Search results for: Monte Carlo Markov chain
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 761

Search results for: Monte Carlo Markov chain

641 Recent Trends in Supply Chain Delivery Models

Authors: Alfred L. Guiffrida

Abstract:

A review of the literature on supply chain delivery models which use delivery windows to measure delivery performance is presented. The review herein serves to meet the following objectives: (i) provide a synthesis of previously published literature on supply chain delivery performance models, (ii) provide in one paper a consolidation of research that can serve as a single source to keep researchers up to date with the research developments in supply chain delivery models, and (iii) identify gaps in the modeling of supply chain delivery performance which could stimulate new research agendas.

Keywords: Delivery performance, Delivery window, Supply chain delivery models, Supply chain performance.

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640 Scaling up Potato Economic Opportunities: Evaluation of Youths Participation in Potato Value Chain in Nigeria

Authors: Chigozirim N. Onwusiribe, Jude A. Mbanasor

Abstract:

The potato value chain when harnessed can engage numerous youths and aid in the fight against poverty, malnutrition and unemployment. This study seeks to evaluate the level of youth participation in the potato value chain in Nigeria. Specifically, this study will examine the extent of youth participation in potato value chain, analyze the cost, benefits and sustainability of youth participation in the potato value chain, identify the factors that can propel or hinder youth participation in the potato value chain and make recommendations that will result in the increase in youth employment in the potato value chain. This study was conducted in the North Central and South East geopolitical zones of Nigeria. A multi stage sampling procedure was used to select 540 youths from the study areas. Focused group discussions and survey approach was used to elicit the required data. The data were analyzed using statistical and econometric tools. The study revealed that the potato value chain is very profitable.

Keywords: Potato, youths, value, chain, participation.

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639 Application of Smooth Ergodic Hidden Markov Model in Text to Speech Systems

Authors: Armin Ghayoori, Faramarz Hendessi, Asrar Sheikh

Abstract:

In developing a text-to-speech system, it is well known that the accuracy of information extracted from a text is crucial to produce high quality synthesized speech. In this paper, a new scheme for converting text into its equivalent phonetic spelling is introduced and developed. This method is applicable to many applications in text to speech converting systems and has many advantages over other methods. The proposed method can also complement the other methods with a purpose of improving their performance. The proposed method is a probabilistic model and is based on Smooth Ergodic Hidden Markov Model. This model can be considered as an extension to HMM. The proposed method is applied to Persian language and its accuracy in converting text to speech phonetics is evaluated using simulations.

Keywords: Hidden Markov Models, text, synthesis.

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638 Integration of Inter-Organisational Learning with Supply Chain Management: A Literature Review

Authors: Masimuddin Mohd Khaled

Abstract:

This paper subsidises to the discussion of inter-organisational learning. This study has a main aim which is to examine the inter-organisational learning from a supply chain perspective. The integration and importance of supply chain with inter-organisational learning till date is discussed. The steps that are involved in the consideration of inter-organisational learning are looked throughout with emphasis done to supply chain management. The paper studies the impact of absorptive capacity, the supply chain orientation and design as well as discusses on fostering the inter-organisational learning.

Keywords: Absorptive Capacity, Inter-organisational Learning, Supply Chain Management, supply chain orientation.

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637 Quality Monitoring and Dynamic Pricing in Cold Chain Management

Authors: Myo Min Aung, Yoon Seok Chang, Woo Ram Kim

Abstract:

This paper presents a cold chain monitoring system which focuses on assessment of quality and dynamic pricing information about food in cold chain. Cold chain is composed of many actors and stages; however it can be seen as a single entity since a breakdown in temperature control at any stage can impact the final quality of the product. In a cold chain, the shelf life, quality, and safety of perishable food throughout the supply chain is greatly impacted by environmental factors especially temperature. In this paper, a prototype application is implemented to retrieve timetemperature history, the current quality and the dynamic price setting according to changing quality impacted by temperature fluctuations in real-time.

Keywords: Cold chain, monitoring, quality, temperature, traceability.

