Search results for: supply chain logistics
3137 Towards a Competence Management Approach Based on Continuous Improvement
Authors: N. Sefiani, C. Fikri Benbrahim, A. Boumane, K. Reklaoui
Abstract:
Nowadays, the reflection on competence management is the basic for new competitive strategies. It is considered as the core of the problems of the global supply chain. It interacts a variety of actors: information, physical and activities flows, etc. Even though competence management is seen as the key factor for any business success, the existing approaches demonstrate the deficiencies and limitations of the competence concept. This research has two objectives: The first is to make a contribution by focusing on the development of a competence approach, based on continuous improvement. It allows the enterprise to spot key competencies, mobilize them in order to serve its strategic objectives and to develop future competencies. The second is to propose a method to evaluate the level of Collective Competence. The approach was confirmed through an application carried out at an automotive company.Keywords: competence, competencies’ approach, competence management, continuous improvement, collective competence level, performance indicator
Procedia PDF Downloads 4793136 Surface Sensing of Atomic Behavior of Polymer Nanofilms via Molecular Dynamics Simulation
Authors: Ling Dai
Abstract:
Surface-sensing devices such as atomic force microscope have been widely used to characterize the surface structure and properties of nanoscale polymer films. However, using molecular dynamics simulations, we show that there is intrinsic and unavoidable inelastic deformation at polymer surfaces induced by the sensing tip. For linear chain polymers like perfluoropolyether, such tip-induced deformation derives from the differences in the atomic interactions which are atomic specie-based Van der Waals interactions, and resulting in atomic shuffling and causing inelastic alternation in both molecular structures and mechanical properties at the regions of the polymer surface. For those aromatic chain polymers like epoxy, the intrinsic deformation is depicted as the intra-chain rotation of aromatic rings and kinking of linear atomic connections. The present work highlights the need to reinterpret the data obtained from surface-sensing tests by considering this intrinsic inelastic deformation occurring at polymer surfaces.Keywords: polymer, surface, nano, molecular dynamics
Procedia PDF Downloads 3453135 Investigating the Organizational Capacity of Communities Affecting Water Supply Resilience
Authors: Behrooz Balaei, Suzanne Wilkinson, Regan Potangaroa, Larry Abel, Philip McFarlane
Abstract:
Water supply system failure has serious direct and indirect effects on people wellbeing. Post-disaster water system serviceability depends on a variety of factors from technical characteristics to social, economic, and organizational attributes of communities. This paper tests the organizational factors affecting water supply resilience to outline how these factors contributed to previous disasters. To do so, a framework is briefly introduced in this study to provide a clear guide to identify the significant relevant organizational factors. Then the factors affecting water serviceability following a disaster are outlines. Next, these factors are measured in the case of Tropical Cyclone Pam, which hit Vanuatu in March 2015. Reviewing the existing literature has also been carried out to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the background A site visit and a series of interviews have also been undertaken following the cyclone to collect site-specific data and information. In the end, the organizational factors were ranked to enable decision makers to identify significance of each factor compared to the others.Keywords: water supply, resilience, organizational capacity, Vanuatu, Tropical Cyclone Pam
Procedia PDF Downloads 1203134 Impact of the Simplification of Licensing Procedures for Industrial Complexes on Supply of Industrial Complexes and Regional Policies
Authors: Seung-Seok Bak, Chang-Mu Jung
Abstract:
An enough amount supply of industrial complexes is an important national policy in South Korea, which is highly dependent on foreign trade. A development process of the industrial complex can distinguish between the planning stage and the construction stage. The planning stage consists of the process of consulting with many stakeholders on the contents of the development of industrial complex, feasibility study, compliance with the Regional policies, and so on. The industrial complex planning stage, including licensing procedure, usually takes about three years in South Korea. The government determined that the appropriate supply of industrial complexes have been delayed, due to the long licensing period and drafted a law to shorten the license period in 2008. The law was expected to shorten the period of licensing, which was about three years, to six months. This paper attempts to show that the shortening of the licensing period does not positively affect the appropriate supply of industrial complexes. To do this, we used Interrupted Time Series Designs. As a result, it was found that the supply of industrial complexes was influenced more by other factors such as actual industrial complex demand of private sector and macro-level economic variables. In addition, the specific provisions of the law conflict with local policy and cause some problems such as damage to nature and agricultural land, traffic congestion.Keywords: development of industrial complexes, industrial complexes, interrupted time series designs, simplification of licensing procedures for industrial complexes, time series regression
Procedia PDF Downloads 2863133 Implementation of Lean Tools (Value Stream Mapping and ECRS) in an Oil Refinery
Authors: Ronita Singh, Yaman Pattanaik, Soham Lalwala
Abstract:
