This research aim to develop a framework to evaluate critically the effectiveness of health and safety strategies in supply chains in the UK was achieved through a range of objectives which included a review of literature on health and safety management in supply chains and small and medium-sized enterprises, an explanation of the effect of poor health and safety performance on organisations and analysis of factors that inspire health and safety management in organisations. Other objectives are the analysis of health and safety improvement strategies, an establishment of a basis for the development of a framework, the establishment of the perception and attitude to supply chain health and safety management, and the development of a conceptual framework based on ideal and best practices as well as theory that may be used to evaluate critically health and safety strategies in supply chains in the UK. The study adopted a triangulated research approach which used a questionnaire survey to ascertain the views of respondents on some health and safety issues. These views were combined with observations of a case study organisation to underpin the basis for the framework. It was established that the reliance on regulatory measures as means of improving health and safety standards in organisations is no longer advisable. An alternative and best strategy is the use of the influences inherent in supply chain relationships. There were noticeable improvements in the relationship of the case study organisation with its suppliers, and in the general awareness of supply chain health and safety management, when the framework that was developed was tried in their supply chain.

Background: Procurement as a main part in supply chain management is supported through information technology traditionally. With the usage of Internet and e-commerce technologies, procurement is experiencing a revolution from a conventional paper-based process to e-procurement. E-procurement is increasingly becoming recognized due to its abilities to improve the management of business operation, which in supply chain allows organizations to take use of Internet source to procure indirect and direct materials, and handle value-added service such as quality validation. However, although e-procurement solutions are adopted by many industries currently, no previous study is about e-procurement adoption in Swedish food companies. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to study the adoption of e-procurement from the perspective of Swedish food wholesalers. Through exploring the e-procurement adoptions with the aspects of benefits, strategies and barriers in three food wholesale companies, similarities and differences in these three aspects are analyzed to find the current situations in e-procurement adoption settings in Swedish food wholesale companies. Method: This thesis was conducted by using qualitative semi-structured interviews, and a deductive approach. Both primary and secondary data are collected. Three sampling examples are involved in for a multiple and holistic case study. Conclusion: Through the study of this thesis, the most important benefits with e-procurement adoption that Swedish food wholesalers can perceive include planning control, time savings and cost savings. With e-procurement solutions, accurate data information can better forecast demands of customers. However, cost savings could only be achieved obviously after adopting e-procurement more than three years. Almost all food wholesale companies use both direct and indirect purchases with e-procurement adoption. Also, independent portal or online trading communities are not the mainstream for food wholesalers. Swedish food wholesalers play the role in both buy-side and sell-side, and webshops are owned by all of them. As for e-procurement approach, wait and see approach with e-procurement adoption are more attractive for Swedish food wholesalers from a strategic perspective. Aggressive approach could be used for the food wholesale companies that are in development stage. After researching, the most serious barriers for Swedish food wholesalers could be low assurances with problems such as suppliers standards, services or delivery capabilities, two or more systems with overlapped functions, and unstable e-procurement systems.

The objective of the proposed research is to design, fabricate, characterize and test silicon-embedded magnetic components for on-chip integrated power applications. Driven by the trend towards continued system multi-functionality and miniaturization, MEMS technology can be used to enable fabrication of three-dimensional (3-D) functional devices into the silicon bulk, taking advantage of the 'dead volume' in the substrate and achieving a greater level of miniaturization and integration. As an example, one of the challenges in realizing ultra-compact high-frequency power converters lies in the integration of magnetic components due to their relatively large volume. Embedding 3-D magnetic components within the wafer volume and implementing high-power, through-wafer interconnect for connection to circuitry on the wafer surface is a promising solution for achieving ultra-compact power converters, in which digital control circuitry and power switches are located on the wafer surface, and suitable magnetic components are embedded within the silicon substrate. In order to do this, key tasks in the following areas have been accomplished: development of new fabrication technologies for silicon embedding and 3-D structure realization; creation of high-current, through-wafer interconnects for connection of the device to circuitry; ability to incorporate a variety of magnetic materials when performance enhancement of the device is needed; exploration of a new design space for the devices due to ultra-compactness and silicon interaction; understanding of the complicated loss mechanisms in the embedded devices; and demonstration of device performance and in-circuit operation.

ITC/USA 2015 Conference Proceedings / The Fifty-First Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 26-29, 2015 / Bally's Hotel & Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV / The U.S. Army Research Laboratory developed an on-board telemetry instrumentation system to obtain measurements of the in-flight dynamics of medium caliber projectiles. The small size, high launch acceleration, and extremely high spin rates of these projectiles created many design challenges. Particularly challenging were the high spin rates, necessitating the development of a data compression scheme for solar sensors. Flight tests successfully captured data for spin rates exceeding 1000 Hertz (1 kHz).

ITC/USA 2015 Conference Proceedings / The Fifty-First Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 26-29, 2015 / Bally's Hotel & Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV / Power supply is the most critical unit in an airplane. A defect in a power supply might lead to a crash. Therefore, it is very useful and important to monitor the status of the airplane's power supply during flight. This paper presents a real-time evaluation system constructed by a central process unit for processing and detecting defects and several remote units for acquiring parameters. Because of the huge amount of data acquired, a combination of Ethernet and time division multiplexing technique has been applied for constructing a 2.5Gbps synchronous data transportation network for the system.