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636 An Optimal Bayesian Maintenance Policy for a Partially Observable System Subject to Two Failure Modes

Authors: Akram Khaleghei Ghosheh Balagh, Viliam Makis, Leila Jafari

Abstract:

In this paper, we present a new maintenance model for a partially observable system subject to two failure modes, namely a catastrophic failure and a failure due to the system degradation. The system is subject to condition monitoring and the degradation process is described by a hidden Markov model. A cost-optimal Bayesian control policy is developed for maintaining the system. The control problem is formulated in the semi-Markov decision process framework. An effective computational algorithm is developed, illustrated by a numerical example.

Keywords: Partially observable system, hidden Markov model, competing risks, multivariate Bayesian control.

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635 Investigating Relationship between Product Features and Supply Chain Integration

Authors: Saied Rasul Hosseini Baharanchi

Abstract:

This paper addresses integration issues in supply chain, and tries to investigate how different aspects of integration are linked with some product features. Integration in this study is interpreted as "internal", "upstream" (supply), and "downstream" (demand). Two features of product innovative and quality are considered. To examine the relationships between supply chain integrations – as mentioned above, and product features, this research follows the survey method in automotive industry.The results imply that supply chain upstream integration has a higher impact on product quality, comparing to internal and supply chain downstream integrations. It is also found that the influence of supply chain downstream integration on product innovation is greater than other variables. In brief, this study mainly tackles the importance of specific level of supply chain integrations and its effects on two product features.

Keywords: Supply chain upstream integration, supply chaindownstream integration, internal integration, product features

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634 Futures Trading: Design of a Strategy

Authors: Jan Zeman

Abstract:

The paper describes the futures trading and aims to design the speculators trading strategy. The problem is formulated as the decision making task and such as is solved. The solution of the task leads to complex mathematical problems and the approximations of the decision making is demanded. Two kind of approximation are used in the paper: Monte Carlo for the multi-step prediction and iteration spread in time for the optimization. The solution is applied to the real-market data and the results of the off-line experiments are presented.

Keywords: futures trading, decision making

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633 A Conceptual Framework for Supply Chain Competitiveness

Authors: Ajay Verma, Nitin Seth

Abstract:

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of the concept of competitiveness in the supply chain and to present a conceptual framework for Supply Chain Competitiveness (SCC). The framework is based on supply chain activities, which are inputs, necessary for SCC and the benefits which are the outputs of SCC. A literature review is conducted on key supply chain competitiveness issues, its determinants, its various dimensions followed by exploration for SCC. Based on the insights gained, a conceptual framework for SCC is presented based on activities for SCC, SCC environment and outcomes of SCC. The information flow in the conceptual framework is bi-directional at all levels and the activities are interrelated in a global competitive environment. The activities include the activities of suppliers, manufacturers and distributors, giving more emphasis on manufacturers- activities. Further, implications of various factors such as economic, politicolegal, technical, socio-cultural, competition, demographic etc. are also highlighted. The SCC framework is an attempt to cover the relatively less explored area of supply chain competitiveness. It is expected that this work will further motivate researchers, academicians and practitioners to work in this area and offers conceptual help in providing a directions for supply chain competitiveness which leads to improvement in the supply chain and supply chain performance.

Keywords: Competitive advantage, supply chain, SCC, supplychain management.

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632 An Integrated Supply Chain Management to Manufacturing Industries

Authors: Kittipong Tissayakorn, Fumio Akagi, Yu Song

Abstract:

Manufacturers have been exploring innovative strategies to achieve and sustain competitive advantages as they face a new era of intensive global competition. Such strategy is known as Supply Chain Management (SCM), which has gained a tremendous amount of attention from both researchers and practitioners over the last decade. Supply chain management (SCM) is considered as the most popular operating strategy for improving organizational competitiveness in the twenty-first century. It has attracted a lot of attention recently due to its role involving all of the activities in industrial organizations, ranging from raw material procurement to final product delivery to customers. Well-designed supply chain systems can substantially improve efficiency and product quality, and eventually enhance customer satisfaction and profitability. In this paper, a manufacturing engineering perspective on supply chain integration is presented. Research issues discussed include the product and process design for the supply chain, design evaluation of manufacturing in the supply chain, agent-based techniques for supply chain integration, intelligent information for sharing across the supply chain, and a development of standards for product, process, and production data exchange to facilitate electronic commerce. The objective is to provide guidelines and references for manufacturing engineers and researchers interested in supply chain integration.

