The Goal — A Process of Ongoing Improvement — 20th Anniversary Edition, 3rd revd edn by Eliyahu M. Goldratt with David Whitford,North River,Great Barrington,MA, 2004, pp. 384, pbk (ISBN 0-88427-178-1).

This paper discusses mechanisms for the allocation of emission permits (AEP) among a group of manufacturing companies aiming at controlling the total emission level of the group. Data envelopment analysis is adopted and extended to construct the AEP models. Proposed methods allocate the permits on the basis of the current input and output levels of individual firms, rather than historical records. Two variations of AEP mechanisms are considered. One situation is that one of the member firms dominates the responsibility of allocating emission permits on behalf of the group (individual AEP scenario). This dominating firm will maximise its own emission permit before allocating permits among other members in the group. The other situation is that a third-party central governing body is centrally responsible for coordinating the AEP among all group members (Central AEP scenario). Proposed mechanisms are applied to analyse efficiencies of a group of paper mills. The result shows that the mode of central AEP mechanism is a better choice than that of the individual AEP mechanism. Central AEP not only maximises the whole efficiency of the group but also improves efficiencies of individual firms. In contrast, with individual AEP, one firm gains efficiency at the loss of others.     

Emission-constrained optimal generation scheduling incorporating equity principles

An annual emission-constrained generation scheduling model that combines equity principles with cost optimisation is developed. By employing this annual generation scheduling model, an estimation of the daily emission allowance of each generation unit is obtained. A daily emission-constrained generation scheduling model, based on cost optimisation, is proposed. The equity-related issues in the daily scheduling model are discussed. The Shapley value is employed in the daily scheduling problem to allocate the operating cost reduction among the units. Characteristics of the allocation game of operating cost reduction in daily scheduling are discovered, and several methods are proposed to overcome the combinatorial explosion problem in the calculation of the Shapley value. The effectiveness of the proposed models is shown with simulation results on a test power system.     

Process chains in cross enterprise production: a module-based design framework

In recent years, the emergence of various new concepts in cross enterprise production, which focus on different market conditions and objectives, has been observed. Systems supply and consignment storage represent prominent examples. The design and implementation of enterprise specific concepts explores the individual potential of cross enterprise production successfully by the provision of individual process models. Both a multitude of alternative process chain models, as well as a suitable methodology for individual process chain design, is thereby required. In this paper, a module-base design framework for process chains in cross enterprise production introduces the use of the extended integrated production process model (eIPPM). Based both on the provision of process modules and design rules as the main contribution of the eIPPM as well as a detailed design methodology, the design of individual process chains in cross enterprise production becomes possible. Thereby, the enterprise specific process and task allocation represents one of the major design elements. Finally, we present two case studies to verify the individual applicability.     

Task allocation in multiserver systems — A survey of results

Jobs consisting of one or more tasks arrive to a system comprising several servers, each with its own queue. Each task requires a single service at any of the servers, and a job completes service when all its constituent tasks have been serviced. Such models arise in the performance modelling of distributed computing systems, computer communication networks, and manufacturing systems. We survey the literature on this class of models. We classify jobs as being of one of three types: single tasks, multitask with precedence constraints, and multitask stream jobs. After surveying the optimal allocation problem for single task jobs, we discuss the results on the performance analysis and optimal allocation of tasks for the other two job types.     

Emission allowances auction for an oligopolistic electricity market operating under cap-and-trade

The authors consider a yearly auction where electricity generating companies (Gencos) bid to receive yearly green house gas (GHG) emission allowances. Gencos sell electricity in an oligopolistic electricity market that clears on an hourly basis and operates under a cap-and-trade emissions regulation scheme. Gencos strategically self-allocate their yearly allowance into hourly allowances that they then use to take part in the hourly electricity market. If a Genco emits above or below its self-allocated allowance for that hour then, in the first case, the hourly deficit is made up by buying an allowance from an external market, whereas in the second the hourly allowance surplus is sold to the external market. Recognising that the levels of power and emissions produced by the Gencos as well as the associated prices throughout the year will be influenced by both the yearly and hourly allowances, the auction maximises an objective function that is equal not only to the total amount bid by the Gencos to obtain allowances but also includes the yearly social welfare. This study proposes an approach that considers all of the above-mentioned points in a coordinated fashion and can be viewed as a mathematical program (the allowance auction) subject to a Nash equilibrium problem (the distribution by each Genco of its yearly allowance into hourly allowances), which in turn is subject to the Cournot?Nash equilibrium conditions of the hourly oligopolistic electricity market.     

