Alignment between chain quality management and chain governance in EU pork supply chains: A Transaction-Cost-Economics perspective

Although inter-firm coordination of quality management is increasingly important for meeting end-customer demand in agri-food chains, few researchers focus on the relation between inter-firm quality management systems (QMS) and inter-firm governance structures (GS). However, failure to align QMSs and GSs may lead to inefficiencies in quality management because of high transaction-costs. In addition, misalignment is likely to reduce the quality of end-customer products. This paper addresses this gap in research by empirically examining the relation between QMSs and GSs in pork meat supply chains. Transaction-Cost-Economic theory is used to develop propositions about the relation between three aspects of QMSs − ownership, vertical scope and scale of adoption − and the use of different types of GSs in pork meat supply chains. To validate the propositions, seven cases are examined from four different countries. The results show that the different aspects of QMSs largely relate to specific GSs used in chains in the manner predicted by the propositions. This supports the view that alignment between QMSs and GSs is important for the efficient coordination of quality management in (pork meat) supply chains.     

Framework for implementing traceability system in the bulk grain supply chain

Implementation of a traceability system in the bulk grain supply chain is a complex task. Grain lots are often commingled to meet buyer specifications and the lot-identity is not maintained. In this paper, a systems approach is used to develop methods for implementing bulk grain supply chain traceability in the United States, that includes both internal and chain traceability. First, the usage requirements of a traceability system are defined for all the actors in the supply chain. Second, a model is developed for implementing internal traceability system for a grain elevator that handles specialty grain. Then, we develop a model for information exchange between the supply chain actors. The model shows what grain lot information must be recorded and then passed on to the next actor. A sequence diagram is developed to show the information exchange in the grain supply chain when a user requests additional information about a suspect product. Finally, we discuss some suitable technologies to enable this information exchange. A few sample XML documents are shown for the transfer and sharing of information in the grain supply chain.     

Drying kinetics using superheated steam and quality attributes of dried pork slices for different thickness, seasoning and fibers distribution

Drying pork slice by superheated steam was proposed in this study. Sirloin muscle pork meat was sliced parallel and perpendicular to the fiber direction with thicknesses of 1 and 2 mm. The sliced samples were divided into two groups; unseasoned and seasoned pork, and were dried by superheated steam at a temperature of 140 °C. The experimental results showed that thicker pork slice needed more drying time, which led to more shrinkage, darker and redder dried product as compared to the thinner pork slice. Seasoning also extended the drying time of the seasoned pork slice and made the dried seasoned pork slice darker and yellower, but less in the values of hardness, toughness and shrinkage. Slicing directions did not have any significantly effect on drying time and color of dried pork slice. The parallel slice, however, lowered the values of hardness, toughness and shrinkage of dried pork.     

Application and assessment of extruded edible casings manufactured from pectin and gelatin/sodium alginate blends for use with breakfast pork sausage

Casings formed from pectin (PN) containing 2.5% and 5% corn oil (CO) and olive oil (OO) and gelatine/sodium alginate blends (GSAB) containing 2.5% CO and OO respectively were used for sausage manufacture. Mechanical properties and water content of casings were assessed prior to application. Following sausage manufacture, product quality and shelf-life evaluation were assessed in terms of sensory attributes, instrumental colour, moisture loss and lipid oxidation. All manufactured casings were of good quality and initially produced intact and stable sausage products. However, with time, shrinkage of products occurred where GSAB casings were used. Sensory analysis of sausages showed that PN casings were more preferred to GSAB casings for sausage manufacture. CIE colour analysis supported sensory evaluation. Water losses from sausages using GSAB casings were lower compared to sausages using PN casings due to GSAB casings having higher ability to trap and absorb water compared to PN casings. Lipid oxidation developed over time for all sausage products, however, sausages manufactured using GSAB casings containing both CO and OO at 2.5% had better oxygen barrier properties compared to sausages manufactured using PN containing the same concentration of emulsified oils. Sausages manufactured using casings containing OO were more prone to lipid oxidation than those using CO. Importantly, sausages manufactured using PN casings containing 5.0% CO were extremely stable to lipid oxidation over a six day storage period and significantly, were <1 on the TBARS numbers scale.     

