The Experts below are selected from a list of 45738 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Ian Holton - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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managing for sustainability findings from four company case studies in the uk precast Concrete Industry
Journal of Cleaner Production, 2010Co-Authors: Ian Holton, Jacqui Glass, Andrew D F PriceAbstract:Abstract Managing for sustainability is considered to be critical to the development of corporate sustainability, and is fundamentally about strategic organisational development and change. This paper presents the key findings from four case studies undertaken to investigate how the leaders in corporate sustainability in the UK precast Concrete Industry were managing for sustainability. It was found that by adopting a compliance approach, characterised by the development of management systems and continuous performance improvement cultures, the four companies studied were engaged in the activities and developing the capabilities necessary to manage for sustainability, and had progressed naturally to the ‘efficiency’ phase of corporate sustainability.
Andrew D F Price - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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managing for sustainability findings from four company case studies in the uk precast Concrete Industry
Journal of Cleaner Production, 2010Co-Authors: Ian Holton, Jacqui Glass, Andrew D F PriceAbstract:Abstract Managing for sustainability is considered to be critical to the development of corporate sustainability, and is fundamentally about strategic organisational development and change. This paper presents the key findings from four case studies undertaken to investigate how the leaders in corporate sustainability in the UK precast Concrete Industry were managing for sustainability. It was found that by adopting a compliance approach, characterised by the development of management systems and continuous performance improvement cultures, the four companies studied were engaged in the activities and developing the capabilities necessary to manage for sustainability, and had progressed naturally to the ‘efficiency’ phase of corporate sustainability.
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Identification and prioritisation of sustainability issues for the UK precast Concrete Industry
2006Co-Authors: Ian R. Holton, Andrew D F Price, Jacqueline Glass, Martin A. Clarke, Stuart E. Bell, Miles WatkinsAbstract:As part of its strategy for more sustainable construction, the UK Government has been encouraging sector representative bodies and trade associations to develop sector sustainability strategies. A four-year research programme aimed at developing such a strategy for the precast Concrete Industry was therefore established by the British Precast Concrete Federation in 2004, in collaboration with the Department of Civil and Building Engineering at Loughborough University. In accordance with best practice, the research began with the identification and prioritisation of sustainability issues for the precast Industry. A facilitated workshop with key practitioners from the Industry identified a series of key business issues for the Industry and demonstrated that sustainability was intrinsically linked to the profitability and competitiveness of the Industry. A questionnaire survey was then conducted to verify and prioritise these issues across the wider Industry. Whilst the survey verified the issues, priorities were found to vary between groups of companies as a result of them being in different phases of a corporate sustainability model. The research has enabled priorities for the precast sector sustainability strategy to be identified which will facilitate progress towards a more sustainable precast Concrete Industry in the UK.
Low Sui Pheng - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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EOQ, JIT and fixed costs in the ready-mixed Concrete Industry
International Journal of Production Economics, 2006Co-Authors: Wu Min, Low Sui PhengAbstract:The successful implementation of just-in-time (JIT) purchasing policy in many industries has prompted many companies that still use the economic order quantity (EOQ) purchasing policy to ponder if they should switch to the JIT purchasing policy. Despite existing studies that directly compare the costs between the EOQ and JIT purchasing systems, this decision is, however, still difficult to be made, especially when price discount has to be considered. JIT purchasing may not always be successful even though plants that adopted JIT operations have experienced or can take advantage of physical space reduction. Hence, the objective of this study is to expand on a classical EOQ with a price discount model to derive the EOQ–JIT cost indifference point. The objective was tested and achieved through a survey and case study conducted in the ready-mixed Concrete Industry in Singapore.
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EOQ WITH A PRICE DISCOUNT VERSUS JIT PURCHASING: AN ALTERNATIVE ANALYSIS IN THE READY-MIXED Concrete Industry
Journal of Construction Research, 2005Co-Authors: Wu Min, Low Sui PhengAbstract:The successful implementation of just-in-time (JIT) purchasing policy in many industries has prompted many companies that still use the economic order quantity (EOQ) purchasing policy to ponder if they should switch to the JIT purchasing policy. This is, however, a difficult decision, especially when price discount has to be considered and despite existing studies that directly compare the costs between the EOQ and JIT purchasing systems. JIT purchasing may not always be successful even though plants that adopted JIT operations have experienced or can take advantage of physical space reduction. Hence, the objectives of this study are to expand on two new concepts that focus on, namely, the annual holding capacity of an inventory facility, and the break-even point between the annual holding capacity of an inventory facility and the EOQ-JIT cost indifference point. The objectives were tested and achieved through a survey and case study conducted in the ready-mixed Concrete Industry in Singapore.
