Inventory record inaccuracy – The impact of structural complexity and lead time variability

This article presents a rigorous prospective analysis of the impact of Inventory Record Inaccuracy (IRI) on complex multi-echelon Supply Chains (SCs). Specifically, key operational factors (i.e., the magnitude of the error, frequency of the inventory audits and lead time variability) and SC structure are systematically assessed. We find that the detrimental effects of IRI are exacerbated by the structural complexity of the SC and lead time variability. Furthermore, we show how the efficacy of countermeasure strategies may vary depending on SC configuration and operational conditions. These results allow us to provide interesting managerial recommendations to guarantee investment in prevention and correction strategies.     

Stillbirth in Australia 2: Working together to reduce stillbirth in Australia: The Safer Baby Bundle initiative

The rate of late gestation stillbirth in Australia is unacceptably high. Up to one third of stillbirths are preventable, particularly beyond 28 weeks’ gestation. The aim of this second paper in the Stillbirth in Australia series is to highlight one key national initiative, the Safer Baby Bundle (SBB), which has been led by the Centre of Research Excellence in Stillbirth in partnership with state health departments. Addressing commonly identified evidence practice gaps, the SBB contains five elements that, when implemented together, should result in better outcomes than if performed individually. This paper describes the development of the SBB, what the initiative aims to achieve, and progress to date. By collaborating with Departments of Health and other partners to amplify uptake of the SBB, we anticipate a reduction of at least 20% in Australia’s stillbirth rate after 28 weeks’ gestation is achievable.     

Demand Functions in Decision Modeling: A Comprehensive Survey and Research Directions

A variety of mathematical forms have been developed to characterize demand functions which depend on a firm's operational and marketing activities. Such demand functions are being increasingly used by researchers in economics and different functional areas of business. We provide a comprehensive survey of commonly used demand models which depend on (i) price, (ii) rebate, (iii) lead time, (iv) space, (v) quality, and (vi) advertising. Our survey includes single firm–demand models in each category, as well as game theoretic multifirm models involving strategic interaction among the firms. We observe that certain types of functional forms, such as linear, power/iso‐elastic, multinomial logit, and multiplicative competitive interaction, have been widely used to construct various demand models in all six categories, but that a large majority of publications deal with categories (i) and (v) of demand models. For each of the six categories, we survey relevant functional forms in the representative papers, and discuss the main properties, the advantages, the disadvantages, and comment on possible future research directions. We also present discussions of the applications of these analytical demand models in empirical studies. The article ends with a summary of our major findings.     

Benefits of caseload midwifery to prevent fetal alcohol spectrum disorder: A discussion paper

Background

Exposure to alcohol prenatally can result in a child being diagnosed with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Affected infants experience lifelong impairments that can involve, physical, cognitive, behavioural and emotional difficulties that impact on their functional capacity. Effective prevention of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder is critically needed in Australia. Reduction in the prevalence of this disorder will only be possible if we prevent alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

‘It's those first few weeks’: Women's views about breastfeeding support in an Australian outer metropolitan region

ObjectiveTo examine factors that influence the establishment and continuation of breastfeeding among women living in a southern region of Victoria.MethodSequential mixed methods design including paper-based survey and focus group enquiry.FindingWomen who had breastfed their infants (n = 170) reported reliance on midwives, lactation consultants and maternal and child health nurses for breastfeeding advice and support in the immediate and medium postnatal periods. Women who chose a private hospital appeared to receive less immediate postnatal support than those in a public hospital. Access to individual guidance from midwives and MCH nurses was regarded as critical to overcoming breastfeeding difficulties, in the face of the alternative suggested by people to ‘give up’. They described themes of: ‘Women's experience of nurses/midwives’, ‘Expectations versus reality’, ‘Not giving up despite difficulties’, and ‘Breastfeeding support’. Sources of lay support were not universal.ConclusionThe duration of breastfeeding might be extended by early problem resolution. To enhance breastfeeding participation, further examination of the extent and timeliness of service provision by health service providers is necessary.     

关于完善我国生育保险立法的思考

女职工不仅是物质财富的生产者,而且还是人类自身的生产者。对女职工给予生育保险保障是现代国家立法的重点之一。由于社会还未充分认识到妇女生育行为所具有的其他保险所没有的社会价值,加之国家对生育保险制度的建设也未给予高度的重视,所以,在我国现行生育保险的立法、执法中还存在着诸多问题。     

Exploring the COVID-19 pandemic experience of maternity clinicians in a high migrant population and low COVID-19 prevalence country: A qualitative study

BackgroundAustralia experienced a low prevalence of COVID-19 in 2020 compared to many other countries. However, maternity care has been impacted with hospital policy driven changes in practice. Little qualitative research has investigated maternity clinicians’ perception of the impact of COVID-19 in a high-migrant population.AimTo investigate maternity clinicians’ perceptions of patient experience, service delivery and personal experience in a high-migrant population.MethodsWe conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews with 14 maternity care clinicians in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Interviews were conducted from November to December 2020. A reflexive thematic approach was used for data analysis.FindingsA key theme in the data was ‘COVID-19 related travel restrictions result in loss of valued family support for migrant families’. However, partners were often ‘stepping-up’ into the role of missing overseas relatives. The main theme in clinical care was a shift in healthcare delivery away from optimising patient care to a focus on preservation and safety of health staff.DiscussionClinicians were of the view migrant women were deeply affected by the loss of traditional support. However, the benefit may be the potential for greater gender equity and bonding opportunities for partners.Conflict with professional beneficence principles and values may result in bending rules when a disconnect exists between relaxed community health orders and restrictive hospital protocols during different phases of a pandemic.ConclusionThis research adds to the literature that migrant women require individualised culturally safe care because of the ongoing impact of loss of support during the COVID-19 pandemic.     

Implications of selected production planning functions: Impact analysis through simulation

When capacity differences are minimized through an efficient algorithm, and integration of capacity planning with any production planning system is performed, it affects some elements of production planning functions. In the reverse way, some elements of production planning and management techniques also affect the effectiveness of capacity planning. These happen because capacity planning processes, production planning processes and production management techniques are not standalone sub-systems, rather these are totally dependent on each other. This paper aims at determining and formulating the effects of some of the selected elements of capacity and production planning functions on each other. This study is conducted using simulation in object-oriented SIMPLE+ + system.