In today’s highly competitive business environment, every organization is striving towards lean manufacturing systems to achieve lower Production Lead Times, lower costs, less inventory and overall improvement in supply chains efficiency. Based on the similar idea, this paper presents the practical application of Value Stream Mapping (VSM) tool and ECRS (Eliminate, Combine, Reduce, and Simplify) technique in the receipt section of the material management center of an oil refinery. A value stream is an assortment of all actions (value added as well as non-value added) that are required to bring a product through the essential flows, starting with raw material and ending with the customer. For drawing current state value stream mapping, all relevant data of the receipt cycle has been collected and analyzed. Then analysis of current state map has been done for determining the type and quantum of waste at every stage which helped in ascertaining as to how far the warehouse is from the concept of lean manufacturing. From the results achieved by current VSM, it was observed that the two processes- Preparation of GRN (Goods Receipt Number) and Preparation of UD (Usage Decision) are both bottle neck operations and have higher cycle time. This root cause analysis of various types of waste helped in designing a strategy for step-wise implementation of lean tools. The future state thus created a lean flow of materials at the warehouse center, reducing the lead time of the receipt cycle from 11 days to 7 days and increasing overall efficiency by 27.27%.Keywords: current VSM, ECRS, future VSM, receipt cycle, supply chain, VSM
Procedia PDF Downloads 2983132 Impact of the Pandemic on China's Digital Creative Industries: Mechanisms and Manifestations
Authors: Li Qiaoming
Abstract:
The outbreak of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in early 2020 brought new opportunities to the development of the digital creative industry in China. Based on the realistic foundation of the development of the digital creative industry in China, an analysis was conducted on the mechanism of action of the pandemic on this industry from both sides of supply and demand by sorting out its concept, connotation, and related theories. To be specific, the demand side experienced changes due to the changes in the consumption habits of residents, the sharp increase in gross domestic time (GDT), the satisfaction of the psychological needs of users, search for substitutes for offline consumption, and other factors. An analysis was carried out on the mechanism of action of the pandemic on the digital creative industry from the production link, supply subjects, product characteristics, and transmission link of the supply side. Then, a detailed discussion was held on the manifestation forms of the impact of the pandemic from the dimensions of time and space. Finally, this paper discussed the main development focuses of the digital creative industry in the post-pandemic era from the aspects of the government, industries, and enterprises.Keywords: COVID-19, demand and supply relationship, digital creative industries, industry shocks
Procedia PDF Downloads 1433131 The Moderation Effect of Critical Item on the Strategic Purchasing: Quality Performance Relationship
Authors: Kwong Yeung
Abstract:
Theories about strategic purchasing and quality performance are underdeveloped. Understanding the evolving role of purchasing from reactive to proactive is a pressing strategic issue. Using survey responses from 176 manufacturing and electronics industry professionals, we study the relationships between strategic purchasing and supply chain partners’ quality performance to answer the following questions: Can transaction cost economics be used to elucidate the strategic purchasing-quality performance relationship? Is this strategic purchasing-quality performance relationship moderated by critical item analysis? The findings indicate that critical item analysis positively and significantly moderates the strategic purchasing-quality performance relationship.Keywords: critical item analysis, moderation, quality performance, strategic purchasing, transaction cost economics
Procedia PDF Downloads 5553130 Economic Stability in a Small Open Economy with Income Effect on Leisure Demand
Authors: Yu-Shan Hsu
Abstract:
This paper studies a two-sector growth model with a technology of social constant returns and with a utility that features either a zero or a positive income effect on the demand for leisure. The purpose is to investigate how the existence of aggregate instability or equilibrium indeterminacy depends on both the intensity of the income effect on the demand for leisure and the value of the labor supply elasticity. The main finding is that when there is a factor intensity reversal between the private perspective and the social perspective, indeterminacy arises even if the utility has a positive income effect on leisure demand. Moreover, we find that a smaller value of the labor supply elasticity increases the range of the income effect on leisure demand and thus increases the possibility of equilibrium indeterminacy. JEL classification: E3; O41Keywords: indeterminacy, non-separable preferences, income effect, labor supply elasticity
Procedia PDF Downloads 1653129 Myanmar Character Recognition Using Eight Direction Chain Code Frequency Features
Authors: Kyi Pyar Zaw, Zin Mar Kyu
Abstract:
Character recognition is the process of converting a text image file into editable and searchable text file. Feature Extraction is the heart of any character recognition system. The character recognition rate may be low or high depending on the extracted features. In the proposed paper, 25 features for one character are used in character recognition. Basically, there are three steps of character recognition such as character segmentation, feature extraction and classification. In segmentation step, horizontal cropping method is used for line segmentation and vertical cropping method is used for character segmentation. In the Feature extraction step, features are extracted in two ways. The first way is that the 8 features are extracted from the entire input character using eight direction chain code frequency extraction. The second way is that the input character is divided into 16 blocks. For each block, although 8 feature values are obtained through eight-direction chain code frequency extraction method, we define the sum of these 8 feature values as a feature for one block. Therefore, 16 features are extracted from that 16 blocks in the second way. We use the number of holes feature to cluster the similar characters. We can recognize the almost Myanmar common characters with various font sizes by using these features. All these 25 features are used in both training part and testing part. In the classification step, the characters are classified by matching the all features of input character with already trained features of characters.Keywords: chain code frequency, character recognition, feature extraction, features matching, segmentation
