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31 October 2013, Volume 16 Issue 5 Previous Issue    Next Issue

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Response Optimization for Coal Mine Water Disasters Based on Rough Set Wang Jin-feng, Yang Li-feng, Feng Li-jie 2013, 16 (5):  1-5.  Abstract ( 1439 )   Save The key factors that affect coal mine water disaster response are identified by using the principles and methods of rough sets. To optimize the response system, the theory of fuzzy comprehensive evaluation is used to assess the emergency response capability of the non-optimized and the optimized coal mine water disaster response system. The results show that emergency response capability of the optimized coal mine water disaster response system has been significantly improved and the threat posed by water disasters on coal mine safe production is effectively reduced. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Association Rules-Based Risk Analysis of ERP Implementation by Using Risk Preference of Team Members Chen Fu-ji， Jiang Fang 2013, 16 (5):  6-12.  Abstract ( 1392 )   Save It is well-known that the failure rate in implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) is high. Thus, a study is conducted on how to decrease the failure rate. To do so, a method is proposed to analyze the risk in ERP implementation by data mining based on risk preference of team members. With the proposed method, it considers the opinions of ERP team members and quantifies them. To do so, it introduces comprehensive evaluation mean into the target and rule layer in the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) structure. Then, attribute reduction is done by using rough set. Association rules among the risk attributes can be acquired by using association rule algorithm. By the proposed method, the success rate of ERP implementation can be effectively enhanced.   References | Related Articles | Metrics

Reverse Supply Chain Decision Making under Government Regulation and Storage Capacity Constraint Ye Feng, Dai Jun-suo 2013, 16 (5):  13-20.  Abstract ( 1493 )   Save A reverse supply chain composed of a manufacturer and a recycler is discussed in this paper. Such a supply chain can operate in two modes: 1) the manufacturer owns storage facilities and has the right to release them; and 2) the recycler owns storage facilities and has the right to release them. The question is that under which mode the profit of the whole supply chain can be maximized. To answer this question, a twolevel gametheoretic model is developed under both modes with government environmental regulation and subsidy taken into account. With the model, numerical simulation is carried out. Results show that when there are environmental regulation and constant subsidy from a government, and facilities should be rented for waste product storage, Mode 2) is better than Mode 1). However, when there is no government environmental regulation, Mode 1) is better than Mode 2).  References | Related Articles | Metrics

Research on Information Sharing in Supply Chain with Dual-Channel under Bargaining Power He Bin-bin， Liu Qin， Lü Zheng-chao 2013, 16 (5):  21-25.  Abstract ( 1793 )   Save Based on the Stackelberg master-slave game theory and by using dynamic game with incomplete information, a decision model for a supply chain with dual-channel is established. With the model, the bayesian equilibrium of price and profit is obtained. By sensitivity analysis for key parameters, it is found that the market risk and demand prediction accuracy of retailers have a significant influence on the retailers'decision for information sharing. The study shows that, the higher the market risk and prediction accuracy are, the more a retailer is willing to share information with others. Also, the obtained results reveal the relationship between manufacturer's bargaining power and retailer's information sharing choice. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Coordination of a Cash-Constrained Supply Chain with Supplier-Warrant Contract Chen Xiao-xu1,2， Sun Hai-lei1,2, Zhu Long-tao1,2 2013, 16 (5):  26-31.  Abstract ( 1474 )   Save Loaning from banks is one of ways for many enterprises to obtain financial support for investment. A research is conducted for a two-level supply chain composed of a supplier and a cash-constrained retailer under uncertain demands. The retailer is cast as a newsvendor who faces financial constraint and needs to borrow money from a bank. For such a supply chain, the traditional contracts such as revenue-sharing and buyback are not suitable. Thus, a new coordination contract called supplier-warrant contract is proposed. Under such a contract, decision-making behavior of the supplier, the cashconstrained newsvendor, and the bank is analyzed. Results show that, with such a contract, the newsvendor's optimal ordering quantity can be increased. A numerical study is used to show how the parameters affect the retailer's optimal ordering quantity and the profits of members in the supply chain and the whole system.  References | Related Articles | Metrics

