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- Creators: Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business
- Creators: Arizona State University
Description
A semiconductor supply chain modeling and simulation platform using Linear Program (LP) optimization and parallel Discrete Event System Specification (DEVS) process models has been developed in a joint effort by ASU and Intel Corporation. A Knowledge Interchange Broker (KIBDEVS/LP) was developed to broker information synchronously between the DEVS and LP models. Recently a single-echelon heuristic Inventory Strategy Module (ISM) was added to correct for forecast bias in customer demand data using different smoothing techniques. The optimization model could then use information provided by the forecast model to make better decisions for the process model. The composition of ISM with LP and DEVS models resulted in the first realization of what is now called the Optimization Simulation Forecast (OSF) platform. It could handle a single echelon supply chain system consisting of single hubs and single products In this thesis, this single-echelon simulation platform is extended to handle multiple echelons with multiple inventory elements handling multiple products. The main aspect for the multi-echelon OSF platform was to extend the KIBDEVS/LP such that ISM interactions with the LP and DEVS models could also be supported. To achieve this, a new, scalable XML schema for the KIB has been developed. The XML schema has also resulted in strengthening the KIB execution engine design. A sequential scheme controls the executions of the DEVS-Suite simulator, CPLEX optimizer, and ISM engine. To use the ISM for multiple echelons, it is extended to compute forecast customer demands and safety stocks over multiple hubs and products. Basic examples for semiconductor manufacturing spanning single and two echelon supply chain systems have been developed and analyzed. Experiments using perfect data were conducted to show the correctness of the OSF platform design and implementation. Simple, but realistic experiments have also been conducted. They highlight the kinds of supply chain dynamics that can be evaluated using discrete event process simulation, linear programming optimization, and heuristics forecasting models.
ContributorsSmith, James Melkon (Author) / Sarjoughian, Hessam S. (Thesis advisor) / Davulcu, Hasan (Committee member) / Fainekos, Georgios (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Research related to food deserts, areas with limited access to healthy and affordable food options, has focused primarily on issues of healthy food access, food quality and pricing, dietary outcomes, and increased risk for chronic diseases among residents. However, upstream challenges that might play a major role in the creation and perpetuation of food deserts, namely problems in the supply chain, have been less considered. In this qualitative study, researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with local produce supply chain representatives to understand their perspectives on the barriers to, and potential solutions for, supplying affordable produce to underserved areas in Phoenix, AZ. Through industry and academic experts, six representatives of the supply chain were identified and recruited to take part in one-hour interviews. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded into categories using a general inductive approach. Using the qualitative analysis software NVIVO to assist in data analysis, themes and subthemes emerged. Results suggested that considerable barriers exist among the representatives for supplying fresh, affordable produce in Phoenix-area food deserts, including minimum delivery requirements beyond the needs of the average small store, a desire to work with high-volume customers due to transportation and production costs, and the higher price point of produce for both store owners and consumers. Conversely, opportunities were identified that could be important in overcoming such barriers, including, tax or economic incentives that would make distribution into food deserts financially viable, infrastructural support for the safe handling and storage of fresh foods at existing retail outlets, and the development of novel distribution mechanisms for producers such as mobile markets and food hubs. Future research is needed to determine if these findings are representative of a larger, more diverse sample of Arizona produce supply chain representatives.
ContributorsLacagnina, Gina (Author) / Wharton, Christopher (Christopher Mack), 1977- (Thesis advisor) / Hughner, Renee (Committee member) / Barroso, Cristina (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Consumer goods supply chains have gradually incorporated lean manufacturing principles to identify and reduce non-value-added activities. Companies implementing lean practices have experienced improvements in cost, quality, and demand responsiveness. However certain elements of these practices, especially those related to transportation and distribution may have detrimental impact on the environment. This study asks: What impact do current best practices in lean logistics and retailing have on environmental performance? The research hypothesis of this dissertation establishes that lean distribution of durable and consumable goods can result in an increased amount of carbon dioxide emissions, leading to climate change and natural resource depletion impacts, while lean retailing operations can reduce carbon emissions. Distribution and retailing phases of the life cycle are characterized in a two-echelon supply chain discrete-event simulation modeled after current operations from leading organizations based in the U.S. Southwest. By conducting an overview of critical sustainability issues and their relationship with consumer products, it is possible to address the environmental implications of lean logistics and retailing operations. Provided the waste reduction nature from lean manufacturing, four lean best practices are examined in detail in order to formulate specific research propositions. These propositions are integrated into an experimental design linking annual carbon dioxide equivalent emissions to: (1) shipment frequency between supply chain partners, (2) proximity between decoupling point of products and final customers, (3) inventory turns at the warehousing level, and (4) degree of supplier integration. All propositions are tested through the use of the simulation model. Results confirmed the four research propositions. Furthermore, they suggest synergy between product shipment frequency among supply chain partners and product management due to lean retailing practices. In addition, the study confirms prior research speculations about the potential carbon intensity from transportation operations subject to lean principles.
