Simulating order fulfillment and supply planning for a vertically aligned industry solution business

A probabilistic approach to information management of order fulfilment reliability with the help of perfect-order analytics

In 2017, Uber announced it had a “broken relationship” with its drivers. Yet what broke the relationship and what effect might it have on Uber’s organizational performance? This paper is a mixed-methods study of how conflict impacts the relationship between platforms and drivers. First, by drawing on 55 original interviews with rideshare drivers, this paper identifies conflict triggers that damage the relationship between platforms and drivers. Second, this paper uses new time diary data from 490 Uber, Lyft, Juno, and other Transportation Network Company (TNC) drivers from across the United States to empirically test if these conflict triggers are associated with key TNC performance metrics. Specifically, this paper finds that a “broken relationship” is associated with drivers withholding their working time from Uber and allocating it toward their competitor, Lyft. Additionally, this paper finds that drivers who have a broken relationship with Uber are more likely to recruit (‘steer’) passengers toward Lyft. These behaviors provide a link between organizational conflict and key performance metrics in the ‘gig economy.’

In this study, we conducted a comprehensive DC and AC analysis of Gate-All-Around (GAA) devices, focusing on the implications of increased gate capacitance both for wider and narrower device on key performance metrics. Our findings reveal that the elevated gate capacitance due to thin GaN cap layer significantly affects the transconductance (gm), Drain-Induced Barrier Lowering (DIBL), subthreshold swing (SS) and the on/off current ratio (Ion/Ioff). A new analytical linkage is formulated connecting gate capacitance ( C g ) with key DC performance metrics. The results indicated a significant enhancement in both ft and fmax, attributed to the high Ion/Ioff ratio of 1.72 × 10 13 , confirming the superior high-frequency performance of GAA structures. Our analysis underscores the critical role of gate capacitance in optimising the electrical characteristics of GAA devices, paving the way for their application in 5G wireless communication.

With the astronomical growth in online presence vis-a-vis the IT industry across the globe, there is an urgent need to evolve cloud based DataCenter architectures that can rapidly accommodate web application integrations which can serve the energy industries, educational sector, finance sector, manufacturing sector, etc. Previous works in DataCenter domain have not investigated on cloud based DataCenter Servercentric characteristics for evaluation studies. This paper then proposed a Reengineered DataCenter (R-DCN) architecture for efficient web application integration. In this regard, attempt was made to address network scalability, efficient and distributed routing, packets traffic control, and network security using analytical formulations and behavioural algorithms having considered some selected architectures. In this work a simulation experiment was carried out to study six key performance metrics for all the architectures. It was observed that the network throughput, fault-tolerance/network capacity, utilization, latency, service availability, scalability and clustering effects of R-DCN responses with respect to above Key Performance (KPIs) metrics were satisfactory when compared with BCube and DCell architectures. Future work will show a detailed validation using a cloud testbed and CloudSim Simulator.

Improving the efficiency in the links in the supply chains of agri-food products is relevant in terms of the assessment methodology and practical aspects for ensuring and supporting sustainable supply chains of products not only in individual channels of product movement but also in the end-to-end supply chain of products, i.e., from the field to the end consumer. However, it is still unclear which supply chain opportunities in commodity distribution channels are more effective for creating end-to-end sustainable supply chains for agri-food products. The purpose of the study is to develop a methodology for assessing the impact of agri-food supply channels on the efficiency and link in supply chains, taking into account the factors affecting them and developing recommendations for their improvement. Quantitative methods based on correlation and regression analysis using the EViews program on the basis of Kazakh statistical data for 2008–2022 were used. A methodology is proposed for assessing the effectiveness of the functioning and links in commodity movement in the supply chains of agricultural products at the macroeconomic level based on the consideration and use of important factors affecting the efficiency and links: production and sales volumes, total costs, and profitability for each supply channel: “production–processing–industrial production–trade”. The relationship between the efficiency and the links in supply chains and also the key factors that affect them have been established. The results showed that the increase in the efficiency in supply channels in the commodity distribution system leads to a decrease in the coefficient of the link in commodity movement and inventory availability. To reduce the link ratio in the supply chains of agri-food products, it is necessary to increase the efficiency in supply chains in each supply chain link and reduce the share of retail trade in the gross turnover. Recommendations are proposed to improve supply chain efficiency and reduce links to support and create end-to-end sustainable supply chains of agri-food products. The study makes an essential contribution to providing empirical evidence of the relationship between the effectiveness of agri-food supply channels and the link in the supply chain. Since few works describe the relationship between the links of product distribution and the efficiency in supply chains in the literature, in this work, it was possible to propose a methodology and identify factors and gaps in research to identify potential areas for future research.

