A modelling approach for production costing and continuous improvement of manufacturing processes

It is shown how production management constraints can be taken into account as early as the design stage of the product. It is then shown that the indication of physical and economic performances is a means to obtain integration and to continually improve the manufacturing processes. To perform continuous and efficient evaluation of physical and economic performances, the concept of activity is introduced, now acknowledged as a basic concept of cost management systems. A modelling approach is then proposed to allow each member of the design team, in a concurrent engineering context, to perform activity based modelling and estimations with simulation. After describing the set of possible situations in which this approach can be used, an application case is presented concerning a French firm, and the advantages and disadvantages of the approach are discussed.     

A decision support system for the selection of a casting process using analytic hierarchy process

This paper presents an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) based decision support system to select the most suitable casting process for a given product. The hierarchical structure of the proposed method allows the decision maker to compare the different casting processes using the material suitability and flexibility, geometrical complexity, dimensional tolerance and surface finish of the casting, and the cost as the criteria for selection. Judgemental inconsistency of the decision maker in selecting the casting process is taken care by ensuring that the value of consistency ratio is below (0.1). A numerical example is presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology for selecting the suitable casting process.     

The effect of the drum-buffer-rope (DBR) approach on the performance of a synchronous manufacturing system (SMS)

The main objective of any manufacturing system is to organize the resources in a shop floor for effective transformation of raw materials into finished products. Synchronous manufacturing (SM) is a manufacturing management philosophy that has a set of principles, procedures and techniques where every action is evaluated in terms of a common global goal of the organization (Seetharama et al., 1997, Production Planning and Inventory Control). A manufacturing system that adopts the above principle is called as synchronous manufacturing system (SMS). In order for a manufacturing plant to achieve the benefits of a synchronous operation, a logistical manufacturing (SM) is a manufacturing management philosophy that has a set of principles, procedures and techniques where every action is evaluated in terms of a common global control system that is manageable and results in predictable performance is required. The drum-buffer-rope (DBR) approach, which is a generalized system, satisfies the above requirements through computer simulation. This paper focuses on the effect of DBR principles on the performance of a synchronous manufacturing system. A case study has been taken up in a small-scale industry and analysis has been carried out on the effect of the DBR approach on the performance of the system. This work has been performed on an IBM/PC compatible system using the promodel software and C language.     

基于AHP的新疆综合开发治理战略决策分析

本文基于已有的研究及调研结果,运用层次分析法(Analytic Hierarchy Process,AHP)和专家咨询相结合的方法建立了新疆综合开发治理战略决策结构模型,按总目标、战略目标、发展战略、制约因素四个层次,分析了各层次间的相互联系与相互制约关系,确定了各级指标的权重,从而得出这些因素对实现总目标的影响或重要程度。研究表明,运用层次分析方法对新疆综合开发治理战略决策进行定量分析,可以有效指导新疆未来的发展战略,这对于新疆综合开发治理战略的实施具有重要的理论和实践价值。     

地空导弹部队阵地选择方案决策模型研究

本文运用模糊数学原理和方法,结合地空导弹部队阵地选择的特点,给出了阵地选择评价因素指标体系,建立了阵地选择方案的二极模糊综合评判模型,并采用层次分析法(AHP)对阵地选择评价因素的权重进行了确定。最后,简单介绍了阵地选择模糊决策软件的设计方法。     

人力资源个体价值计量方法——当期实现价值系数法

由于人力资源自身具有复杂性、不确定性的特点,使得人力资源价值难以计量。而准确的计量人力资源价值,尤其是人力资源的个体价值是人力资源会计能否实施的关键因素。针对这个问题,本文在分析前人成果的基础上提出了人力资源当期实现价值系数法计量模型。并通过实例验证了计量模型的实用性。     

Decision Making with Uncertain Judgments: A Stochastic Formulation of the Analytic Hierarchy Process*

In the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), priorities are derived via a deterministic method, the eigenvalue decomposition. However, judgments may be subject to error. A stochastic characterization of the pairwise comparison judgment task is provided and statistical models are introduced for deriving the underlying priorities. Specifically, a weighted hierarchical multinomial logit model is used to obtain the priorities. Inference is then conducted from the Bayesian viewpoint using Markov chain Monte Carlo methods. The stochastic methods are found to give results that are congruent with those of the eigenvector method in matrices of different sizes and different levels of inconsistency. Moreover, inferential statements can be made about the priorities when the stochastic approach is adopted, and these statements may be of considerable value to a decision maker. The methods described are fully compatible with judgments from the standard version of AHP and can be used to construct a stochastic formulation of it.     

