Gregory V. Frazier

Future impacts of RFID on e‐supply chains in grocery retailing

Purpose – To place the research on radio frequency identification (RFID) usage in supply chains within a specific business and market context; in this case, the grocery industry.Design/methodology/approach – This paper considers RFID research within the context of the grocery industry and outlines the market drivers that affect the way the grocery industry approaches RFID and also specific areas of research on RFID that should be undertaken to better provide the grocery industry with managerial insights into this technologys application.Findings – Examining market drivers that are leading to RFID implementation in the grocery industry, this paper provides a theoretical framework for future applied research on RFID implementation. Specifically, it develops a research framework that includes research using modeling techniques, RFID implementation and the impact of RFID on daily operational issues.Research limitations/implications – This paper focuses on the market drivers for RFID implementation. While it ...

Outsourcing effects on firms' operational performance: An empirical study

Purpose – This research aims to empirically investigate the effect of outsourcing on firm level performance metrics, providing evidence about outsourcing influences on a firms cost‐efficiency, productivity and profitability.Design/methodology/approach – This study is concerned with empirically examining the impact of outsourcing on a firms performance. The results are based on a sample of 51 publicly traded firms that outsourced parts of their operations between 1990 and 2002. Publicly available accounting data are used to test for changes in operating performances that result from outsourcing decisions. Operating performances are examined over a four‐quarter period after the outsourcing announcement.Findings – This research provides evidence that outsourcing can improve a firms cost‐efficiency. While existing literature on outsourcing has also sought to draw anecdotal and conceptual evidence that highly visible companies have improved their productivity and profitability as well through outsourcing, t...

A simulated annealing approach to mixed-model sequencing with multiple objectives on a just-in-time line

Abstract This paper presents a Simulated Annealing based heuristic that simultaneously considers both setups and the stability of parts usage rates when sequencing jobs for production in a just-in-time environment. Varying the emphasis of these two conflicting objectives is explored. Several test problems are solved via the Simulated Annealing heuristic, and their objective function values are compared to solutions obtained via a Tabu Search approach from the literature. Comparison shows that the Simulated Annealing approach provides superior results to the Tabu Search approach. It is also found that the Simulated Annealing approach provides near-optimal solutions for smaller problems.

A heuristic for solving mixed-model line balancing problems with stochastic task durations and parallel stations

Abstract This paper describes an approach for solving a mixed-model assembly line-balancing problem with stochastic task times when paralleling of tasks within work centers is permitted. The research modifies previous work and incorporates new and existing task selection rules for assigning tasks to work centers. The heuristic is applied to six different line-balancing problems for each presented rule. The resulting layouts are simulated and performance results are analyzed. Through simulation, the research demonstrates how the presented heuristic can be used to solve complex line-balancing problems using different strategies, and these strategies can be evaluated across many performance dimensions.

RFID in the contemporary supply chain: multiple perspectives on its benefits and risks

Purpose – This paper aims to point to established theory bases from other disciplines that may be used to illustrate the benefits, complexities and risks accompanying the adoption of radio‐frequency identification (RFID) technology.Design/methodology/approach – Three theory streams are explored with respect to RFID adoption at two levels: the level of the tagged unit; and the level of the adopting firm. Each theory stream is evaluated specifically with respect to RFID, and research questions are proposed.Findings – A variety of theoretical disciplines bring to light tension between uncertainty that spurs RFID adoption and uncertainty that accompanies RFID adoption.Practical implications – Insights are provided for managers wrestling with: the question of whether and/or how to adopt RFID; or concerns regarding the implications of their decision to adopt RFID. In addition, the theory bases explored in this research offer guidance regarding risks that accompany RFID adoption but are not commonly considered.O...

China‐related POM research: a literature review and suggestions for future research

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the stream of China‐related POM research over 25 years (1980‐2005) to determine trends in quantity, topical coverage, research contribution, and data sources.Design/methodology/approach – From 31 POM‐relevant journals, 144 articles were identified and classified across the four parameters. The data was also segregated into three time periods to facilitate comparison and analysis. Descriptive statistics were then generated to identify trends.Findings – China‐related POM research has grown rapidly in the past 25 years. The topical coverage has expanded from an initial focus on strategy and policy issues to include quality, technology, and logistics management topics. The focus of articles has matured from a base of descriptive articles to include a growing emphasis on novel applications of POM techniques and new frameworks. Finally, the data sources tapped for the growing body of China‐related POM research has trended toward case studies and survey data.Orig...

Using genetic algorithms to solve the multi-product JIT sequencing problem with set-ups

This paper presents a methodology to solve the Just-in-Time (JIT) sequencing problem for multiple product scenarios when set-ups between products are required. Problems of this type are combinatorial, and complete enumeration of all possible solutions is computationally prohibitive. Therefore, Genetic Algorithms are often employed to find desirable, although not necessarily optimal, solutions. This research, through experimentation, shows that Genetic Algorithms provide formidable solutions to the multi-product JIT sequencing problem with set-ups. The results also compare favourably to those found using the search techniques of Tabu Search and Simulated Annealing.

An evaluation of group scheduling heuristics in a flow-line manufacturing cell

When a company adopts cellular manufacturing and creates a cell, one operational problem that must be addressed is how to schedule parts within the cell. Many studies have investigated scheduling rules in a cellular manufacturing environment. However, there has been little consensus on the best scheduling rule to use. To address this lack of consensus, this study evaluated the best scheduling rules from most of these studies in a flow-line cell. The impact of two environmental factors, setup to runtime ratio and number of part families, was also investigated. Out of the five best scheduling rules found, three of these had not been investigated in previous group scheduling studies. The scheduling rule that most often performed best was selecting the part family with the most waiting jobs and sequencing these jobs in shortest processing time order, a relatively simple rule. The more complex rules generally showed poorer performance.

Goal programming model for grocery shelf space allocation

Abstract The highly competitive grocery retail industry has annual sales of roughly half a trillion dollars in the US. While gross margins average about 28% of sales, net profits after taxes are only 1% industry-wide, causing retailers to continually search for operational improvements that increase profitability and improve customer service. One important decision that affects both of these goals is how to allocate shelf space to different products. This paper addresses the specific problem of how to allocate a fixed amount of shelf space to different products within a particular product category, such as pickles or jelly. A nonlinear integer goal programming formulation is proposed that considers both profitability and customer service factors. This decision support tool shows the tradeoffs between increased profitability and improved customer service, and allows the manager to make the best tradeoff for the situation. An alternate approach is also proposed.

Radio frequency identification: past, present and future business applications

Successful organisations never stand still – they always strive to improve their supply chain performance. Sometimes technology solutions allow for better supply chain management. One such technology has recently garnered great interest in supply chain circles: Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). Although RFID technology is not new, recent technological advances provide new capabilities for improving supply chain performance. This paper describes the history of RFID, its present use in supply chain management and future business applications.