Showing papers on "Procurement published in 1991"

Life-cycle cost and economic analysis

Abstract: Concepts and theory - system life-cycle concepts economic and cost concepts interest formulae and equivalence alternatives and decision-making decision evaluation theory methodology and applications life-cycle costing methodology estimating cost and economic elements evaluation errors in estimating life-cycle economic evaluations life-cycle optimization of alternatives life-cycle cost in program evaluation case studies communication system procurement repairable equipment system design.

Global Sourcing: A Development Approach

Abstract: The 1980s witnessed rapid competitive changes globally. As U.S. firms struggled to maintain world market share, they relied increasingly on international part sourcing to sustain competitiveness. As many U.S. firms became more experienced with international procurement, worldwide sourcing shifted from a reactive to a proactive strategy intended to provide a competitive advantage. This article analyzes the growth of international sourcing within the firm as a four-phase development process. It also presents a hierarchical progression of international to global sourcing strategies and the characteristics associated with each strategy.

Integrated design and operation of water treatment facilities

Abstract: Management of a Design Project. Preliminary Studies. Design of Basic Treatment Process Units. Subordinate Plant Facilities. Design of Plant Components. Elements of Detailed Designs. Specific Water Treatment Processes. Management of Procurement and Construction Phases. Operations and Maintenance Manual and Operator Training. Plant Startup and Follow-Up Services. Appendices. Index.

Objectives and performance in construction projects

Abstract: This paper considers the problems associated with the identification and use of project-related objectives held by a project-owning, client organization. It is argued that the evaluation of projects, contractors, professionals or procurement methods solely on the extent to which client objectives are achieved is problematic. Difficulties include setting objectives at an appropriate level, allowing for uncertainty and inter dependencies between objectives, and measuring the achievement of objectives. Proper evaluation and improvements in performance require an examination not just of project objectives but also of the processes involved in pursuing them.

Methods for parts procurement quantity determination where demand is uncertain for the product in which the parts are used

Abstract: Methods are described for predicting parts procurement requirements for products over a plurality of time periods, with certain of the parts being common to a plurality of products. The actual demand for the products is unknown, but the method assures that a specified service level is met for all products and minimizes expected excess part inventories. The methods are provided with inputs which, among others, includes lists of parts for each product, prices for the parts, and demand forecasts for each product in each time period, each forecast in the form of a mean and standard deviation. The description of the problem includes an objective function of minimizing expected excess inventory while satisfying the constraint that a specified service level be achieved. The problem is transformed into an unconstrained problem through the use of a Lagrange multiplier. The solution is achieved by performing a one parametric search on the value of the multiplier. The solution may achieve higher service levels than specified. Additional methods are described for improving the procurement decisions to more closely meet the service requirement.

Integrated design of water treatment facilities

Abstract: Management of a Design Project Preliminary Studies Design of Basic Treatment Process Units Subordinate Plant Facilities Design of Plant Components Elements of Detailed Design Specific Water Treatment Processes Management of Procurement and Construction Phases Operations and Maintenance Manual and Operator Training Plant Start-Up and Follow-Up Services Appendices Index.

Quality management in construction industry

Abstract: To address quality problems and their associated costs, the construction industry must pursue and implement innovative quality‐management organizations and techniques. This paper presents the findings of a research project conducted to identify attributes of effective quality‐management systems in the construction industry. The objectives were met through an extensive literature review and in‐depth interviews with 142 engineering, construction, quality, and procurement personnel from 19 owner and contractor firms involved in heavy industrial, manufacturing, and commercial construction. The emergence of total quality management (TQM) applications in the construction industry was a significant finding of the interviews. The results indicate that substantial improvements in meeting quality requirements can be achieved by the use of TQM in the construction industry. Implementation techniques and attributes of effective quality‐management systems were identified and categorized.

