scholarly journals Expediting in Two-Echelon Spare Parts Inventory Systems

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melvin Drent ◽  
Joachim Arts
Keyword(s):  
Spare Parts ◽  
Problem Definition ◽  
Inventory Systems ◽  
Greedy Heuristic ◽  
Test Bed ◽  
Short Supply ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Stock Investments ◽  
Repairable Parts

Problem definition: We consider dual sourcing in a distribution network for spare parts consisting of one central warehouse and multiple local warehouses. Each warehouse keeps multiple types of repairable parts to maintain several types of capital goods. The repair shop at the central warehouse has two repair options for each repairable part: a regular repair option and an expedited repair option. Irrespective of the repair option, each repairable part uses a certain resource for its repair. In the design of these inventory systems, companies need to decide on stocking levels and expedite thresholds such that total stock investments are minimized while satisfying asset availability and expediting constraints. Academic/practical relevance: Although most companies have the possibility to expedite the repair of parts in short supply, no contributions have been made that incorporate such dynamic expediting policies in repairable investment decisions. Anticipating expediting decisions that will be made later leads to substantial reductions in repairable investments. Methodology: We use queueing theory to determine the performance of the central warehouse and subsequently find the performance of all local warehouses using binomial disaggregation. For the optimization problem, we develop a greedy heuristic and a decomposition and column generation based algorithm. Results: Both solution approaches perform very well with average optimality gaps of 2.38 and 0.27%, respectively, across a large test bed of industrial size. The possibility to expedite the repair of failed parts is effective in reducing stock investments with average reductions of 7.94% and even reductions up to 19.61% relative to the state of the art. Managerial implications: Based on a case study at Netherlands Railways, we show how managers can significantly reduce the investment in repairable spare parts when dynamic repair policies are leveraged to prioritize repair of parts whose inventory is critically low.

Partial Completion as a Nonprofit Strategy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Can Zhang ◽  
Atalay Atasu ◽  
Karthik Ramachandran
Keyword(s):  
Nonprofit Organizations ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Problem Definition ◽  
Product Service ◽  
Service Portfolio ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Partial Completion ◽  
Innovative Solution ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Level 3

Problem definition: Faced with the challenge of serving beneficiaries with heterogeneous needs and under budget constraints, some nonprofit organizations (NPOs) have adopted an innovative solution: providing partially complete products or services to beneficiaries. We seek to understand what drives an NPO’s choice of partial completion as a design strategy and how it interacts with the level of variety offered in the NPO’s product or service portfolio. Academic/practical relevance: Although partial product or service provision has been observed in the nonprofit operations, there is limited understanding of when it is an appropriate strategy—a void that we seek to fill in this paper. Methodology: We synthesize the practices of two NPOs operating in different contexts to develop a stylized analytical model to study an NPO’s product/service completion and variety choices. Results: We identify when and to what extent partial completion is optimal for an NPO. We also characterize a budget allocation structure for an NPO between product/service variety and completion. Our analysis sheds light on how beneficiary characteristics (e.g., heterogeneity of their needs, capability to self-complete) and NPO objectives (e.g., total-benefit maximization versus fairness) affect the optimal levels of variety and completion. Managerial implications: We provide three key observations. (1) Partial completion is not a compromise solution to budget limitations but can be an optimal strategy for NPOs under a wide range of circumstances, even in the presence of ample resources. (2) Partial provision is particularly valuable when beneficiary needs are highly heterogeneous, or beneficiaries have high self-completion capabilities. A higher self-completion capability generally implies a lower optimal completion level; however, it may lead to either a higher or a lower optimal variety level. (3) Although providing incomplete products may appear to burden beneficiaries, a lower completion level can be optimal when fairness is factored into an NPO’s objective or when beneficiary capabilities are more heterogeneous.

The Effects of Patent Extension and Take-Back Regulation on Green Pharmacy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tianqin Shi ◽  
Nicholas C. Petruzzi ◽  
Dilip Chhajed
Keyword(s):  
Pharmaceutical Industry ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Technical Information ◽  
Problem Definition ◽  
Theoretic Model ◽  
Innovative Company ◽  
Take Back ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
European Environmental Agency ◽  
Managerial Implications