The aim of this project is to study the nitrate levels of the treated water flowing into Jakkur Lake in Bangalore, from the treatment plant situated at the inlet to the lake, and thereby evaluate the function of the lake as for secondary and tertiary wastewater treatment as well as an infiltration basin. Obtained nitrate levels are used as indicators to study the wastewater flow in the lake, and to find other possible inflows of sewage which can affect the lakes’ total treatment efficiency. A literature study is done on wetlands and on groundwater recharge through infiltration basins, and the possibility of recharging groundwater below Jakkur Lake is evaluated. Water samples are collected around and in the lake and the samples are tested for nitrate, pH and total dissolved solids. Extra focus is put on research on nitrates in water.The risks of groundwater recharge in Jakkur Lake include pollution of wells by bacteria, viruses, parasites and traces of medicine. Further geotechnical investigations need to be pursued mainly on the soil structure under and around the lake, and studies need to be performed on the retention time of the water in the lake. The technical limitations such as fluctuations in efficiency and pollutant migration must be minimized, which initially could be done by building a constructed wetland and controlling the inflow to the lake.

In manufacturing and army terms, Britain was not able or geared up to deal with the Great War. It was able to cope with a small, short war on the continent as part of a larger coalition but not the global crisis that came about. Britain s research and development before the Great War had been in the Royal Navy. The army had been neglected. At the outbreak of the war it had been planned for the navy to carry the burden of the conflict but this proved to be an erroneous course of action. Very early in the war it became obvious that the armaments industry was unable to provide the munitions to prosecute the war to a successful conclusion. The government had to set up the Ministry of Munitions in order to co-ordinate the manufacturing ramp up , mobilise and train the nation for total war in order to meet the requirements of the armed forces to fight the war and solve the crisis. After leaks to the press and political manoeuvring, the Ministry of Munitions was set up to take away the responsibility of the War Office to manufacture, procure and supply munitions. It was a masterstroke. The workforce was increased by the introduction of semi-skilled labour and many of them being women they brought with them the need for welfare reform in the factories. Those reforms had a positive effect upon the male workforce and productivity in general. Semi-skilled workers were trained by educational establishments throughout the land and many modern universities, like Loughborough owe their very existence to the Great War. Loos was fought and lost on War Office contracts, Arras was amply supplied by Ministry initiatives and the 100 Days campaign of 1918 was made possible by massive, British manufacturing output. In essence, British manufacturing won the Great War. The war was a crisis solved by manufacturing. The thesis focuses mainly upon the primary source document that is the Official History of the Ministry of Munitions, war diaries and publications written at the end of in in the years after the Great War.

The business area wants to remain in a market leading position. To do so being cost efficient is central. Lowering costs in the supply chain and when it comes to purchasing products is one way of optimizing the organization's actions. The business area hasn't developed any model or tool to handle the Total Landed Cost (TLC). The goal with the tool has been to educate the purchasers how to handle these costs and with the study give guidance on how to improve the cost focus within the organization. The company also has an environmental goal of reducing their emissions with 20 % within the next 5 years, the thesis therefore contains an investigation by integer programming about how the business area could be able to achieve this. By making qualitative interviews and using scientific articles as a base the authors constructed a model for TLC. A tool was created for comparing supplier solutions and to visualize the TLC. Connected to the TLC two special cases regarding how to handle transportation and inventory was also executed. The purpose is to encircle adjacent request from the client. The business areas TLC are affected by transportation costs, customs and tariffs but it can be affected by currency and risk parameters as well. The study showed that several investigated costs should be excluded as cost drivers in a TLC perspective.

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Thesis (PhD (Logistics))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH SUMMARY: In an effort to compete globally, South African supply chains must achieve and maintain a competitive advantage. One way of achieving this is by ensuring that South African supply chains are as efficient as possible. Consequently, steps must be taken to evaluate the efficiency levels of South African supply chains. This dissertation develops the composite supply chain efficiency model using variables specifically identified as problem areas experienced by South African supply chains. The composite supply chain efficiency model evaluates the overall efficiency of a supply chain based on three criteria, namely, reliability efficiency, cost efficiency and speed efficiency. It identifies bottlenecks along the supply chain and in so doing identifies key focus areas for firms if they want to improve their overall efficiency and become more competitive. 3 / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In ’n poging om wˆereldwyd te kompeteer, moet Suid-Afrikaanse voorsieningskettings ’n mededingende voordeel behaal en handhaaf. Een manier om dit te bereik is om te verseker dat Suid-Afrikaanse voorsieningskettings so doeltreffend as moontlik funksioneer. Gevolglik moet stappe gedoen word om die doeltreffendheidsvlakke van die Suid-Afrikaanse voorsieningskettings te evalueer. Hierdie proefskrif het die saamgestelde voorsieningsketting doeltreffendheidsmodel ontwikkel wat veranderlikes gebruik wat spesifiek ge¨ıdentifiseer is as probleemgebiede in Suid-Afrikaanse voorsieningskettings. Die saamgestelde voorsieningsketting doeltreffendheidsmodel evalueer die algehele doeltreffendheid van ’n voorsieningsketting gebaseer op drie kriteria, naamlik, betroubaarheidsdoeltreffendheid, koste-doeltreffendheid en spoed-doeltreffendheid. Dit identifiseer knelpunte in die voorsieningsketting en identifiseer belangrike fokusareas vir ondernemings wat aangespreek moet word as hul algehele doeltreffendheid wil verbeter en meer mededingend raak. / jfl2010