Factors that influenced the change in management accounting

Factors that influenced the change in management accounting This chapter will review the relevant literature and the understanding of the traditional role of the management accountant. The chapter will begin with an understanding of the concept of management accounting. This provides a background for discussion of the traditional role of management accountant. Finally, a review of all the factors that may influence on the role and promoted the change of the role are explored. 2.1 Accounting Accounting is a process of identifying, measuring and communicating economic information to permit informed judgements and decisions by the users of the information (Wallace, 1997, p.220) The history of accountancy has progressed in combination with civilisation and commerce. The literature provides evidence that Paciolo in 1494 founded the concept of accounting by publication of Summa de Arithmetica. He presented accounting in methodical form that became a science later on. The definition suggests that accounting is about providing economic information to others and it relates to the financial or economic activities of the organisation. Accounting information is identified and measured by the way of a set of accounts or double-entry bookkeeping. 2.1.1 Management accounting Management accounting is that part of accounting which provides decision making information to managers for use in planning and controlling operations (Seal at all, 2006). The term of management accounting is defined by numbers of authors (Shank, 1989, Back-Hock, 1992, Nanni at all, 1992) in that management accounting provides information to develop performance measures and includes all planning and monitoring in an organisation. Simon et al., (1954), cited by Jarvenpaa (2007) described the role as the traditional role of management accounting. The role was an operational scorekeeping where accounting information was used to satisfy the organisations reporting obligation. 2.1.2 The rise and fall of management accounting The arrival of Johnson and Kaplans publication Relevant Lost: The rise and fall of management accounting (1987) plays an important role in the direction that teaching and research may adopt in the near future. JK states that the decline of management accounting began in the 1920s when most of the management accounting techniques known today were practically developed. According to JK the fall of management accounting was mainly due to the ever-increasing cost of implementing a detailed and efficient internal product cost system. JK argued that management accounting techniques had not change since 1920s. Up to 1980s many countries enjoyed operating in protective environments. Oversees companies were limited to operating in the domestic market with barriers to communication, geographical distance and sometimes protected markets (Drury, 2003). Since 1980s many organisations have changed and adapted new techniques. Organisational change had an impact on management accounting change. Cost allocation has been the most debated topic in man acc. Up to the 1960s standard costing was promoted by academic and professional organisations and was viewed as the key management accounting tool in cost control (Bailey, 2006). According to Allott (2000) the post war area was characterised by rational expectations about human behaviour and beliefs in linear progress, upward mobility and equal opportunity. The 1970s brought new changes to management accounting and standard costing relevance that began to focus more on efficiency . In the large organisations the accountability of standard costing was questioned. Robert S. Kaplan in his Accounting Review argued that cost accounting was developed between 1850 and 1915. He argued that up to 50s big corporations used cost oriented techniques (Knortz, 1990) but then they started to focus more on consumers and their role in a business. Due to changes in manufacturing and business environment, volume based costing is no longer appropriate because direct labour and material expenses no longer dominate product costs. In response to this issue activity based costing system was introduced that brought huge success to Japanese management accounting (Ezzamel, 1994). Each organisation must also consider the cultural and social setting before any alterations to the ABC are successful (Lowry, 1993, Ezzamel, 1994, Otley, 2008). In summary, the change of management accounting outlined by Johnson and Kaplan (1987) seem to be across management accounting literature (Otley, 1985, Noreen, 1987, Drucker, 1990, Ezzamel, 1994, Fry et al., 1998, Otley,2008). Jonson and Kaplan did raise important question about management accounting and helped organisations to re-evaluate the importance of having an accurate management accounting system. 2.2 Traditional role The concept of accountant was introduced in Italy around the eleventh century. At the same time the first society of accountants was establish here in Italy. In 1669 every accountant must be a member of the college before being allowed to practice (Woolf, 1986, p.162). 