Keywords: Supply Chain, Supply Chain Management, Supply Chain Integration, Manufacturing Industries.

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631 Simulation of a Sustainable Cement Supply Chain; Proposal Model Review

Authors: Tarek Elhasia, Bernd Noche, Lima Zhao

Abstract:

In recent years, sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) has been widely researched in academic domain. However, due to the traditional operational role and the complexity of supply chain management in the cement industry, a relatively small amount of research has been conducted on cement supply chain simulation integrated with sustainability criteria. This paper analyses the cement supply chain operations using the Push-Pull supply chain frameworks, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology; and proposal integration approach, proposes three supply chain scenarios based on Make-To-Stock (MTS), Pack-To-Order (PTO) and Grind- To-Order (GTO) strategies. A Discrete-Event Simulation (DES) model of SSCM is constructed using Arena software to implement the three-target scenarios. We conclude with the simulation results that (GTO) is the optimal supply chain strategy that demonstrates the best economic, ecological and social performance in the cement industry.

Keywords: Cement industry, simulation, supply chain management (SCM), sustainability.

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630 Mathematical Approach towards Fault Detection and Isolation of Linear Dynamical Systems

Authors: V.Manikandan, N.Devarajan

Abstract:

The main objective of this work is to provide a fault detection and isolation based on Markov parameters for residual generation and a neural network for fault classification. The diagnostic approach is accomplished in two steps: In step 1, the system is identified using a series of input / output variables through an identification algorithm. In step 2, the fault is diagnosed comparing the Markov parameters of faulty and non faulty systems. The Artificial Neural Network is trained using predetermined faulty conditions serves to classify the unknown fault. In step 1, the identification is done by first formulating a Hankel matrix out of Input/ output variables and then decomposing the matrix via singular value decomposition technique. For identifying the system online sliding window approach is adopted wherein an open slit slides over a subset of 'n' input/output variables. The faults are introduced at arbitrary instances and the identification is carried out in online. Fault residues are extracted making a comparison of the first five Markov parameters of faulty and non faulty systems. The proposed diagnostic approach is illustrated on benchmark problems with encouraging results.

Keywords: Artificial neural network, Fault Diagnosis, Identification, Markov parameters.

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629 Comparing Interval Estimators for Reliability in a Dependent Set-up

Authors: Alessandro Barbiero

Abstract:

In this paper some procedures for building confidence intervals for the reliability in stress-strength models are discussed and empirically compared. The particular case of a bivariate normal setup is considered. The confidence intervals suggested are obtained employing approximations or asymptotic properties of maximum likelihood estimators. The coverage and the precision of these intervals are empirically checked through a simulation study. An application to real paired data is also provided.

Keywords: Approximate estimators, asymptotic theory, confidence interval, Monte Carlo simulations, stress-strength, variance estimation.

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628 On Adaptive Optimization of Filter Performance Based on Markov Representation for Output Prediction Error

Authors: Hong Son Hoang, Remy Baraille

Abstract:

This paper addresses the problem of how one can improve the performance of a non-optimal filter. First the theoretical question on dynamical representation for a given time correlated random process is studied. It will be demonstrated that for a wide class of random processes, having a canonical form, there exists a dynamical system equivalent in the sense that its output has the same covariance function. It is shown that the dynamical approach is more effective for simulating and estimating a Markov and non- Markovian random processes, computationally is less demanding, especially with increasing of the dimension of simulated processes. Numerical examples and estimation problems in low dimensional systems are given to illustrate the advantages of the approach. A very useful application of the proposed approach is shown for the problem of state estimation in very high dimensional systems. Here a modified filter for data assimilation in an oceanic numerical model is presented which is proved to be very efficient due to introducing a simple Markovian structure for the output prediction error process and adaptive tuning some parameters of the Markov equation.

Keywords: Statistical simulation, canonical form, dynamical system, Markov and non-Markovian processes, data assimilation.