ContributorsUgarte Irizarri, Gustavo Marco Antonio (Author) / Golden, Jay S. (Thesis advisor) / Dooley, Kevin J. (Thesis advisor) / Boone, Christopher G. (Committee member) / Basile, George M. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Nowadays ports play a critic role in the supply chains of contemporary companies and global commerce. Since the ports' operational effectiveness is critical on the development of competitive supply chains, their contribution to regional economies is essential. With the globalization of markets, the traffic of containers flowing through the different ports has increased significantly in the last decades. In order to attract additional container traffic and improve their comparative advantages over the competition, ports serving same hinterlands explore ways to improve their operations to become more attractive to shippers. This research explores the hypothesis that lowering the variability of the service time observed in the handling of containers, a port reduces the total logistics costs of their customers, increase its competiveness and that of their customers. This thesis proposes a methodology that allows the quantification of the variability existing in the services of a port derived from factors like inefficient internal operations, vessel congestion or external disruptions scenarios. It focuses on assessing the impact of this variability on the user's logistic costs. The methodology also allows a port to define competitive strategies that take into account its variability and that of competing ports. These competitive strategies are also translated into specific parameters that can be used to design and adjust internal operations. The methodology includes (1) a definition of a proper economic model to measure the logistic impact of port's variability, (2) a network analysis approach to the defined problem and (3) a systematic procedure to determine competitive service time parameters for a port. After the methodology is developed, a case study is presented where it is applied to the Port of Guaymas. This is done by finding service time parameters for this port that yield lower logistic costs than the observed in other competing ports.
ContributorsMeneses Preciado, Cesar (Author) / Villalobos, Jesus R (Thesis advisor) / Gel, Esma S (Committee member) / Maltz, Arnold B (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
One of the greatest 21st century challenges is meeting the needs of a growing world population expected to increase 35% by 2050 given projected trends in diets, consumption and income. This in turn requires a 70-100% improvement on current production capability, even as the world is undergoing systemic climate pattern changes. This growth not only translates to higher demand for staple products, such as rice, wheat, and beans, but also creates demand for high-value products such as fresh fruits and vegetables (FVs), fueled by better economic conditions and a more health conscious consumer. In this case, it would seem that these trends would present opportunities for the economic development of environmentally well-suited regions to produce high-value products. Interestingly, many regions with production potential still exhibit a considerable gap between their current and ‘true’ maximum capability, especially in places where poverty is more common. Paradoxically, often high-value, horticultural products could be produced in these regions, if relatively small capital investments are made and proper marketing and distribution channels are created. The hypothesis is that small farmers within local agricultural systems are well positioned to take advantage of existing sustainable and profitable opportunities, specifically in high-value agricultural production. Unearthing these opportunities can entice investments in small farming development and help them enter the horticultural industry, thus expand the volume, variety and/or quality of products available for global consumption. In this dissertation, the objective is three-fold: (1) to demonstrate the hidden production potential that exist within local agricultural communities, (2) highlight the importance of supply chain modeling tools in the strategic design of local agricultural systems, and (3) demonstrate the application of optimization and machine learning techniques to strategize the implementation of protective agricultural technologies.
As part of this dissertation, a yield approximation method is developed and integrated with a mixed-integer program to estimate a region’s potential to produce non-perennial, vegetable items. This integration offers practical approximations that help decision-makers identify technologies needed to protect agricultural production, alter harvesting patterns to better match market behavior, and provide an analytical framework through which external investment entities can assess different production options.
As part of this dissertation, a yield approximation method is developed and integrated with a mixed-integer program to estimate a region’s potential to produce non-perennial, vegetable items. This integration offers practical approximations that help decision-makers identify technologies needed to protect agricultural production, alter harvesting patterns to better match market behavior, and provide an analytical framework through which external investment entities can assess different production options.
ContributorsFlores, Hector M. (Author) / Villalobos, Rene (Thesis advisor) / Pan, Rong (Committee member) / Wu, Teresa (Committee member) / Parker, Nathan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
Civic engagement is often defined as political activism; to be a part of governmental decision making, the practices thereof, and various efforts of participation in voting. However, civic engagement is also known for its role within non-political work, such as community building and development. Because of the former definition many members of our society have a tendency to not embrace the full potential of their community roles. It is always about who is a Republican, who is a Democrat, who looks better, or who has a better name. Now it must be noted that this is not in absolute, not all members of our society work in this thought process, but many still do. If that doesn't come as a surprise to you, then the simplicity of how you can be an engaged member will. As a student attending Arizona State University at the West campus in Phoenix, Arizona, I have chosen to challenge the traditional view of civic engagement and prepare this development plan for the campus community. Having done so, I not only discovered the paths that one can take to be engaged in such matters, but also continued my role as a civil servant.