2.2.1 The typical stereotype The traditional role of accountant is often called the bean counter stereotype. Holland (1973) develops a theory on this subject. He classifies people into six categories. The accountant relates to the conventional type giving an overall good impression, decent, dealing with computations in the organisational and business field. He linked the work that accountant does to the type of person the accountant is. The close link was found by Bougen (1994, p.321) using various personal characteristics and different tasks. The stereotypical accountant was defined based on the tasks carried out. 2.2.2 The Bookkeeper/Traditional Management Accountant The old inaccurate image of stereotype was seen as quiet, boring and without original thoughts. The study on this negative image by Beardslee and ODowd (1962) was seen the accountant as a Victorian bookkeeper spending most of the time at the desk and on a ledger without contact with the outside world. Simon (1954) in his studies classified the role as scorekeeping, problem solving role and attention directing. According to Friedman and Lyne (1997) the scorekeeping focuses on compliance reporting and attention directing focuses on control issues. The problems solving role associated with decision-making and providing managers with relevant information. Feeney and Pierce (2007) stated that their role did not relate to the business, had lack of creativity and very limited level of decisions. Accountants were involved in working with budgeting, variance analysis and traditional accounting. Over the past 30 years management accountant had a clear but narrow view that management accounting information could help to improve profitability. They believed that managers from other departments did not understand the importance of accounting information and all available date they held in the accounting systems. At that time, management accountants were proved of their role and be able to educate their non-financial managers about the benefits of using this management accountants were traditionally seen as an independent person who had narrow knowledge how management accounting information could improve profitability and efficiency of the organisation. Nanni et al (1992) point out that traditional management accountants have tended to focus on a product-oriented rather than a process-oriented performances. There is some evidence that accountants have had little interests in any organisational changes even they had skills to bring some changes. For example, it was accountants who insisted on the implementation an activity-based costing system (Foster and Gupta, 1989) or product life-cycle costing system. 2.2.3 Accounting lag Johnson and Kaplan (1987) criticised management accountant for their inability to innovations and this was viewed as an accounting lag .Kaplan (1984) in his study about accounting lag proposed that accountants should develop a research strategy to meet new demands for planning and control information. He suggested that there was little innovation since 1920. Accounting lag need to be minimized to keep accounting information relevant to all changes occurring over time. 2. 3 Pressures for Changes The literature identifies some relevant factors that impact on the role of management accountants including: 2.3.1 Advances in Manufacturing and Globalisation Companies have invested heavily in new manufacturing technology such as computer aided manufacturing (CAM), Computer Aided Design (CAD), and flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) (Buggerman and Siagmulder) The new manufacturing technologies have impacted on traditional managing accounting systems and !Consequently it is argued that management accounting systems have to change when manufacturing systems change With respect to product costing and overhead costs, tracking thousands of individual products can be overwhelming. Traditionally, Labour hours were used as a basis for an overhead allocation. It is perhaps less suited as products made through automation would be charged an insufficient overhead rate. The competitive pressure on firms and the shift in many industry sectors from cost led pricing to price-led costing (Nixon, 1998) and globalization are just some of the many factors that are influencing the escalating expenditure on RD and New Product Development that most companies must now incur. 2.3.2Competition Pre 1980s many countries enjoyed operating in protective environments. Oversees companies were limited to operating in the domestic market with barriers to communication, geographical distance and sometimes protected markets (Drury 2003) However manufacturing companies were open to sever pressure from competition from oversees competitors that offered high quality products at low prices. To be successful in competition against these companies they had to advance and adopt to change and find a competitive weapon to compete against world class manufacturing companies. As a result of highly competitive market, consumers expectations, changes in tastes and attitudes, companies must now have the flexibility to cope with consumer demands for greater variety and improvements, shorter life cycles etc. 2.3.3 Advances in manufacturing technology Evolution of management accounting information technologies and ERP systems in particular have been a fundamental catalyst in I.T. change and traditional management accounting techniques have had to keep in line and pace with these rapid advancements. ERP can have significant implications for management accountants. As noted by Granlund and Malmi (2003) the link to management accounting appears important since one set of benefits from integrated systems is assumed to flow from easy and fast access to operational data, management accounting being essential for conveying such data in a managerial relevant and usable form. Also when major scale changes regarding information systems occur, logic of accounting becomes exposed to evaluation and possible changes. As ERP is a totally integrated information system it merges together all data from manufacturing department to sales division and the integrated data flows immediately through the system(). As a consequence of this integration accountants have had to learn to work with this new system, and to look at the business as a process rather than in divisions which has led to more team work and greater cross functional communication and co-operation. On the other hand there is evidence suggesting the accounting professionals are developing a broader role for