Research on the Inventory Competition and Coordination of Supply Chain Network with 2-n-Structure Xu Bing, Xiong Yong 2013, 16 (5):  32-38.  Abstract ( 1316 )   Save Study the inventory competition among n-retailers selling the homogeneous brand products of 2 manufacturers under the stochastic inventory-dependent demand.  The EPEC (equilibrium problem with equilibrium constrains) model for agentprofit-maximization, Nash equilibrium model for brand-profit-maximization and Nash equilibrium model for channel-profitmaximization are set up, together with their solving process, by using the equilibrium analysis method. It shows that the order-quantity of agent-profit-maximization is lowest, so that the profits of each brand and each channel under agent-profit-maximization mode are lower than those under brand-profit-maximization mode and channel-profit-maximization mode respectively. Two buy-back contracts are put forward. The order-quantities under agent-profit-maximization mode with two contracts are as same as those under brand-profit-maximization mode and channel-profit-maximization mode respectively. Finally, a numerical simulation analyzes the reasonability of models and validity of contracts. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Multi-Task Principal-Agent Incentive Mechanism based on SCF Xin Yu-hong, Li Xiao-li 2013, 16 (5):  39-44.  Abstract ( 1346 )   Save Based on supply chain finance (SCF), the linear incentive between supplier and retailer is studied from the perspective of multi-task principalagency theory. Effects of different parameters on the stimulation intensity and the expected income of the manufacturer are analyzed in different information circumstances. Also, the optimal level of effort at which the receivable business of SCF can run normally under different information conditions is discussed. It is found that, with symmetric information, by reasonable linear incentive scheme, the manufacturer is able to enable the supplier to reach the optimal level of effort. With asymmetric information, the expected income of manufacturer is proportional to the influence of supplier efforts to it. At the same time, the expected income of manufacturer also has a negative correlation with supplier cost coefficient and risk aversion. In addition, there is a negative correlation with the incentive share and supplier risk aversion.   References | Related Articles | Metrics

Recycling and Pricing Coordination of Closed-Loop Supply-Chain with Hybrid Channels Li Wei1, Kong Zao-jie1, Xiao Mei-dan2 2013, 16 (5):  45-52.  Abstract ( 1721 )   Save A closed-loop supply chain with selling and recycling through hybrid channels is discussed in this paper. For such a supply chain, there are three hybrid used product recollecting modes: 1) recollection by both manufacturers and retailers; 2) recollection by both manufacturers and a third party; and 3) recollection by both retailers and a third party. Game theoretic models for pricing decision are developed for different recollecting modes under centralized and decentralized decision-making, respectively. With these models, the advantage and disadvantage of different recycling modes are analyzed. Then, the closed-loop supply chain coordination problems with different recycling modes are discussed by using a two-part pricing contract. An example is given to show the influence of different modes on the supply chain profit. Result shows that there is a recycling price differential sensitivity threshold, and Modes 1) and 2) are the best choice when the sensitivity of recycling price is greater than the critical value. Otherwise, Mode 3) is the entrusted one. Also, chain coordination in dispersion decisions can be realized by two-part pricing contract.  References | Related Articles | Metrics