Procedia PDF Downloads 3073128 Assessment of Ecosystem Readiness for Adoption of Circularity: A Multi-Case Study Analysis of Textile Supply Chain in Pakistan
Authors: Azhar Naila, Steuer Benjamin
Abstract:
Over-exploitation of resources and the burden on natural systems have provoked worldwide concerns about the potential resource as well as supply risks in the future. It has been estimated that the consumption of materials and resources will double by 2060, substantially mounting the amount of waste and emissions produced by individuals, organizations, and businesses, which necessitates sustainable technological innovations to address the problem. Therefore, there is a need to design products and services purposefully for material resource efficiency. This directs us toward the conceptualization and implementation of the ‘Circular Economy (CE),’ which has gained considerable attention among policymakers, researchers, and businesses in the past decade. A large amount of literature focuses on the concept of CE. However, contextual empirical research on the need to embrace CE in an emerging economy like Pakistan is still scarce, where the traditional economic model of take-make-dispose is quite common. Textile exports account for approximately 61% of Pakistan's total exports, and the industry provides employment for about 40% of the country's total industrial workforce. The industry provides job opportunities to above 10 million farmers, with cotton as the main crop of Pakistan. Consumers, companies, as well as the government have explored very limited CE potential in the country. This gap has motivated us to carry out the present study. The study is based on a mixed method approach, for which key informant interviews have been conducted to get insight into the present situation of the ecosystem readiness for the adoption of CE in 20 textile manufacturing industries. The subject study has been conducted on the following areas i) the level of understanding of the CE concept among key stakeholders in the textile manufacturing industry ii) Companies are pushing boundaries to invest in circularity-based initiatives, exploring the depths of risk-taking iii) the current national policy framework support the adoption of CE. Qualitative assessment has been undertaken using MAXQDA to analyze the data received after the key informant interviews. The data has been transcribed and coded for further analysis. The results show that most of the key stakeholders have a clear understanding of the concept, whereas few consider it to be only relevant to the end-of-life treatment of waste generated from the industry. Non-governmental organizations have been observed to be key players in creating awareness among the manufacturing industries. Maximum companies have shown their consent to invest in initiatives related to the adoption of CE. Whereas a few consider themselves far behind the race due to a lack of financial resources and support from responsible institutions. Mostly, the industries have an ambitious vision for integrating CE into the company’s policy but seem not to be ready to take any significant steps to nurture a culture for experimentation. However, the government is not playing any vital role in the transition towards CE; rather, they have been busy with the state’s uncertain political situation. Presently, Pakistan does not have any policy framework that supports the transition towards CE. Acknowledging the present landscape a well-informed CE transition is immediately required.Keywords: circular economy, textile supply chain, textile manufacturing industries, resource efficiency, ecosystem readiness, multi-case study analysis
Procedia PDF Downloads 413127 Survey of Corrosion and Scaling of Urban Drinking Water Supply Reservoirs (Case Study: Ilam City)
Authors: Ehsan Derikvand, Hamid Kaykha, Rooholah Mansoori Yekta, Taleb Javanmard, Mohsen Mehdi Zadeh
Abstract:
Corrosion and scaling are one of the most complicated and costly problems of drinking water supply. Corrosion has adverse effect on general health and public acceptance of water source and drinking water supply costs. The present study aimed to determine the potentials of corrosion and scaling of potable water supply reservoirs of Ilam city in June 2013 and August 2014 by Langelier Index (LI) and Reynar. The results of experiments and calculations show that the mean index of LSI in the first and second sampling stages is 0.34, 0.2, respectively and the mean index RSI in the first and second stages of sampling is 7.15 and 7.22, respectively. Based on LSI index of reservoirs water in the first phase, none of stations are corrosive and only one station in the second sampling phase has corrosive tendency. According to RSI index, there is no corrosive tendency in two phases. Based on the results, the water of drinking water reservoirs in Ilam city has no corrosion tendency and the analyses and results of Langelier Index (LI) and Ryznar are in relatively good condition.Keywords: corrosion, scaling, water reservoirs, langelier and ryznar indices, Ilam city
Procedia PDF Downloads 3983126 The Effects of Inulin on the Stabilization and Stevioside as Sugar-Replacer of Sourcherry Juice-Milk Mixture
Authors: S. Teimouri, S. Abbasi
Abstract:
