Turnkey Service Research Articles

Supply Chain Planning for IC Design House Back-End Production Network With Turnkey Service

Owing to global competition, integrated circuit (IC) design houses are facing challenges in the optimal use of capacity and resources to fulfill customer demands and maximize profit. A hybrid make-to-stock (MTS) and make-to-order (MTO) model is generally used. Wafer procurement is made according to customers’ long-term demand forecast based on MTS. Limited wafer fab resources and back-end capacity are first allocated to on-hand orders and then to forecast demand. In production planning, several factors need to be considered to determine the production quantity and inventory level, such as the material, capacity, substitute, technical constraint, and order tardiness. This study considers a typical multi-stage supply chain network of semiconductor back-end production with turnkey service for IC design houses. The objective is to maximize the total profit with the constraints of equipment capacity, the flexibility of substitutes, and the usage of the turnkey mode. The problem is formulated with a mixed-integer programming model and solved using two novel heuristic algorithms: a product-based decomposition (PD_SCP) with profit-based criteria and a Lagrangian decomposition combined with the product-based decomposition (LD-SCP) method. Using the LD-SCP algorithm takes a long time but results in a great solution. Sensitivity analysis is conducted to investigate the impact of different parameters on production cost and total profit.

A Novel National Program to Maximize Utilization of Heart and Lung Allografts from Donors After Brain Death (DBD) and Donors After Circulatory Death (DCD) for Transplantation

<h3>Purpose</h3> Build a national network of dedicated cardiothoracic surgical procurement and Organ Care System (OCS™) ex-vivo perfusion clinical experts to: Maximize cardiothoracic donor organ utilization for transplantation; overcome logistical and infrastructural burden of distant organ procurements and national allocation; standardize clinical quality of care of ex-vivo perfusion management of cardiothoracic allografts; and establish a better work-life balance for transplant teams across the U.S. <h3>Methods</h3> Leveraging the OCS, the only FDA approved portable perfusion technology for heart and lung transplantation, to build a national infrastructure to enable a turn-key service. This program comprehensively covers: donor screening, donor surgical procurement, OCS perfusion management and transportation of allografts from donor hospitals to any transplant program in the U.S. <h3>Results</h3> The National OCS Program (NOP) was initiated in 2021 for lung transplantation using the OCS Lung technology in 9 major regions across the U.S. Early experience is very encouraging and demonstrated the capabilities of NOP to significantly expand thoracic organ retrieval distance. Enabling cross-country thoracic organ sharing to benefit more patients awaiting transplants while unburdening transplant programs resources. The map below demonstrates actual NOP lung transplants. NOP is now expanding to include OCS Heart and provide similar service to heart transplant programs across the U.S. <h3>Conclusion</h3> The process of cardiothoracic donor organ procurement and related logistics are challenging and unscalable to meet the growing national demand for increased donor organ utilization for lung and heart transplantation. NOP was designed to create a collaborative partnership between industry, OPOs and transplant programs to provide solutions to overcome the existing challenges and transform the field of cardiothoracic transplantation in the U.S.

A Service Oriented Architecture for the Digitalization and Automation of Distribution Grids

Modern distribution grids are complex systems that need advanced management for their secure and reliable operation. The Information and Communication Technology domain today offers unprecedented opportunities for the smart design of tools in support of grid operators. This paper presents a new philosophy for the digitalization and automation of distribution grids, based on a modular architecture of microservices implemented via container technology. This architecture enables a service-oriented deployment of the intelligence needed in the Distribution Management Systems, moving beyond the traditional view of monolithic software installations in the control rooms. The proposed architecture unlocks a broad set of possibilities, including cloud-based implementations, extension of legacy systems and fast integration of machine learning-based analytic tools. Moreover, it potentially opens a completely new market of turnkey services for distribution grid management, thus avoiding large upfront investments for grid operators. This paper presents the main concepts and benefits of the proposed philosophy, together with an example of field implementation based on open source components carried out in the context of the European project SOGNO.

Energy performance contracting in a supply chain with financially asymmetric manufacturers under carbon tax regulation for climate change mitigation

Energy performance contracting is a turnkey service for an enterprise to achieve the goal of energy-saving or emission abatement. This study investigates the value of energy performance contracting in a two-echelon supply chain consisting of one supplier and two financially asymmetric manufacturers under carbon tax regulation for climate change mitigation. The supplier provides a trade credit for a financially weak manufacturer who engages in Cournot competition with a financially strong manufacturer. Furthermore, the supplier can act as an energy service company to offer energy performance contracting for the two manufacturers to achieve carbon tax savings. The impact of sharing ratio of energy performance contracting and coefficient of variable cost are analyzed to explore whether and which manufacturer should be chosen by the supplier to implement energy performance contracting. The results suggest that when the coefficient of variable cost is within a high range, the supplier will not provide energy performance contracting for any manufacturer. However, when the coefficient of variable cost and sharing ratio are not very high, the supplier prefers to provide energy performance contracting for the financially weak manufacturer. With the increasing of sharing ratio, the supplier changes the decision to select the financially strong one. Moreover, the model is extended to consider the impact of demand uncertainty and coefficient of investment cost. Furthermore, the result of numerical studies indicates that there exists a Pareto zone for the three supply chain members to achieve a multi-win situation, if the supplier provides the energy performance contracting for both the manufacturers.

