Supply Chain Proximity and Product Quality

2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (9) ◽  
pp. 4079-4099 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert L. Bray ◽  
Juan Camilo Serpa ◽  
Ahmet Colak

We estimate the effect of supply chain proximity on product quality. Merging four automotive data sets, we create a supply chain sample that reports the failure rate of 27,807 auto components, the location of 529 upstream component factories, and the location of 275 downstream assembly plants. We find that defect rates are higher when upstream and downstream factories are farther apart. Specifically, we estimate that increasing the distance between an upstream component factory and a downstream assembly plant by an order of magnitude increases the component’s expected defect rate by 3.9%. We find that quality improves more slowly across geographically dispersed supply chains. We also find that supply chain distance is more detrimental to quality when automakers produce early-generation models or high-end products, when they buy components with more complex configurations, or when they source from suppliers who invest relatively little in research and development. This paper was accepted by Vishal Gaur, operations management.

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 52-61
Author(s):  
V.N. Kozlovsky ◽  
◽  
D.I. Blagoveshchensky ◽  
A.V. Kritsky ◽  
U.V. Brachunova ◽  
...  

The paper presents the results of the development and implementation of design approach tools for solving quality problems of new cars in operation. The generalization of the experience of the project teams in solving problems in the field of the quality of new vehicles in operation.


Foods ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 1149
Author(s):  
Daryl J. Mares ◽  
Judy Cheong ◽  
Shashi N. Goonetilleke ◽  
Diane E. Mather

Preservation of lutein concentrations in wheat-based end-products during processing is important both for product quality and nutritional value. A key constituent involved in lutein degradation is endogenous lipoxygenase. Lutein and lutein ester concentrations were compared at intervals during storage of noodle sheets prepared from flour of wheat varieties representing a range in lipoxygenase activity, as well as in different mill streams and in different grain tissues. Higher lipoxygenase concentration was associated with an increased loss of free lutein and lutein mono-esters whereas lutein diesters appeared to be more resistant to degradation. Lutein degradation was reduced in the presence of a lipoxygenase inhibitor, when noodle sheets were heated to destroy enzyme activity or when pH was increased. In addition, three populations were used to investigate the genetic control of lipoxygenase. A previously reported mutation of Lpx-B1.1 was associated with a reduction in activity from high to intermediate whilst a new locus on chromosome 4D was associated with variation between intermediate and near-zero. The gene underlying the 4D locus is a putative lipoxygenase. Stability of lutein could be improved by deployment of the mutations at the 4B and 4D loci and/or by post-harvest storage of grain under conditions that promote esterification.


Forecasting ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 322-338
Author(s):  
Marvin Carl May ◽  
Alexander Albers ◽  
Marc David Fischer ◽  
Florian Mayerhofer ◽  
Louis Schäfer ◽  
...  

Currently, manufacturing is characterized by increasing complexity both on the technical and organizational levels. Thus, more complex and intelligent production control methods are developed in order to remain competitive and achieve operational excellence. Operations management described early on the influence among target metrics, such as queuing times, queue length, and production speed. However, accurate predictions of queue lengths have long been overlooked as a means to better understanding manufacturing systems. In order to provide queue length forecasts, this paper introduced a methodology to identify queue lengths in retrospect based on transitional data, as well as a comparison of easy-to-deploy machine learning-based queue forecasting models. Forecasting, based on static data sets, as well as time series models can be shown to be successfully applied in an exemplary semiconductor case study. The main findings concluded that accurate queue length prediction, even with minimal available data, is feasible by applying a variety of techniques, which can enable further research and predictions.


