Quick response logistics

The basic idea behind quick response (QR) is that in order to reap the advantages of time-based competition it is necessary to deveiop systems that are responsive and fast. 

What has made QR possibie is the deveiopment of information technoiogy and in particuiar the rise of internet-enabied data exchange, bar coding, the use of eiec-tronic point-of-saie (EPOS) systems with iaser scanners and so on. 

Quick response systems have begun to emerge in the fashion and apparel industry where the costs of fradifional inventory-based systems based upon buyers prior purchase decisions (in effect a push system) can be considerable. In the United States it is estimated that the annual costs to the US textile and apparel industry of conventional logistics systems is 25 billion. This comprises the following elemenfs  

There could be massive advanfages to be gained by all parties in the supply chain if the concept of QR was adopted throughout the chain. Thus in the case of fashion garments the aim should be to link retail sales with the apparel manufacturers, who in turn are linked to the textile producers who themselves are linked to the suppliers of fibres. One such reported case is the linkage through shared 

Another case from the US is provided by the chain of retail fashion stores, The Limited. Each of the several thousand stores in the chain tracks consumer preferences daily using their point-of-sale data. Based upon this, orders are sent by satellite links to the suppliers around the world. Using Hong Kong as a consolidation centre, goods are flown back to The Limited s distribution centre in Columbus, Ohio. At the distribution centre the goods are price-marked and re-sorted for immediate onward shipment by truck and plane to the retail stores. The whole cycle from reorder to in-store display can be achieved in six weeks. Conventional systems take more like six months. 

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Waste can be incinerated on a hazardous waste site or at an off-site commercial incinerator permitted to handle such wastes. The choice between on-site and off-site incineration depends on logistics, safety issues, and cost. Mobilizing an incinerator to a site and obtaining a permit for its use require months of planning and preliminary work. Therefore, it is not practical as a quick response to a spill. Public reaction to on-site incineration in a populated area can also make that option infeasible. For relatively small quantities of waste, off-site incineration is far more cost-effective than on-site incineration. 

Choice of distribution charuiels. Values these decisions assume include Internet-based distribution, third-party logistics, direct sales, quick response, continuous replenishment, and vendor-managed inventory. Some of the policies may be represented in relation to the horizontal extent dimension. For instance, the direct shipment policy implies the absence of intermediate distribution tiers. Multiple distribution strategies can be used in a single supply chain... 

Explain the thinking behind quick response (QR) logistics. How could QR help a retailer to plan and control product lines for a new fashion season ... 

The dependence of the average concentration on the Damkohler number can also be interpreted within the Lagrangian formulation. For example, the logistic growth function of the plankton population dynamics (Eq. (6.7)) is concave near the steady state P = K, i.e. the plankton population reacts more quickly when the carrying capacity is below the actual plankton density, than in the opposite case when higher carrying capacity allows for increase of the plankton concentration. Due to this asymmetric nonlinear response the... 

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