Индивидуальное предприятие «Праздничное агентство» и механизм его продвижения на рынке региональных социокультурных услуг

The relevance of the undertaken research consists in the analysis of economic and pedagogical factors in the activities of a commercial enterprise operating in the market of socio-cultural services of a municipal formation. Nowadays, various agents can engage in the education and enlightenment of the population, their professional activities are fixed by law. As a result, the competition of municipal and commercial leisure offers for the population arises in the market of socio-cultural services. The purpose of the study is to analyze the conditions for the implementation of the service of a children's and family holiday and its promotion to the market by a commercial agency that carries out its professional activities in the municipality of a Siberian city. Objectives. Among the studied tasks, we can note such as the study of the mechanism of promotion of a holiday agency to the market of socio-cultural services of a small city, including such marketing components as the study of the service market and existing competitors, the analysis of the segment of service consumers, the study of supply and demand for the service and the development of a turnkey service. Methodology. The leading empirical method of the study was a survey of residents of Tulun, Irkutsk region, and specialists in the field of culture engaged in the professional field of eventing. Results. The practical significance of the undertaken research is that the results obtained during it will allow other subjects of the market of socio-cultural services to provide a stable mechanism of functioning, thereby contributing to the expansion of the range of holiday services and improving its quality. The conclusions of the study are based on the need to introduce a wide range of festive events for children of all age groups, as well as inclusive holidays for children with special needs to the market of social and cultural services in the city of Tulun, Irkutsk region. It is assumed that due to the attention to children with special needs and the implementation of holidays in partnership with municipal institutions, the children's holiday agency, as the object of this study, will receive undeniable advantages in promoting its services in the city's holiday services market.

Analysis of the problems of managing business processes of engineering companies in the implementation of investment projects

The object of research is a business process management system of engineering companies. The paper considers the existing system of interaction between design institutes, engineering companies and manufacturing enterprises implementing investment projects. In particular, the differences in the construction of business processes in previously existing design institutions and modern engineering companies are identified. The research methodology is based on theoretical and methodological analysis of scientific literature, statistical methods, as well as observation, comparative method, description, measurement. The use of scientific research methods has revealed weaknesses and contradictions in the business process management system.The results of this research indicate that the development, verification and approval of design and estimate specifications are the main business process of engineering companies. It is proved that these business processes are an integral part of the investment project. Therefore, for the successful implementation of company projects, customers attract a large number of external contracting organizations – design, engineering, construction companies. The increase in the number of participants in the investment process significantly complicates the construction of business processes, which leads to an increase in the timing of development, verification and approval of design and estimate specifications.The analysis allows to identify the causes of inconsistencies when working with specification. The main reasons for increasing the verification time are systemic problems in organizing the interaction of project participants. It is determined that the pre-existing holders of archival design specification that provided comprehensive turnkey services have practically disappeared from the market. Contracting organizations appeared in their place, separated from large specialized design organizations. The created contracting organizations work in different versions of the software, therefore they created sets of documents of varying degrees of detail of design decisions. In general, it is recommended to optimize the docking of documents between participants in investment projects. The implementation of the proposed measures becomes possible in the context of the introduction of information technology based on joint teamwork to create an electronic model.

An enhanced model for the integrated production and transportation problem in a multiple vehicles environment

Solving an integrated production and transportation problem (IPTP) is a very challenging task in semiconductor manufacturing with turnkey service. A wafer fabricator needs to coordinate with outsourcing factories in the processes including circuit probing testing, integrated circuit assembly, and final testing for buyers. The jobs are clustered by their product types, and they must be processed by groups of outsourcing factories in various stages in the manufacturing process. Furthermore, the job production cost depends on various product types and different outsourcing factories. Since the IPTP involves constraints on job clusters, job-cluster dependent production cost, factory setup cost, process capabilities, and transportation cost with multiple vehicles, it is very difficult to solve when the problem size becomes large. Therefore, heuristic tools may be necessary to solve the problem. In this paper, we first formulate the IPTP as a mixed integer linear programming problem to minimize the total production and transportation cost. An efficient genetic algorithm (GA) is proposed next to tackle the problem when it becomes too complicated. The objectives are to minimize total costs, where the costs include production cost and transportation cost, under the environment with backup capacities and multiple vehicles, and to determine an appropriate production and distribution plan. The results demonstrate that the proposed GA model is an effective and accurate tool.