Milk-fruit juice mixture is a type of soft drinks, which can be produced by mixing milk with pieces of fruits, fruit juices, or fruit juices concentrates. The major problem of these products, mainly the acidic ones, is phase separation which occurs during formulation and storage due to the aggregation of caseins at low pH Short-chain inulin (CLR), long-chain inulin (TEX), native inulin (IQ) and Long-chain inulin (TEX) and short-chain inulin (CLR) combined in different proportions (2o:80, 50:50, and 80:20) were added (2-10 %) to sourcherry juice-milk mixture and their stabilization mechanisms were studied with using rheological and microstructural observations. Stevioside as a bio-sweetener and sugar-replacer was added at last step. Finally, sensory analyses were taken place on stabilized samples. According to the findings, TEX stabilized the mixture at concentration of 8%. MIX and IQ reduced phase separation at high concentration but had not complete effect on stabilization. CLR did not effect on stabilization. Rheological changes and inulin aggregates formation were not observed in CLR samples during the one month storage period. However TEX, MIX and IQ samples formed inulin aggregates and became more thixotropic, elastic and increased the viscosity of mixture. The rate of the inulin aggregates formation and viscosity increasing was in the following order TEX > MIX > IQ. Consequently the mixture which stabilized with inulin and sweetened with stevioside had the prebiotic properties which may suggest to diabetic patients and children.Keywords: prebiotic, inulin, casein, stabilization, stevioside
Procedia PDF Downloads 2663125 Comparison of Transforming Growth Factor-β1 Levels in the Human Gingival Sulcus during Canine Retraction Using Elastic Chain and Closed Coil Spring
Authors: Sri Suparwitri
Abstract:
When an orthodontic force is applied to a tooth, an inflammatory response is initiated then lead to bone remodeling process, and the process accommodates tooth movement. One of cytokine that plays a prominent role in bone remodeling process was transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1). The purpose of this study was to identify and compare changes of TGF-β1 in human gingival crevicular fluid during canine retraction using elastic chain and closed coil spring. Ten patients (mean age 20.7 ± 2.9 years) participated. The patients were entering the space closure phase of fixed orthodontic treatment. An upper canine of each patient was retracted using elastic chain, and the contralateral canine was retracted using closed coil spring. Gingival crevicular fluid samples were collected from the canine teeth before and 7 days after the force was applied. Transforming growth factor-beta 1 was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The concentrations of TGF-β1 at 7 days were significantly higher compared to before canine retraction in both groups. In the evaluation of between-group difference, before retraction, the difference was insignificant, whereas at 7 days significantly higher values were determined in the closed coil spring group compared to elastic chain group. The result suggests that TGF-β1 is associated with the bone remodeling that occurs during canine distalization movement. Closed coil spring gave higher TGF-β1 concentrations thus more bone remodeling occurred and may be considered the treatment of choice.Keywords: closed coil spring, elastic chain, gingival crevicular fluid, TGF-β1
Procedia PDF Downloads 1653124 Value Chain Based New Business Opportunity
Authors: Seonjae Lee, Sungjoo Lee
Abstract:
Excavation is necessary to remain competitive in the current business environment. The company survived the rapidly changing industry conditions by adapting new business strategy and reducing technology challenges. Traditionally, the two methods are conducted excavations for new businesses. The first method is, qualitative analysis of expert opinion, which is gathered through opportunities and secondly, new technologies are discovered through quantitative data analysis of method patents. The second method increases time and cost. Patent data is restricted for use and the purpose of discovering business opportunities. This study presents the company's characteristics (sector, size, etc.), of new business opportunities in customized form by reviewing the value chain perspective and to contributing to creating new business opportunities in the proposed model. It utilizes the trademark database of the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) and proprietary company information database of the Korea Enterprise Data (KED). This data is key to discovering new business opportunities with analysis of competitors and advanced business trademarks (Module 1) and trading analysis of competitors found in the KED (Module 2).Keywords: value chain, trademark, trading analysis, new business opportunity
Procedia PDF Downloads 3663123 Engaging Citizen, Sustaining Service Delivery of Rural Water Supply in Indonesia
Authors: Rahmi Yetri Kasri, Paulus Wirutomo
Abstract:
Citizen engagement approach has become increasingly important in the rural water sector. However, the question remains as to what exactly is meant by citizen engagement and how this approach can lead to sustainable service delivery. To understand citizen engagement, this paper argues that we need to understand basic elements of social life that consist of social structure, process, and culture within the realm of community’s living environment. Extracting from empirical data from Pamsimas villages in rural West Java, Indonesia, this paper will identify basic elements of social life and environment that influence and form the engagement of citizen and government in delivering and sustaining rural water supply services in Indonesia. Pamsimas or the Water Supply and Sanitation for Low Income Communities project is the biggest rural water program in Indonesia, implemented since 1993 in more than 27,000 villages. The sustainability of this sector is explored through a rural water supply service delivery life-cycle, starts with capital investment, operational and maintenance, asset expansion or renewal, strategic planning for future services and matching cost with financing. Using mixed-method data collection in case study research, this paper argues that increased citizen engagement contributes to a more sustainable rural water service delivery.Keywords: citizen engagement, rural water supply, sustainability, Indonesia