Multiple Source Procurement Competitions

Abstract: Relationships between buying and selling organizations in business markets are varied and complex. One important relationship is procurement, or the type of alliance that buyers form with sellers to fulfill their purchasing needs. Multiple sourcing is often proposed to prevent a variety of procurement problems. We develop a bidding model to investigate the effect of multiple sourcing on competitive behavior prior to supplier selection. The model treats the number of bidders (and the decision to bid) endogenously. This distinctive feature allows us to show that the distribution of the number of bids is not independent of the competition type. Most previous models have not considered this question at all. Although multiple sourcing does increase participation in a bidding competition, we show that it can lead to strategic pre-award price increases that can mitigate the effects of the advantages stressed by most previous analyses of post-award supplier management.

L'approvisionnement en matières premières dans les systemes de production lithique : la dimension spatiale de la technologie

Abstract: Raw material procurement and diffusion within lithic production systems as a means to determine space through technology. - Raw material procurement ineluctably constitutes the first stage on any processing sequence of lihic production. The most conspicuous advantage of the studies dealing with raw material procurement and spatial diffusion lies en their spatial implications which will partly condition the interpretation of the complementary datas as early as this first stage of the anafysis. Hence, it is interesting from a methodological point of view to integrate as early as possible these technological, economic and spatial datas to the other fields ones going to the pluridisciplinary interpretation of archaeological assemblages. Procurement cannot be considered without referrin to its various interconnections with the social and cultural system in which it is tightly interwoven. Consequently, the numerous functional interrelationships between the various subsystems of subsistence, technology and at last economy makes procurement analysis complex. First of all, procurement is systematically describe from the single point of view of subsistence and access to environmental resources in order to define raw material procurement and diffusion territories. Then, the discussion will turn to the economic and social implications deriving from the spatially structured technological behaviours that have been evidence and which concern raw material acquisition and consumption and can even reveal genuine strategies organised within the subsistence area. A short diachronic view of West Europe Paleolithic cases emphasizes the strict and very early adaptation of procurement consiraints to material susbsistence conditions by human groups during the Pleistocene.

Achieving Competitiveness Through Logistics

Abstract: Logistics management has always been concerned with lead‐times. In particular, the order‐to‐delivery cycle has been seen as a major element in the customer service process. However, companies are now increasingly coming to recognise that the way in which ‘time’ is managed throughout the logistics system ‐ from procurement of materials through to the receipt of payment for goods sold ‐ is a key determinant of competitive advantage. Not only is work‐in‐progress and inventory reduced through a shortening of total logistics lead‐time, but responsiveness and flexibility to market place requirements is dramatically enhanced.

Building procurement — Key to improved performance

Abstract: Professor Colin Davidson of the University of Montreal, as corresponding author and Rashid Mohsini of the School of Architecture and Planning, State University of New York in Buffalo, discuss the key to improved performance in building procurement and describe the investigations into the selection process.

Compulsory competitive tendering in local government: the first round

Abstract: This article presents the results of a survey of the initial impact of compulsory competitive tendering (CCT) under the Local Government Act 1988. After an outline of the provisions of the legislation and the mechanisms for their implementation the outcome of the first round of CCT is described. While most services have been retained in the public sector, a number of authorities have chosen to use private contractors. Differences in the patterns between different types of authority are examined. Finally, the paper considers the prospects for subsequent phases of CCT.

Competitive tendering for local authority services : initial experiences

Abstract: Aims, methods and summary findings the context of competition interpreting the Local Government Act 1988 preparing for competition nature of contracts letting contracts the client side contractor side organization and management client/contractor relations central services departments education personnel and industrial relations the financial effects of competition.

Design-build, Explained

Abstract: Definitions recent development of design-build forms of contract varieties of design-build procurement which form of procurement? employer's representation employer's consultants - terms of appointment contractor selection evaluation of tender proposals contractors' selection and appointment of consultants contractors' consultants' pre-contract services tendering contract documents - contractors' action contractors' consultants post-contract services valuation of changes value engineering and design-build collateral warranties.

An Optimization Model for Modernizing the Army's Helicopter Fleet

Abstract: The helicopter has grown in military stature for more than 40 years: its ascendancy has reformed the US Army. Unfortunately, the current army helicopter fleet consists predominantly of Vietnam-era aircraft approaching the end of their useful lives. We have captured complex procurement and modernization tasks in an optimization-based decision support system, christened PHOENIX, which recognizes yearly operating, maintenance, retirement, service-life extension, and new procurement costs while enforcing constraints on fleet age, technology mix, composition, and budgets over a multi-year planning horizon. The army has applied PHOENIX to helicopters with such success that it has already been adapted to tactical wheeled vehicles and is under consideration for further applications.