Change-Can Mixing Technology

Abstract

Change-can mixing and handling technology has changed dramatically during the past few years. Today, change-can mixing systems are available with up to three different mixers to handle formulations having viscosities up to several million centipoise. These systems incorporate low and high shear and low and high speed mixers that are independently driven and controlled. This permits processors to fine-tune the equipment for single or multiple tasks including emulsification, particle size reduction, dispersion and suspension.

Because of the high viscosity mixing capability of modern change-can mixers, a Follower Plate Discharge System has been specially designed. This discharge system pushes the viscous mixture out of the can into product cartridges, moulds or hoppers of packaging machinery. The development of new mixing and discharging systems and their integration open fresh opportunities to streamline processing operations and substantially lower production costs.     

Optimal Sprint Length Determination for Agile-Based Software Development

A carefully planned software development process helps in maintaining the quality of the software. In today’s scenario the primitive software development models have been replaced by the Agile based models like SCRUM, KANBAN, LEAN, etc. Although, every framework has its own boon, the reason for widespread acceptance of the agile-based approach is its evolutionary nature that permits change in the path of software development. The development process occurs in iterative and incremental cycles called sprints. In SCRUM, which is one of the most widely used agile-based software development modeling framework; the sprint length is fixed throughout the process wherein; it is usually taken to be 1–4 weeks. But in practical application, the sprint length should be altered intuitively as per the requirement. To overcome this limitation, in this paper, a methodical work has been presented that determines the optimal sprint length based on two varied and yet connected attributes; the cost incurred and the work intensity required. The approach defines the number of tasks performed in each sprint along with the corresponding cost incurred in performing those tasks. Multi-attribute utility theory (MAUT), a multi-criterion decision making approach, has been utilized to find the required trade-off between two attributes under consideration. The proposed modeling framework has been validated using real life data set. With the use of the model, the optimal sprint for each sprint could be evaluated which was much shorter than the original length. Thus, the results obtained validate the proposal of a dynamic sprint length that can be determined before the start of each sprint. The structure would help in cost as well as time savings for a firm.     

Quick response strategy with cleaner technology in a supply chain: coordination and win-win situation analysis

Quick response strategy (QRS) has been widely adopted in a supply chain where members collect timely market information for better forecasting, and then respond promptly to the market changes by adjusting initial inventory decision. After adopting the QRS, sustainability issues such as greenhouse gas emission and energy waste may be more serious as production lead time is shorter. In this study, due to this dilemma, we develop a two-stage quick response supply chain with cleaner technology, where the manufacturer determines the cleaner technology investment and afterwards the retailer decides the ordering quantity. Based on Bayesian theory, we depict an information updating process for the QRS with cleaner technology. First, we find that the inventory service level significantly affects both manufacturer’s and retailer’s performance under the QRS with cleaner technology. Moreover, our analytical results indicate that the performance of centralised supply chain system is always better than the decentralised one. As a result, we propose two supply chain contracts, minimum ordering quantity (MOQ) and MOQ with buyback (MOQ-BB) to achieve supply chain coordination. Comparing with the MOQ, the MOQ-BB is more flexible to allow better allocation of the ‘additional’ expected profit between the channel members through the buyback price negotiation.     