themselves. Accountants are becoming less in charge of data gathering and more data interpretation and consulting kind of work. ERP has eliminated several number crunching assignments as its already done by the system thus leaving more time for accountants to expand their capabilities. Their role can be enhanced by becoming advisors and internal consultants to other managers. With the implementation and running of ERP systems accountants have gained a more active role in the maintenance and management of the IT area and eroding into activities and responsibilities typical of the I.T. area. Caglio (2003) states that As a consequence of the intro of ERP systems, accountants have experienced a phenomenon of Hybridization deriving from their set of practices and legitimized competencies 2.3.4 Changes in organisation structure Changes in manufacturing technology, globalisation and fierce competition have lead to changes in the structure of the organisation. Companies have focus on downsizing, delay ring management activities and outsourcing support services. Technology advances in flexible manufacturing robotics automated production and computerised engineering and planning are affecting the markets raising the quality of products and services while lowering and eliminating stock levels (Baily 2006) Conclusion Chapter 3 3.1 Change is a contextual process Burns and Vaivio (2001) described change as a complex and contextual process. They introduced three perspectives on change. The first perspective explores the idea that what sometimes appears to be change, may not actually be the change (DCU thesis). Change could be an illusion or kind of organizational mirage and often can be seen as positive phenomenon. But sometimes management accounting change could lead to substantial problems such as unforeseen conflict (Malmi, 1997; Kasurinen, 1999; Granlund, 2001). The second perspective provides a debate about the logic of change. Any changes including management accounting change is not planned, but is viewed as a part of reality and neutral activity. The final perspective point out that management accounting can be viewed as phenomenon. Therefore change may be presented as a centrally driven effort where the management plays an important role. For example in the case of mergers and acquisitions occurring, new rules will be introduced and/or modified. This can happen deliberately or unconsciously. Deliberate changes could occur due to resistance within the acquired organisation (Burns and Scapens 2000) Changes may be unconscious when rules are simply misunderstood or are inappropriate to the circumstances. 3.2 Management accounting change Management accounting change has become an increasingly popular focus for research in management accounting in 1990s due to implementation of activity-based costing( Innes and Mitchell, 1990), activity-based cost management ( Friedman and Lyne, 1995), life cycle costing (Shields and Young, 1991) and target costing (e.g. Dutton and Ferguson, 1996). Recent research has debated whether management accounting has changed, has not changed or should be changed. (Burns and Scapens 2000) Whether management accounting has changed or not, that the environment in which management accountants operate certainly has changed with advances in information technology, change in organisation structure and stiffer competitive markets. The understanding of management accounting change constitutes much more than the selection of what may be perceived as being optimal accounting systems and techniques, followed by a technical process of implementation. (Burns et al book) Selecting and using the correct management accounting techniques and the technical aspects of performance are important, but there are also behavioural and cultural issues to be understood in relation to change implementation and change management. The main focus on management accounting change is on understanding the processes involved in the implementation of management accounting change and the complexities of, and difficulties involved in, changing management accounting systems, techniques and roles. Burns (1999) suggest that many organisations have routines in place and new changes introduced will lead to the change of the nature of the organisation. In the early 1980s a project, called the Production Cost Control Project was set up to improve the flow of acc info in Omega Plc. The project had failed because the operating managers saw the business in terms of producing-based meanings and routines. The divisional accountants viewed the business as financial term and regarded PCCP as a means of introducing accounting-based routines. Sulaiman and Mitchell (2005) carried out study on management accounting change in Malaysian manufacturing companies. After gathering all information a four types of change had occurred. The two types occurred due to new technique introduction and two concerned existing management accounting modification. The research found that management accountant classified the level of management accounting change into five generalised components. 3.3 Institutional theory 3.3.1 Institution Institutional theory is a theoretical framework that became more relevant in research of management accounting change. In accepting this theory there is no universally agreed definition of an institution. Scott (1995) describes instutions are social structures that have attained a high degree of resilience Burns and Scapens (19990 defined institution as a way of action of commonness which is surrounded in the habits of a group of people. 