The Management of Urban Parks

Abstract: Early parks functions of parks legislation competitive tendering marketing risk management catering and recreation management children's playgrounds native plants and animals in parks Britain in Bloom demographic changes.

Decisions for Defense: Prospects for a New Order

Abstract: Kaufmann and Steinbruner take a close look at the most recent spending plan from the Pentagon, contending that the potential for greater cost reduction is possible. They offer alternatives for force reduction and future budgeting. After much debate in 1990, Congress and the administration agreed to reduce real spending for national defense by nearly 20% by fiscal 1996. To achieve these savings, the Defense Department proposes to cut US forces by approximately 25%, end procurement of most current-generation weapons, and prepare for the introduction of new capabilities after 1996. According to the authors, there is a huge probability that, as a consequence, real defense spending will then begin to rise. Kaufmann and Steinbruner question the merits of the assumptions on which this policy is based. They argue not only that the Pentagon has overstated the potential military threats of the future, but also that defense can reduce its forces and investments below what its spokesmen have described as "an irreducible minimum". To support their case, the authors indicate specifically the forces and budgets they consider appropriate for the next 10 years.

When more is less: defense profit policy in a competitive environment

Abstract: Prices on some Department of Defense (DoD) procurement contracts are determined by competitive bids, while on others prices are negotiated on the basis of so-called "DoD profit policy," whereby price is equated to expected cost plus a percentage markup. This article focuses on the interaction between these two contractual arrangements. Specifically, it is assumed that an initial contract is let competitively, with common knowledge that the winner will later become a monopolist regulated according to profit policy. Under these conditions, it is shown that expected contractor profit and government expenditure can often be reduced by raising the profit policy markup. The intuition is not only that firms "buy in" to the initial contracts, but also that the differential subsidization induced by profit policy (higher-cost producers receive larger absolute markups) encourages more aggressive competition. Mathematically, this seemingly restrictive regulatory setup is shown to generalize the McAfee and McMillan (1986) procurement bidding model.

Designing competitive tendering systems for the public good: a review of the us experience

Abstract: For two decades, most urban public transit services in the United States (US) have been provided directly by public authorities and supported by public subsidy programs. A substantial percentage of the public subsidies has been consumed by costs that have escalated well ahead of the inflation rate. Concurrently, the private bus industry experienced unit cost decreases (inflation adjusted). In response to the cost escalation of public transit and the cost control of the competitive market, some public transit authorities have competitively tendered a portion of public transit services to private bus companies. As US competitive tendering has grown, various approaches have been tried. Some public transit authorities have provided revenue vehicles for the use in tendered services; others have required private companies to supply their own vehicles. Tendering package sizes have varied from a single vehicle to more than 200. In some cases, public transit authorities have participated themselves in tendering, r...

Market access issues in EC-US relations: Trading partners or trading blows?

Abstract: The reality of transatlantic economic interdependence the political rhetoric of regional trading blocs case studies in market access - agriculture, investment, services, public procurement, technical standards the main policy barriers in the EC and the US prospects for enhancing multilateralism managing the bilateral relationship

Ethics and the defense procurement system

Abstract: A large U.S. government investigation into arms procurement procedures with corporate contractors has recently led to guilty pleas to fraud and illegal use of classified documents. Operation Ill Wind has brought public attention to the criminal and unethical conduct of large defense contractors in their dealings with the government. This article will review how the defense contract bidding process operates and why illegal activity has been able to compromise the process. We will offer proposals to improve the process in light of the present inquiry.

The application of multiple team inspections on a safety-critical software standard

Abstract: This paper discusses the application of a multiple team inspection in the revision of a software standard which is applied to the procurement of safety-critical systems used on commercial airplanes. The discussion includes material on the background of the standard and its revision, the inspection process, the application of a multiple team approach to inspections and results, lessons learned, and conclusions. >