DEA cross-efficiency evaluation based on satisfaction degree: an application to technology selection

Data envelopment analysis (DEA) has been extended to cross-efficiency evaluation to provide better discrimination and ranking of decision-making units (DMUs). However, the non-uniqueness of optimal weights in the traditional DEA models (CCR and BCC models) has reduced the usefulness of the DEA cross-efficiency evaluation method. To solve this problem, we introduce the concept of the satisfaction degree of a DMU towards a set of optimal weights for another DMU. Then, a new DEA cross-efficiency evaluation approach, which contains a maxmin model and two algorithms, is proposed based on the satisfaction degrees of the DMUs. Our maxmin model and algorithm 1 can obtain for each DMU an optimal set of weights that maximises the least satisfaction degrees among all the other DMUs. Further, our algorithm 2 can then be used to guarantee the uniqueness of the optimal weights for each DMU. Finally, our approach is applied to a real-world case study of technology selection.     

论安全性评价

安全性评价是综合运用安全工效学、安全系统工程等方法对企事业单位员工的安全意识与排故能力、设备的完好性与事故隐患、环境因素的现状及其存在的不安全因素等进行检查、预测和安全性评估,以确定企业的危险程度。根据存在隐患的对象和部位,针对性地进行整改,将事故消灭于萌芽状态,防患于未然。这对安全管理具有重要作用。文章以机械加工企业为例来阐明安全性评价的原理和操作方法。其它企业也可按行业特点仿此原理和方法提出自己的评价方案,均可收到安全生产的预期效果。     

GBD机器人自动封装生产线电气系统设计

目的 针对国六标准三元催化器GBD机器人自动封装生产线设计需求,为了提高GBD的封装效率和质量,减少重复劳作,减轻生产过程中的劳动强度,降低企业生产成本,以缩短生产线生产周期、提升自动化水平.方法 重点完成生产线电气系统设计等内容,改变传统的单PLC控制方法.结果 在原有的封装生产线的基础上,突破多PLC控制系统的关键技术,研制出了GBD机器人自动封装生产线电气系统.通过实际生产使用,有效地提升了生产线封装效率,将单载体单次缩径整线生产节拍由60 s缩短至45 s,有效提高了生产线的封装效率.结论 实践证明,该GBD封装生产线能平稳运行,显著提升企业的自动化水平.     

碳税与减排补贴下混合双寡头企业竞合博弈研究

针对低碳减排背景下，混合双寡头市场中企业与政府的最优决策问题，构建私有企业与部分私有化的公有企业古诺竞争博弈模型、伯特兰德竞争博弈模型以及合作模型。比较3种模型下两企业的最优减排量与产量决策，政府的最优碳税率与减排补贴率决策，两企业目标利润，社会福利与环境污染，并探讨公有企业的私有化水平对最优减排、碳税率、减排补贴率的影响。研究表明：在合作时，两企业有更大的减排力度；在竞争时，公有企业加深私有化水平会促使行业整体提高减排水平；无论是在企业竞争还是合作情形，随着公有企业私有化水平的提高，政府减排措施应该由以碳税为主转变为以碳减排补贴为主。     

运输包装中的减碳技术探讨

推进运输包装低碳发展,应从设计、模具制作、原材料生产、材料加工成型、制版印刷、封装、物流、使用、回收、降解等整个生命周期出发,从总体上减少运输包装中的碳排放。运输包装中的减碳技术主要涉及运输包装设计、运输包装过程、运输包装材料和器具等方面。运输包装减碳技术可以为我国包装业低碳发展提供切实可行的技术支撑。     

人机协同的生产调度实验平台

生产调度一直以来都是生产管理的难题,同以往单纯采用算法由机器来获得调度最优解的思路不同的是,采用人机协同的思想开展对调度问题的研究,将调度任务进行分派,使凋度员和机器协同完成调度任务,建立了人机协同的生产调度实验平台.实例表明,该实验平台提供了一个训练调度员调度能力的工具,利用该实验平台,调度员和机器可较好地协同得到满意的调度解.     