Procedia PDF Downloads 2603122 Woodfuels as Alternative Source of Energy in Rural and Urban Areas in the Philippines
Authors: R. T. Aggangan
Abstract:
Woodfuels continue to be a major component of the energy supply mix of the Philippines due to increasing demand for energy that are not adequately met by decreasing supply and increasing prices of fuel oil such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and kerosene. The Development Academy of the Philippines projects the demand of woodfuels in 2016 as 28.3 million metric tons in the household sector and about 105.4 million metric tons combined supply potentials of both forest and non-forest lands. However, the Revised Master Plan for Forestry Development projects a demand of about 50 million cu meters of fuelwood in 2016 but the capability to supply from local sources is only about 28 million cu meters indicating a 44 % deficiency. Household demand constitutes 82% while industries demand is 18%. Domestic household demand for energy is for cooking needs while the industrial demand is for steam power generation, curing barns of tobacco: brick, ceramics and pot making; bakery; lime production; and small scale food processing. Factors that favour increased use of wood-based energy include the relatively low prices (increasing oil-based fuel prices), availability of efficient wood-based energy utilization technology, increasing supply, and increasing population that cannot afford conventional fuels. Moreover, innovations in combustion technology and cogeneration of heat and power from biomass for modern applications favour biomass energy development. This paper recommends policies and strategic directions for the development of the woodfuel industry with the twin goals of sustainably supplying the energy requirements of households and industry.Keywords: biomass energy development, fuelwood, households and industry, innovations in combustion technology, supply and demand
Procedia PDF Downloads 3213121 Ethereum Based Smart Contracts for Trade and Finance
Authors: Rishabh Garg
Abstract:
Traditionally, business parties build trust with a centralized operating mechanism, such as payment by letter of credit. However, the increase in cyber-attacks and malicious hacking has jeopardized business operations and finance practices. Emerging markets, owing to their higher banking risks and bigger presence of digital financing, are looking forward to technology-driven solutions, financial inclusion and innovative working paradigms. Blockchain has the potential to enhance transaction transparency and supply chain traceability. It has captured a vast landscape with 200 million crypto users worldwide. Fintech and blockchain products are popping up across brokerage, digital wallets, exchanges, post-trade clearance, settlement, middleware, infrastructure, and base protocols.Keywords: blockchain, distributed ledger technology, decentralized applications, ethereum, smart contracts, trade finance
Procedia PDF Downloads 1433120 Supply, Trade-offs, and Synergies Estimation for Regulating Ecosystem Services of a Local Forest
Authors: Jang-Hwan Jo
Abstract:
The supply management of ecosystem services of local forests is an essential issue as it is linked to the ecological welfare of local residents. This study aims to estimate the supply, trade-offs, and synergies of local forest regulating ecosystem services using a land cover classification map (LCCM) and a forest types map (FTM). Rigorous literature reviews and Expert Delphi analysis were conducted using the detailed variables of 1:5,000 LCCM and FTM. Land-use scoring method and Getis-Ord Gi* Analysis were utilized on detailed variables to propose a method for estimating supply, trade-offs, and synergies of the local forest regulating ecosystem services. The analysis revealed that the rank order (1st to 5th) of supply of regulating ecosystem services was Erosion prevention, Air quality regulation, Heat island mitigation, Water quality regulation, and Carbon storage. When analyzing the correlation between defined services of the entire city, almost all services showed a synergistic effect. However, when analyzing locally, trade-off effects (Heat island mitigation – Air quality regulation, Water quality regulation – Air quality regulation) appeared in the eastern and northwestern forest areas. This suggests the need to consider not only the synergy and trade-offs of the entire forest between specific ecosystem services but also the synergy and trade-offs of local areas in managing the regulating ecosystem services of local forests. The study result can provide primary data for the stakeholders to determine the initial conditions of the planning stage when discussing the establishment of policies related to the adjustment of the supply of regulating ecosystem services of the forests with limited access. Moreover, the study result can also help refine the estimation of the supply of the regulating ecosystem services with the availability of other forms of data.Keywords: ecosystem service, getis ord gi* analysis, land use scoring method, regional forest, regulating service, synergies, trade-offs
Procedia PDF Downloads 733119 Using AI to Advance Factory Planning: A Case Study to Identify Success Factors of Implementing an AI-Based Demand Planning Solution
Authors: Ulrike Dowie, Ralph Grothmann
Abstract:
Rational planning decisions are based upon forecasts. Precise forecasting has, therefore, a central role in business. The prediction of customer demand is a prime example. This paper introduces recurrent neural networks to model customer demand and combines the forecast with uncertainty measures to derive decision support of the demand planning department. It identifies and describes the keys to the successful implementation of an AI-based solution: bringing together data with business knowledge, AI methods, and user experience, and applying agile software development practices.Keywords: agile software development, AI project success factors, deep learning, demand forecasting, forecast uncertainty, neural networks, supply chain management
