The relationship between UK manufacturers’ inventory levels and supply,internal and market factors

A major survey of UK manufacturing plants was carried out to explore the relationships between certain factors and inventory levels. These factors include procurement lead time, customer delivery lead time, manufacturing lead time and levels of predictability of raw materials availability and customer demand levels. The sample for the study comprises UK manufacturing plants in different industrial sectors including engineering, process, electronics, household products and food sectors. The results of a correlation analysis show that supply chain management issues such as the procurement lead time and the frequency of raw materials delivery are significantly linked with the inventory level of manufacturing plants. Also, manufacturing lead times were found to be associated with inventory levels but there was no significant relationship between customer delivery lead times and inventory levels.     

Inventory investment and output volatility

This paper reports the results of a detailed examination of the hypothesis that improved inventory management and production techniques are responsible for the decline in the volatility of U.S. GDP growth. Our innovations are to look at the data at a finer level of disaggregation than previous studies, to exploit cross-sectional heterogeneity to obtain clearer identification of this hypothesis, and to provide a complete decomposition of the change in GDP volatility. At the aggregate level, changes in inventory behavior can account directly for almost half of the total reduction in GDP volatility. However, reduced volatility of sales and lower covariance among the output of major sectors in the economy each account for more than one-fourth of the reduction in GDP volatility. Improved inventory management appears to be associated loosely with lower volatility at the industry level.     

Induced effects of smart food/agri-systems in Japan: Towards a structural analysis of information technology

The Japanese government decided to promote “smart society” in the 5th Science and Technology Basic Plan. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the effects of information and communication technology (ICT) in smart society by input-output analysis using the food industry and agriculture as examples. We define food production and agricultural activities utilizing ICT as a smart food-agri system, and try to analyze the effect of such a system on the economy as a whole. As a result, we confirmed that such a system has a large economic ripple effect on information sectors. At the same time, through these analyses, (1) we redefine information goods and service sectors, (2) we describe the new management sectors that are using these goods and services, but are not currently independent businesses, and (3) we clarify new industrial structure that exists in “smart society” using ICT.     

Net entry behaviour in Greek manufacturing: consumer, intermediate and capital goods industries

This research explores the nature and causes of net entry of firms in three groups of Greek manufacturing industries–consumer, intermediate and capital goods. The research questions whether or not the determinants of net entry rates across sectors are different. Econometric analyses reveal that, indeed, there are significant differences in the determinants of net entry rates across industry groups, but also there is strong within-group correlation across sectors.     

Liberalization Only at the Margins? Analysing the Growth of Temporary Work in German Core Manufacturing Sectors

Drawing on workers’ surveys and workplace interviews, this article investigates the growth of temporary work in German manufacturing sectors since the 1980s. Findings partly confirm a ‘dualization’ scenario as workers without industry‐specific vocational training are more likely to be on a temporary contract than skilled workers, and the gap has widened over time. However, also skilled workers have become increasingly vulnerable to casualization due to job routine and the erosion of industrial relations. Evidence confirms the crucial role of institutions in supporting the linkage between specific skills and employment stability, and suggests that the liberalization of the employment relationship has the potential to advance also in the core of the German economy.     

UK Unionism and Innovative Activity: Some Cautionary Remarks on the Basis of a Simple Cross-country Test

Abstract : This paper offers a preliminary investigation of union impact on investment in intangible capital. We first report evidence on the raw correlation between union membership density and R&D intensity. This suggests that higher union density is associated with increased innovative activity among an important subset of British industry. Attention then shifts to a consideration of whether the 'stylized facts' are indicative of a causal relation or are instead an artefact produced by the concentration of unions in those sectors evincing greater scope for R&D. We offer a simple cross-country test in which German R&D outlays serve as the benchmark or comparator. No support is adduced for the notion that unions cause higher R&D.     

Applied customer knowledge in a manufacturing environment: Flexibility for industrial firms

Dynamic business markets are forcing B2B marketers to create flexibility in their firms. The present study investigates: (1) made-to-stock (MTS) versus made-to-order (MTO, which is considered more flexible); (2) production technology routineness (with nonroutine considered more flexible); and (3) a marketing-based enabler of flexibility, i.e., applied customer knowledge. SEM analysis shows that applied customer knowledge completely mediates the relationships of both MTO and routineness with financial performance. This delineates two routes to financial performance, beginning with manufacturing-based flexibility constructs and operating through marketing-based applied knowledge. In addition, exploratory analysis of a subsample confirmed empirically that the financial success of mass customization depends on extensive customer knowledge application and low finished goods inventory levels. Managerial implications are discussed, along with ideas for future research.     