Managing for variety in the order acquisition and fulfilment process: The contribution of product configuration systems

This study proposes a method to support product architecture design considering the supply chain. Previous studies on product architecture design include methods to realize modularization and product family design based on the relationships among components. From the supply chain perspective, mathematical models and simulation models have been proposed to improve the supply chain of modularized products. However, there has been little research on design support that simultaneously considers product architecture and supply chain. In particular, there is little consideration given to the impact on the supply chain caused by the connection between components. To address this issue, this study proposes a design methodology for the simultaneous design of both product architecture and supply chain from the perspectives of economy, environment, quality, and transportation. This paper newly proposes an evaluation model that incorporates the production capacity of each supplier, the delivery capacity of each transportation mode, and the on-time delivery rate with consideration of above component connections. The proposed method supports the selection of an architecture and its supply chain by visualizing the characteristics, such as the trade-off between evaluation indicators depending on the degree of modularization. As a result of applying the proposed method to the architectural design of a laptop computer, we confirmed that the proposed method can suggest to the designer an appropriate architecture and its supply chain according to the number of products to be manufactured and their means of transportation.

Customer satisfaction with order fulfillment in retail supply chains: implications of product type in electronic B2C transactions

Supply chain management aims to add value across the supply chain and customer service is now a major strategic issue. Supply chains are complex and subject to variables of forecast, supply, process, and transportation which can lead to problems such as the bull whip effect, product lateness, damaged goods and stock outs. A key issue facing companies today is how to monitor and control performance across the chain. This paper presents Design for Six Sigma (DFSS), which focuses on customer requirements from the onset, as an effective methodology for monitoring and controlling supply chain variables, optimizing supply chain processes and meeting customer’s requirements. By applying DFSS methodology to the key supply chain process of order fulfillment, a customized representation of detailed activities of order fulfillment processes is demonstrated providing key performance indicators. A theoretical transfer function for predicting the performance of the perfect order incorporating fuzzy set theory provides a way of monitoring supply chain performance.