Author(s):  
Heba Mohamed Adel

The purpose of this article is to use strategy mapping (SM) and balanced scorecard (BSC) in portraying and assessing green entrepreneurial supply chain management (GESCM) performance of a vertically integrated entrepreneurial supply chain in an Egyptian emerging market of organic beverages industry. Based on thematic literature review and qualitative research (in-depth interviews with experts, focus groups, observations, and reports’ analysis), multi-item measurement quantitative BSC scale and strategy map were proposed to measure and communicate the GESCM performance of a hierarchical chain with multiple nodes and cross-functional green practices. This article conceptually contributes to the active debate on contemporary GESCM performance measurement. It integrates the literature of green production and operations management, strategic management and entrepreneurial supply chain management (ESCM) to investigate the unexplored context of GESCM research. It empirically assesses GESCM performance of an attractive network using BSC and maps its strategy with its multidisciplinary environment-friendly practices. The GESCM performance was measured in terms of four integrated perspectives (innovative and proactive processes, learning and growth, financial gains and supply chain stakeholders’ delight). Results showed that BSC and SM are effective and efficient tools in managing the performance of a successful GESC in an emerging market. Royal Herbs’ BSC key performance indicators (KPIs), which were used in assessing a GESCM strategy, indicate improvements along the BSC’s four perspectives. Results give green entrepreneurs/manufacturers in an emerging market as Egypt a comprehensive view on how they can effectively assess/improve their GESCM performance. It draws attention to the importance of investing in GESCM practices for maintaining sustainable development in a clean business environment. It helps practitioners, academics and policymakers in Egypt to bridge the gap between theory and practice regarding GESCM performance. From an interdisciplinary perspective, it provides insights on improving the ESCM performance of the industry without harming its natural environment.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Ji ◽  
Ju Wei ◽  
Zhong Wu ◽  
Shaojian Qu ◽  
Baojun Zhang

Taking investor’s perception into account, the optimal decisions about the product quality and platform advertisement are investigated in a dynamic model in the context of crowdfunding. Researches in the literature, however, usually set investor’s perception as a fixed value and rarely consider the important phenomenon that the online information has some influences on investor’s perception. Considering the effects of information about product quality and platform advertisement on the investor’s perception, a dynamic decision model is proposed. Firstly, investment desire and reference price of the investor are introduced in two dynamic settings to describe investor’s perception. Then, the optimal decisions about the product quality and platform advertisement are formulated under two circumstances: the sponsor and the platform make decisions independently and they cooperate as a system. Finally, the influences of reference price and cost-sharing ratio on the optimal results are compared and the data simulation experiment verifies the necessity of the study. Some new insights can be drawn for the operations management of the firm in crowdfunding as follows: (i) it is more profitable for the firm to cooperate with the platform when investors pay more attention to their reference price; (ii) it is optimal for the firm to share a larger proportion of platform cost when the profit-sharing ratio is low.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhan Qu ◽  
Horst Raff

This paper shows that decentralized supply chains, in which upstream firms use linear wholesale prices, may experience lower upstream production and downstream sales volatility than vertically integrated supply chains and may be less susceptible to the bullwhip effect by which the variance of upstream production exceeds the variance of downstream sales. The reason is that decentralized supply chains exhibit a price effect, whereby upstream producers raise wholesale prices in the case of positive demand shocks and lower wholesale prices in the case of negative demand shocks. Whereas upstream producers benefit from the price effect and, thus, from a dampening of the bullwhip effect, downstream firms may lose, and overall supply chain profit may decrease. This paper was accepted by Vishal Gaur, operations management.


2001 ◽  
Vol 19 (7) ◽  
pp. 749-759 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Xu ◽  
A. V. Koustov ◽  
J. Thayer ◽  
M. A. McCready

Abstract. Plasma convection measurements by the Goose Bay and Stokkseyri SuperDARN radar pair and the Sondrestrom incoherent scatter radar are compared in three different ways, by looking at the line-of-sight (l-o-s) velocities, by comparing the SuperDARN vectors and corresponding Sondrestrom l-o-s velocities and by comparing the end products of the instruments, the convection maps. All three comparisons show overall reasonable agreement of the convection measurements though the data spread is significant and for some points a strong disagreement is obvious. The convection map comparison shows a tendency for the SuperDARN velocities to be often less than the Sondrestrom drifts for strong flows (velocities > 1000 m/s) and larger for weak flows (velocities < 500 m/s). On average, both effects do not exceed 35%. Data indicate that inconsistencies between the two data sets occur largely at times of fast temporal variations of the plasma drift and for strongly irregular flow ac-cording to the SuperDARN convection maps. These facts indicate that the observed discrepancies are in many cases a result of the different spatial and temporal resolutions of the instruments.Key words. Ionosphere (ionospheric irregularities; plasma convection; polar ionosphere)


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