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627 Reliability Levels of Reinforced Concrete Bridges Obtained by Mixing Approaches

Authors: Adrián D. García-Soto, Alejandro Hernández-Martínez, Jesús G. Valdés-Vázquez, Reyna A. Vizguerra-Alvarez

Abstract:

Reinforced concrete bridges designed by code are intended to achieve target reliability levels adequate for the geographical environment where the code is applicable. Several methods can be used to estimate such reliability levels. Many of them require the establishment of an explicit limit state function (LSF). When such LSF is not available as a close-form expression, the simulation techniques are often employed. The simulation methods are computing intensive and time consuming. Note that if the reliability of real bridges designed by code is of interest, numerical schemes, the finite element method (FEM) or computational mechanics could be required. In these cases, it can be quite difficult (or impossible) to establish a close-form of the LSF, and the simulation techniques may be necessary to compute reliability levels. To overcome the need for a large number of simulations when no explicit LSF is available, the point estimate method (PEM) could be considered as an alternative. It has the advantage that only the probabilistic moments of the random variables are required. However, in the PEM, fitting of the resulting moments of the LSF to a probability density function (PDF) is needed. In the present study, a very simple alternative which allows the assessment of the reliability levels when no explicit LSF is available and without the need of extensive simulations is employed. The alternative includes the use of the PEM, and its applicability is shown by assessing reliability levels of reinforced concrete bridges in Mexico when a numerical scheme is required. Comparisons with results by using the Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) technique are included. To overcome the problem of approximating the probabilistic moments from the PEM to a PDF, a well-known distribution is employed. The approach mixes the PEM and other classic reliability method (first order reliability method, FORM). The results in the present study are in good agreement whit those computed with the MCS. Therefore, the alternative of mixing the reliability methods is a very valuable option to determine reliability levels when no close form of the LSF is available, or if numerical schemes, the FEM or computational mechanics are employed.

Keywords: Structural reliability, reinforced concrete bridges, mixing approaches, point estimate method, Monte Carlo simulation.

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626 Systems with Queueing and their Simulation

Authors: Miloš Šeda, Pavel Ošmera, Jindřich Petrucha

Abstract:

In the queueing theory, it is assumed that customer arrivals correspond to a Poisson process and service time has the exponential distribution. Using these assumptions, the behaviour of the queueing system can be described by means of Markov chains and it is possible to derive the characteristics of the system. In the paper, these theoretical approaches are presented on several types of systems and it is also shown how to compute the characteristics in a situation when these assumptions are not satisfied

Keywords: Queueing theory, Poisson process, Markov chains.

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625 Average Switching Thresholds and Average Throughput for Adaptive Modulation using Markov Model

Authors: Essam S. Altubaishi

Abstract:

The motivation for adaptive modulation and coding is to adjust the method of transmission to ensure that the maximum efficiency is achieved over the link at all times. The receiver estimates the channel quality and reports it back to the transmitter. The transmitter then maps the reported quality into a link mode. This mapping however, is not a one-to-one mapping. In this paper we investigate a method for selecting the proper modulation scheme. This method can dynamically adapt the mapping of the Signal-to- Noise Ratio (SNR) into a link mode. It enables the use of the right modulation scheme irrespective of changes in the channel conditions by incorporating errors in the received data. We propose a Markov model for this method, and use it to derive the average switching thresholds and the average throughput. We show that the average throughput of this method outperforms the conventional threshold method.

Keywords: Adaptive modulation and coding, CDMA, Markov model.

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624 A Strategy Based View of Supply Chain Competitiveness

Authors: Ajay Verma, Nitin Seth

Abstract:

In this era of competitiveness, there is a growing need for supply chains also to become competitive enough to handle pressures like varying customer’s expectations, low cost high quality products to be delivered at the minimum time and the most important is throat cutting competition at world wide scale. In the recent years, supply chain competitiveness has been, therefore, accepted as one of the most important philosophies in the supply chain literature. Various researchers and practitioners have tried to identify and implement strategies in supply chains which can bring competitiveness in the supply chains i.e. supply chain competitiveness. The purpose of this paper is to suggest select strategies for supply chain competitiveness in the Indian manufacturing sector using an integrated approach of literature review and exploratory interviews with eminent professionals from the supply chain area in various industries, academia and research. The aim of the paper is to highlight the important area of competitiveness in the supply chain and to suggest recommendations to the industry and managers of manufacturing sector.

