Joy Bhadury

Radio frequency identification system optimisation models for lifecycle of a durable product

We address the implementation of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to support and manage durable products over their entire lifecycle with a focus on optimising the RFID tagging system. We develop general models that optimise the placement of RFID tags on an end product and its components, the allocation of the data on tags, and the selection of RFID tags and their configuration. The primary criteria for optimisation are to maximise the value of RFID data, and to minimise the total cost of the RFID tag system. The total cost of RFID tags comprises costs associated with memory capacity, tag type, software acquisition and maintenance, and number of tags used; the total value for a piece of data is determined by the data usage frequency and the fixed and variable value of data per use across the product lifecycle. The tag placement and data allocation model involves making a decision about these two different objectives–cost and value, which we develop in the form of a multi-objective optimisation problem. The tag selection model aids in the proper selection of RFID tags and their configuration for individual components for a given end product. Given a durable products characteristics along with its bill-of-materials, a system of RFID tags can efficiently be determined for the product and its components, to help manage and support its lifecycle.

Business coursework and the resource‐based view (RBV)

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine whether one can infer the identities of specific business and management coursework topics that owner/managers of wineries want to have addressed by a wine industry‐specific educational institution by assessing upstream and downstream vertical integration strategies of their respective wineries.Design/methodology/approach – Exploratory empirical research involves the gathering of relevant information by way of telephone interviews and using closed end questions. The theory of the resource‐based view (RBV) of the firm is the theoretical framework that was employed in developing relevant hypotheses.Findings – The results demonstrate that one can predict the types of business and management courses that owner/managers of wineries want to have offered by assessing realized upstream and/or downstream vertical integration strategies of their respective wineries.Originality/value – The research creates a bridge between research involving the RBV and the identif...

An Assessment of the Operating Characteristics of Farm Wineries, and Managerial Perspectives of Farm Winery Owners Who Use Distributors

Hypotheses that concern operating characteristics of farm wineries, and managerial perspectives of farm winery owners are developed and tested empirically. Key results focus on the tendency of farm winery owners who use distributors to abdicate key marketing functions, particularly that of brand management. Such abdication appears to debilitate the competitive position of such wineries, and sow the seeds of conflict between the wineries and their distributors.

Optimization Model For Distributed Routing For Disaster Area Logistics

The problem of transportation in a disaster area can be seen broadly as having two aspects: (a) moving people and materials out of an area, and (b) moving people and materiel into the same area. The common thread here is the use of a limited set of surface and air transportation gateways into and out of the area. The distributed routing problem here is that of assigning one from among the limited set of gateways to various transportation requests in real-time, while maximizing some measure of success for the entire relief mission. We define the general problem, provide an example of the real-time transportation routing problem, and propose an optimization model. The similarity of this problem to a job shop scheduling problem is presented pointing to the fact that a distributed approach based on bio-inspired methods can be developed to counter the large problem size and centralized nature of the integer multi-commodity network model. A small illustrative model of the integer multi-commodity network model is presented and solved

Voronoi Diagrams and Their Uses

Voronoi diagrams are a very simple geometrical construct with a large variety of applications. Simply put, the problem can be described as follows. Consider some d-dimensional space in which a number of given points (sometimes referred to as seeds, attractors, or generators) are located. To each seed we assign a set that includes all points that are closer to the seed it is assigned to than to any other seed. Such a set is called a Voronoi set. The collection of all Voronoi sets is then a Voronoi diagram. Voronoi diagrams can be constructed for a number of different metrics. Clearly, different metrics will lead to different measures of proximity that result in rather different Voronoi diagrams.