Automotive supplier parks: An imperative for build-to-order?

Build-to-order (BTO) has been hailed as a production strategy that fits the demands of the 21st century where a considerable challenge for the industry is how to achieve flexibility from extended supply chains that span the globe and retain elements of make-to-forecast. A study of 8 European manufacturers examines whether supplier parks are an imperative for BTO using a conceptual framework developed from the literature. The findings question the idea that simply locating suppliers in close proximity to original equipment manufacturer assembly plants reduces delivery lead time and inventory. Hence, not all types of supplier parks are an imperative for BTO, where the cases reveal a wide variety of types ranging in scale and proximity. The originality of the paper is a unique study which redefines both automotive supplier park terminology and the relationships with BTO. It questions received wisdom and offers practical measures for industry.     

Sustainable procurement: Past,present and future

Sustainable procurement is increasingly on the agenda for purchasing and supply managers seeking to demonstrate corporate social responsibility in their supply chains. In this paper, we identify trends in the literature and establish that this is a burgeoning field. We identify methodological challenges and research gaps to guide future research. We propose a sustainable procurement framework to help structure future research across supply chains. Finally, we introduce each of the papers in the special issue, and identify what makes them stand out as making a novel contribution to research in the field.     

Market segmentation in hotels: a move up-market with the ‘club’ concept

The market for hotel services is segmented into identifiable and quantifiable groups. Some parts of the hotel and catering industry are beginning to cater for different market segments within single establishments by means of the introduction of different classes of accommodation. This trend raises questions about the level of segmentation which is possible, and profitable.     

通过纵向整合进行品牌管理

传统的零售渠道正走下坡路，许多制造商，尤其在纺织、家具、皮革制品、体育用品和奢侈品行业，都选择纵向整合作为更有效管理品牌的方法。     

THE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF HARVESTER

A century has elapsed since the ‘New Protection’ policy of the newly established Commonwealth government of Australia gave birth to the ‘basic wage’ principle following the ‘Harvester’ judgement. This paper re‐examines, with special reference to economic considerations – unemployment, the tariff, and the wage structure – the controversy surrounding the initial formulation of this principle and the evolution of its application under the federal wage fixing tribunals and the legislation under which they operated. It concludes that even the vestigial remains of the concept underlying Harvester have progressively disappeared from Australian wage fixing principles.     

创新点燃“消费升级”

去年的假期——也就是人们消费增多，而消费市场竞争激烈的时候——给我们提供了一个警戒性的事件，那就是利润从销售商转移到了消费者的口袋。只要了解了为什么有些种类的商品销售旺盛，而有些销售却不断下滑，就可以显著地把长期的成功与失败区别开。     

Modernization of an ammonia plant safety shutdown system

The Agrium Redwater Nitrogen Operations Ammonia 2 plant underwent a phased project to upgrade and modernize its automatic safety shutdown system. Agrium incorporated the use of safety integrity levels in the functional design and detailed design of the safety shutdown system to ensure that all required protections were implemented in a safe and cost-effective manner. This article discusses the methodology used to determine the scope of the system, the methodology used to define the functional design, the implementation strategy chosen and the key lessons learned from the execution of this project. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog 28:282–292, 2009     

Bootstrap ARDL on energy-growth relationship for 22 OECD countries

Applying a recent bootstrap autoregressive distributed lag method, this article re-examines the energy-growth relationship for 22 OECD countries over the period 1966–2013. The empirical results suggest degenerate cases for eight countries. Only Japan is truly cointegrated. Some causality patterns are identified.