Keywords: Competitiveness, Supply Chain Competitiveness, Collaboration, Coordination, Cooperation.

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623 Key Strategies for a Competitive Supply Chain

Authors: Ajay Verma, Nitin Seth

Abstract:

In this era of competitiveness, there is a growing need for supply chains also to become competitive enough to handle pressures like varying customer’s expectations, low cost high quality products to be delivered at the minimum time and the most important is throat cutting competition at world wide scale. In the recent years, supply chain competitiveness has been, therefore, accepted as one of the most important philosophies in the supply chain literature and researchers have tried to identify variables of supply chain competitiveness. This paper highlights some of the concepts of supply chain competitiveness and tries to identify select variables on the basis of literature review. Further, the paper tries to highlight the importance of the identified variables in the achievement of supply chain competitiveness. The aim is to explore the concept and to motivate researchers to further investigate the unexplored areas of this important subject domain.

Keywords: Supply Chain Competitiveness, Demand Management, Integration, Inventory Management, Flexibility, Information Technology.

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622 The Effect of IT Service Quality Attributes on Supply Chain Management and Performance

Authors: Narasimhaiah Gorla, Annibal Scavarda

Abstract:

Nowadays, where most of the leading economies are service oriented and e-business is being widely used for their management, supply chain management has become one of the most studied and practiced fields. Quality has an important role on today-s business processes, so it is important to understand the impact of IT service quality on the performance of supply chains. This paper will start by analyzing the Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) model and each of its five activities: Plan, Source, Make, Delivery, and Return. This article proposes a framework for analyzing Effect of IT Service Quality on Supply Chain Performance. Using the proposed framework, hypotheses are framed for the direct effect of IT service quality on Supply Chain Performance and its indirect effect through effective Supply Chain Management. The framework will be validated empirically based on the surveys of executives of various organizations and statistical analyses of the data collected.

Keywords: IT service quality, SCOR model, Supply Chain Management, Supply Chain Performance

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621 Exploring the Activity Fabric of an Intelligent Environment with Hierarchical Hidden Markov Theory

Authors: Chiung-Hui Chen

Abstract:

The Internet of Things (IoT) was designed for widespread convenience. With the smart tag and the sensing network, a large quantity of dynamic information is immediately presented in the IoT. Through the internal communication and interaction, meaningful objects provide real-time services for users. Therefore, the service with appropriate decision-making has become an essential issue. Based on the science of human behavior, this study employed the environment model to record the time sequences and locations of different behaviors and adopted the probability module of the hierarchical Hidden Markov Model for the inference. The statistical analysis was conducted to achieve the following objectives: First, define user behaviors and predict the user behavior routes with the environment model to analyze user purposes. Second, construct the hierarchical Hidden Markov Model according to the logic framework, and establish the sequential intensity among behaviors to get acquainted with the use and activity fabric of the intelligent environment. Third, establish the intensity of the relation between the probability of objects’ being used and the objects. The indicator can describe the possible limitations of the mechanism. As the process is recorded in the information of the system created in this study, these data can be reused to adjust the procedure of intelligent design services.

Keywords: Behavior, big data, hierarchical Hidden Markov Model, intelligent object.

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620 Estimation of R= P [Y < X] for Two-parameter Burr Type XII Distribution

Authors: H.Panahi, S.Asadi

Abstract:

In this article, we consider the estimation of P[Y < X], when strength, X and stress, Y are two independent variables of Burr Type XII distribution. The MLE of the R based on one simple iterative procedure is obtained. Assuming that the common parameter is known, the maximum likelihood estimator, uniformly minimum variance unbiased estimator and Bayes estimator of P[Y < X] are discussed. The exact confidence interval of the R is also obtained. Monte Carlo simulations are performed to compare the different proposed methods.

Keywords: Stress-Strength model, Maximum likelihood estimator, Bayes estimator, Burr type XII distribution.