3.3.2 Institutional framework as a rules and routines concept Development of the framework began by looking at the way in which order is achieved through rules and routines. The framework perceive management accounting to be a rules and routines constituted by established habits. (Kim Soin, 2002). Hodgson (1993) defined habits as self-actualizing dispositions or tendencies to engage in previously adopted form of action. Habit is a personal action where routines involve group of people as components of institution. Routines play an important role in an organisation in which management accounting was viewed as a rule concept where management accountant performed routine tasks. Rules may be became implemented through the establishment of routines and vice versa. Therefore the reproduction of roles and routine will persist over time and the routines of management accountants may be changed. The process of change may develop new routines which over time could be institutionalised. In the organisation routines can be adapted very quickly over the time. Human behaviour in the organisation is based on repeating actions to comply with rules and routines as they provide an organisational memory and represent the basis for the development of the behaviour (Kim Soin, 2002). Guerreiro, R at al (2006) used habit, routines and institutions to illustrate how accounting practices can turn from habit to institutions through routines. They concluded that all institutions are structured on the basis of take-for-granted habits and routines, succeed during a certain period and are realised in a form of normative rules. 3.3.3 Taken for granted According to Scapens (2006) organisations react more slowly to changes than individuals as they removed form every day activities in some way. He observed that over time, management accounting can contain a structure that shows the way organisations thinking and acting which is widely taken for granted. Management accountants were viewed as routine features in the organisation and they simply taken for granted as the way things are. Some researches of institutionalism criticised the framework as it overplays its emphasis on constancy at the expense of focusing on institutional change. Quattrone and Hopper (2001) explained how management accounting can be influenced by an organisation or by individuals. Individualism argues that an organisation changes when individual actions modify the organisation. They introduced the concept of drift for constructions of accounting change. The authors replaced the word change with world drift. Quattrone and Hopper (2001) choose drift as to represent accounting change as incomplete attempts at organising and emphasise that human elements that situate accounting change is not a harbour to the change. They argued that accounting change was also promoted by technical and inscribed elements. In a recent study of change in management accounting Busco at all (2007) organised the notion of change within key dimensions. The key dimensions were evaluated in terms of the ratio and forms of change as well as evaluation over space and time of change. They carried out a case study to investigate those key dimensions in the Middle-East Gas and Oil Company (MEGOC) as a large corporation operating in the oil and gas industry. They found that change can only happen due to incompleteness that exists within an organisation. Busco at all (2007) concluded that management accounting change is a theoretical space which, possibly more than many others in management and organizational studies, intersects and interacts with the broader knowledge area of the social sciences, sociology and philosophy of knowledge and science and technology studies Conclusion Chapter 4 4.1 Management accountant as hybrid accountant The term hybrid accountant emerged in the literature from around 1995 as its role was focused on product stream. Burns and Baldvinsdottir (2005) studied a concept of new role of management accountant as hybrid accountant by examining a multinational pharmaceutical company in the manufacturing division. Their study found that the number of hybrid accountants increase with development of team relationship building while routine accounting role disappearing. Two types of hybrid accountant were found from their study: finance manager and finance analyst were the finance manager was involved in strategic issues and the finance analyst was involved with day to day activities. According to Miller et al (2007) hybrid is defined as new phenomena produced out of two or more elements normally found separately. The discussion in the literature around hybrid accountant has developed in business partner direction. 4.2 Business partner role It has been noted in the literature that management accountant have become more and more involved in business processes (Sathe, 1982, Keating and Joblonsky) and have demonstrated a strong business understanding (Feeney, 2007, Burns at all, 1999). Hopper (1980) found that principal task of accountants was to act in a service role rather than a bookkeeper. He found that majority described their lore as the service role and only few called themselves as the bookkeeper and preferred the management accounting tasks to be centralised. Grnalund and Lukka(1998) presented the transformation from bean counter to business-orientated management accountant position. The transformation occurred with the increasing decentralization of the management accounting function. They concluded that those two roles are very different and a person can not act in both roles. Some evidence emerging in the literature that transformation of management accountants to business partner started at the top by the busi ness and profit centre managers became more depended on accountants. Managers used their help as the guidance to run their business (Siegel, 2003) and they expect from accountants a better business understanding and more flexibility (Pierce and ODea, 2003). Burns and Baldvinsdottir (2005) concluded that it is necessary for management accountants to have a broad range of business skills with their basic technical skills. 