A just-in-time supply pickup and delivery system (JSS) manages the logistic operations between a manufacturing plant and its suppliers by controlling the sequence, timing, and frequency of container pickups and parts deliveries, thereby coordinating internal conveyance, external conveyance, and the operation of cross-docking facilities. The system is important to just-in-time production lines that maintain small inventories. This research studies the logistics, supply chain, and production control of JSS. First, a new meta-heuristics approach (taboo search) is developed to solve a general frequency routing (GFR) problem that has been formulated in this dissertation with five types of constraints: flow, space, load, time, and heijunka. Also, a formulation for cross-dock routing (CDR) has been created and solved. Second, seven issues concerning the structure of JSS systems that employ the previously studied common frequency routing (CFR) problem (Chuah and Yingling, in press) are explored to understand their impacts on operational costs of the system. Finally, a discreteevent simulation model is developed to study JSS by looking at different types of variations in demand and studying their impacts on the stability of inventory levels in the system. The results show that GFR routes at high frequencies do not have common frequencies in the solution. There are some common frequencies at medium frequencies and none at low frequency, where effectively the problem is simply a vehicle routing problem (VRP) with time windows. CDR is an extension of VRP-type problems that can be solved quickly with meta-heuristic approaches. GFR, CDR, and CFR are practical routing strategies for JSS with taboo search or other types of meta-heuristics as solvers. By comparing GFR and CFR solutions to the same problems, it is shown that the impacts of CFR restrictions on cost are minimal and in many cases so small as to make simplier CFR routes desirable. The studies of JSS structural features on the operating costs of JSS systems under the assumption of CFR routes yielded interesting results. First, when suppliers are clustered, the routes become more efficient at mid-level, but not high or low, frequencies. Second, the cost increases with the number of suppliers. Third, negotiating broad time windows with suppliers is important for cost control in JSS systems. Fourth, an increase or decrease in production volumes uniformly shifts the solutions cost versus frequency curve. Fifth, increased vehicle capacity is important in reducing costs at low and medium frequencies but far less important at high frequencies. Lastly, load distributions among the suppliers are not important determinants of transportation costs as long as the average loads remain the same. Finally, a one-supplier, one-part-source simulation model shows that the systems inventory level tends to be sticky to the reordering level. JSS is very stable, but it requires reliable transportation to perform well. The impact to changes in kanban levels (e.g., as might occur between route planning intervals when production rates are adjusted) is relatively long term with dynamic after-effects on inventory levels that take a long time to dissapate. A gradual change in kanban levels may be introduced, prior to the changeover, to counter this effect.

Should U.S. political decision-makers decide to wage a moral war, it is not as easy a merely saying go do it. To ensure moral targeting decisions, American national political leaders must suffer the costs of monitoring in terms of time and money, and provide not only detailed direction, but also constant oversight to ensure objectives are clear and subordinates carry out directions. Military officers must ensure that their motivations align with those of their principals, and they must ensure that constraining doctrine for planning and executing combat operations is followed. Having satisfied these variables, moral targeting decisions, wherein proportionality of non-combatant casualties is weighed against target necessity, should then be easily attainable. The process of aligning motivations with respect to desired outcomes, and the process of planning strategies according to doctrine together lead to moral targeting decisions. By following the processes of getting war plans approved according to published U.S. doctrine, a deliberate dialogue is followed with direction and feedback through several steps of planning and approval that result in multiple people working on a product that results in a sort of corporate buy- in. I posit that it is difficult to follow this process and end up with targeting decisions that do not weigh harm to non-combatants against the necessity of individual targets, especially when principals and agents come together to deliberately ensure they align their motivations with respect to objectives. This theory is applicable to U.S. involvement in war, but is not necessarily generalizable to other countries. Through case studies of American involvement in Desert Storm (the first Gulf War), Operation Allied Force (NATOs air war over Serbia), and the U.S. War on Terror (campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq), I find that only in the War on Terror were moral targeting decisions consistently made by US national leaders. Furthermore, that was the only case study wherein both constraining doctrine was present and principal-agent motivations were aligned with respect to objectives. The other two cases showed that the variables were not followed and proportionality- necessity decisions were not made.

Just-In-Time (JIT) production systems is a popular area for researchers but real-world issues such as sequence dependent setups are often overlooked. This research investigates an approach for determining stability and an approach for mixed product sequencing in production systems with sequence dependent setups and buffer thresholds which signal replenishment of a given buffer. Production systems in this research operate under JIT pull production principles by producing only when demand exists and idle when no demand exists. In the first approach, an iterative method is presented to determine stability for a multi-product production system that operates with replenishment signals and may have sequence dependent setups. In this method, a network of nodes representing machine states and arcs representing the buffer inventory levels is used to find a stable trajectory for the production system via an iterative procedure. The method determines suitable buffer levels for the production system that ensure that a trajectory originating from any point within a buffer region will always map to a point contained on another buffer region for all future mappings. This iterative method for determining the stability of a production system was implemented using an algorithm to calculate the buffer inventory regions for all arcs in a given arc-node network. The algorithm showed favorable results for two and three product systems in which sequence dependent setups may exist. In the second approach, a product sequencing algorithm determines a product sequence for a production system based on system parameters – setup times, buffer levels, usage rates, production rates, etc. The algorithm selects a product by evaluating the goodness of each product that has reached the replenishment threshold at the current time. The algorithm also incorporates a lookahead function that calculates the goodness for some time interval into the future. The lookahead function considers all branches of the tree of potential sequences to prevent the sequence from travelling down a dead-end branch in which the system will be unable to avoid a depleted buffer. The sequencing algorithm allows the user to weight the five terms of the goodness equations (current and lookahead) to control the behavior of the sequence.