Problem definition: The eco-toxicity arising from unused pharmaceuticals has regulators advocating the benign design concept of “green pharmacy,” but high research and development expenses can be prohibitive. We therefore examine the impacts of two regulatory mechanisms, patent extension and take-back regulation, on inducing drug manufacturers to go green. Academic/practical relevance: One incentive suggested by the European Environmental Agency is a patent extension for a company that redesigns its already patented pharmaceutical to be more environmentally friendly. This incentive can encourage both the development of degradable drugs and the disclosure of technical information. Yet, it is unclear how effective the extension would be in inducing green pharmacy and in maximizing social welfare. Methodology: We develop a game-theoretic model in which an innovative company collects monopoly profits for a patented pharmaceutical but faces competition from a generic rival after the patent expires. A social-welfare-maximizing regulator is the Stackelberg leader. The regulator leads by offering a patent extension to the innovative company while also imposing take-back regulation on the pharmaceutical industry. Then the two-profit maximizing companies respond by setting drug prices and choosing whether to invest in green pharmacy. Results: The regulator’s optimal patent extension offer can induce green pharmacy but only if the offer exceeds a threshold length that depends on the degree of product differentiation present in the pharmaceutical industry. The regulator’s correspondingly optimal take-back regulation generally prescribes a required collection rate that decreases as its optimal patent extension offer increases, and vice versa. Managerial implications: By isolating green pharmacy as a potential target to address pharmaceutical eco-toxicity at its source, the regulatory policy that we consider, which combines the incentive inherent in earning a patent extension on the one hand with the penalty inherent in complying with take-back regulation on the other hand, serves as a useful starting point for policymakers to optimally balance economic welfare considerations with environmental stewardship considerations.

scholarly journals Additive manufacturing in the spare parts supply chain: hub configuration and technology maturity

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (7) ◽  
pp. 1178-1192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siavash H. Khajavi ◽  
Jan Holmström ◽  
Jouni Partanen
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Additive Manufacturing ◽  
Spare Parts ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Local Manufacturing ◽  
Efficiency And Effectiveness ◽  
Industrial Operations ◽  
Production Configuration ◽  
Part Production

PurposeInnovative startups have begun a trend using laser sintering (LS) technology patents expiration, namely, by introducing LS additive manufacturing (AM) machines that can overcome utilization barriers, such as the costliness of machines and productivity limitation. The recent rise of this trend has led the authors to investigate this new class of machines in novel settings, including hub configuration. There are various supply chain configurations to supply spare parts in industrial operations. This paper aims to explore the promise of a production configuration that combines the benefits of centralized production with the flexibility of local manufacturing without the huge costs related to it.Design/methodology/approachThis study quantitatively examines the feasibility of different AM-enabled spare parts supply chain configurations. Using cost data extracted from a case study, three scenarios per AM machine technology are modeled and compared.FindingsResults suggest that hub production configuration depending on the utilized AM machines can provide economic efficiency and effectiveness to reduce equipment downtime. While previous studies have suggested the need for AM machines with efficiency for single part production for a distributed supply chain, the findings in this research illustrate the positive relationship between multi-part production capability and the feasibility of a hub manufacturing configuration establishment.Originality/valueThis study explores the promise of a production configuration that combines the benefits of centralized production with the flexibility of local manufacturing without the huge costs related to it. Although the existing body of knowledge contains research on production decentralization, research on various levels of decentralization is lacking. Using a real-world case study, this study aims to compare the feasibility of different levels of decentralization for AM-enabled spare parts supply chains.

Truthful Mechanisms for Medical Surplus Product Allocation

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 735-753 ◽  
Author(s):  
Can Zhang ◽  
Atalay Atasu ◽  
Turgay Ayer ◽  
L. Beril Toktay
Keyword(s):  
Private Information ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Information Provision ◽  
Problem Definition ◽  
Preference Ranking ◽  
Additional Increase ◽  
Healthcare Facilities ◽  
Selection Decisions ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Recipient Selection

Problem definition: We analyze a resource allocation problem faced by medical surplus recovery organizations (MSROs) that recover medical surplus products to fulfill the needs of underserved healthcare facilities in developing countries. The objective of this study is to identify implementable strategies to support recipient selection decisions to improve MSROs’ value provision capability. Academic/practical relevance: MSRO supply chains face several challenges that differ from those in traditional for-profit settings, and there is a lack of both academic and practical understanding of how to better match supply with demand in this setting where recipient needs are typically private information. Methodology: We propose a mechanism design approach to determine which recipient to serve at each shipping opportunity based on recipients’ reported preference rankings of different products. Results: We find that when MSRO inventory information is shared with recipients, the only truthful mechanism is random selection among recipients, which defeats the purpose of eliciting information. Subsequently, we show that (1) eliminating inventory information provision enlarges the set of truthful mechanisms, thereby increasing the total value provision; and (2) further withholding information regarding other recipients leads to an additional increase in total value provision. Finally, we show that under a class of implementable mechanisms, eliciting recipient valuations has no value added beyond eliciting preference rankings. Managerial implications: (1) MSROs with large recipient bases and low inventory levels can significantly improve their value provision by appropriately determining the recipients to serve through a simple scoring mechanism; (2) to truthfully elicit recipient needs information to support the recipient selection decisions, MSROs should withhold inventory and recipient-base information; and (3) under a set of easy-to-implement scoring mechanisms, it is sufficient for MSROs to elicit recipients’ preference ranking information. Our findings have already led to a change in the practice of an award-winning MSRO.

scholarly journals The Role of Narratives in Collaborative Innovation – Transitions towards Relational Forms of Dementia Care

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 28-47
Author(s):  
Maria Taivalsaari Røhnebæk
Keyword(s):  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Elderly Care ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Implementation Process ◽  
Organizational Studies ◽  
Narrative Approach ◽  
Narrative Approaches ◽  
Collaborative Innovation ◽  
Managerial Implications