4.3 Professional skills of management accountant ( subheading needed) As processes have changed and accounting has adapted over time to meet the needs of ever changing business, management accountants have been required to change their skills. (Fleming 1999) They are projected to be forward thinking business forecaster s who add value to the entity and not just highlighting whether the targets have been met (Burns and Yazdifar) Traditionally management accountants spent time on preparing standardized reports. Today the shift has moved towards analyzing, interpreting and providing information for decision making purposes. (Roberta et al 2009) These skills include traditional as well as soft skills that these management accountants posses in order to contribute positively to the tasks that are acquired to perform as part of their role (Jones and Abraham 2007) A recent study by Freeny and Pierce 2007 looked at management accountant skills and asked both managers and management accountants to rank skills in order of perceived importance. Ethics and honesty were rated highly by both parties. Managers value the unbiased and objective perspective offered by management accountants- the financial numbers cannot afford to be skewed in favor of a certain standpoint Accuracy is also crucial. A simple error in calculation could amount to millions of Euros, which could lead to a wrong decision (Siegal 2000 )As part of Management accountants role converging towards hybrid accountants as business partners, honesty is good but they have to take into account a bit of cop on (Freeny and Pierce 2007) and process the commercial knowledge required on their behalf to get the job done. For many businesses, critical thinking, problem solving and analytical skills are essential tools. It is an important skill of management accountants to think critically and to be good at problem solving. They need to be able to step back and look at something outside of the box (Siegal 2000) people can be a wizard at spreadsheets, can manipulate data effectively but can they figure out whether the information in front of them is reasonably or realistic (Freeny and Pierce 2007) Accounts have to be able to think logically in a business setting. They cant just learn off and memorize what to do in different situations. Creativity is also important, to be able to step aside and show some innovation and ideas to problems. In the study by Freeny and Pierce management accountants actual ratings in relation to interpersonal/ leadership and communication skill set fell below managers expectations. These are classed as fundamental skills and a necessary to have the ability to take on a complex subject and turn it into easily understandable language and be able to explain it to managers and other non accountants. you guys can be geniuses with your spreadsheets but there isnt that many of you that can sit down at the meeting and share information. A key responsibility in compiling reports for use is that the input is based from other personnel throughout the organization. Good personnel skills are needed to approach these managers and request information. Problems could arise where managers believe management accountants can adjust their targets and cause problems. This requires substantial interpersonal skills to close the communication gap. It is evident that management accountants must prepare and equip themselves for their new role in line with changing business demands. Professional accounting bodies must update and modernize their training and education curriculum to guarantee that todays management accountants can cope with new information technology systems, strategy and business partner role. (Burns and Yazdifar) As many of the new accounting roles do not necessarily need a management accountant there is a threat posed to the profession. For example if an engineering firm is seeking for a new business manager they might seek engineers who encompass business knowledge with an accountant qualification rather than a fully qualified management accountant. To combat this threat accounting educators should develop curriculums that are less dominated by traditional management practices and focus on management accounting in a modern light and equip students with the skills necessary and useful to provide a value-added service. Carcello et al (1991) conducted a survey of comparing student expectations to that of accounting professionals anticipations. Students included in the sample were within six months of graduating and professional accountants were in the work place for 1.5 years to 3.5 years. Four questions of the survey pacifically related to skills essential as a practicing accountant. (A) Technical Knowledge, (B) C computer Skills, (C) Verbal and Written Communication skills, (D) Interpersonal skills. Respondents had to rank the skills on a five point scale. The results of the survey showed that professionals and students had similar views as to the importance of technical knowledge and computer skills. Students perceived communication skills and interpersonal skills as more important than professionals. Carcello et al (1991) concluded that this is a positive result as both communication and interpersonal skills are essential attributes of the accounting profession. Oswick et al (1994) conducted a survey on the perception of public accounting skills held by uk students with accounting and non accounting career aspirations. The perception of a traditional accountant being dull and lacking in social skills is detained with non accountant students. In Oswicks study these non accounting students perceived empathy and social styles as less important skills necessary than accounting students. Interpersonal skills were also rated lowly as perceived important by students not interested in accountancy. Students interested