Taiwan is a country with opened marketing activities. However, limited capacity market, lack of natural and manufacturing resources made industries always kept step to expand global market and internationalize. Faced the domestic business environment is turning more unfavorable, as well as market competitions from foreign competitors and mainland china with low cost manufacturing resources are becoming more competitive. For the development of competitive strategy, domestic industries tried to held foreign factory, use different form of manufacturing and supply, even the traditional metal marital industries can¡¦t despite. How to manage global manufacturing bases, raise efficiency and build a suitable conductivities of an industry, is all based on the issues of setting up a center of ¡§Global logistics management¡¨(GLM) . To maintain the competitive of domestic industries and improve the ability of GLM, the government held ¡¨ The GLM Program ¡¨ by year 2000. The general propose is to construct TAIWAN with GLM environment. This empirical research conducted an exploratory research and focused on these issues: 1.To explore the GLM key factors of metal industries. 2. The strategies of metal industries. 3. Making suggestion of management for further reference to related manufacturing industries. This research detail will be list and discuss forward.

Dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Masters Degree in Technology: Business Administration, Durban University of Technology, 2013. / The aim of this study has been to establish the influence of quality initiatives on the operations of a selected metal recycling company in KwaZulu-Natal. The rationale for this study was based on the information that the financial turmoil has led to a significantly reduced demand for scrap metals and that there is a shortage of information on quality initiatives in the secondary metal industry in this province. Little research, if any, has been done on this particular topic. Hence, there was a need to conduct research of this magnitude. A review of literature provided the basis for the investigation. A multi-method approach was followed as the project required both quantitative and qualitative methods. The research required interdepartmental inputs. The theme of study focused on what could be seen as a topic of research in the department of quality, while the actual research was conducted within the ambit of business administration as a field of study. The data collected through the questionnaires and the operations‟ know-how observed in the yard were subject to scrutiny to enhance relevance in the field of study. As the target population of 70 people was small, it became appropriate to do a census study. A total of 68 people returned filled-in questionnaires administered to operations workers and their management. The response rate was 97%. The study evaluated the importance of training on quality and safety as an integrated domain and the impact thereof in the secondary metal products industry. It further identified a number of drawbacks that hamper the effectiveness of metal operations. The results revealed that excellent quality initiatives have a positive impact on the value-adding operations.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2006. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vii, 116 p. : ill. (some col.). Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

Today organizations are facing different kinds of challenges as they are operating in a dynamic global market. Due to the lack of proper knowledge and skill in management, shortage of capital, weak infrastructure etc. the challenge is more intensive for organizations situated in developing countries like Ethiopia. Therefore, such organizations have to seek for alternative ways to improve their business activities in order to compete in the global market. Supply Chain Management (SCM) is one of the most effective ways that many organizations like Wall-Mart have managed to achieve best organizational performance. In the Ethiopian business context, especially in Basic Metal and Engineering Industries (BMEIs), the concept of SCM should be well understood and practiced because these industries are the backbone of other growing industries in the country. The basic objectives of this research are (1) to assess the level of implementation of SCM practices in Ethiopian BMEIs, and (2) to analyze the relationship between SCM practices and organizational performance in the same industries.

Today organizations are facing different kinds of challenges as they are operating in a dynamic global market. Due to the lack of proper knowledge and skill in management, shortage of capital, weak infrastructure etc. the challenge is more intensive for organizations situated in developing countries like Ethiopia. Therefore, such organizations have to seek for alternative ways to improve their business activities in order to compete in the global market. Supply Chain Management (SCM) is one of the most effective ways that many organizations like Wall-Mart have managed to achieve best organizational performance. In the Ethiopian business context, especially in Basic Metal and Engineering Industries (BMEIs), the concept of SCM should be well understood and practiced because these industries are the backbone of other growing industries in the country. The basic objectives of this research are (1) to assess the level of implementation of SCM practices in Ethiopian BMEIs, and (2) to analyze the relationship between SCM practices and organizational performance in the same industries.