延迟策略在服装供应链管理中的应用

为对服装企业的转型升级提供借鉴和参考,结合延迟策略应用现状,针对其在服装供应链管理中的若干问题进行应用探析。通过文献研究和企业项目实践,基于部分延迟策略的基本模型,量化补货环节延迟策略的数量和时间节点的确定和应用;基于企划延迟策略,提出循环备料模式优化建议;应用部分延迟策略,提出调整首单生产比例、快速反应单以及补货比例的延迟策略建议,从而缩短供应链产品企划、设计开发与生产周期,减少库存成本,降低预测风险,实现服装企业经营效益的最大化。力图促进服装企业实现供应链管理变革,提高企业核心竞争力。     

Influence of myosin heavy- and light chain isoforms on early postmortem glycolytic rate and pork quality

This study addressed the influence of the content of myosin heavy- (MHC) and light chain (MLC) isoforms on early postmortem glycolytic rate and meat quality traits in the porcine longissimus muscle. The fast-glycolysing group showed lower contents of MHC slow and MLC 1s isoforms (P<0.05), and higher MHC fast isoform contents than the normal-glycolysing group (P<0.05). The MHC fast/slow ratio was correlated with lactate content (r=0.41) and early postmortem muscle pH (r=-0.51), and the content of the MLC 1s isoform was negatively correlated with lactate content and glycolytic potential (r=-0.38 and -0.36, respectively). Hence, both the MHC and MLC isoforms did influence metabolite contents, thus also affecting glycolytic rate, and suggested that the myosin isoforms, in particular the MHC isoforms, might also have some bearing on the extent of protein denaturation and pork quality during the early postmortem period.     

BTO供应链订单收益管理研究

针对一个两阶BTO供应链的收益管理决策问题,考虑了市场需求对供应链响应时问和价格双重敏感时的供应链决策问题．建立了分散决策和集中决策两种决策模式下的收益模型．对这两种模型以价格和响应时间为决策变量进行了优化求解分析和实例计算．结果表明,集中决策模式下的供应链整体收益大于分散决策模式下的供应链收益,并且收益分配比例在一定的范围内,才可实现各供应链节点企业的Pareto改善．     

An RFID application in the food supply chain: A case study of convenience stores in Taiwan

Food hazards can appear at any stage of global food supply chains, making it essential to define critical control points to capture the data about ingredients, manufacture and dates-certain (sell-by, use-by), etc., and provide it in a transparent manner to supply chain participants and consumers. The government of Taiwan has appointed a non-profit research organization to conduct a pilot project to launch a potential national-wide food traceability system to increase the intangible value of purchased food and to enhance food safety. This paper discusses a financially viable business model for a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) application to a food traceability system. We conduct a case study of RFID implementation in the chain of convenience stores in Taiwan. The Taiwanese experiment may have implications for policy-makers, industry and public health officials elsewhere.     

The colour of the adductor muscle as a predictor of pork quality in the loin

The relation between measurements of colour made in the m. adductor (AD) at 45 min or 20 h post mortem and the quality, assessed subjectively in terms of colour and waterholding capacity, of the m. longissimus (LD) in the loin was examined. The study used data from 100 pig carcasses exhibiting a wide range of meat quality from extreme PSE (pale, soft and exudative) to extreme DFD (dark, firm and dry). The subjective assessments were confirmed by objective measures of paleness (reflectance) and waterholding capacity (drip loss in storage) in the LD. Lightness (L^*) measured at 20 h post mortem in the AD was the best potential predictor of loin muscle quality, explaining 59% of the variation in subjective and objective quality measures. Comparable measurements at 45 min post mortem explained between 21% and 44% of the variation. The equation that described the relation between AD Lightness (L^*) and subjectively assessed LD quality was derived. This could be used to transpose the AD L^* values from a population of slaughtered pigs into nominal subjective scores for the LD, allowing the frequency of the five subjective quality groups (extremely DFD, slightly DFD, normal, slightly PSE, and extremely PSE) in the population of carcasses to be defined.     