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Economic order quantity (EOQ) versus just‐in‐time (JIT) purchasing: an alternative analysis in the ready‐mixed Concrete Industry
Construction Management and Economics, 2005Co-Authors: Wu Min, Low Sui PhengAbstract:The literature on the use of just-in-time (JIT) and economic order quantity (EOQ) purchasing has increasingly favoured JIT in recent years, especially when firms are purchasing to meet high and consistent levels of demand, and the JIT operation can take advantage of inventory physical plant space reduction. The theoretical advantages of JIT purchasing may have been overstated. Two new concepts are developed to underpin the idea that, even if the JIT approach can induce inventory physical plant space reduction, it is possible for EOQ to be more cost effective, as the inventory demand approaches the break-even point between the function of the annual holding capacity of an inventory facility and the function of the EOQ-JIT cost indifference point. The survey and case study conducted in the ready-mixed Concrete Industry in Singapore support this proposition.
Daniel Olivares - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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physico mechanical properties of multi recycled Concrete from precast Concrete Industry
Journal of Cleaner Production, 2017Co-Authors: Ángel Salesa, Luis M. Esteban, Juan Ramis, Jose Angel Perezbenedicto, David Coloradoaranguren, Pedro Lopezjulian, Luis J Sanzbalduz, Jose L Saezhostaled, Daniel OlivaresAbstract:Abstract The construction Industry must adapt to new environmental requirements and becomes more sustainable. Recycling Concrete waste to produce new Concrete is one of the main ways of reducing the construction Industry environmental impact. In the precast Industry some of the Concrete elements produced are rejected due to quality test failures. These products can be crushed to produce aggregates and reintroduce them in the manufacturing process. There are many investigations have been focused in the use of recycled Concrete aggregates in Concrete mixes, but very few have researched the possibility to recycle the Concrete that have already been recycled. The aim of this study is to analyse the effect of incorporating recycled and multi-recycled coarse aggregates from rejected precast Concrete to make a new Concrete. The key properties of the recycled and multi-recycled new Concrete were compared with a control Concrete made from natural coarse aggregates. The fresh and hardened properties were assessed by the metrics: workability, density, absorption, compressive strength and modulus of elasticity. The results showed that the Concrete from recycled and multi-recycled coarse aggregates have the equivalent behaviour to the control Concrete. The compressive strength is slightly higher in the first and second recycled Concretes than the control Concrete, also there has been a decrease in the density of recycled Concretes with respect to control; these differences increased with each cycle of recycling. Due to the usage of high quality precast parent Concretes a good structural behaviour was expected, with increments up to 5% in the compressive strength. The use of recycled and multi-recycled coarse aggregates from precast Concrete Industry can produce high quality Concrete and decrease the environmental impact by waste recycling.
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Physico – mechanical properties of multi – recycled Concrete from precast Concrete Industry
Journal of Cleaner Production, 2017Co-Authors: Ángel Salesa, Jose Ángel Pérez-benedicto, David Colorado-aranguren, Pedro López-julián, Luis M. Esteban, Luis J. Sanz-baldúz, José L. Sáez-hostaled, Juan Ramis, Daniel OlivaresAbstract:Abstract The construction Industry must adapt to new environmental requirements and becomes more sustainable. Recycling Concrete waste to produce new Concrete is one of the main ways of reducing the construction Industry environmental impact. In the precast Industry some of the Concrete elements produced are rejected due to quality test failures. These products can be crushed to produce aggregates and reintroduce them in the manufacturing process. There are many investigations have been focused in the use of recycled Concrete aggregates in Concrete mixes, but very few have researched the possibility to recycle the Concrete that have already been recycled. The aim of this study is to analyse the effect of incorporating recycled and multi-recycled coarse aggregates from rejected precast Concrete to make a new Concrete. The key properties of the recycled and multi-recycled new Concrete were compared with a control Concrete made from natural coarse aggregates. The fresh and hardened properties were assessed by the metrics: workability, density, absorption, compressive strength and modulus of elasticity. The results showed that the Concrete from recycled and multi-recycled coarse aggregates have the equivalent behaviour to the control Concrete. The compressive strength is slightly higher in the first and second recycled Concretes than the control Concrete, also there has been a decrease in the density of recycled Concretes with respect to control; these differences increased with each cycle of recycling. Due to the usage of high quality precast parent Concretes a good structural behaviour was expected, with increments up to 5% in the compressive strength. The use of recycled and multi-recycled coarse aggregates from precast Concrete Industry can produce high quality Concrete and decrease the environmental impact by waste recycling.