ContributorsWaldie, Howard William (Author) / Ackroyd, William (Thesis director) / Smith, Sharon (Committee member) / Alvarez Manninen, Bertha (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / School of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
For the Supply Chain Management Alternative Thesis, I was required to attend 4 research seminars. After attending all four seminars, I wrote a summary for each one and then did my own research on a subject from one of the seminars. I selected the lecture from Mahyar Eftekhar to do more research on due to my passion of humanitarian work. The lecture delivered by Mahyar Eftekhar on September 27th, 2018 there was a question being asked, “How to improve service delivery, considering the peculiar characteristics of humanitarian supply chains?”. This question can either cost a company a lot of money or save it a lot of money. The problem is how do you reduce risk for a supply chain in humanitarian work? The objective of my research is to find different solutions on risk mitigation for humanitarian organizations and how to bring down costs for the supply chains that these organizations have. Risk mitigation can be difficult for events that happen randomly, but there are ways to help reduce risk. Reducing risk is key to humanitarian supply chains because it can save money for companies that have financial restrictions. Humanitarian supply chains are much different from typical supply chains, due to what is at stake. These supply chains cannot fail, because if they do lives will be put in danger. Disasters can happen at any moment and can range from all different types. Being prepared for the worst case scenario is important in humanitarian efforts in order to bring down costs and save lives.
ContributorsDominguez, Brady (Author) / Printezis, Antonios (Thesis director) / Oke, Adegoke (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The Arizona Interfaith Alliance for Worker Justice (AIAWJ) was a mediating structure for those who wanted to be civically engaged in the labor movement and other coalitions in Phoenix, Arizona. It not only served its constituents, but it integrated, educated, and empowered them. Due to lack of funding the AIAWJ closed in the summer of 2016. Many community members from marginalized neighborhoods, other concerned citizens, students, myself, and others participated in their first and only civic engagement opportunities through this organization and were subsequently left with no connections, a barrier to being civically engaged. Through interviews and secondary data research, the relationship between people, mediating structures, and civic engagement activity are examined. The key findings support existing research that emphasizes the importance of mediating structures when it comes to civic engagement.
ContributorsSickler, Shawn (Author) / Luna, Ilana (Thesis advisor) / Hager, Mark (Committee member) / Keahey, Jennifer (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
In today's global market, companies are facing unprecedented levels of uncertainties in supply, demand and in the economic environment. A critical issue for companies to survive increasing competition is to monitor the changing business environment and manage disturbances and changes in real time. In this dissertation, an integrated framework is proposed using simulation and online calibration methods to enable the adaptive management of large-scale complex supply chain systems. The design, implementation and verification of the integrated approach are studied in this dissertation. The research contributions are two-fold. First, this work enriches symbiotic simulation methodology by proposing a framework of simulation and advanced data fusion methods to improve simulation accuracy. Data fusion techniques optimally calibrate the simulation state/parameters by considering errors in both the simulation models and in measurements of the real-world system. Data fusion methods - Kalman Filtering, Extended Kalman Filtering, and Ensemble Kalman Filtering - are examined and discussed under varied conditions of system chaotic levels, data quality and data availability. Second, the proposed framework is developed, validated and demonstrated in `proof-of-concept' case studies on representative supply chain problems. In the case study of a simplified supply chain system, Kalman Filtering is applied to fuse simulation data and emulation data to effectively improve the accuracy of the detection of abnormalities. In the case study of the `beer game' supply chain model, the system's chaotic level is identified as a key factor to influence simulation performance and the choice of data fusion method. Ensemble Kalman Filtering is found more robust than Extended Kalman Filtering in a highly chaotic system. With appropriate tuning, the improvement of simulation accuracy is up to 80% in a chaotic system, and 60% in a stable system. In the last study, the integrated framework is applied to adaptive inventory control of a multi-echelon supply chain with non-stationary demand. It is worth pointing out that the framework proposed in this dissertation is not only useful in supply chain management, but also suitable to model other complex dynamic systems, such as healthcare delivery systems and energy consumption networks.
ContributorsWang, Shanshan (Author) / Wu, Teresa (Thesis advisor) / Fowler, John (Thesis advisor) / Pfund, Michele (Committee member) / Li, Jing (Committee member) / Pavlicek, William (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010
Description
This thesis looks at the digitalization process holistically. It recognizes that for a digitalization initiative to be successful, it takes input from multiple departments and experts from diverse backgrounds. This paper will be evaluating the interconnectivity needed between the supply chain and human resources departments to spearhead the creation of a digitalization team. Both sectors must have a firm understanding of the other’s needs, in order to acquire, train, and maintain people who will have the necessary hard and soft skills to develop the digital processes. After conducting extensive research around hiring and training, the researchers identified several best practices that companies can utilize to build a successful digital logistics team. Regarding hiring, companies can improve their current practices by collaborating with universities to create synergy between enterprise needs and college curriculum, as well as utilizing talent acquisition data analytics. They must also employ targeted recruiting strategies to attract high-quality talent and create explicit and attractive job postings. In addition to hiring, companies must also continuously improve their training initiatives to ensure their team’s success. In order to do so, firms should conduct training needs analysis, personalize training using technology, offer non-traditional learning modalities, provide holistic supply chain training, and create a learning culture.
ContributorsRogers, Morgan Leigh (Co-author) / Veverka, Madison (Co-author) / Byrne, Jared (Thesis director) / Locke, Sandy (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05