Abstract There has been a lot of concern for the development and stay of electromechanics and metal industries in the Oulu South region lately, which has produced the motivation and rationale for this study as well. The lack of jobs forms a great problem for the development of the area and it has also generated a lot of removal of mostly young, graduated people. The main aim of this study is to find out the development process and contemporary state of those branches as well as to make a proposal for directing different development activities. The study clarifies the concept of the Oulu South region and its population, business structure and development. In addition, the development of the industries is examined both in Finland and global context. There is also a stastistics study of the industry development between the years 1993–2004 and a prediction for the future development. Besides, there was an inquiry in 51 enterprises in the region through which it was possible to clarify the business development cases not mentioned in the statistics. A case study was made in four enterprises, which made it possible to deepen the knowledge of different enterprises. The study dealt with starting up a business, its growth, contemporary views and prospects for the future. The three study components were all mutually complementary. The literature study gave some hints of what kind of actions have proved to be adequate in same kind of situations all over the world and have lead to new clusters and development processes. As a result of this study it was obvious that the electromechanics and metal industries in the region had been developing in the 1990`s and started to decline in the early 21st century. The development path seems to be quite similar in the region to that of whole Finland. The production volumes of the electromechanics in the region are more likely to decline than keep steady or even grow. This should be taken into consideration to prevent the imminent development of those industries. The enterprises within the electromechanics sector are mostly sub-contractors excluding few OEM manufacturers. The industries of the region do not have any own products even if those would strengthen their positions. It was found out through the inquiry that there was the greatest need for employees with upper secondary education. There have been many development activities to promote upper secondary education of the region and to adjust it to the demand of skilled workers. During the study there emerged no need for raising the education level in the enterprises. However, there should be research and development activities in the region. The research should be applied research serving the business sector in a concret manner and focusing on developing products and manufacturing. / Tiivistelmä Elektroniikan mekaniikan valmistuksen ja metalliteollisuuden kehittyminen ja säilyminen seutukunnassa on ollut huolenaiheena Oulun Eteläisellä alueella. Se on ollut myös tämän tutkimuksen tärkeimpänä motiivina. Työpaikkojen vähäisyys on ollut jarruna alueen kehitykselle, ja se on johtanut poismuuttoon alueelta. Etenkin nuori, opiskeluansa lopettava väestö on muuttanut herkästi muualle. Työn tavoitteena oli tutkia mainittujen toimialojen kehittymistä ja niiden tilaa tutkimuskauden aikana sekä tehdä tältä pohjalta ehdotuksia kehitystoiminnan suunnasta. Tutkimuksessa esitettiin kohdealueen rajaus ja väestö, käsiteltiin alueen elinkeinorakennetta ja sen kehitystä, tutkittiin toimialan kehitystä sekä Suomessa että globaalisti ja tehtiin tilastotietoihin pohjautuva tutkimus toimialan kehityksestä vuosina 1993–2004 sekä ennuste tulevasta kehityksestä. Lisäksi alueen 51 yrityksessä suoritettiin kyselytutkimus, jonka avulla selvitettiin yrityskohtaista kehitystä niiltä osin, mitä ei ollut tilastotietojen pohjalta pääteltävissä. Case-tutkimus tehtiin neljään yritykseen, millä oli mahdollisuus syventää yrityskohtaista tietämystä toimialoilta. Siinä käsiteltiin yritysten perustamisvaihetta, niiden kasvua sekä toimialan senhetkistä tilannetta ja tulevaisuuden näkymiä. Kaikki kolme tutkimuksen osa-aluetta täydensivät toisiaan. Kirjallisuustutkimuksesta saatiin viitteitä toimista, joiden on todettu maailmalla vastaavissa tilanteissa vaikuttaneen ja jotka ovat johtaneet teollisuuskeskittymien syntymiseen ja kehittymiseen. Tutkimuksen tuloksina selvisi, että toimialan teollisuus oli alueella lisääntynyt 1990-luvulla ja kääntynyt 2000-luvun alussa laskuun. Toimialan kehitys alueella noudattelee samaa kehityskaarta kuin kommunikaatioala yleensäkin Suomessa. Elektroniikan mekaniikan valmistuksen väheneminen alueella on tutkimuksen tarkasteluvälinkin jälkeen todennäköisempää kuin sen pysyminen ennallaan saati lisääntyminen. Tulisikin pohtia sitä, miten tämä teollisuudenalan taantuminen voidaan estää tai hankkia sitä korvaavia toimialoja. Elektroniikan mekaniikan yritykset toimivat pääasiassa alihankkijoina, lukuun ottamatta muutamaa sopimusvalmistajaa. Omia tuotteita alueen teollisuudella ei juuri ollut, vaikka ne vahvistaisivat teollisuudenalaa. Kyselytutkimuksessa ilmeni, että työntekijöiden päätarve kohdistui toisen asteen koulutuksen saaneisiin henkilöihin. Toisen asteen koulutusta on alueella kehitetty, ja pyritty sopeuttamaan sitä työntekijätarpeeseen. Tutkimuksessa ei tullut esille yritysten tarvetta nostaa työntekijöidensä koulutustasoa. Alueella tulisi kuitenkin olla tutkimus- ja kehitystoimintaa. Tutkimuksen tulisi olla soveltavaa tutkimusta, joka palvelisi konkreettisesti yritystoimintaa sekä kohdistuisi tuotteiden ja valmistuksen kehittämiseen.