Multi-Objective Optimization of Closed-Loop Logistics 'Network with Facility Expansion Tu Nan, Chang Liu-feng, Mehrdad Mehrbod, Dai Wen-jing 2013, 16 (5):  53-61.  Abstract ( 2167 )   Save With facility expansion, a multi-period, multi-product, multi-stage closed-loop logistics network model for used product collection and recycling is established. To minimize the total cost and maximize the responsiveness of the network, the location and allocation of the facilities in the network is implemented. A two-dimension array chromosome is adopted to represent the decision variables, and a two-stage procedure by using evolutionary and greedy algorithm is proposed to solve the multi-objective optimization problem. At last, a serial of numerical experiments is carried out to find the Pareto Solution Set and verify the proposed algorithm. Result shows that the performance of these two methods are nearly the same for small-scale problems, and the two-stage evolutionary algorithm is 10 times faster than CPLEX with a gap less than 8.24% when the scale of problems increases. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Modeling and Analysis of a Basic Production-Service System with 2-Class Customers Wang Tong-yi1, Jiang Zhi-bin2,3, Wang Kang-zhou1,3 2013, 16 (5):  62-67.  Abstract ( 1404 )   Save In this paper, a basic production-service system with 2-class customers is discussed. A Markov model is constructed to describe the system. Based on the model, the steady-state distribution is calculated. A searching algorithm is proposed to find the optimal basic stock level and service capacity threshold. By numerical analysis, it shows that, by improving basic stock level of the inventory, the queue length of high priority customer is dramatically decreased. Also, in order to get higher profit, additional service capacity should be open as early as possible, though the additional service cost is relatively high. To get more net profit, when customer arrival rate is greater than the production and service rate, the system should limit the arrival rate of high priority customer, or otherwise limit the arrival rate of low priority customer. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Analysis of Manufacturing System Implementing Postponement -Strategies with Service Modules Added Wu Zhi-hua1, Luo Jian-qiang1, Zhao Yan-ping1, Qin Jun-chang2 2013, 16 (5):  68-73.  Abstract ( 1361 )   Save Although service-oriented manufacturing has provided the basic implementation framework for the traditional manufacturing enterprises to transform into producer service enterprises. However, such a framework lacks the support of the mathematical model. Postponement is introduced into a model that is widely applied in manufacturing enterprise to solve the following problems: (1) the best service capacity in the condition of manufacturing capacity constraints; (2) the movement problem of postponement point in the condition of the maximum profit; and (3) the minimum price to compensate for service module. Results show that output reduction in the condition of demand increase does not mean profit loss, and manufacturing enterprises can increase profit by getting postponement upstream in the manufacturing chain or outsourcing non-core manufacturing in the downstream. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm for ResourceConstrained Project Scheduling Problem with Overlapping Relationship Guo Yun-tao, Song Hong-yan, Bai Si-jun 2013, 16 (5):  74-78.  Abstract ( 1634 )   Save With the overlapping relationship between tasks considered, a traditional resource-constrained project scheduling model is improved. Then, a resource-constrained project scheduling model based on design structure matrix (DSM) is built, and a particle swarm optimization algorithm is designed. An algorithm model to solve the DSM-based resource constrained project scheduling problem is presented with an example for verifying the validity of the proposed model. References | Related Articles | Metrics

A Research on Multicollinearity in Multidimensional System Optimization-Based on FDOD Measurement Han Ya-juan 2013, 16 (5):  79-84.  Abstract ( 7854 )   Save Due to the multicollinearity, it is difficult to accurately calculate the Mahalanobis distance, which is puzzling in multidimensional system analysis. Gram-Schmidt method and adjoint matrix method of MTS, put forward by Genichi Taguchi, are used to solve multicollinearity problems by improving Mahalanobis distance function. However, both of them have some insuperable defects. The function of degree of disagreement (FDOD) measurement, a method based on entropy, is adopted to measure the degree of abnormality of multidimensional observations instead of Mahalanobis distance function. Also, FDOD measurement and Taguchi method are integrated for multidimensional system optimization and dimension reduction, which thoroughly solve multicollinearity problems. Cases of Spanish banks in financial crisis are analyzed to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Optimal Design of Adaptive Control Charts Based on APL Wang Hai-yu 2013, 16 (5):  85-89.  Abstract ( 1617 )   Save An efficiency analysis is conducted and an optimal design method is proposed. Average product length (APL) is introduced as an efficiency evaluation criterion. A Markov chain approach for the calculation of APL of adaptive control chart is presented. Then, the application range is provided by comparing detection efficiency of adaptive control charts and standard Shewhart chart. At last, an optimal design procedure of adaptive control chart for different size of process mean shift is proposed. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Forecasting of Steel Demands by Using Support Vector -Machine and Immune Algorithm Yan Rui, Zhang Qun 2013, 16 (5):  90-95.  Abstract ( 1547 )   Save It is very important for the Iron and Steel industry to forecast the steel demands. In order to improve the forecasting accuracy, a method by using support vector machine combined with immune algorithm (IA-SVM) is proposed. By this method, to obtain an effective SVM model, the parameters in the SVM are optimized by using immune algorithm. In the parameter optimization, a new policy called group updating is introduced to improve its convergence speed and performance. With a data set of steel demands in China from 1990 to 2009, empirical analysis is carried out. Results show that the proposed IA-SVM is effective.  References | Related Articles | Metrics