Information Technology and Process Performance: An Empirical Investigation of the Interaction Between IT and Non‐IT Resources*

Drawing on the resource‐based view, we propose a configurational perspective of how information technology (IT) assets and capabilities affect firm performance. Our premise is that IT assets and IT managerial capabilities are components in organizational design, and as such, their impact can only be understood by taking into consideration the interactions between those IT assets and capabilities and other non‐IT components. We develop and test a model that assesses the impact of explicit and tacit IT resources by examining their interactions with two non‐IT resources (open communication and business work practices). Our analysis of data collected from a sample of firms in the third‐party logistics industry supports the proposed configurational perspective, showing that IT resources can either enhance (complement) or suppress (by substituting for) the effects of non‐IT resources on process performance. More specifically, we find evidence of complementarities between shared business–IT knowledge and business work practice and between the scope of IT applications and an open communication culture in affecting the performance of the customer‐service process; but there is evidence of substitutability between shared knowledge and open communications. For decision making, our results reinforce the need to account for all dimensions of possible interaction between IT and non‐IT resources when evaluating IT investments.     

FORRIDGE - Principles of good practice in material flow

The post World War II Industrial Revolution has driven production away from the old 'economies of scale' to the new 'economies of scope'. Apparently Japanese led, the associated roots of present good practice on material flow can be traced back in the USA to Jay Forrester and in the UK to Jack Burbidge. Specifically, in the supply chain scenario, Forrester exposed the importance of system structure in relating and integrating information flow with material flow. Similarly Burbidge led the way in exploiting cycle time reduction, synchronization of orders throughout the chain, simplified product structures, and streamlined component flows. This paper unites their contributions to material flow engineering and shows how present day system design methodologies incorporate their ideas on best practice. These principles are particularly relevant to the product delivery process (PDP) which governs material flow in supply chains.     

A Tiered Framework for Risk‐Relevant Characterization and Ranking of Chemical Exposures: Applications to the National Children's Study (NCS)

A challenge for large‐scale environmental health investigations such as the National Children's Study (NCS), is characterizing exposures to multiple, co‐occurring chemical agents with varying spatiotemporal concentrations and consequences modulated by biochemical, physiological, behavioral, socioeconomic, and environmental factors. Such investigations can benefit from systematic retrieval, analysis, and integration of diverse extant information on both contaminant patterns and exposure‐relevant factors. This requires development, evaluation, and deployment of informatics methods that support flexible access and analysis of multiattribute data across multiple spatiotemporal scales. A new “Tiered Exposure Ranking” (TiER) framework, developed to support various aspects of risk‐relevant exposure characterization, is described here, with examples demonstrating its application to the NCS. TiER utilizes advances in informatics computational methods, extant database content and availability, and integrative environmental/exposure/biological modeling to support both “discovery‐driven” and “hypothesis‐driven” analyses. “Tier 1” applications focus on “exposomic” pattern recognition for extracting information from multidimensional data sets, whereas second and higher tier applications utilize mechanistic models to develop risk‐relevant exposure metrics for populations and individuals. In this article, “tier 1” applications of TiER explore identification of potentially causative associations among risk factors, for prioritizing further studies, by considering publicly available demographic/socioeconomic, behavioral, and environmental data in relation to two health endpoints (preterm birth and low birth weight). A “tier 2” application develops estimates of pollutant mixture inhalation exposure indices for NCS counties, formulated to support risk characterization for these endpoints. Applications of TiER demonstrate the feasibility of developing risk‐relevant exposure characterizations for pollutants using extant environmental and demographic/socioeconomic data.