The adaptive approach for storage assignment by mining data of warehouse management system for distribution centres

Among distribution centre operations, order picking has been reported to be the most labour-intensive activity. Sophisticated storage assignment policies adopted to reduce the travel distance of order picking have been explored in the literature. Unfortunately, previous research has been devoted to locating entire products from scratch. Instead, this study intends to propose an adaptive approach, a Data Mining-based Storage Assignment approach (DMSA), to find the optimal storage assignment for newly delivered products that need to be put away when there is vacant shelf space in a distribution centre. In the DMSA, a new association index (AIX) is developed to evaluate the fitness between the put away products and the unassigned storage locations by applying association rule mining. With AIX, the storage location assignment problem (SLAP) can be formulated and solved as a binary integer programming. To evaluate the performance of DMSA, a real-world order database of a distribution centre is obtained and used to compare the results from DMSA with a random assignment approach. It turns out that DMSA outperforms random assignment as the number of put away products and the proportion of put away products with high turnover rates increase.     

A literature review on business process modelling: new frontiers of reusability

Business process modelling (BPM) has become fundamental for modern enterprises due to the increasing rate of organisational change. As a consequence, business processes need to be continuously (re-)designed as well as subsequently aligned with the corresponding enterprise information systems. One major problem associated with the design of business processes is reusability. Reuse of business process models has the potential of increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of BPM. This article critically surveys the existing literature on the problem of BPM reusability and more specifically on that State-of-the-Art research that can provide or suggest the ‘elements’ required for the development of a methodology aimed at discovering reusable conceptual artefacts in the form of patterns. The article initially clarifies the definitions of business process and business process model; then, it sets out to explore the previous research conducted in areas that have an impact on reusability in BPM. The article concludes by distilling directions for future research towards the development of apatterns-based approach to BPM; an approach that brings together the contributions made by the research community in the areas of process mining and discovery, declarative approaches and ontologies.     

An enhanced dynamic hash TRIE algorithm for lexicon search

Information retrieval (IR) is essential to enterprise systems along with growing orders, customers and materials. In this article, an enhanced dynamic hash TRIE (eDH-TRIE) algorithm is proposed that can be used in a lexicon search in Chinese, Japanese and Korean (CJK) segmentation and in URL identification. In particular, the eDH-TRIE algorithm is suitable for Unicode retrieval. The Auto-Array algorithm and Hash-Array algorithm are proposed to handle the auxiliary memory allocation; the former changes its size on demand without redundant restructuring, and the latter replaces linked lists with arrays, saving the overhead of memory. Comparative experiments show that the Auto-Array algorithm and Hash-Array algorithm have better spatial performance; they can be used in a multitude of situations. The eDH-TRIE is evaluated for both speed and storage and compared with the naïve DH-TRIE algorithms. The experiments show that the eDH-TRIE algorithm performs better. These algorithms reduce memory overheads and speed up IR.     

Uncertainty,the Lemon Problem,Asymmetric Information and Countertrade

Abstract

A review of the International Trade literature suggests that uncertainty caused by the lack of perfect information and/or asymmetric information provides a motivation for countertrade (Hennart, 1990; Mirus & Yeung, 1986; Yavas & Vardiabasis, 1988). After presenting the most prevalent forms and examples of countertrade, this study shows how uncertainty can lead to some of the most common forms of countertrade; counterpurchase, buyback and offset. The paper compares and contrasts two strategies facing the management team of a profit-maximizing firm. The standard neoclassical mathematical model developed and presented shows that countertrade strategy may be superior to standard money-mediated trade strategy when there is uncertainty. Therefore, countertrade (particularly, buyback, counterpurchase and offset) may be a rational response to conditions that restrict standard trade. As such, countertrade can supplement standard money-mediated trade and contribute to the growth of international business.     

Interim Realities

Abstract

This paper presents findings from a study of information technology implementation practices in National Health Service hospitals in England. The results suggest that there is a general direction of travel, which involves the progressive linking together of individual systems, so that they are interoperable. We argue that the findings are consistent with meta-governance arguments, but that it is necessary to complement this perspective with an understanding of the nature of information technologies in order to understand them properly. We suggest that ‘interim systems’ will be the reality on the ground for many health care organizations for the foreseeable future.     

广西科技情报工作的发展对策研究

文章旨在探讨广西科技情报工作发展现状和存在问题,并提出应对措施。     

论广西电子政务的发展之路

文章通过介绍广西电子政务的发展现状,指出广西电子政务现存的问题,并在此基础上提出发展广西电子政务的对策及建议。     

Robust multivariate analysis for mixed-type data: Novel algorithm and its practical application in socio-economic research

We propose a novel method and algorithm for the analysis and clustering of mixed-type data using a hierarchical approach based on Forward Search. In our procedure, the identification of groups is based on the identification of similar trajectories and then linked to very intuitive two-dimensional maps. The proposed algorithm can use different measures for the calculation of distance in the case of mixed-type data, such as Gower’s metric and Related metric scaling. A key feature of our algorithm is its ability to discard redundant information from a given set of variables. The practical usefulness of the algorithm is illustrated through two applications of high relevance for empirical economic research. The first one focuses on comparing different indicators of environmental policy stringency in different countries. The second one applies our procedure to identify clusters of countries based on information regarding their institutional characteristics.     

Write-down bonds,credit risk and imperfect information

A structural model of pricing Write-Down (hereafter WD) bonds under imperfect information has been developed to investigate the effect of WD bonds issuance on credit risk. Information is not only delayed but also asymmetrically distributed between managers and outside investors. We derive analytical solutions for corporate securities prices and find the issuance of WD bonds could significantly improve firm value via reducing bankruptcy cost. Our numerical results further demonstrate that the WD bonds issuance increases corporate risk tolerance and reduces the risk of bankruptcy and credit spreads under imperfect information.     

基于信息系统的航天发射场设备健康管理架构研究

有效的设备健康管理需要推进更完整的信息获取、更全面的互联互通、更深入的信息应用。对基于信息系统的航天发射场设备管理的需求进行了分析,主要有:智能化的管理手段、专业化的管理队伍、配套化的管理机制和信息化的管理环境。根据上述需求,分析了航天发射场设备健康管理的总体架构,主要包括资源管理架构、业务逻辑架构、应用表现架构和基础设施架构;设计和描述了航天发射场设备健康管理的层次架构。基于信息系统的航天发射场设备健康管理架构,能够为航天发射场实现科学的设备健康管理奠定基础。