Matching vertical integration strategies to competitive conditions

This paper contrasts the vertical integration strategies of 192 firms in the presence of diverse environmental and strategic forces to suggest how successful uses of vertical integration differ from less successful ones. Briefly, firms which did not use vertical integration as effectively transferred more goods and services internally, and they did so more often under adverse industry conditions. A frequent error was to undertake more integrated activities in-house and engage in longer chains of processing from ultra-raw materials to finished goods. Ironically, many of the vertically integrated firms that suffered adversity possessed the bargaining power needed to contract advantageously for goods or services, but accepted an overly risky ownership position unnecessarily by producing them, instead.     

论在建矿井安全生产与管理的七种关系——对神华乌海能源公司管理体制问题的理性思考

煤炭是我国重要的基础能源和原料,在国民经济中具有重要的战略地位。煤矿安全生产关系职工生命安全,关系煤炭工业健康发展,关系社会稳定大局。实现煤矿安全生产,是落实科学发展观的必然要求,是构建社会主义和谐社会的重要内容。因此,抓好煤矿安全生产工作意义重大,在开展该项工作时不仅需要始终不懈地坚持安全第一的方针,而且在安全生产的实践中还必须处理好其内在的七种关系。     

Motivations and obstacles to university industry cooperation (UIC): a Mexican case

Within the context of linkage between universities and the productive sector in Mexico, this article seeks to answer the following questions: i) which are the principal motivations for researchers at universities to carry out technological research and to seek ties to industry? ii) which are the main motivations for industrial entrepreneurs to establish cooperation with universities to develop technology? and iii) which are the main barriers to a healthy relationship between both institutions? Our answers are based on data from two sources: (a) an exploratory survey of 31 researchers at the National University of Mexico and of 28 Mexican entrepreneurs, half of whom had previous experience in collaborative projects; and, (b) a subsequent panel discussion among questionnaire respondents designed to elicit in-depth qualitative data concerning motivations and obstacles to university-industry cooperation. The authors present the factors identified in the study as key elements in the development of liaisons between the two sectors in Latin American countries, and argue the need to rethink our conceptions of motivations and barriers within a theoretical framework of interinstitutional communications and organizational cultural change.     

加强分承包管理,提高企业经营能力

在市场经济体制下企业对分承包管理工作的内涵和外延都得到了丰富和扩展，分承包管理已成为企业经营活动的一项重要工作。分承包管理不仅包含生产过程的劳务分包和专业分包，还包括原材料、半成品和成品采购及代加工。结合建设工程劳务分包和专业分包的实际，深入探讨如何加强分承包管理，以提高企业经营能力和水平。     

Technology foresight using a Delphi approach: a Japanese-German co-operation

This article describes a joint project conducted from 1991 until 1993 by the Japanese National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP) and the German Fraunhofer institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI). Some first outcomes, and different alternatives on how to use the data for trend interpretation and priority setting, are described.
The Japanese Delphi survey is conducted every five years and was first undertaken in 1971. In 1992, NISTEP and ISI agreed on a joint project. About 3000 Japanese experts were asked to answer more than 1000 questions based on 16 different technological areas. With financial aid from the Federal German Ministry of Research and Technology (BMFT) the Japanese fifth Delphi survey was replicated in Germany. The Japanese questions were translated and more than 1000 German experts responded to the questionnaires and judged the possible technological development within the next 20 to 30 years. The aim of this joint project is to compare the Japanese and the German answers in order to analyse possible differences and to understand the cultural influences on technology assessment.     

这家企业为何具有“世界范儿”？

人均产值近200万元，人均利润20万元，每平方米占地面积创利近2万元——看看这儿个神奇的数字，便知我们所言不虚!     

供应链管理模式下服装类产品的库存策略

库存管理是众多企业面临的一个重大问题,它对企业的生存及发展有着重要的影响。服装类产品由于生命周期短的特殊性,导致其库存管理的难度较大。通过分析服装类产品的特点、库存所处的位置、库存存在的影响及产生原因,提出建立以整个供应链为整体的库存管理策略,通过行业信息一体化、产业集群、供应商管理库存和共同配送,深入挖掘供应链的潜在能量,增强企业的竞争力。     

电力视窗：宏观调控政策实施效果动态跟踪

由于电力生产、消费与国民经济发展情况具有同步性,所以电力经济数据对国民经济的宏观参数具有极高的参考作用。通过研究2003年以来第二产业与第三产业、重工业与轻工业以及黑色、有色和建材等行业的电力需求强度的变化,探讨宏观调控政策的实施效果。比较研究发现,2006年10月以前宏观调控政策实施效果较好,此后,由于国际市场价格的影响,黑色冶金、有色冶金等行业发展较快。     