Evolutionary Game Analysis of Chinese Enterprises'Outward Direct Investment Wang Juan1, Kong Yus-heng1, Jiang Xin-ying2 2013, 16 (5):  96-101.  Abstract ( 2009 )   Save Compared with China ODI scale and increment, the benefits from outward direct investment deserve more attention. Simulation by MATLAB on the basis of an evolutionary game model shows that if 70% state-owned enterprises (SOEs) engage in ODI, non-SOEs will follow suit irrespective of initial -amount of non-SOEs ODI. Whereas if 30% SOEs engage in ODI, non-SOEs will follow suit only when 40% non-SOEs implement initial ODI. And non-SOEs will not invest outward if initial non-SOEs ODI is less than 10%. The more revenues from outward investment, the more rapid adoption of ODI strategy is realized. If initially less than 40% enterprises invest outward and nonSOEs initial revenues from ODI -equal-extra cost, convergence is to no ODI. Finally, suggestions are put forward.     References | Related Articles | Metrics

Analysis of Relationship Between Incentive Factors and Technological- Innovation Ability in Equipment Manufacturing Enterprises in Guizhou Province Wang Ting1, Xue Fei1, Hu Hong-liang2 2013, 16 (5):  102-107.  Abstract ( 1417 )   Save In Guizhou Province, inadequate incentives in equipment manufacturing enterprises lead to the staff's serious inefficiency in innovation. To explore the relationship between incentive factors and elevation of technological innovation ability, an incentive model is constructed. To do so, methods, such as on-the-spot investigation, questionnaire, and SPSS software are applied for verification and analysis. Results show that the incentive factors are positively correlated to technological innovation ability. Measures for promoting technological innovation ability in equipment manufacturing enterprises are put forward. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Organizational  Support Strategy to New Generation of  Migrant Worker based on Reciprocity Theory Gan Wei-yu1，2, Liu Wei1 2013, 16 (5):  108-112.  Abstract ( 1353 )   Save Organizational support strategy is very important to improve the perceived organizational support of the new generation of migrant workers. This strategy also helps to stabilize the employment relationship between enterprises and migrant workers. According to social exchange and reciprocity theory, a two-stage sequential reciprocity model is constructed to reveal the mutual strategic choice between enterprises and migrant workers. The research shows that the new generation of migrant workers is more reciprocal to enterprise organizational support and has stronger desire to integrate into the urban and gets enterprise identity and career growth. The new generation of migrant workers is more willing to make higher level of effort because of perceived organizational support and bring in premium income. The share of premium income between the enterprise and workers can strengthen mutually beneficial relationship. References | Related Articles | Metrics