Current market development of energy performance contracting

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the current market development of Energy Performance Contracting (EnPC) in Hong Kong and Taiwan, focussing on four key aspects: first, the potential building energy retrofits as an investment for future savings; second, the motivations for building owners toward the use of EnPC; third, the reasons for building owners not using EnPC; and fourth, the different approaches of Hong Kong and Taiwanese governments toward the promotion of EnPC. Design/methodology/approach – A dual-questionnaire survey was conducted both in Hong Kong and Taiwan, where the same set of questionnaire was sent to the key personnel of the energy services companies (ESCOs) in both regions as identified from the latest member lists of representative trade associations, supplement with 11 structured interviews. Findings – Apart from explainable differences, the results show the top rankings by the respondents of Hong Kong and Taiwan as follows: “Potential retrofit works” including lighting replacement with efficient fluorescent and light emitting diode lamps and improvement of air-con system. “EnPC Motivations” including owners’ lack of upfront capital and use of energy savings for other purposes may yield better returns; ESCOs’ provision of turnkey services. “Reasons not considering EnPC” including worry about its complexities; lack of familiarity with EnPC and long payback periods. As for promotional efforts for EnPC, the Taiwan government has taken more initiatives to foster its use both technically and financially. Practical implications – This study identifies market-related motivators and deterrents as experienced by ESCOs in implementing EnPC projects in two developed Asian economies. Originality/value – This study provides insightful information for the stakeholders about the latest market development of EnPC in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Company Profile: Complete Genomics Inc.

Complete Genomics Inc. is a life sciences company that focuses on complete human genome sequencing. It is taking a completely different approach to DNA sequencing than other companies in the industry. Rather than building a general-purpose platform for sequencing all organisms and all applications, it has focused on a single application - complete human genome sequencing. The company's Complete Genomics Analysis Platform (CGA™ Platform) comprises an integrated package of biochemistry, instrumentation and software that sequences human genomes at the highest quality, lowest cost and largest scale available. Complete Genomics offers a turnkey service that enables customers to outsource their human genome sequencing to the company's genome sequencing center in Mountain View, CA, USA. Customers send in their DNA samples, the company does all the library preparation, DNA sequencing, assembly and variant analysis, and customers receive research-ready data that they can use for biological discovery.

InterTech expands turnkey testing services to European automotive manufacturers

InterTech expands turnkey testing services to European automotive manufacturers

Multi-objectives exception management model for semiconductor back-end environment under turnkey service

On-time delivery is the need for customer satisfaction which is a critical factor in the survival of the semiconductor industry. The on-time-delivery performance of the whole semiconductor turnkey service depends on the performance of the back-end factories. Unfortunately, undesirable and inevitable production variations make it difficult to maintain and improve a factory's performance and more objectives such as cycle time, throughput rate and the due-date accuracy need to be simultaneously considered. This paper presents an exception management model in order to compromise the contradicting needs of delivery accuracy, throughput rate and cycle time. The exception model can be divided into three parts: (1) an integrated performance index is proposed to compromise multiple performance measures; (2) an AWDL (available WIP deviation level) determination model is designed to gather proper AWDLs for triggering exceptions and (3) a WIP correction action is proposed to make abnormal WIP levels back to normal levels as soon as possible. To evaluate the proposed WIP exception management model, a simulation model is constructed and experiments are then conducted. The simulation results show that the proposed model helps back-end factories to set proper exception triggering conditions, reduce uncertainty occurrences and achieve better performances on due dates.

Banta Corporation

AbstractPrinting (MIC: 13.4 SIC: 2759 NAIC:323119)Banta provides a broad range of printing and digital imaging services. Co. operates in three business segments: print, turnkey services, and healthcare. The print segment provides products and services to publishers of educational and general books and special interest magazines. The print segment also supplies direct marketing materials and consumer and business catalogs. The turnkey services segment provides supply‐chain management, product assembly, fulfillment and product localization services to technology companies. The healthcare products are primarily engaged in the production of disposable products used in outpatient clinics, dental offices and hospitals.

The Next Big Event for ALA

ebr O ver the past several months, ALA has been restructuring its operations to keep pace with growth and build stronger value to members. We have methodically reviewed and analyzed association activities and operations with the mindset to improve services to members and to position the organization for the future. In the past 13 months, we have developed a new and highly qualified professional services team centering on the basic building blocks for driving an organization such as ours: accounting, marketing and sales, legal, and publishing services. I’m glad to announce our most recent change is to a new event management firm: Next Generation Events Group. This exciting change will help us to raise the bar on our ability to deliver leading events around the world and continue to be responsive to member needs. Led by Brian Casey and backed by an experienced group of results-oriented association professionals, Next Generation provides turnkey services in the areas of conference planning, program development and coordination, hotel, convention services, and exhibition management. I know you will notice Next Generation’s impact on ALA.