Procedia PDF Downloads 1733118 User Intention Generation with Large Language Models Using Chain-of-Thought Prompting Title
Authors: Gangmin Li, Fan Yang
Abstract:
Personalized recommendation is crucial for any recommendation system. One of the techniques for personalized recommendation is to identify the intention. Traditional user intention identification uses the user’s selection when facing multiple items. This modeling relies primarily on historical behaviour data resulting in challenges such as the cold start, unintended choice, and failure to capture intention when items are new. Motivated by recent advancements in Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, we present an approach for user intention identification by embracing LLMs with Chain-of-Thought (CoT) prompting. We use the initial user profile as input to LLMs and design a collection of prompts to align the LLM's response through various recommendation tasks encompassing rating prediction, search and browse history, user clarification, etc. Our tests on real-world datasets demonstrate the improvements in recommendation by explicit user intention identification and, with that intention, merged into a user model.Keywords: personalized recommendation, generative user modelling, user intention identification, large language models, chain-of-thought prompting
Procedia PDF Downloads 403117 Effects of the Air Supply Outlets Geometry on Human Comfort inside Living Rooms: CFD vs. ADPI
Authors: Taher M. Abou-deif, Esmail M. El-Bialy, Essam E. Khalil
Abstract:
The paper is devoted to numerically investigating the influence of the air supply outlets geometry on human comfort inside living looms. A computational fluid dynamics model is developed to examine the air flow characteristics of a room with different supply air diffusers. The work focuses on air flow patterns, thermal behavior in the room with few number of occupants. As an input to the full-scale 3-D room model, a 2-D air supply diffuser model that supplies direction and magnitude of air flow into the room is developed. Air distribution effect on thermal comfort parameters was investigated depending on changing the air supply diffusers type, angles and velocity. Air supply diffusers locations and numbers were also investigated. The pre-processor Gambit is used to create the geometric model with parametric features. Commercially available simulation software “Fluent 6.3” is incorporated to solve the differential equations governing the conservation of mass, three momentum and energy in the processing of air flow distribution. Turbulence effects of the flow are represented by the well-developed two equation turbulence model. In this work, the so-called standard k-ε turbulence model, one of the most widespread turbulence models for industrial applications, was utilized. Basic parameters included in this work are air dry bulb temperature, air velocity, relative humidity and turbulence parameters are used for numerical predictions of indoor air distribution and thermal comfort. The thermal comfort predictions through this work were based on ADPI (Air Diffusion Performance Index),the PMV (Predicted Mean Vote) model and the PPD (Percentage People Dissatisfied) model, the PMV and PPD were estimated using Fanger’s model.Keywords: thermal comfort, Fanger's model, ADPI, energy effeciency
Procedia PDF Downloads 4033116 Disequilibrium between the Demand and Supply of Teachers of English at the Junior Secondary Schools in Gashua, Yobe State: Options for 2015 and Beyond
Authors: Clifford Irikefe Gbeyonron
Abstract:
The Nigerian educational system, which has English language as a major medium of instruction, has been designed in such a way that the cognitive, psychomotor and affective endowments of the Nigerian learner could be explored. However, the human resources that would impart the desired knowledge, skills and values in the learners seem to be in short supply. This paucity is more manifest in the area of teachers of English. As a result, this research was conducted on the demand and supply of teachers of English at the junior secondary schools in Gashua, Yobe State. The results indicate that there was dearth of teachers of English the domain under review. This thus presents a challenge that should propel English language teacher education industries to produce more teachers of English. As a result, this paper recommends that the teacher production process should make use of qualified and enthusiastic teacher trainers that would be able to inculcate in-depth linguistic and communicative competence of English language and English language teaching skills in the potential teachers of English. In addition, English language education service providers should attract and retain the trained teachers of English in the business of English language teaching in such a way that all the states of Nigeria could experience educational development.Keywords: demand, supply, teachers of English, Yobe State
Procedia PDF Downloads 3643115 Knowledge, Attitude and Associated Factors of Practice towards Post Exposure Prophylaxis of HIV Infection among Health Professionals in Yeka and Kazanchis Health Center
Authors: Semira Zeru Haileslassie
Abstract:
Lack of awareness and practices of PEP treatment were observed among respondents, but they had a better attitude towards PEP. To this end, a formal training for all respondents regarding PEP for HIV prior to their clinical attachments is of utmost importance. The training ought to incorporate a brief clarification with respect to the unpleasant impact of non-adherence that essentially incorporate destitute treatment result and most prominent hazard of resistance and few given as a major cause for non-compliance to PEP, common transient side-effects of PEP and its administrations ought to be cloister educated healthcare specialists to diminish its effect on adherence. Besides, the propensity of detailing needle adhere harm was destitute that needs endeavors to progress. Progressing the culture of detailing and making the detailing handle simple is very necessary. In reality, announcing such wounds as early as conceivable will