<p>It is of increasing importance to in the most effective possible way, manage and control all the transactions of raw materials, products and information that are exchanged between an organization and all its operators. These flows and the need for strategy and managing the processes of planning, implementing and control of the supply chain, has given name to the concept supply chain management. Supply chain management involves all movement and storage of raw material, and all the processes that is needed to manufacture a product from origin to consumption. Globalization, technology and increasing time and quality-based competition are all driving forces behind the concept and reasons for an increasing interest in supply chain management.</p><p>The purpose of this essay is to by using a qualitative case study examine which decisive success factors that can be identified for effective supply chain management. We have compiled different theories on the subject to use for analyzing a case study Li & Fung, who is a successful supply chain management company. We intend to give a detailed description of this complex concept and identify decisive success factors for effective supply chain management.</p><p>The study shows two prominent aspects for effective supply chain management; (1) Leadership and (2) control of the supply chain.</p>

<p>During our study trip to Tanzania we discovered one of the great issues for farmers to be need of running water. So we asked ourselves: How can water from Lake Victoria be transported to the small scale farmer’s household and farm in the most optimized way? During the stay in North West of Tanzania we made field trips to the rural areas in Mara Region in order to understand the farmers who are the potential users. We performed semi structured interviews and observations during the whole field study. We also came to the conclusion that wind is a good source of power which can be used to pump water. The wind comes in from Lake Victoria in the same direction everyday. So therefore we decided to construct a water pumping wind power station for small scale farmers.</p>

No description available.

We present an optimal methodology for synchronized scheduling of production assembly with air transportation to achieve accurate delivery with minimized cost in consumer electronics supply chain (CESC). This problem was motivated by a major PC manufacturer in consumer electronics industry, where it is required to schedule the delivery requirements to meet the customer needs in different parts of South East Asia. The overall problem is decomposed into two sub-problems which consist of an air transportation allocation problem and an assembly scheduling problem. The air transportation allocation problem is formulated as a Linear Programming Problem with earliness tardiness penalties for job orders. For the assembly scheduling problem, it is basically required to sequence the job orders on the assembly stations to minimize their waiting times before they are shipped by flights to their destinations. Hence the second sub-problem is modelled as a scheduling problem with earliness penalties. The earliness penalties are assumed to be independent of the job orders. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

We consider the optimization problem of safety stock placement in a supply chain, as formulated in [1]. We prove that this problem is NP-Hard for supply chains modeled as general acyclic networks. Thus, we do not expect to find a polynomial-time algorithm for safety stock placement for a general-network supply chain. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio University, June, 2006. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 30-32)

The objectives of this work were to evaluate the vegetative parameters used to estimate crop N demand and to estimate the accuracy and precision of the conceptual model of fertilization using an error propagation method. Corn plants were collected throughout the entire crop life cycle to determine the fresh and dry weight of the aboveground biomass and roots, root index, plant height, and corn grain yield. Three experiments were conducted, two under field conditions and one under greenhouse conditions. In the first field experiment in 2002, three sites were selected. The first site was the Texas A&M University (TAMU) Agricultural Experiment Station Research Farm in which a Ships clay soil was used. The second site was a cooperative farmer's land on a Weswood silt loam soil in Burleson County. These first two sites used Pioneer 32R25 as the corn hybrid. The third site was also a Ships soil in the TAMU Farm, but Dekalb 687 was the corn variety. In 2003, the second experiment was on a Ships soil in the field of TAMU Farm, and the third experiment was conducted in a greenhouse using Ships and Weswood soil. No differences in the root index and harvest index were observed, even when the Dekalb 687 hybrid was included. Variations in plant N concentration, moisture content, and yield were noted, but followed predictable patterns with time over the season. These parameters were consistent throughout the entire life cycle of the crop. The linear relationship between the fresh weight of aboveground biomass and fresh weight of roots was R2 = 0.92, the moisture content of corn plants over time was fit to a second grade polynomial with R2 = 0.98, and plant N content had a close linear relationship (R2=0.90) with the total plant dry weight, including roots, at harvest. The accuracy of the conceptual model was low under field conditions (55%), but high under greenhouse conditions (90%). Precision of the conceptual model was low both in the field (194%) and the greenhouse (115%) conditions.

This thesis examines the labor force participation decisions of married couples, and special attention is paid to a spouse’s health conditions affecting their own and the spouse’s labor force participation decision. I used the Health and Retirement Study survey data and estimated a seemingly unrelated bivariate probit model. A number of variables besides health condition were added: age, education level, and family unearned income. The results of this research paper support the findings from the relevant literature that the labor supply decisions of the husband and wife are related. The oldest age group is least likely to work. The younger the husband, the more likely it is that the husband will work. At the ages between 40 and 49, wives have the biggest probability to work. The higher the education level, the more likely it is that a spouse is going to work. The more total family unearned income, the less probable the spouse will go to work. Poor health has a negative effect on labor force participation and a positive effect for the spouse’s labor force participation.

This thesis consists of five papers, summarized as follows.  "Disability Insurance, Population Health, and Employment in Sweden" This paper describes the development of population health and disability insurance utilization for older workers in Sweden and analyzes the relation between the two. We also study the effects of changes in eligibility criteria for older workers.  "Does Privatization of Vocational Rehabilitation Improve Labor Market Opportunities? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Sweden" This paper analyzes if privatization of vocational rehabilitation improves labor market opportunities for long-term sick, using a field experiment. We find no differences in employment rates following rehabilitation between individuals who received rehabilitation by private and public providers.  "Screening Stringency in the Disability Insurance Program" This paper proposes a strategy for assessing how the inflow to the disability insurance program has been governed over time. We analyze the ex-ante health of new beneficiaries by using ex-post mortality. We find large variation in the relative health of new beneficiaries compared to non-beneficiaries in Sweden over time.  "The Effect of Age-Targeted Tax Credits on Retirement Behavior" This paper analyzes the effect of two tax credits for workers above age 65 implemented in Sweden in 2007: an earned income tax credit and a payroll tax credit. I find that the age-targeted tax credits increased employment in the year following the 65th birthday, but the increase was not large enough to offset the implied decrease in tax revenues.  "Wage Dynamics and Firm-Level Shocks" This paper proposes a framework for introducing the firm into empirical models of the dynamic income process. The model allows for studying the extent to which firm-level productivity shocks are transmitted to wages. Selection into employment and between jobs is explicitly modeled. We also present a strategy for estimation and identification of the model

It is of increasing importance to in the most effective possible way, manage and control all the transactions of raw materials, products and information that are exchanged between an organization and all its operators. These flows and the need for strategy and managing the processes of planning, implementing and control of the supply chain, has given name to the concept supply chain management. Supply chain management involves all movement and storage of raw material, and all the processes that is needed to manufacture a product from origin to consumption. Globalization, technology and increasing time and quality-based competition are all driving forces behind the concept and reasons for an increasing interest in supply chain management. The purpose of this essay is to by using a qualitative case study examine which decisive success factors that can be identified for effective supply chain management. We have compiled different theories on the subject to use for analyzing a case study Li &amp; Fung, who is a successful supply chain management company. We intend to give a detailed description of this complex concept and identify decisive success factors for effective supply chain management. The study shows two prominent aspects for effective supply chain management; (1) Leadership and (2) control of the supply chain.