There has been an increased awareness of the current problems regarding the environmental changes in the world. Companies are acknowledging these problems more and more to try and prevent the heavy pollution humans contribute. The metal industry is one of the highest emitters in the world because its manufacturing, production, and processing require substantial amounts of energy. While the pressure of addressing environmental issues has been on the bigger companies in history, the smaller ones are being caught up in the same pressure from customers and partners. Because of the raised awareness of the environmental impact, even the smaller companies, which are low on environmental impact alone but substantial when defined as a whole market, are more often required to implement an environmental management system. However, the limitations of resources are different for smaller companies. There is no structured way to work towards a certification in ISO 14001 with the barriers that might limit them. This study has its focus on gathering information in a qualitative mean to interpret and generalize the reality of smaller companies in the metal industry. By doing so, the main goal is to investigate the barriers that appear for the management when implementing an EMS according to ISO 14001 and identify the potential procedures taken to reach the end goal of certification. The results of this study are that companies don’t face the barrier of economic resources and the true barrier is the interpretation of costs. The implementation of a certified EMS is a long-term investment and generates money through continuous improvements and creates a business opportunity by opening a new market to customers with ISO 14001 requirements. Knowledge was a barrier and the change in ISO 14001 being more compatible with previous quality certification ISO 9001 helped the implementation.

This study is about one of the most revolutionary developments in Denmark's metal industry in recent times. Ongoing digitalization and automation, paralleled with the transition to CO2-neutral production is not only changing work procedures but also disrupting industrial relations. As industrial relations are defined by the underlying power dynamics between labor market parties, these relations might also have changed. Since the 80s, unions have been forced to retreat. The discourse is that digitalized automation and decarbonization will lead to increased employment and that the labor-value of production, over time, will remain the same. Contradicting this is the fact (Barradas 2019) that the labor-value of production is decreasing while the employer's share of profit increasing. Despite digitalized automation and the transition to environmentally sustainable production allegedly leading to increased employment, industrial relations are being affected due to the labor-value of production is decreasing. This study is conducted in conjunction with “BARMETAL” (2022), a project financed by the European Union (EU) regarding the digitalization and automation as well as decarbonization of the European automotive industry. As the automotive industry is non-existent in Denmark, this study focuses on manufacturers in the metal industry. The extent of our engagement with the automotive industry is that one company analyzed is a supplier of catalysts to the automotive industry.  This research is conducted as a qualitative study including interviews and literature analysis. The participating companies  revealed minimal engagement in the transition to environmental sustainability, with the primary emphasis placed on the adoption of digital automation. This study is about one of the most revolutionary developments in Denmark's metal industry in recent times. Ongoing digitalization and automation, paralleled with the transition to CO2-neutral production is not only changing work procedures but also disrupting industrial relations. As industrial relations are defined by the underlying power dynamics between labor market parties, these relations might also have changed. Since the 80s, unions have been forced to retreat. The discourse is that digitalized automation and decarbonization will lead to increased employment and that the labor-value of production, over time, will remain the same. Contradicting this is the fact (Barradas 2019) that the labor-value of production is decreasing while the employer's share of profit increasing. Despite digitalized automation and the transition to environmentally sustainable production allegedly leading to increased employment, industrial relations are being affected due to the labor-value of production is decreasing. This study is conducted in conjunction with “BARMETAL” (2022), a project financed by the European Union (EU) regarding the digitalization and automation as well as decarbonization of the European automotive industry. As the automotive industry is non-existent in Denmark, this study focuses on manufacturers in the metal industry. The extent of our engagement with the automotive industry is that one company analyzed is a supplier of catalysts to the automotive industry.  This research is conducted as a qualitative study including interviews and literature analysis. The participating companies revealed minimal engagement in the transition to environmental sustainability, with the primary emphasis placed on the adoption of digital automation.