in accountancy did place a higher weighting on interpersonal skills and view the accountancy profession as a more interactive and social profession. From the surveys conducted on skills required by accountants it is evident that there has been as increased weighting on the soft skills acquired by management accountant. Such evidence had had implications for accounting educators. It is necessary to enable students and for faculty to remain abreast of the changes taking place in the profession and to identify key Accounting Skills needed for success. (Russell et al 1999) Chapter 5 Methodology 5.1 Introduction The purpose of this chapter is to elaborate on the research methodology that was used in this dissertation. The beginning of this chapter refers to the objective of the research and is followed by the process of selecting the research method. This chapter also considers the limitations of the chosen research method. 5.2 Objective As outlined in the introduction chapter the main purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the change of management accountants over time. The researcher wishes to identify the traditional role of management accountants and compare to the modern role of management accountant. The authors also seek to explore the factors that promoted the change. A number of researches have already been carried out on business partner or hybrid accountant role and this has resulted a significant availability of information regarding this area. However, there is a lack of examination in some areas that the research will explore. 5.3 Chosen methodology In order to achieve the research objectives it is necessary to choose an appropriate research approach. Tsetsekos (1993) outlined that the research methodology is very important as it specifies the information requirements for the successful completion of a research project. This dissertation is based on a secondary research that includes a critical review of prior literature. Secondary data consists of both quantitative and qualitative data. 5.3.1 Secondary Data Literature review A comprehensive review of the literature was conducted in chapter one, two and three. Literature review helps the reade

The Conflict Between Conformity and Individuality in Willa Cathers Pau

The Conflict Between Conformity and Individuality in Willa Cather's Paul's Case Willa Cather’s â€Å"Paul’s Case,† displays the conflict between conformity and individuality through the main character, Paul. On a number of occasions, Paul is forced to lie and steal to escape the conformists who wish to control him and stifle his unique imagination. However, his lying, stealing, and attempts to escape the conformists, only force Paul into isolation, depression, and feeling a sense of shame for his individuality. Throughout the story one might see Cather’s constant contrast of individuality versus conformity, as well as Paul’s lying and stealing. Cather seems to draw the conclusion that extreme individuals, much like Paul are simply misunderstood, and not offered the acceptance they desire from conformist society. One way Cather contrasts individuality and conformity is through detailed descriptions of Paul’s character: Paul’s appearance, Paul’s unusual mannerisms, and Paul’s open criticisms of conformity. Collectively, these three characteristics assert Paul’s individuality. Paul’s appearance is described in detail at the beginning of the story and provides the foundation of his individuality: â€Å"Paul was tall for his age and very thin, with high, cramped shoulders and a narrow chest†(Pg. 1). One only needs to reach the second paragraph of the story and realize Paul does not fit in, which can be accredited to Cather’s careful word choice â€Å"for his age.† Most young individuals, specifically in Paul’s teenage age bracket, will struggle for acceptance from their peers; however it appears that Paul makes little effort in this regard. Paul’s unusual mannerisms are also worthy of analysis, and aid in creating a mental picture of this unusual young man. Cather uses Paul’s meeting with the faculty of his educational facility to convey the irritating and intimidating qualities of his mannerisms. She writes, â€Å"His teachers felt this afternoon that his whole attitude was symbolized by his shrug and his flippantly red carnation flower, and they fell upon him without mercy†¦. He stood through it smiling, his pale lips parted over his white teeth. (His lips were continually twitching, and he had a habit of raising his eyebrows that was contemptuous and irritating to the last degree)†(Pg.2). Combined with the description of Paul’s physical appearance, his mannerisms now... ...nearly always wore the guise of ugliness, that a certain element of artificiality seemed to him necessary in beauty†(Pg. 7). With this in mind, Paul’s actions seem deliberate, as if he knew what he was doing all along, again supporting the theory that he was simply wallowing in misery, crying for help. In conclusion, Willa Carther’s â€Å"Paul’s Case† is an interesting glimpse into the world of a young boy, who’s individuality is constantly in conflict with the conformist society that surrounds him. In attempts to escape this reality, Paul loses himself in a fantasy world of art, lies, and thievery. In this attempt to escape, Paul slips into isolation and depression. Carther in this regard is very careful on how she portrays Paul, to brink about some sympathy from the reader as he is simply a troubled young man. In the end, Paul’s individuality and societies refusal of him leads to Paul’s demise. The sympathy Cather creates for Paul leaves one questioning if society simply should have supported Paul’s individuality, instead of letting him slip away. Paul’s death seems to support this theory, as not a single reader would have wished such a cruel ending to the life of a dreamer.