Objectives:The primary objective was to evaluate the impact of ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction (UCLR) on MLB pitcher performance, with a specific focus on advanced metrics such as fastball velocity, spin rate, FIP (fielding independent pitching), SIERA (skill interactive earned run average), and WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) when compared to both pre-injury performance and a non-injured cohort of pitchers. The secondary objective was to assess the extent to which velocity and spin rate are predictive of pitcher performance. The hypotheses for the primary objective was that there would be no difference in pre-injury and post-injury performance or in post-injury performance and healthy controls. The hypothesis for the secondary objective was that both velocity and spin rate would be predictive of performance regardless of injury status.Methods:Pitchers with confirmed UCL injuries between the 2017 and 2021 MLB seasons were identified using the Pro Sports Transactions Archive and baseball-reference.com. Inclusion criteria required pitchers to have thrown at least 8.0 innings in two consecutive seasons both pre- and post-injury. A control group of healthy pitchers was age-matched at a 1:2 ratio to injured pitchers (Fig 1). Key performance metrics, including FIP, SIERA, and WHIP, were extracted from fangraphs.com, and spin rate and velocity data were collected from Baseball Savant.Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to compress several pitching performance metrics (FIP, SIERA, WHIP) into a single, comprehensive performance measure, referred to as the first principal component (PC1), where lower values indicate better overall performance. The changes in performance before and after surgery were normalized to account for age-related decline, which was controlled for by using an age-matched group of healthy control pitchers. Pearson’s correlation coefficients were calculated to assess the relationship between spin rate, velocity, and performance. Comparisons between pre- and post-surgery performance and between injured and control pitchers were conducted using independent t-tests. A power analysis was conducted to ensure a sufficient sample size to detect meaningful differences in performance outcomes, and all analyses were performed using Python 3.7 and RStudio 2023. Statistical significance was set at α = 0.05.Results:The study included 34 MLB pitchers who had undergone UCLR, with an average age at the time of injury of 27.03 ± 3.05 years. Age-matched controls (n=68) were identified for comparison, allowing for the analysis of both performance differences and the potential influence of aging on pitching metrics. Performance was first analyzed in terms of pitching volume (number of pitches and innings pitched). While the injured group showed a slight decline in innings pitched post-surgery, this difference was not statistically significant when compared to the control group (p = 0.301). Furthermore, no significant differences were found in strikeouts (p= 0.992) or hits allowed (p= 0.207) at two seasons before versus after injury. The PC1 analysis of FIP, SIERA, WHIP revealed no significant difference between injured pitchers post-surgery compared to their control counterparts (p = 0.287) (Fig 2).Spin rate and velocity were further analyzed to determine their relationship with post-surgical performance. Fastball velocity showed no significant change post-surgery (p = 0.687), and spin rate also did not significantly differ between injured and control pitchers (p = 0.876). However, both spin rate and velocity were identified as a key predictors of performance for both groups for WHIP (pspin= 0.02, pvelo= 0.04), FIP(pFIPspin= 0.003, pFIPvelo< 0.001), SIERA (pSIERAspin< 0.001, pSIERAvelo< 0.001), and PC1 (pPC1spin< 0.001, pPC1velo< 0.001) (Fig 3). There were no significant relationship between age at the time of injury and changes in performance, spin rate, or velocity, indicating that age did not influence post-operative outcomes (Pearson’s r = -0.072, p = 0.685).Conclusions:Following UCLR, MLB pitchers maintain their pre-injury level of performance, with no significant decline in fastball velocity, spin rate, or advanced statistics post-surgery. Additionally, both spin rate and velocity emerged as significant predictors of pitching performance across both injured and healthy pitchers, highlighting their potential utility as a key metric in assessing pitching effectiveness. These findings support the conclusion that UCLR is an effective intervention for MLB pitchers, allowing them to return to competitive play without significant deterioration in their key performance metrics.

Development of a simulation model of biomass supply chain for biofuel production

Effective Supply Chain Management (SCM) is a pivotal issue in the dynamically changing business environment. Dynamic SCM requires integrated decision-making amongst autonomous chain partners with effective decision information synchronization amongst them. By exploiting flexibility in supply chain structures, better performance can be achieved. Similarly, by judiciously employing decision flexibility and the associated dynamic control amongst autonomous supply chain nodes, many improvements are possible. The paper presents a study on the role of different flexibility options (i.e. no flexibility, partial flexibility and full flexibility) in a dynamic supply chain model based on some key parameters and performance measures. Supply chain flexibility has significant potential and needs a greater research attention. The paper attempts to advance the knowledge of dynamic control on effective flexibility exploitation in the context of dynamic supply chains. A simulation model of a dynamic supply chain is used for this purpose. The key results are highlighted along with industry implications. Here each supply chain node involves decision-making. Based on the order and sample information available from the immediate buyers or customers, the supplier selection decisions are dynamically made. A seemingly good decision at a stage based on local information often ends up as detrimental not only to the total chain cost, but also to the total costs of the node itself. These observations are important for the designers and managers of the flexible supply chain systems to arrive at appropriate types and a judicious level of flexibility to attain significant improvements in total cost reduction. The modelling of dynamic supply chains with a focus on flexibility can offer enormous potential to the industry. This paper addresses this interesting and challenging domain.