Motivational changes due to individual differences and situational variations in ingroup identification can influence accessibility of memories of ingroup violence, victimization and glories. In Study 1, high identifiers recalled fewer incidents of ingroup violence and hatred than of ingroup suffering. As well, they recalled fewer incidents of ingroup violence and hatred than did low identifiers. In Study 2, a manipulation of ingroup identity produced shifts in memory. Relative to those in the low identity condition, participants in the high identity condition recalled fewer incidents of violence and hatred and more good deeds by members of their group. Participants in a control condition recalled more positive than negative group actions; this bias was exaggerated in the high identity condition and eliminated in the low identity condition. With respect to memories of ingroup tragedies, Studies 3 and 4 demonstrated that experimental reminders of ingroup suffering enhanced participants' sense of connectedness to the ingroup. The findings suggest that memories of ingroup aggressions threaten ingroup identity whereas memories of ingroup suffering enhance ingroup identity. Societal implications of the findings are discussed. The present research informs the literature on reconstructive memory by extending previous findings on the flexibility of personal memories to historical memory.

This study explores how urban planning can adjust to goals about gender equality by assessing the ongoing project to reconstruct the center of Husby in northern Stockholm. The state-owned housing company in the area has decided to incorporate feminist perspectives in the planning and has named the project feminist urban planning. Through interviews and analysis of news- and debate articles, the study investigates how involved actors view feminist urban planning and identifies advantages and challenges within the project. Drawing on feminist urban planning theories and theories about the just city, it is concluded that feminist urban planning is about the distribution of power and to make inhabitants part of the decision-making. Additionally, the study argues that disagreement and conflict can be interpreted as part of the struggle that necessarily goes on in any process that strive to challenge and change injustices in society. However, for this struggle to go on and have a real effect on the development of the city, practices that make people’s experiences of oppression and injustices part of the decision-making in the city must be developed.

Materialspill omfattar resurser som inte förbrukas till byggnation och förloras. Det finns olika orsaker som påverkar materialspillets uppkomst såsom materialbeställningar i överskott, kommunikationsbrist, projektets storlek, utformning, fellagring, materialtransport och storleken på arbetsplatsytan. Syftet med undersökningen är att minska uppkomsten av materialspill och kostnaderna genom att ta fram ett förslag åt företaget Tuve bygg i Göteborg. För att möjliggöra detta krävs användning av underlag som har samlats med hjälp av litteratur, intervjuer, fallstudien och kalkylunderlag från företaget. Undersökningsresultatet påvisade att gips och mineralull spills mest under produktionsskedet. Detta beror på att mineralull och gips hanteras mest på arbetsplatsen. Förbättringsmöjligheter på företaget avser kommunikationsutveckling, Just in Time leveranser, Lean Construction och APD-plan. För att byggprocessen ska effektiviseras är den mån av nya förslag för hantering av materialspill. Förslagen ska underlätta samspelet mellan företaget, underentreprenörerna och yrkesarbetarna.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / In response to the 9/11 attacks and continuing threats of mass-casualty terrorism, the United States has adopted a new security strategy that emphasizes anticipatory actions including preventive war. Prevention, undertaken in the absence of an act of aggression or an imminent threat, is prohibited by modern conceptions of just war and international law. Many critics of the strategy fear that any legitimization of preventive war would endanger international stability. But an examination of the relevant ethical issues from the perspective of just war doctrine reveals contradictions within a blanket prohibition of preventive war. Preventive "strategic interventions" against illiberal regimes-states that correlate with the threats of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction-parallel humanitarian interventions in that they have an ethical basis in the relationship between human rights and the right of state sovereignty. A widely-accepted minimum standard of human rights, incorporated into new international institutions and/or an explicit revision of the definition of just war, could serve as an ethical boundary for both preventive wars and humanitarian interventions. The formal qualification of prevention and its merger with humanitarian goals could bring enhanced international legitimacy and support to preventive actions by the United States and its allies. / Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy

This thesis is trying to show the way, how could be used the methodology management by ROI within the lean enterprise and its processes. Basic elements of this methodology are summarized in theoretical part. Furthermore, there is shown its connection to lean enterprise philosophy, which has developed from Toyota production system. There are mentioned several evaluation methods for investment project subsequently. The system of figures used within Valeo výmněníky tepla k. s. for evaluation of business processes is introduced next. This system is analyzed and its shortcomings and advantages are shown. The possibility of using management by ROI methodology as an alternative to current evaluation system used within the company is considered.

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate how potentials of Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS) in relation to Just In Time (JIT) management could be utilized within logistics management. For this, a framework, based on previous research of the interrelations of RTLS and JIT management, is proposed, to assess the effects of RTLS on logistics management, both on a managerial - as well as on an operational level. To answer the proposed research questions, the study followed a deductive and exploratory case study design, which was conducted at a company within the automotive industry. To understand the challenges within logistics management at the case company, interviews, observations, analysis of internal documents and a focus group were used, which allowed for a triangulation of the captured information. The findings and analysis of the data show that on an operational level the challenges within logistics management are related to complex logistic structures, pull strategies with partial push material flows, lack of information and – reliable data, as well as processes reliant on individuals. On the managerial level the findings suggest challenges related to high complexity and space constraints, time constraints, lack of transparency and – data connections, the company's improvement focus, employee attitude and a lack of reliable data. When the challenges were evaluated in relation to the proposed framework, it shows that these challenges would be resolved or counteracted by the benefits RTLS could provide in relation to JIT management. This study thereby supports the positive correlation between RTLS’s potential and JIT in logistics management.