Logistics scheduling to minimize inventory and transport costs

We study a logistics scheduling problem where a manufacturer receives raw materials from a supplier, manufactures products in a factory, and delivers the finished products to a customer. The supplier, factory and customer are located at three different sites. The objective is to minimize the sum of work-in-process inventory cost and transport cost, which includes both supply and delivery costs. For the special case of the problem where all the jobs have identical processing times, we show that the inventory cost function can be unified into a common expression for various batching schemes. Based on this characteristic and other optimal properties, we develop an O(n) algorithm to solve this case. For the general problem, we examine several special cases, identify their optimal properties, and develop polynomial-time algorithms to solve them optimally.     

Coordinated supply chain scheduling

A mixed integer programming approach is proposed for a long-term, integrated scheduling of material manufacturing, material supply and product assembly in a customer driven supply chain. The supply chain consists of three distinct stages: manufacturer/supplier of product-specific materials (parts), producer where finished products are assembled according to customer orders and a set of customers who generate final demand for the products. The manufacturing stage consists of identical production lines in parallel and the producer stage is a flexible assembly line. The overall problem is how to coordinate manufacturing and supply of parts and assembly of products such that the total supply chain inventory holding cost and the production line start-up and parts shipping costs are minimized. A monolithic approach, where the manufacturing, supply and assembly schedules are determined simultaneously, is compared with a hierarchical approach. Numerical examples modeled after a real-world integrated scheduling in a customer driven supply chain in the electronics industry are presented and some computational results are reported.     

Inventory control with a modified Croston procedure and Erlang distribution

This paper considers an inventory control system, primarily for a finished goods inventory. The purpose is to create a procedure that can handle both fast-moving items with regular demand and slow-moving items. The suggested procedure should be easy to implement in a modern computerized ERP-system. Essentially, the system is a periodic review system built around a Croston forecasting procedure. An Erlang distribution is fitted to the observed data using the mean and variance of the forecasted demand rate. According to probabilities for stock shortages, derived from the probability distribution, the system decides if it is time to place a new order or not. The Croston forecasting method is theoretically more accurate than ordinary exponential smoothing for slow-moving items. However, it is not evident that a Croston forecasting procedure (with assumed Erlang distribution) outperforms ordinary exponential smoothing (with assumed normal distribution) applied in a “practical” inventory control system with varying demand, automatically generated replenishment, etc. Our simulation study shows that the system in focus will present fewer shortages at lower inventory levels than a system based on exponential smoothing and the normal distribution.     

外部关税变动对中国区域劳动力就业的影响

本文利用UNCTAD数据和中国人口普查微观数据,基于地区就业的行业结构和贸易对象国对中国征收的行业层面的进口关税,构建地区层面外部关税变动指标,研究外部关税变动对中国区域劳动力就业的影响。研究发现:(1)外部关税下降幅度越高的地区,总体就业、可贸易部门和不可贸易部门的就业增加也越多;(2)出口和内销规模扩张的就业创造效应、生产率提升的就业破坏效应,是外部关税下降影响地区可贸易部门就业的重要渠道;(3)外部关税下降带来的地区可贸易部门出口扩张、就业增加和工资上涨,通过产业关联和消费驱动等正向溢出效应增加地区不可贸易部门就业,通过就业的部门间再配置效应减少地区不可贸易部门就业;(4)外部关税下降对地区不可贸易部门就业的影响呈现出先抑制后促进的动态演进过程,这与外部关税变动下中国区域劳动力供给的调整紧密相关。此外,外部关税变动对地区不同属性劳动力就业的影响效果存在显著差异。本文的研究结论对于外部关税变动下稳定区域劳动力就业的相关政策制定具有一定的参考意义。     

供应链稳定性对我国稀土产业升级的影响研究

本文以2011~2018年我国稀土产业后端企业为研究样本,分别从风险和效率角度实证检验供应链稳定性对稀土产业升级的影响。研究发现:稀土原料供应价格不稳定性不利于我国稀土产业升级;当期以及滞后一期的原料供应价格不稳定性均显著加剧了后端企业的风险;滞后一期的原料供应价格稳定性通过降低后端企业的技术进步水平对其生产效率产生负向作用。本文深入挖掘阻碍我国稀土产业升级的重要因素,为推动我国稀土产业延伸提供一条新思路。