Food supply chain leanness using a developed QFD model

Lean production is one of the initiatives that major businesses all around the world have been trying to adopt in order to remain competitive in the increasingly global market. The focus of this multi-dimensional approach is on cost reduction by using tools such as Just in Time (JIT). On the other hand, many researchers have focused on the food supply chain in recent years because of the high importance of this issue in the supply chain management context. By linking Lean Attributes (LAs) and Lean Enablers (LEs), this study used Quality Function Deployment (QFD) to identify viable LEs to be practically implemented in order to increase the leanness of the food chain. Furthermore, fuzzy logic is used to deal with linguistic judgments expressing relationships and correlations required in QFD. To illustrate the practical implications of the methodology, the approach is exemplified with the help of a case study in the canning industry.     

Netchain coordinator services in pork supply chains including inspections according to the AMOR principle

This paper presents a mutual inspection concept between livestock production and processing, coordinated by a netchain coordinator acting as the service provider. The concept is based on an analysis of demand and offer with respect to the coordination of livestock health status certificates. Surveys have been conducted amongst piglet producers and pig fatteners (n_farmers = 206) to reflect the demand for coordination services. Another survey amongst service providers (n_providers = 21) determines the availability of these services. The results show a clear demand amongst farmers for the netchain coordinator services of livestock health status certificates. It has also been found that some service providers offer audit and monitoring procedures to enable certification with highly varying degrees of service quality. Based on the surveys, the joint organisation of livestock health status certificates between producer, fattener and service provider will be presented. It will be shown that for greater efficiency, coordination should be based on the principles of Alliances for the Mutual Organisation of Risk oriented inspection strategies (AMOR). To enable the mutual organisation of inspections, four key steps have been identified to develop and test AMOR as an innovative form of cooperation: (i) inspection design, (ii) responsibilities and tasks, (iii) information and communication structures, and (iv) shared cost and benefit model.     

Levels and distribution of PBDEs and PFASs in pork from different European countries

ABSTRACT

Meat and meat products are included in a great number of human diets. However, the great consumption of meat needs to be controlled for the presence of traces of contaminants. The European Commission has not stated maximum limits for some environmental pollutants such as the perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE); the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Scientific Panel has recommended that more occurrence data for PFASs in food should be collected to improve the accuracy of future exposure calculations. Therefore, the distribution of PFASs and PBDEs trace contaminants from eight EU Member States were investigated through liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) and Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). No PFASs were detected, except perfluorooctanoic acid, in only one Austrian sample at the concentration of 0.531 ng g^?1. PBDEs were detected in 3 out of 77 samples: one from Germany showed the presence of all congeners analysed in the concentration range 0.53–0.77 ng g^?1, the others, from Netherland and Italy, respectively contained PBDE 153 (0.53 ng g^?1) and PBDE 100 (0.62 ng g^?1). The results show that the analysed samples do not pose a risk for human beings in regard to PFASs and PBDEs. Further studies are needed to keep monitoring their presence in foodstuff, as it has been suggested by European Commission.     

服装企业供应链库存管理问题分析

库存管理在服装企业中占有极其重要的地位,库存管理的好坏直接影响到企业的竞争力及可持续发展能力,通过列举服装企业的相关问题案例,对服装企业供应链规划、运作、运营阶段所必须考虑的各种问题进行了分析。     

Qualitative reasoning and integrated management of the quality of stored grain: a promising new approach