Why Couldnt Kant Be A Utilitarian? Essay -- Philosophy Philosophical

Why Couldn't Kant Be A Utilitarian? ABSTRACT: In his essay "Could Kant Have Been a Utilitarian?", R. M. Hare tries to show that Kant's moral theory contains utilitarian elements and it can be properly asked if Kant could have been a utilitarian, though in fact he was not. I take seriously Hare's challenge to the standard view because I find his reading on the whole reasonable enough to lead to a consistent interpretation of Kant's moral philosophy. Still, I hardly believe that it is necessarily concluded from Hare's reading that Kant could have been a utilitarian. In this paper, I will first show that Hare's interpretation of 'treating a person as an end' as treating a person's ends as our own is reasonable, and so is his reading of 'willing our maxim as a universal law' and 'duties to oneself,' which is based on that interpretation. Then I will argue that Kant couldn't be a utilitarian despite the apparently utilitarian elements in his theory because caring about others' ends (of which happiness is the sum) is a duty. This is so, in Kant's view, not because happiness is valuable in itself, but because it is the sum of those ends set freely by each rational human being who is valuable in itself, that is, an end in itself. In his essay "Could Kant Have Been A Utilitarian?", (1) R.M. Hare, analyzing Kant's text, tries to show that Kant's moral theory contains utilitarian elements and it can be properly asked whether Kant could have been a utilitarian though he was in fact not. I take his challenge to the standard view seriously not because it is made by the celebrated moral philosopher but because I find Hare's reading of Kant's text on the whole reasonable enough to lead to a consistent interpretation of Kant's moral philo... ... fuer Philosophie), 1991. (3) T. Terada, op.cit.; J. Murphy, Kant: The Philosophy of Right, MacMillan, 1970. (4) H.J. Paton, The Categorical Imperative, Pennsylvania U.P., 1971. (5) T. Terada, "'Universal Principle of Right' as the Supreme Principle of Kant's Practical Philosophy", in: Proceedings of the 8th International Kant Congress, 1995. (6) T. Terada, "Kanto ni okeru Jiko ni taisuru Gimu no Mondai (The Problem of 'Duties to Oneself' in Kant)", Tetsugaku (The Philosophy) 46, 1995; T. Nitta,"Fuhenkakanosei to Sogo-shutaisei (Universal-izability and Intersubjectivity)", in: Aichi Kenritsu Daigaku ronshu 35, 1986. (7) T. Terada, "'Universal Principle of Right' as the Supreme Principle of Kant's Practical Philosophy"; P. Guyer, "Kant's Morality of Law and Morality of Freedom", in Dancy (ed.), op.cit. (8) W.K. Frankena, Ethics, Prentice-Hall, 1973. Why Couldn't Kant Be A Utilitarian? Essay -- Philosophy Philosophical Why Couldn't Kant Be A Utilitarian? ABSTRACT: In his essay "Could Kant Have Been a Utilitarian?", R. M. Hare tries to show that Kant's moral theory contains utilitarian elements and it can be properly asked if Kant could have been a utilitarian, though in fact he was not. I take seriously Hare's challenge to the standard view because I find his reading on the whole reasonable enough to lead to a consistent interpretation of Kant's moral philosophy. Still, I hardly believe that it is necessarily concluded from Hare's reading that Kant could have been a utilitarian. In this paper, I will first show that Hare's interpretation of 'treating a person as an end' as treating a person's ends as our own is reasonable, and so is his reading of 'willing our maxim as a universal law' and 'duties to oneself,' which is based on that interpretation. Then I will argue that Kant couldn't be a utilitarian despite the apparently utilitarian elements in his theory because caring about others' ends (of which happiness is the sum) is a duty. This is so, in Kant's view, not because happiness is valuable in itself, but because it is the sum of those ends set freely by each rational human being who is valuable in itself, that is, an end in itself. In his essay "Could Kant Have Been A Utilitarian?", (1) R.M. Hare, analyzing Kant's text, tries to show that Kant's moral theory contains utilitarian elements and it can be