educate others not to commit same issue once more and, for the most part, will empower stakeholders to intercede the issue sometime prior to it re-occur. At long last, as distant as get up and go utilize has cleared out with so numerous bothers, risk decrease is the foremost choice. With this, taking the increased significance of protective barriers so as to decrease the hazard of exposure to HIV, distinctive stakeholders (the healing center hardware supply chain director, the HIV/ Helps clinic, the clinic chief, hardware and supply quality confirmation group, and other authoritative bodies) ought to work together in co-ordination to secure the supply and guarantee the quality of those crucial protective barriers and to advance demand health laborers to continuously wear protective barriers when exposed to HIV hazard components as well as to dispose appropriately once done. At long last, we prescribe future examiners to conduct planned multicenter studies with extra goals (counting indicator investigation) for way better generalization and result. In spite of satisfactory information and favorable state of mind towards PEP for HIV in most of the respondents, this study uncovered that there were delays in starting, low utilization, and fragmented use of the prescribed PEP. So, health care staff need to progress their practice on PEP of HIV through diverse training program related to PEP of HIV.Keywords: HIV infection, prophylaxis, knowledge, attitude
Procedia PDF Downloads 1863114 Mean Field Model Interaction for Computer and Communication Systems: Modeling and Analysis of Wireless Sensor Networks
Authors: Irina A. Gudkova, Yousra Demigha
Abstract:
Scientific research is moving more and more towards the study of complex systems in several areas of economics, biology physics, and computer science. In this paper, we will work on complex systems in communication networks, Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) that are considered as stochastic systems composed of interacting entities. The current advancements of the sensing in computing and communication systems is an investment ground for research in several tracks. A detailed presentation was made for the WSN, their use, modeling, different problems that can occur in their application and some solutions. The main goal of this work reintroduces the idea of mean field method since it is a powerful technique to solve this type of models especially systems that evolve according to a Continuous Time Markov Chain (CTMC). Modeling of a CTMC has been focused; we obtained a large system of interacting Continuous Time Markov Chain with population entities. The main idea was to work on one entity and replace the others with an average or effective interaction. In this context to make the solution easier, we consider a wireless sensor network as a multi-body problem and we reduce it to one body problem. The method was applied to a system of WSN modeled as a Markovian queue showing the results of the used technique.Keywords: Continuous-Time Markov Chain, Hidden Markov Chain, mean field method, Wireless sensor networks
Procedia PDF Downloads 1523113 Revolutionizing Autonomous Trucking Logistics with Customer Relationship Management Cloud
Authors: Sharda Kumari, Saiman Shetty
Abstract:
Autonomous trucking is just one of the numerous significant shifts impacting fleet management services. The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) has defined six levels of vehicle automation that have been adopted internationally, including by the United States Department of Transportation. On public highways in the United States, organizations are testing driverless vehicles with at least Level 4 automation which indicates that a human is present in the vehicle and can disable automation, which is usually done while the trucks are not engaged in highway driving. However, completely driverless vehicles are presently being tested in the state of California. While autonomous trucking can increase safety, decrease trucking costs, provide solutions to trucker shortages, and improve efficiencies, logistics, too, requires advancements to keep up with trucking innovations. Given that artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automated procedures enable people to do their duties in other sectors with fewer resources, CRM (Customer Relationship Management) can be applied to the autonomous trucking business to provide the same level of efficiency. In a society witnessing significant digital disruptions, fleet management is likewise being transformed by technology. Utilizing strategic alliances to enhance core services is an effective technique for capitalizing on innovations and delivering enhanced services. Utilizing analytics on CRM systems improves cost control of fuel strategy, fleet maintenance, driver behavior, route planning, road safety compliance, and capacity utilization. Integration of autonomous trucks with automated fleet management, yard/terminal management, and customer service is possible, thus having significant power to redraw the lines between the public and private spheres in autonomous trucking logistics.Keywords: autonomous vehicles, customer relationship management, customer experience, autonomous trucking, digital transformation
Procedia PDF Downloads 983112 A Mathematical Optimization Model for Locating and Fortifying Capacitated Warehouses under Risk of Failure
Authors: Tareq Oshan
Abstract:
Facility location and size decisions are important to any company because they affect profitability and success. However, warehouses are exposed to various risks of failure that affect their activity. This paper presents a mixed-integer non-linear mathematical model that can be used to determine optimal warehouse locations and sizes, which warehouses to fortify, and which branches should be assigned to specific warehouses when there is a risk of warehouse failure. Every branch is assigned to a fortified primary warehouse or a nonfortified primary warehouse and a fortified backup warehouse. The standard method and an introduced method, based on the average probabilities, for linearizing this mathematical model were used. A Canadian case study was used to demonstrate the developed mathematical model, followed by some sensitivity analysis.Keywords: supply chain network design, fortified warehouse, mixed-integer mathematical model, warehouse failure risk