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619 Motion Parameter Estimation via Dopplerlet-Transform-Based Matched Field Processing

Authors: Hongyan Dai

Abstract:

This work presents a matched field processing (MFP) algorithm based on Dopplerlet transform for estimating the motion parameters of a sound source moving along a straight line and with a constant speed by using a piecewise strategy, which can significantly reduce the computational burden. Monte Carlo simulation results and an experimental result are presented to verify the effectiveness of the algorithm advocated.

Keywords: matched field processing; Dopplerlet transform; motion parameter estimation; piecewise strategy

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618 IT System in the Food Supply Chain Safety: Application in SMEs Sector

Authors: Mohsen Shirani, Micaela Demichela

Abstract:

Food supply chain is one of the most complex supply chain networks due to its perishable nature and customer oriented products, and food safety is the major concern for this industry. IT system could help to minimize the production and consumption of unsafe food by controlling and monitoring the entire system. However, there have been many issues in adoption of IT system in this industry specifically within SMEs sector. With this regard, this study presents a novel approach to use IT and tractability systems in the food supply chain, using application of RFID and central database.

Keywords: Food Supply Chain, IT System, Food Safety, SME.

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617 The Impact of Supply Chain Strategy and Integration on Supply Chain Performance: Supply Chain Vulnerability as a Moderator

Authors: Yi-Chun Kuo, Jo-Chieh Lin

Abstract:

The objective of a supply chain strategy is to reduce waste and increase efficiency to attain cost benefits, and to guarantee supply chain flexibility when facing the ever-changing market environment in order to meet customer requirements. Strategy implementation aims to fulfill common goals and attain benefits by integrating upstream and downstream enterprises, sharing information, conducting common planning, and taking part in decision making, so as to enhance the overall performance of the supply chain. With the rise of outsourcing and globalization, the increasing dependence on suppliers and customers and the rapid development of information technology, the complexity and uncertainty of the supply chain have intensified, and supply chain vulnerability has surged, resulting in adverse effects on supply chain performance. Thus, this study aims to use supply chain vulnerability as a moderating variable and apply structural equation modeling (SEM) to determine the relationships among supply chain strategy, supply chain integration, and supply chain performance, as well as the moderating effect of supply chain vulnerability on supply chain performance. The data investigation of this study was questionnaires which were collected from the management level of enterprises in Taiwan and China, 149 questionnaires were received. The result of confirmatory factor analysis shows that the path coefficients of supply chain strategy on supply chain integration and supply chain performance are positive (0.497, t= 4.914; 0.748, t= 5.919), having a significantly positive effect. Supply chain integration is also significantly positively correlated to supply chain performance (0.192, t = 2.273). The moderating effects of supply chain vulnerability on supply chain strategy and supply chain integration to supply chain performance are significant (7.407; 4.687). In Taiwan, 97.73% of enterprises are small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) focusing on receiving original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and original design manufacturer (ODM) orders. In order to meet the needs of customers and to respond to market changes, these enterprises especially focus on supply chain flexibility and their integration with the upstream and downstream enterprises. According to the observation of this research, the effect of supply chain vulnerability on supply chain performance is significant, and so enterprises need to attach great importance to the management of supply chain risk and conduct risk analysis on their suppliers in order to formulate response strategies when facing emergency situations. At the same time, risk management is incorporated into the supply chain so as to reduce the effect of supply chain vulnerability on the overall supply chain performance.

Keywords: Supply chain integration, supply chain performance, supply chain vulnerability, structural equation modeling.

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616 Supply Chain Competitiveness: A Review of Select Enablers

Authors: Ajay Verma, Nitin Seth

Abstract:

In present days market environment, supply chains has to be competitive enough to handle pressures like varying customer’s expectations, low cost high quality products to be delivered at the minimum time and the most important is throat cutting competition at world wide scale. Recently, supply chain competitiveness has been, therefore, accepted as one of the most important philosophies in the supply chain literature. Various researchers and practitioners have tried to identify and implement enablers in supply chains which can bring competitiveness in the supply chains i.e. supply chain competitiveness. The purpose of this paper is to suggest select enablers for supply chain competitiveness in the Indian manufacturing sector using an integrated approach of literature review and exploratory interviews with eminent professionals from the supply chain area in various industries, academia and research. The aim of the paper is to highlight the important enablers in the area of supply chain competitiveness and suggest recommendations to the industry and managers of manufacturing supply chains with a view to encourage more efforts in this wider domain area.

