Browsing by Author "Ruthven, George A."

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    The application of design criteria for locating a hub configured supply chain for a restaurant cluster in the Stellenbosch area
    (AOSIS Publishing, 2013-06-25) Struwig, Claudia B.; Ruthven, George A.; Von Leipzig, Konrad
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Restaurants, in general, utilise numerous suppliers. Normally they deliver on different days in the week and at different times during the day, logistically not an optimum approach. Not only does the current practice cause frequent interruptions, but by segregating the food supply chain unnecessary traffic is generated. This article investigated the need for developing a third party supplier hub, the best positioning of that hub and the most economical routes to the customers. With the aim of providing non-franchised restaurants with the necessary leverage to become market leaders, the hub is planned to only service the restaurants within the vicinity of the Stellenbosch area. In such a hub-configured supply chain, the suppliers would be delivering to the proposed hub, from where once-off deliveries to all the restaurants may be made on days and/or times determined by them. In order to investigate the benefits of providing such a hub structure, a systematic implementation approach was used. The first step was to do market research in order to establish the need for such a hub. That is, the viability of the hub from a restaurant’s perspective was established. The next step entailed the investigation of the design criteria needed in determining a favourable hub location. Four possible hub locations were identified. The Clark and Wright’s savings algorithm was then used to determine the optimal hub location and the feasibility of the results was verified with the aid of a global positioning system (GPS) device. The last steps followed involved the determination of an effective hub floor plan that may be utilised, possible products that can be supplied to the restaurants and the necessary assets needed to provide the hub’s service. Finally, by incorporating all these facets, a cost analysis was done to determine the hub’s profitability.
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    The development of a performance measurement system for the South African container shipping industry
    (AOSIS Publishing, 2012-11-30) Hector, Taryn; Ruthven, George A.; Von Leipzig, Konrad
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Globalisation is dependent on efficient supply chains and a variety of transport systems. South Africa participates in the world’s economy with an extensive container shipping industry, as well as a road/rail/air distribution system. One of the aims of this research study was to develop a measurement system, or model, that may assist in measuring the performance of a container shipping service, from the time a ship arrives in the harbour, through the process in the container depot until the container arrives at the final customer for imports, and the other way round for exports. The objective was to develop a performance index that would assist management in assessing and/or improving the current system. It is a global phenomenon that inefficiencies cannot be eliminated by a single organisation; it requires the cooperation of all the parties in a supply chain.
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    An empirical supply chain measurement model for a national egg producer based on the supply chain operations reference model
    (AOSIS Publishing, 2013-10-14) Pretorius, Christian; Ruthven, George A.; Von Leipzig, Konrad
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The management of a supply chain is both an offensive and defensive weapon that organisations can use to increase their competitive edge and capture a larger share of the market. In management science and supply chain management, multi-criteria decision making techniques have been used to solve a range of real-world problems. The problem is that many, if not most, companies in South Africa either do not have the required skills to use these decision-making techniques to improve or re-configure their supply chain, or they do not have a complete data set with which to model it effectively. In order to manage supply chains effectively, organisations at the very least need feedback on the performance of their entire supply chain. In this article, generic supply chain performance measures were used and a theoretical or empirical model was developed for the performance measurement of a national egg producer’s supply chain. It focused on a managerial program for the identification and management of their supply chain with recommendations for applying a measurement model. The overall performance of the supply chain as well as the five different performance attributes was presented to management in a dashboard format. This article could be used as a basis for future studies of supply chain performance measurement and the model could be used as a foundation for developing an improved version, not only for the egg industry, but for other industries as well.
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    An investigation into and application of the 'economic value added' (EVA) measurement concept
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2000-12) Ruthven, George A.; Von Leipzig, Konrad; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Industrial Engineering.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The age old principle of earnings exceeding the cost of capital as a sound basis of wealth creation has been re-packaged and to a large extent, prominently revived, by the Stern Stewart Consultancy of New York in the form of EVA (economic value added). The most well know application of EVA for the past 10 years and subsequent success has been with the global company, Coca Cola. However, the widely debated capital asset pricing model - with no conclusion in site - is used as the basic principle in calculating EVA and therein lies one of its many weaknesses. All aspects of measurement is the foundation on which Industrial Engineering is based. This dissertation set out to evaluate this financial measurement and / or measure in terms of; a) an ability to replace any existing financial ratios b) an ability to measure wealth creation c) an ability to influence or improve on manufacturing systems such as JIT (Just-In- Time) or TOC (Theory of Constraints). d) an ability to focus on the productive use of capital and lastly e) an ability to point towards failure of a business when realising a low or negative EVA On a comparison with the traditional financial measurement techniques and ratios the EVA concept shows too strong a correlation to render it "unique" or able to replace EPS (earnings per share) as the single most important indicator in the financial markets. There is also the interesting phenomenon that industrial sectors vary significantly from country to country in their ability to earn over and above their cost of capital and that being the case in EVA terms, the question is raised whether those countries with negative EVA industrial sectors, should consider moving out of those businesses. The EVA calculations consist of reducing a company's annual earnings with its total weighted average cost of capital and a positive result is stated as a sign of "wealth creation" whereas a negative result points to the destruction of wealth. As will be seen in this dissertation, the EVA measure is healthy as to focussing on the "hurdle" effect of the cost of capital but that the world consists of many organisations with low or negative EVA that have been successfully doing business and producing profits for many years.
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    The study and design of a national supply chain for the aerospace titanium components manufacturing industry
    (AOSIS Publishing, 2012-11-30) Van der Merwe, Lene; Ruthven, George A.; Von Leipzig, Konrad
    Titanium’s strength-to-density ratio, corrosion resistance and high thermal compatibility makes it the perfect metal for aerospace. Titanium is for instance used for the structural airframe, seat tracks, engine components and landing gear of aircraft. The Boeing 787 that had its test flight in 2009 is one of the latest aircraft designs that incorporates a substantially higher percentage of parts manufactured from titanium due to the weight benefit. Titanium’s extensive use in aerospace applications ensures that the aerospace market is the main driver of titanium metal demand. South Africa is the second largest titanium producer in the world after Australia. The abundance of titanium in South Africa together with the growing demand has led it to be identified as a beneficiation priority in a collaborative government initiative, called Titanium Beneficiation Initiative (TBI). The purpose of this paper is to develop a supply chain model for the anticipated South African titanium component manufacturing industry.