Grain quality maintenance has traditionally been the responsibility of grain storekeepers who rely on measurements of grain or its milled products and on implicit knowledge gained through scientific results, common sense and job experience. Thus, managers of grain stores must comprehend the ecological, economic and technical consequences of their actions. Practical application of available knowledge by a grain-store manager may be greatly enhanced by the combination of fundamental concepts from stored-grain ecosystems with principles of expert systems (ES). The ES are computer programs with the capacity to mimic the reasoning logic of human experts when solving complex problems. They have been available as aids for stored-grain management for about a decade. The existing systems that focus mainly on pest management issues are briefly reviewed in the introductory part.Today, there is increasing pressure on the grain-handling industry to manage not only pests but also a broader range of parameters involved in grain quality maintenance. The implementation of a new type of ES to manage grain quality parameters during storage through an integrated qualitative approach is presented. In practice, most of the existing basic knowledge on progressive changes in grain quality attributes can be approximated by the statement of an initial state of quality and predictive models using only three variables: storage duration, grain temperature and water activity (or related moisture content). Combinations of qualitative variables through a logical decision network, predicting changes in different aspects of quality, may enable the prediction of quality from the initial diagnosis. Such a rule-based reasoning approach called “qualitative reasoning” has recently been developed as a decision support tool, starting from the diagnosis of quality attributes of a grain batch upon delivery at a grain store and anticipating the changes that will occur during the storage period. The new approach, based on high level reasoning methods and using a knowledge base (KB) of interactive rules about grain quality changes, is briefly presented. The implementation of this KB has focused on attributes that change very early in unsafe storage conditions such as germination capacity, micro-organism respiration, dry matter loss, visible moulding appearance, pest dynamics, cooling aeration effects and efficacy of residual protectants. Available models that may be introduced into the KB of the system have been reviewed. Most of the parameters of predictive models can be obtained by computation of existing experimental data. The prototype testing indicates that the system may give reliable quality diagnosis and prediction of optimal storage with a level of expertise and advice comparable to human experts. The additional work needed to extend the scope and domain of applicability of this new generation of ES is discussed. The procedure of qualitative reasoning applied to the whole grain ecosystem is shown to be a promising tool for detecting the weaknesses of basic knowledge about changes in cereal quality during storage.     

北京市猪肉产业链各环节成本收益分析

通过对北京市猪肉产业链各环节相关主体进行深入调查,剖析了猪肉价格的形成过程以及各环节经营主体的成本收益情况.研究发现,一头生猪从养殖到屠宰最后进入到销售环节,利润在不同经营主体之间的分配从绝对量上来看,由高到低依次为零售、批发、屠宰、收购和养殖.     

浅谈标准化管理体系审核对企业生产管理的导向作用

对标准化管理体系在规范企业管理方面的作用和其风靡全球的原因进行了简要阐述；主要通过一些案例来说明，在标准化管理体系审核过程中，由于审核员专业知识的局限性和个人素质等方面的因素，给受审核企业带来的一些误导。     

提升造纸企业在供应链上的影响力

造纸企业在供应链上处于相对上游的位置，对下游企业和整个供应链的影响力比较弱小。本文试图提供一种思路：造纸企业可以通过积极主动的供应链建设来提高自身在供应链上的影响力。     

皮革行业实施HSE管理体系的探讨

HSE管理体系是近几年在国际石油天然气行业通行的管理体系 ,它是健康 (Health)、安全 (Safety)和环境 (En vironment)管理体系的简称。介绍了HSE管理体系的产生、发展及其主要的特点 ,阐述了皮革加工企业建立和实施HSE管理体系的重要意义 ,并探讨了在皮革加工制造企业建立、实施HSE管理体系的主要程序 ,最后提出了在我国皮革企业实施HSE管理体系的一些建议和对策。     

Losses of vitamin C from fresh strawberries in a commercial supply chain

Fresh strawberries were evaluated through a commercial supply chain, from harvest to immediately prior to retail display. These samples were compared with controls that were refrigerated immediately after harvest and kept at a constant temperature for the same period of time. Temperature data were collected throughout all stages of the supply chain. Moisture and vitamin C (ascorbic acid) contents were determined at selected points of the supply chain using recognised methodology. Significant differences were found in the vitamin C concentrations of fresh strawberries at various stages of the supply chain but not in their moisture content. The ascorbic acid concentration decreased with time spent in the supply chain in all trials but the absolute vitamin C content differed from trial to trial. This result indicates that both pre- and post-harvest factors influence the vitamin C content of fresh strawberries available to consumers on the retail market.