Keywords: Supply Chain Competitiveness, Supply Chain Collaboration, Coordination, Quality Management, Cost.

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615 Discrete Wavelet Transform Decomposition Level Determination Exploiting Sparseness Measurement

Authors: Lei Lei, Chao Wang, Xin Liu

Abstract:

Discrete wavelet transform (DWT) has been widely adopted in biomedical signal processing for denoising, compression and so on. Choosing a suitable decomposition level (DL) in DWT is of paramount importance to its performance. In this paper, we propose to exploit sparseness of the transformed signals to determine the appropriate DL. Simulation results have shown that the sparseness of transformed signals after DWT increases with the increasing DLs. Additional Monte-Carlo simulation results have verified the effectiveness of sparseness measure in determining the DL.

Keywords: Sparseness, DWT, decomposition level, ECG.

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614 Probabilistic Life Cycle Assessment of the Nano Membrane Toilet

Authors: A. Anastasopoulou, A. Kolios, T. Somorin, A. Sowale, Y. Jiang, B. Fidalgo, A. Parker, L. Williams, M. Collins, E. J. McAdam, S. Tyrrel

Abstract:

Developing countries are nowadays confronted with great challenges related to domestic sanitation services in view of the imminent water scarcity. Contemporary sanitation technologies established in these countries are likely to pose health risks unless waste management standards are followed properly. This paper provides a solution to sustainable sanitation with the development of an innovative toilet system, called Nano Membrane Toilet (NMT), which has been developed by Cranfield University and sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The particular technology converts human faeces into energy through gasification and provides treated wastewater from urine through membrane filtration. In order to evaluate the environmental profile of the NMT system, a deterministic life cycle assessment (LCA) has been conducted in SimaPro software employing the Ecoinvent v3.3 database. The particular study has determined the most contributory factors to the environmental footprint of the NMT system. However, as sensitivity analysis has identified certain critical operating parameters for the robustness of the LCA results, adopting a stochastic approach to the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) will comprehensively capture the input data uncertainty and enhance the credibility of the LCA outcome. For that purpose, Monte Carlo simulations, in combination with an artificial neural network (ANN) model, have been conducted for the input parameters of raw material, produced electricity, NOX emissions, amount of ash and transportation of fertilizer. The given analysis has provided the distribution and the confidence intervals of the selected impact categories and, in turn, more credible conclusions are drawn on the respective LCIA (Life Cycle Impact Assessment) profile of NMT system. Last but not least, the specific study will also yield essential insights into the methodological framework that can be adopted in the environmental impact assessment of other complex engineering systems subject to a high level of input data uncertainty.

Keywords: Sanitation systems, nano membrane toilet, LCA, stochastic uncertainty analysis, Monte Carlo Simulations, artificial neural network.

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613 Some Applications of Transition Matrices via Eigen Values

Authors: Adil AL-Rammahi

Abstract:

In this short paper, new properties of transition matrix were introduced. Eigen values for small order transition matrices are calculated in flexible method. For benefit of these properties applications of these properties were studied in the solution of Markov's chain via steady state vector, and information theory via channel entropy. The implemented test examples were promised for usages.

Keywords: Eigen value problem, transition matrix, state vector, information theory.

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612 Statistical Analysis of First Order Plus Dead-time System using Operational Matrix

Authors: Pham Luu Trung Duong, Moonyong Lee

Abstract:

To increase precision and reliability of automatic control systems, we have to take into account of random factors affecting the control system. Thus, operational matrix technique is used for statistical analysis of first order plus time delay system with uniform random parameter. Examples with deterministic and stochastic disturbance are considered to demonstrate the validity of the method. Comparison with Monte Carlo method is made to show the computational effectiveness of the method.

Keywords: First order plus dead-time, Operational matrix, Statistical analysis, Walsh function.

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