Batu City is one of well known cities in East Java Province which is as center of tourism destination and also as center of apple production. There is growing small scale industry related to apple processed products, such as apple chips. In an effort to support the supply of raw materials and production planning, it is necessary to know the achievement of supply chain performance in a small industry of apples chips in Batu City. The method used is qualitative analysis to know the system of raw material inventory control and production planning system applied and analyze the performance of supply chain management, supply chain mapping with SCOR (Supply Chain Operations Reference) method, measurement of supply chain performance by using measured performance attribute that is Supply Chain Reliability, Supply Chain Responsiveness and Supply Chain Agility with performance metrics of Perfect Order Fulfillment (POF), Order Fulfillment Cycle Time (OFCT), Upside Supply Chain Flexibility, Upside Supply Chain Adaptability and Downside Supply Chain Adaptability. The results of this study indicate that the system of raw material inventory control and production planning system have been applied. Supply chain mapping, performance measurement of supply chain management need to be developed more to improve supply chain management performance in the small industry apple chips in Batu City.

This paper documents a simulation study undertaken to gain insights into the Vari-Metric multi-echelon repairable inventory optimization method. The method was analyzed in the context of the Coast Guard's fleet of fixed and rotary wing aircraft, for which operational availability is the key performance metric. Failure rates of parts in this system exhibit variance-to-mean ratios higher than one, and we outline a procedure for generating a failure arrival process described by a negative binomial distribution. Previous studies of the Vari-Metric model examined a single repairable part; in this study we analyzed a system comprised of three repairable parts. This allowed us to gain insights into how the Vari-Metric procedure selects part stock levels to attain a desired level of system availability. Further analysis of the simulation model allowed us to examine the efficient frontier for this multi-criteria problem (maximizing spare part availability rates while minimizing the cost of part inventories).

PurposeWithout doubt safety and satisfaction of the end user of food products are the most crucial aspect of food production. However, in order to achieve complete satisfaction, the effectiveness of all interconnected processes of the supply chain should be guaranteed. The purpose of this paper is to emphasise the advantages of using systematic quality improvement tools like QFD and FMEA in every part of the supply chain in food production.Design/methodology/approachTwo quality improvement tools, QFD and FMEA, are described and an integrated application of these quality improvement methodologies on a package material supplier is presented and analysed.FindingsThe order‐receiving process requires a very deep and thorough understanding of customer needs and it is by nature an essential part of the quality deployment function itself. Any misunderstanding, mistake or omitted point can result in severe customer dissatisfaction through the order fulfilment process. QFD is a very helpful tool for transforming customer needs into the product design, but there are still many potential dangers in its second phase where the product specifications are determined. This fact is very obvious for the food‐packaging supplier and it is believed to be a threat in every supplier customer relationship. This gap or the potential risks can be eliminated with the help of a downstream control mechanism. Potential failures within the order‐receiving process or any inattention during this period have an important and direct effect on the performance of the order fulfilment. So it is suggested that this process can be improved by analysing the potential failures that can occur during the process of gathering data and transforming them into design issues by the use of a systematic methodology called FMEA.Practical implicationsThe managers of any supply chain can improve their understanding of their customer needs by the combined use of the QFD and FMEA methodologies and have a good opportunity to improve their order‐handling process starting from the beginning of the order receiving, by eliminating the potential risks and designing better product specifications by reflecting the knowledge generated through FMEA.Originality/valueThe paper offers a systematic approach to improve the order‐handling process in food package production, and this approach can be generalised to many order‐handling processes to strengthen the supply chain in any industry.