Effects of Remanufacturable Product Design on Market Segmentation and the Environment

Despite documented benefits of remanufacturing, many manufacturers have yet to embrace the idea of tapping into remanufactured‐goods markets. In this article, we explore this dichotomy and analyze the effect of remanufacturable product design on market segmentation and product and trade‐in prices by studying a two‐stage profit‐maximization problem in which a price‐setting manufacturer can choose whether or not to open a remanufactured‐goods market for its product. Our results suggest that it is optimal for a manufacturer to design a remanufacturable product when the value‐added from remanufacturing is relatively high but product durability is relatively low and innovation is nominal. In addition, we find that entering a remanufactured‐goods market in and of itself does not necessarily translate into environmental friendliness. On the one hand, the optimal trade‐in program could result in low return and/or remanufacturing rates. On the other hand, a low price for remanufactured products could attract higher demand and thereby potentially result in more damage to the environment. Meanwhile, external restrictions imposed on total greenhouse gas emissions draw criticism in their own right because they risk stifling growth or reducing overall consumer welfare. Given these trade‐offs, we therefore develop and compare several measures of environmental efficiency and conclude that emissions per revenue can serve as the best proxy for emissions as a metric for measuring overall environmental stewardship.     

生态设计艺术研究的风向标——读刘文良《后现代语境下的生态设计艺术》

刘文良教授《后现代语境下的生态设计艺术》一书,聚焦于当前生态设计面临的诸多困惑,问题意识与对策探求有机统一,宏观把握与微观研究相得益彰,学术性与可读性完美契合,为其健康发展献上了系列应对之策,堪为当前生态设计艺术研究之“风向标”。     

Combinatorial Equivalence of Fractional Factorial Designs

Two symmetrical fractional factorial designs are said to be combinatorially equivalent if one design can be obtained from another by reordering the runs, relabeling the factors and relabeling the levels of one or more factors. This article presents concepts of ordered distance frequency matrix, distance frequency vector, and reduced distance frequency vector for a design. Necessary conditions for two designs to be combinatorial equivalent based on these concepts are presented. A new algorithm based on the results obtained is proposed to check combinatorial non-equivalence of two factorial designs and several illustrating examples are provided.     

The Impact of Competitive Strategy and Supply Chain Strategy on Business Performance: The Role of Environmental Uncertainty*

This article investigates the relationships among competitive strategy, supply chain strategy, and business performance while examining the moderating effect of environmental uncertainty. A total of 604 questionnaires were collected from three cities in China, and the statistical results show significant moderating effects of external environment on the relationships among competitive strategy, supply chain strategy, and business performance. Firms that primarily focus on a differentiation strategy emphasize an agile supply chain strategy. Cost leaders are inclined to implement both lean and agile supply chain strategies, but their emphasis on agile strategy is significantly greater in a volatile environment than in a stable environment. The choice of supply chain strategy does not appear to be an “either‐or” decision and firms could adopt either a lean or an agile strategy, or both, depending on the environment. This article provides significant managerial implications for supply chain practitioners to co‐align supply chain strategy and competitive strategy with the environment to improve performance.     

E-optimal designs for three treatments

E-optimality is studied for three treatments in an arbitrary n-way heterogeneity setting. In some cases maximal trace designs cannot be E-optimal. When there is more than one E-optimal design for a given setting, the best with respect to all reasonable criteria is determined.     

The Difficult History of Ancillary Units: The Obstacles and Potential Opportunities to Increase the Heterogeneity of Neighborhoods and the Flexibility of Households in the United States

ABSTRACT

Most aging Americans express the desire to stay in their current home for the rest of their lives. However, as literature and practice indicate, aging in place cannot be successfully achieved in all places, especially in those places where zoning regulations and building codes act as barriers to the flexible adaptation of environments. One possible solution could come from the legalization of what is commonly known as granny flats, or more technically as Ancillary Dwelling Units. This article is divided into three parts. The first part is a brief history of Ancillary Dwelling Units. The second part focuses on the critical role played by local and state urban planning policies in the future of Ancillary Dwelling Units. California is used as a noteworthy example. The third part discusses how positive outcomes for senior residents who have Ancillary Dwelling Units legally present in their neighborhoods are linked to the appropriateness of their design.     

Designs for estimating the difference between two responses

In this paper the problem of designing experiments for estimating the difference between responses at two arbitrary points in the region of interest is considered. Under the average mean squared error criterion the design moment conditions have been worked out. The results have been applied to the class of central composite designs.     

On the use of partial confounding for the construction of alternative regular two-level blocked fractional factorial designs

In this paper, we consider experimental situations in which a regular fractional factorial design is to be used to study the effects of m two-level factors using n=2^m−k experimental units arranged in 2^p blocks of size 2^m−k−p. In such situations, two-factor interactions are often confounded with blocks and complete information is lost on these two-factor interactions. Here we consider the use of the foldover technique in conjunction with combining designs having different blocking schemes to produce alternative partially confounded blocked fractional factorial designs that have more estimable two-factor interactions or a higher estimation capacity or both than their traditional counterparts.     

A Design of Attributes Double Sampling Plans for Three-class Products

In this article, a new attributes double sampling plan for three-class products (ADSPTP) is presented, and the corresponding operating characteristic function is constructed based on the given procedure of performing ADSPTP. Average sample numbers (ASN) for complete inspection and curtailed inspection of the second sample are derived and the extreme point is discussed on the three-dimensional ASN surface. In addition, the differences arising from different parameters are studied. Sampling plans are designed by a nonlinear optimization model. Finally, numerical examples and discussions are given to illustrate the obtained results, and tables of the designed plans under various conditions are provided.     

国内设计行业如何面对加入WTO后的挑战

中国加入世界贸易组织 (WTO) ,对于我国工程设计行业将产生深刻的影响。工程勘察设计咨询业隶属于服务贸易领域 ,所有成员国都必须接受《服务贸易总协定》(GATS)规定。加入WTO后 ,国外建筑事务所会大量涌入 ,将依靠其先进的技术和管理、优厚的融资能力冲击我们的工程的咨询设计市场。为了能在激烈的市场竞争中立于不败之地 ,分析了解国外事务所的经营管理模式 ,分析国内外工程设计行业的差距 ,研究对策 ,做好准备是当务之急