of the 1990 profound changes have been occurring in the Brazilian supermarket segment. Growing internationalization, denationalization and economic concentration of this type of trade in charge of big companies: Pão de Açúcar, Carrefour and Wal-Mart. In order to achieve more competition, profound changes have occurred in management of labor and the use of technology, leading at a new arrangement the workers by the supermarkets. This is now marked by greater functional flexibility and the intensification of labor, which is consistent with the use of new technologies, such as the bar code that drove the process of commercial automation. In this context this research studies the changes at work organization and automation commercial in the supermarket segment. The analysis focuses at the situation of workers who lives in Grajaú, South Zone of São Paulo and act or acted as an operator of supermarket and part-time operator in shops CompreBem and Pão de Açúcar, belonging to Grupo Pão de Açúcar. The choice of positions of operator of supermarket and part-time operator depends on the characteristic of the operational nature and flexibility. These positions allow workers to do a greater number of tasks, from the front to the deposit box at a supermarket. This fact allows more intensive use of the labor without significant salary counterpart.

Computer technology has advanced to the point where it has invaded our lives and become embedded in our environment. The problem with this is that not everyone has it, can use it, understands it or finds value in it. This requires an innovative solution that couples technology use in a communal and public space that provides both free access to technology and technology that is meaningful. Interactive architecture suggest new modes of interacting and interfacing between users and their environments offering the potential for richer and more intuitive dialogues between users, each other and our wider environments. Harnessed in a sustainable platform like a supermarket, it can become a manageable grassroots solution that serves the civic, cultural and social needs of a community. If developed in line with the goals of facilitating public information exchange and discourse in the built environment the application of interactive environments to its context seems well suited to contribute towards encouraging active user participation, social interaction and personal empowerment.

<p>Due to the global warming of the atmosphere it is now time to decrease the consumption of energy. One of the most important consumer is the commercial building area and especialy the supermarket. After a survey of the total consumption and a division into unit process it is possible to find some measures to decrease the global consumption of energy (in the lighting, cooling/freezing and space heating processes).</p>

Due to the global warming of the atmosphere it is now time to decrease the consumption of energy. One of the most important consumer is the commercial building area and especialy the supermarket. After a survey of the total consumption and a division into unit process it is possible to find some measures to decrease the global consumption of energy (in the lighting, cooling/freezing and space heating processes).

The growth rate of GDP of mainland China in 2003 is 11.48% and the average growth rate of GDP in recent five years is about 9.50%. The growth rate of total retail amount of social consumer goods is 9.00% and the average growth rate of it in recent five years is 10.16% which make mainland China the most prospective market. After joining the world trade organization¡]WTO¡^in 2001, the retail business in China went through a huge variation. Not only the keen competition between China enterprises and foreign businesses, but also the rivalries among various retail types of operation in China retail market make the progress of retail business in China. This study reviews literature to understand the research on the revolution of the retail type of operation, collects and organizes the inferiority materials to know the development of present economic circumstance in mainland China, probe into the growth and future trend of the consumption and retail market. The three most attractive retail types of operation in recent mainland China are department store, supermarket and specialty shop, this study analyses the financial statements of the benchmarks of the three retail types of operation to obtain a deeper comprehension of the future development trend. The result of this study shows the diversification of the development trend of recent retail type of operation in China which is different from the past situation. Every retail type of operation grows prosperously in China, and the performance of supermarket is even better than that of department store. According to the retail life cycle theory, department stores in mainland China are in the maturity phase and have to re-segment its target customers to raise its market share and revenue. The result of this study also shows the polarization of the trend of the retail type of operation in China, which the three most attractive retail type of operation represent. According to the dialectic model, there will be a synthesis between thesis and antithesis retail type of operation possesses the advantages of them. We can also learn from the three wheels of retailing theory that the department store will improve its return ratio by imitating and learning while supermarket will improve its turnover rate to strengthen its differences. Keywords: Retail business in China, type of operation, department store, supermarket, specialty shop.