This article advances the relevance of a narrative approach in studies of collaborative innovation. The narrative approach outlined is based in translation theory, developed within science and technology studies (STS) and organizational studies. The research is based in a case study of an innovation initiative in municipal elderly care in Norway. The case study follows the implementation processes of the initiative in three elderly care institutions. Various forms of resistance were encountered in the implementation process, and the analysis shows how narrative strategies worked as brokering mechanisms in negotiations of this resistance. The article explores how a collaborative innovation process evolves through interplays between strategic narratives and counter narratives and contributes by demonstrating how narratives may work as important brokering mechanisms in collaborative innovation processes. The article discusses finally how and why narrative approaches may contribute to research on collaborative innovation, and it outlines managerial implications.

Case Study Research Using Senior Design Projects: An Example Application

2010 ◽  
Vol 132 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan R. A. Maier ◽  
Timothy Troy ◽  
P. Jud Johnston ◽  
Vedik Bobba ◽  
Joshua D. Summers
Keyword(s):  
Complex Adaptive System ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Problem Definition ◽  
Design Problems ◽  
Study Research ◽  
Senior Design ◽  
The Social ◽  
Complex Adaptive ◽  
Practical Conclusion

Case study research in engineering design, while not as formalized and accepted as in the social sciences, is growing in popularity because of its ability to yield significant insights into how designers interact with design problems, processes, artifacts, and each other. A wealth of evidence for use in case studies exists in the form of undergraduate senior design courses, which produce documentation related to the design of new artifacts every academic semester. The resulting documentation can be effectively mined to test hypotheses about design processes and designer behaviors. In this paper, we offer an example application of how to apply case study research to a completed senior design project in order to test a theory for how designers, users, and artifacts behave as a complex adaptive system. The evidence from the case study supports the descriptive power of the theoretical framework and supports the practical conclusion that effective communication between designers and users is particularly important and should be strengthened to foster overall project success, especially during the problem definition stage of design.

scholarly journals SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT INDUSTRY TANNERY IN GARUT INDONESIA

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Yusuf Tojiri ◽  
Imas Komariyah
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chain Management ◽  
Customer Value ◽  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Spare Parts ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Chain Management ◽  
Depth Interviews

This research was conducted in the Tannery Industry in Garut – Indonesia, about suplly chain management, research methods using qualitative method, with a single case study. In this case study researchers collecting data through observation, interviews and in-depth interviews with entrepreneurs, academics and expert tannery. Supply Chain Management, in this case, describe the process of delivery of the goods from the supplier, and then processed by the industry, the result posted by the distributor to the subscriber. The Supply Chain Management must provide a level of efficiency in the process of delivering customer value, so that customers can be more satisfied, or in other words from the center (supplier), Company, Chanels (distribution) and Customer (4C). Supply Chain Management will be effective in improving the competitiveness of the industry, either by the supplier of the raw material leather, leather chemicals, leather production machinery, spare parts, and also any other relevant parties if able to improve cooperation between the core industry, supporting industry, and related industry is strong, so each others corroborate (linkage), as well as the distribution of goods to the customer must be of high quality and on time.

Managing Congestion in Matching Markets

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Arnosti ◽  
Ramesh Johari ◽  
Yash Kanoria
Keyword(s):  
Problem Definition ◽  
Theoretic Model ◽  
Matching Markets ◽  
Contact Potential ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
The Commons ◽  
Game Theoretic ◽  
Face Search ◽  
Uniqueness Of Equilibrium ◽  
Never Screened

Problem definition: Participants in matching markets face search and screening costs when seeking a match. We study how platform design can reduce the effort required to find a suitable partner. Practical/academic relevance: The success of matching platforms requires designs that minimize search effort and facilitate efficient market clearing. Methodology: We study a game-theoretic model in which “applicants” and “employers” pay costs to search and screen. An important feature of our model is that both sides may waste effort: Some applications are never screened, and employers screen applicants who may have already matched. We prove existence and uniqueness of equilibrium and characterize welfare for participants on both sides of the market. Results: We identify that the market operates in one of two regimes: It is either screening-limited or application-limited. In screening-limited markets, employer welfare is low, and some employers choose not to participate. This occurs when application costs are low and there are enough employers that most applicants match, implying that many screened applicants are unavailable. In application-limited markets, applicants face a “tragedy of the commons” and send many applications that are never read. The resulting inefficiency is worst when there is a shortage of employers. We show that simple interventions—such as limiting the number of applications that an individual can send, making it more costly to apply, or setting an appropriate market-wide wage—can significantly improve the welfare of agents on one or both sides of the market. Managerial implications: Our results suggest that platforms cannot focus exclusively on attracting participants and making it easy to contact potential match partners. A good user experience requires that participants not waste effort considering possibilities that are unlikely to be available. The operational interventions we study alleviate congestion by ensuring that potential match partners are likely to be available.

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