An Integrated Recovery Model for Aircraft and Passenger Flow Le Mei-long1, Li Xiao-lan2 2013, 16 (5):  113-119.  Abstract ( 1481 )   Save To effectively recover irregular flights, and reduce flight cancellation rate and recovery costs, on the basis of the separate aircraft recovery and passenger flow recovery, an integrated recovery optimization model is built. By this model, it combines the two recoveries, adds aircrew recovery, and minimizes the costs of aircraft, crew and passenger flow. In the model, aircraft assignment, passengers' itinerary assignment, time limits of flight, the assignment and time limits of aircrew, reserved crew are considered and the costs of the passenger flow are subdivided, including passenger delay cost, the cost of changing routes, and the cost of changing transportation. A domestic airline example with two kinds of aircraft disrupted conditions is presented to verify the correctness and validity of the integrated model. It is solved by using LINGO10.0 and it turns out that the recovery costs of the two scenarios are reduced by 33.462% and 2-103%, respectively, compared with the postponing solution in the small case. The recovery time of 100 flights is 5-13 min, the flight cancellation rate is 6%, and the passenger transportation changing rate is 3-17% in the medium case. References | Related Articles | Metrics

Surgical Operation Scheduling Optimization Under -Nurses- Actual Roster Constraints Xiang Wei1， Yin Jiao1，Chen Sai-feng2 2013, 16 (5):  120-124.  Abstract ( 1541 )   Save Surgical operation scheduling determines the start time of individual surgical operations and assigns the required resources to each surgical operation over a schedule period in considering several constraints related to a complete surgery flow and multiple resources involved. This task plays a decisive role in providing timely treatments for the patients while hospital resource utilization is balanced. To integrate the surgical operation scheduling problem with real-life nurse roster constraints, such as their role, specialty, qualification, and availability, a mathematical model is proposed and an ant colony optimization (ACO) approach is used to efficiently solve the problem. A two-layer nested ACO structure and relative pheromone updating strategy is designed. A test case from the literature of a daily nurse scheduling problem is presented and the performance of nurse assignments by the ACO is compared with the method used in the literature. Result shows that the proposed ACO can satisfy not only nurses'various constraints in operations research (OR) management, but also achieve good results in shortening the end time, reducing the nurse overtimes and balancing the resource utilization in general. References | Related Articles | Metrics

practice & application

Relationship among Perceived Quality, Customer Satisfaction and Customer Retention: An Empirical Research on Haidilao Restaurant Cheng Lijuan, Wang Jing 2013, 16 (5):  125-132.  Abstract ( 2194 )   Save The relationship among perceived quality, customer satisfaction and customer retention in the hot pot industry, especially in the Haidilao restaurant, is analyzed. Some prevailing research methodologies, such as questionnaire survey, structural equation model (SEM), factor analysis, and multiple regression analysis, are adopted. The main findings are: (1) both perceived service quality and perceived product quality positively influence customer satisfaction significantly; moreover, perceived service quality imposes greater impact on customer satisfaction than perceived product quality in the hot pot industry; (2) customer retention is significantly and directly influenced by perceived service quality and customer satisfaction, but there is no significantly direct effect between perceived product quality and customer retention; and (3) service empathy is the most vital dimension of perceived quality to influence customer satisfaction and customer retention, which is followed by service responsiveness and assurance, special products, service tangibles, and general products. The results can provide valuable reference for the whole catering industry or other service providers to enhance their perceived quality and customer satisfaction. References | Related Articles | Metrics

A Research on Knowledge Management of Construction Project Claims Yan Wenzhou, Du Junjie, Zhang Jianxiang 2013, 16 (5):  133-138.  Abstract ( 1367 )   Save In order to remedy nonstandardized description of the claim knowledge and inefficient retrieval of the claim cases, a claim knowledge matrix model is established to represent claim knowledge. In the matrix, the row elements are made up of characteristic attributes, and construction working procedures are the components of the column. Furthermore, based on the fuzzy subset nearness, the similarity between new construction projects and target case in a claim for property characteristics is calculated such that the fuzzy nearness collection is obtained. Finally, an example is given to verify the effectiveness of the method, which offers a basis for knowledge management in construction project claims. References | Related Articles | Metrics