This paper examines a change in business practices in the pharmaceutical manufacturer-to-distributor supply chain, a change that essentially forced pharmaceutical distributors to maintain lower inventories. This change also provided pharmaceutical manufacturers with information about distributor customer demand and inventories that had previously been withheld from them. Supply chain theory and...

Prior studies have examined diversity in information technology (IT), but few have tried to separate factors that specifically influence perceptions of IT work based on diversity. In this study, we analyzed these perceptions in relation to diversity, along with distinguishing factors influencing the choice of IT as a career. We administered the Diversity Perceptions Inventory (DPI) to a group o...

In this paper we present a finite horizon single product single machine production problem. Demand rate and all the cost patterns do not change over time. However, end of horizon effects may require production rate adjustments at the beginning of each cycle. It is found that no such adjustments are required. The machine should be operated either at minimum speed (i.e. production rate = demand r...

In this paper we present the experience of a lean implementation in a Hospital. It all steamed out from a need to cut cost, and the focus on inventory reduction. The methodology adopted and the peculiarities of an implementation in a hospital are presented. A strong reduction in inventory has been achieved but, more important, broken processes which lead to excessive inventories have been ident...

This paper presents an allocation model for a perishable product, distributed from a regional center to a given set of locations with random demands. We consider the combined problem of allocating the available inventory at the center while deciding how these deliveries should be performed. Two types of delivery patterns are analyzed; the first pattern assumes that all demand points receive ind...

For many manufacturing companies, after-sales service is an increasingly important part of the business and is more complex than manufacturing products. Unlike products it is not possible to produce services in advance and inventory these for future consumption. Instead an unpredictable event such as a machine failure triggers a need for manufacturing of parts for replacement and allocation of ...

This case captures inventory management process in an Indian convenience store. Unlike retail stores in developed countries, Indian convenience stores are a special format of organized retailing, where retailers open multiple smaller stores in a town instead of one big centralised store. An excellent inventory management process is the key to make such stores perform well. This case describes i...

The level of hardwood utilisation for house building was evaluated in a rural community of Maputaland, KwaZuluNatal, South Africa. A full inventory of 42 households in that community was conducted, followed by a questionnaire survey coupled with a partial inventory of the same households. It was expected that the questionnaire design would be greatly improved by the prior survey, and that simil...