Allan Collardwexler - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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mergers and sunk costs an application to the ready mix Concrete Industry
American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, 2014Co-Authors: Allan CollardwexlerAbstract:Horizontal mergers have a large impact by inducing a long-lasting change in market structure. Only in an Industry with substantial entry barriers is a merger not immediately counteracted by postmerger entry. To evaluate the duration of the effects of a merger, I use the model of Abbring and Campbell (2010) to estimate demand thresholds for entry and for exit. These thresholds, along with the process for demand, are estimated using data from the ready-mix Concrete Industry. Simulations predict that a merger from duopoly to monopoly generates between nine and ten years of monopoly in the market. (JEL G34, K21, L12, L13, L41, L61) Antitrust is valuable because in some cases it can achieve results more rapidly than can market forces. We need not suffer loses while waiting for the market to erode cartels and monopolistic mergers. — Bork (1978, 311) The Antitrust Paradox
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demand fluctuations in the ready mix Concrete Industry
Econometrica, 2013Co-Authors: Allan CollardwexlerAbstract:I investigate the role of demand shocks in the ready-mix Concrete Industry. Using Census data on more than 15,000 plants, I estimate a model of investment and entry in oligopolistic markets. These estimates are used to simulate the effect of eliminating short-term local demand changes. A policy of smoothing the volatility of demand has a market expansion effect: The model predicts a 39% increase in the number of plants in the Industry. Since bigger markets have both more plants and larger plants, a demand-smoothing fiscal policy would increase the share of large plants by 20%. Finally, the policy of smoothing demand reduces entry and exit by 25%, but has no effect on the rate at which firms change their size.
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productivity dispersion and plant selection in the ready mix Concrete Industry
2010 Meeting Papers, 2011Co-Authors: Allan CollardwexlerAbstract:This paper presents a quantitative model of productivity dispersion to explain why inefficient producers are slowly selected out of the ready-mix Concrete Industry. Measured productivity dispersion between the 10th and 90th percentile falls from a 4 to 1 difference using OLS, to a 2 to 1 difference using a control function. Due to volatile productivity and high sunk entry costs, a dynamic oligopoly model shows that to rationalize small gaps in exit rates between high and low productivity plants, a plant in the top quintile must produce 1.5 times more than a plant in the bottom quintile.
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productivity dispersion and plant selection in the ready mix Concrete Industry
2010 Meeting Papers, 2010Co-Authors: Allan CollardwexlerAbstract:Plant level productivity in the ready-mix Concrete sector is highly dispersed, whereby a plant in the 90th percentile of the distribution produces twice the value added than a plant in the 10th percentile. Is the magnitude of this dispersion real or simply an artifact of mea- surement error? Moreover, why don’t inefficient producers exit the Industry? Using a dynamic model of entry and exit, I find that a plant in the highest quintile of productivity has profits are $ 220 000 higher than those in the lowest quintile of productivity, i.e. a plant in the top quintile produces 1.5 times more value added than a plant in the bottom quintile of productivity, when both plants use the same inputs. Exit of inefficient producers is slowed by two factors. First, sunk costs are quite large in the ready-mix Concrete Industry, so a firm will remain in the Industry even when it is currently making sub- stantial losses. Second, plant productivity is very volatile, so current productivity is a weak signal of future profitability.
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demand fluctuations and plant turnover in the ready mix Concrete Industry
2006Co-Authors: Allan CollardwexlerAbstract:Fluctuations in demand cause some plants to exit a market and other to enter.Would eliminating these fluctuations reduce plant turnover? A structural model of entry and exit in concentrated markets is estimatedfor the ready-mix Concrete Industry, using plant level data from the U.S. Census. The Nested Pseudo-Likelihood algorithm isused to find parameters which rationalize behavior of firms involved in repeated competition. Due to high sunk costs, turnover rates would only be reduced by 3% by eliminating demand fluctuations at the county level, saving around 20 million dollars a year in scrapped capital. However, demand fluctuations blunt firms incentive to invest, reducing the number of large plants by more than 50%.