Procedia PDF Downloads 2383111 Profitability Analysis of Investment in Oil Palm Value Chain in Osun State, Nigeria
Authors: Moyosooore A. Babalola, Ayodeji S. Ogunleye
Abstract:
The main focus of the study was to determine the profitability of investment in the Oil Palm value chain of Osun State, Nigeria in 2015. The specific objectives were to describe the socio-economic characteristics of Oil Palm investors (producers, processors and marketers), to determine the profitability of the investment to investors in the Oil Palm value chain, and to determine the factors affecting the profitability of the investment of the oil palm investors in Osun state. A sample of 100 respondents was selected in this cross-sectional survey. Multiple stage sampling procedure was used for data collection of producers and processors while purposive sampling was used for marketers. Data collected was analyzed using the following analytical tools: descriptive statistics, budgetary analysis and regression analysis. The results of the gross margin showed that the producers and processors were more profitable than the marketers in the oil palm value chain with their benefit-cost ratios as 1.93, 1.82 and 1.11 respectively. The multiple regression analysis showed that education and years of experience were significant among marketers and producers while age and years of experience had significant influence on the gross margin of processors. Based on these findings, improvement on the level of education of oil palm investors is recommended in order to address the relatively low access to post-primary education among the oil palm investors in Osun State. In addition to this, it is important that training be made available to oil palm investors. This will improve the quality of their years of experience, ensuring that it has a positive influence on their gross margin. Low access to credit among processors and producer could be corrected by making extension services available to them. Marketers would also greatly benefit from subsidized prices on oil palm products to increase their gross margin, as the huge percentage of their total cost comes from acquiring palm oil.Keywords: oil palm, profitability analysis, regression analysis, value chain
Procedia PDF Downloads 3543110 A Robust Optimization for Multi-Period Lost-Sales Inventory Control Problem
Authors: Shunichi Ohmori, Sirawadee Arunyanart, Kazuho Yoshimoto
Abstract:
We consider a periodic review inventory control problem of minimizing production cost, inventory cost, and lost-sales under demand uncertainty, in which product demands are not specified exactly and it is only known to belong to a given uncertainty set, yet the constraints must hold for possible values of the data from the uncertainty set. We propose a robust optimization formulation for obtaining lowest cost possible and guaranteeing the feasibility with respect to range of order quantity and inventory level under demand uncertainty. Our formulation is based on the adaptive robust counterpart, which suppose order quantity is affine function of past demands. We derive certainty equivalent problem via second-order cone programming, which gives 'not too pessimistic' worst-case.Keywords: robust optimization, inventory control, supply chain managment, second-order programming
Procedia PDF Downloads 4003109 Investigation into Micro-Grids with Renewable Energy Sources for Use as High Reliability Electrical Power Supply in a Nuclear Facility
Authors: Gerard R. Lekhema, Willie A Cronje, Ian Korir
Abstract:
The objective of this research work is to investigate the use of a micro-grid system to improve the reliability and availability of emergency electrical power in a nuclear facility. The nuclear facility is a safety-critical application that requires reliable electrical power for safe startup, operation and normal or emergency shutdown conditions. The majority of the nuclear facilities around the world utilize diesel generators as emergency power supply during loss of offsite power events. This study proposes the micro-grid system with distributed energy sources and energy storage systems for use as emergency power supply. The systems analyzed include renewable energy sources, decay heat recovery system and large scale energy storage system. The configuration of the micro-grid system is realized with guidelines of nuclear safety standards and requirements. The investigation results presented include performance analysis of the micro-grid system in terms of reliability and availability.Keywords: emergency power supply, micro-grid, nuclear facility, renewable energy sources
Procedia PDF Downloads 3853108 Investigating Perception of Iranian Organizations on Internet of Things Solutions and Applications
Authors: Changiz Valmohammadi
Abstract:
The main purpose of this study is to explore the perception of Iranian experts and executive managers of sample organizations on the benefits and barriers of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions implementation. Based on the review of the related literature and web sites, benefits and barriers of successful implementation to IoT solutions were identified. Through a self-administered questionnaire which was collected from 67 Iranian organizations the ranking and importance of benefits and barriers of IoT solutions implementation were determined based on the perception of the experts of the surveyed organizations. Analysis of data and the obtained results revealed that “improved customer experience” and “Supply chain optimization and responsiveness” are the most important benefits that the survey organizations expect to reap as a result of IoT solutions implementation. Also,” Integration challenges" and “cannot find right suppliers” were ranked as the most challenging barriers to IoT solutions implementation.Keywords: internet of things (IoT), exploratory study, benefits, barriers, Iran
Procedia PDF Downloads 509