In this paper, we consider a continuous review inventory system of a slow moving item for which the demand rate drops to a lower level at a pre-determined time. Inventory system is controlled according to one-for-one replenishment policy with fixed lead time. Adaptation to the lower demand rate...

In recent decades, the apparel industry has received substantial attention from both practitioners and from researchers. This interest has been fueled by the desire to shrink product lifecycles as well as by the increasing competition in the apparel industry due to globalization and...

Our goal in this paper is to explain the location of transactions (and contracts) in a larger system of production. We first characterize the system as a network of tasks and transfers. While transfers between agents are necessary and ubiquitous, the mundane transaction costos of standardizing,...

Our goal in this paper is to explain the location of transactions (and contracts) in a system of production. Systems of production are engineered systems, and where to place quot;transactionsquot; is one of the basic engineering problems that the designers of such systems face. We begin by...

Although it is generally agreed that companies are better off with shorter manufacturing lead times, investment in lead time reduction is often difficult to justify using traditional project valuation techniques such as net present value (NPV). In this article, we suggest that evaluating...

This paper generalizes Porter's notion of the value chain for the analysis of service industries. The generalization entails that the flow and the physical transformation and assembly of goods that are characteristic of manufacturing are generalized into flows and transformation of data and...

How does the stock market affect inventory decisions? The efficient markets view is that low stock price means poor fundamentals, a higher cost of capital, and lower inventory. Normatively, firms should obtain their cost of capital from an efficient markets model of stock prices. My study is...

While the need for, and the value of, Continuous Improvement (CI) Management in practice is well established; their successful implementation has proven problematic. Employee resistance, due to business cultural incompatibility, is considered a major cause. Unfortunately, current budgeting systems...

This article examines the impact of deployment of Total Quality Management (TQM) systems on the performance of a sample of 108 firms which began serious efforts to implement TQM between 1981 and 1991. The impact of the adoption of TQM is measured by comparing each firm's performance to that of a...

The paper focuses on evaluation of the few turn around strategies available with the Indian Railways to improve its operating ratio. The strategies examined are (a) choice of electric traction and the pace of electrification (b) improvement of utilization of network capacity (c) bench marking of...