Virtual instrumentation applied to monitoring of nuclear reactor refuel process

RMH provided complete turnkey services for a custom, high-performance monitoring and alarming system to track the condition and behavior of Wolf Creek Nuclear Generation Station's nuclear reactor and cooling water piping during refuel cycles. Using National Instruments’ LabVIEW and hardware, the RMH system comprised five data collection units, a high-speed network, and a workstation with a real-time relational database. Our challenge was to provide a fast, reliable source of data about reactor and cooling water piping behavior to streamline the refuel process by utilizing National Instruments’ virtual instrumentation products to create a real-time, high-speed monitoring and alarming system. © 1998 National Instruments. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Lab Robotics and Automation 10: 67–69, 1998

Second international airborne remote sensing conference and exhibition

The conference provided four days of displays and scientific presentations on applications, technology, a science of sub-orbital data gathering and analysis. The twelve displayed aircraft equipped with sophisticated instrumentation represented a wide range of environmental and reconnaissance missions,including marine pollution control, fire detection, Open Skies Treaty verification, thermal mapping, hydrographical measurements, military research, ecological and agricultural observations, geophysical research, atmospheric and meterological observations, and aerial photography. The U.S. Air Force and the On-Site Inspection Agency displayed the new Open Skies Treaty verification Boeing OC 135B that promotes international monitoring of military forces and activities. SRl's Jetstream uses foliage and ground penetrating SAR for forest inventories, toxic waste delineation, and concealed target and buried unexploded ordnance detection. Earth Search Sciences's Gulfstream 1 with prototype miniaturized airborne hyperspectral imaging equipment specializes in accurate mineral differentiation, low-cost hydrocarbon exploration, and nonproliferation applications. John E. Chance and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers displayed the Bell 2 helicopter with SHOALS that performs hydrographic surveying of navigation projects, coastal environment assessment, and nautical charting surveys. Bechtel Nevada and U.S. DOE displayed both the Beech King AIR B-200 platform equipped to provide first response to nuclear accidents and routine environmental surveillance, and the MBB BO-105 helicopter used in spectral analysis for environmental assessment and military appraisal. NASA Ames Research Center's high-altitude Lockheed ER-2 assists in earth resources monitoring research in atmospheric chemistry, oceanography, and electronic sensors; ozone and greenhouse studies and satellite calibration and data validation. Ames also showcased the Learjet 24 Airborne Observatory that completed missions in Venus cloud cover analysis, Quadantid meteor shower studies, extra-solar far infrared ionic structure lines measurement, Cape Kennedy launch support, and studies in air pollution, The Products and Services Exhibit showcased new sensor and image processing technologies, aircraft data collection services, unmanned vehicle technology, platform equipment, turn-key services, software a workstations, GPS services, publications, and processing and integration systems by 58 exhibitors. The participation of aircraft users and crews provided unique dialogue between those who plan data collection a operate the remote sensing technology, and those who supply the data processing and integration equipment. Research results using hyperspectral imagery, radar and optical sensors, lidar, digital aerial photography, a integrated systems were presented. Major research and development programs and campaigns we reviewed, including CNR's LARA Project and European Space Agency's 1991-1995 Airborne Campaign. The pre-conference short courses addressed airborne video, photogrammetry, hyperspectral data analysis, digital orthophotography, imagery and GIS integration, IFSAR, GPS, and spectrometer calibration.

Controlled Atmosphere Systems for Marine Vessels

Controlled atmosphere (CA) preservation of perishable fruit and vegetables represents new opportunities for today's reefer operators. This technology affords the carrier an efficient and economical method of introducing and maintaining a low oxygen atmosphere that, when used in conjunction with temperature control, can significantly enhance the preservation of fruit and vegetables. Improved product quality, new markets, and reduced product losses are benefits realized through the use of hollow fiber membrane air separation technology. Seasonal products, which may be unavailable because of the transit time of shipping, are now a reality for operators utilizing this technology. High-value products such as fresh cut flowers, previously dedicated to air freight, may be a natural extension of the technology. The authors' company is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company. Generon supplies hollow fiber membrane systems for the on-site generation of gaseous nitrogen. In 1992 the company provided turnkey design and installation services of controlled atmosphere systems for three fully refrigerated containerships operated by the Great White Fleet. These ABS-classed vessels were the first of their type to fully utilize controlled atmosphere technology for the improved quality and reduction of perishable losses.

Turnkey service for PCB assembly

Philips is now able to offer a total solution for the manufacture of PCBs. Already several large users, including Ford, are taking advantage of this turnkey service, as Peter Mullins found out.