<p>The main purpose of this thesis was to evaluate and test the Job Stress Survey (JSS, Spielberger, 1991; Spielberger & Vagg, 1999), a self-report instrument which assesses workplace stress. In the thesis a thorough evaluation is made of JSS scales and items, and the relations to health, particularly musculoskeletal complaints. The aim of Study I was to evaluate the factor structure and the psychometric properties of a Swedish version of the JSS. The instrument was distributed to medical service personal and metal industry workers (n=1186). Factor analyses demonstrated a good resemblance between the present version and the American original version. The results also showed that the internal consistencies, as well as the test-retest reliabilities of the scales are high, and the concurrent validity are good. Study II examined work-related stress measured by JSS for the subgroups of gender, industry workers and medical service personnel, and special attention was given to the problem of differential item functioning (DIF) on these subgroups. The main findings were that both gender and occupation has a substantial impact on specific sources of work-related stress assessed by JSS scales and individual items. The result of the DIF analyses showed no item bias in the gender subgroup, but for the occupational subgroups there where items showing DIF in two of the scales. These items do not jeopardize the conclusions made on scale level since the number of items showing DIF are too few to make an impact on the overall result on the different scales. In Study III the relation between self-reported stress and health, particularly musculoskeletal problems were examined longitudinally in two metal industry factories. Results showed high levels of stress and musculoskeletal complaints in these factories and significant and strong relationships between the JSS scales and musculoskeletal, as well as psychosocial ratings. Lack of Organizational Support was found to be more related to musculoskeletal pain than Job Pressure. Longitudinal differences were found between the factories and between different types of musculoskeletal complaints. The general conclusions from the studies are that the present version of JSS shows a good resemblance with the American original, and that JSS is a useful instrument for studying relationships between stress and health.</p>

The main purpose of this thesis was to evaluate and test the Job Stress Survey (JSS, Spielberger, 1991; Spielberger &amp; Vagg, 1999), a self-report instrument which assesses workplace stress. In the thesis a thorough evaluation is made of JSS scales and items, and the relations to health, particularly musculoskeletal complaints. The aim of Study I was to evaluate the factor structure and the psychometric properties of a Swedish version of the JSS. The instrument was distributed to medical service personal and metal industry workers (n=1186). Factor analyses demonstrated a good resemblance between the present version and the American original version. The results also showed that the internal consistencies, as well as the test-retest reliabilities of the scales are high, and the concurrent validity are good. Study II examined work-related stress measured by JSS for the subgroups of gender, industry workers and medical service personnel, and special attention was given to the problem of differential item functioning (DIF) on these subgroups. The main findings were that both gender and occupation has a substantial impact on specific sources of work-related stress assessed by JSS scales and individual items. The result of the DIF analyses showed no item bias in the gender subgroup, but for the occupational subgroups there where items showing DIF in two of the scales. These items do not jeopardize the conclusions made on scale level since the number of items showing DIF are too few to make an impact on the overall result on the different scales. In Study III the relation between self-reported stress and health, particularly musculoskeletal problems were examined longitudinally in two metal industry factories. Results showed high levels of stress and musculoskeletal complaints in these factories and significant and strong relationships between the JSS scales and musculoskeletal, as well as psychosocial ratings. Lack of Organizational Support was found to be more related to musculoskeletal pain than Job Pressure. Longitudinal differences were found between the factories and between different types of musculoskeletal complaints. The general conclusions from the studies are that the present version of JSS shows a good resemblance with the American original, and that JSS is a useful instrument for studying relationships between stress and health.