Economic determination of specification levels and allocation priorities of semiconductor products

We construct and analyze an economically efficient way of pricing and allocating semiconductor chips of which production technology is characterized by persistent quality variations and of which production capacity is exceeded by potential demand. In our model, specification levels and allocation priorities of competing orders from customers are systematically determined for a single profit maximizing producer. In the proposed scheme, the producer offers a 'product line' of priority classes under an allocation rule that always supplies higher priority classes with higher spec, level chips. This product line design and allocation rule enable us to cast the producer's profit maximization problem as a nonlinear programming formulation. Also, we investigate the optimality of the proposed allocation rule and derive conditions under which the profitability of downgrading is determined.     

Research of Order Allocation of E-commerce Logistics Service Supply Chain Considering Customer Evaluation

Based on the importance of customer evaluation for developing e-commerce enterprises, this paper analyzes the customer evaluation as a fuzzy variable and establishes a multi-objective mixed integer order allocation planning model by considering customer satisfaction, which maximizes customer praise and minimizes procurement cost. As the optimization goal, transaction cost is optimized for the order allocation of the secondary e-commerce logistics service supply chain. In order to defuzzify the customer evaluation, a fuzzy evaluation method is designed to transform the customer evaluation from fuzzy language evaluation to numerical measurement. Finally, the feasibility and effectiveness of the model are verified by using a specific example, and the order is made for the e-commerce enterprise. The allocation provides a theoretical reference.     

电子级氟碳类产品生产设备管件的选材

随着太阳能、半导体、微电子等行业的快速发展,用作等离子刻蚀及清洗气体的电子级氟碳类气体的工业化研究与生产已成为国内外广泛关注的焦点。而生产设备工艺的选材是该类产品能否实现工业化的关键。结合自主研发的成功经验,介绍了氟碳类电子级气体工艺的设备选材原则,着重针对各个工段的生产要求,对设备、管件的选材、阀门选择进行了详细地阐述,同时对生产过程中的其他注意事项进行了补充和强调。     

关于推行企业节能标准的调研与思考

标准作为实行科学和定量化管理的技术依据,是用能企业节能工作的重要基础。企业要高度重视节能标准化工作,认真执行国家、省市有关节能减排的法律、法规、政策,执行国家和地方相关标准,制定符合企业自身实际的节能标准体系,并纳入企业标准体系之中。坚持以实施企业节能标准为基础,以技术创新为动力,大力推进企业节能减排工作,努力实现能源利用效率和经济效益的最大化。     

Closed loop supply chain network design and optimisation using fuzzy mixed integer linear programming model

Owing to the revolution in sustainable and green manufacturing the production planning and network design of closed loop supply chain concept has got the attention of researchers and managers. In this paper, a multi-product, multi-facility capacitated closed-loop supply chain framework is proposed in an uncertain environment including reuse, refurbish, recycle and disposal of parts. The uncertainty related to demand, fraction of parts recovered for different product recovery processes, product acquisition cost, purchasing cost, transportation cost, processing, and set-up cost is handled with fuzzy numbers. A fuzzy mixed integer linear programming model is proposed to decide optimally the location and allocation of parts at each facility and number of parts to be purchased from external suppliers in order to maximise the profit of organisation. The proposed solution methodology is able to generate a balanced solution between the feasibility degree and degree of satisfaction of the decision maker. The proposed model has been tested with an illustrative example.     

Asynchronous stochastic learning curve effects in engineering-to-order customisation processes

As industrial technology progresses from tailored customisation and mass production all the way to mass customisation, the demand for faster order-to-delivery time keeps increasing, especially for those products that require lengthy customised engineering-to-order (ETO) tasks among multiple partners. Products such as commercial airplanes and ocean vessels, which have delivery demands before the integrated production system has reached a steady production pace, involve partners progressing through their engineering tasks at asynchronous stochastic learning curve (ASLC) rates. This paper aims to contribute to the research by revealing the novel ASLC model and addressing ETO-related processes. An application of the ASLC model in an ETO case study by using sanitised real production data is also presented.