properly asked whether Kant could have been a utilitarian though he was in fact not. I take his challenge to the standard view seriously not because it is made by the celebrated moral philosopher but because I find Hare's reading of Kant's text on the whole reasonable enough to lead to a consistent interpretation of Kant's moral philo... ... fuer Philosophie), 1991. (3) T. Terada, op.cit.; J. Murphy, Kant: The Philosophy of Right, MacMillan, 1970. (4) H.J. Paton, The Categorical Imperative, Pennsylvania U.P., 1971. (5) T. Terada, "'Universal Principle of Right' as the Supreme Principle of Kant's Practical Philosophy", in: Proceedings of the 8th International Kant Congress, 1995. (6) T. Terada, "Kanto ni okeru Jiko ni taisuru Gimu no Mondai (The Problem of 'Duties to Oneself' in Kant)", Tetsugaku (The Philosophy) 46, 1995; T. Nitta,"Fuhenkakanosei to Sogo-shutaisei (Universal-izability and Intersubjectivity)", in: Aichi Kenritsu Daigaku ronshu 35, 1986. (7) T. Terada, "'Universal Principle of Right' as the Supreme Principle of Kant's Practical Philosophy"; P. Guyer, "Kant's Morality of Law and Morality of Freedom", in Dancy (ed.), op.cit. (8) W.K. Frankena, Ethics, Prentice-Hall, 1973.

The Hundred years war Essay -- essays research papers fc

THE HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1337-1453  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Hundred Years War was the last great medieval war. It was a war not just between Kings, but lesser nobles were also able to pursue their own personal agendas while participating in the larger conflict. Future wars saw far less factionalism, at least on the scale found in medieval conflicts. The Hundred Years War was actually dozens of little wars and hundreds of battles and sieges that went on for over a century until both sides were exhausted. While neither side won in any real sense, the end result was that while there were two kingdoms at the beginning of the war, there were two nations at the end of it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1337, most of the English nobility spoke French, although most knew enough English to deal with their subjects. When Duke William of Normandy conquered England in 1066, he did so as a French noble. But since Duke William had conquered a kingdom, he had become king of England while remaining duke of Normandy. Duke William also replaced nearly all the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy with French nobles. During the next two centuries, the French speaking English kings acquired even more property in France. Finally, in the 13th century, a particularly able French king took most of this land away from the English king. But by the early 14th century, two French provinces, Gascony and Guyenne, were still ruled by the English king, and in 1337 the French king Philip the 6th demanded that these provinces be returned to French control. The English king, Edward the 3rd , did not want to violate the feudal bonds that united all of Europe by defying Philip, his feudal overlord for t hose provinces. So Edward challenged Philip’s claim to the French throne, asserting that his own claim (which did in fact exist) was superior. Thus the war began, with Philip the 6th claiming the right to appoint French nobles as rulers of Gascony and Guyenne, and Edward the 3rd claiming that he was the rightful king of France and England.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There were other issues involved. England had major financial interests in the wool industry in Flanders (then a part of France) and France supported the Scots in their wars against England. Moreover, England had b... ...les' daughter. The son of this marriage (Henry the 6th) would be the king of France and England. It looked as though England had finally won. But the disinherited Dauphin continued to resist. Henry the 5th unexpectedly died in August 1422, followed in October by Charles the 6th , with the nine month old Henry the 6th not yet ready to receive the two crowns.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Despite the efforts of Henry the 5th's able brothers to hold things together. Joan of Arc came and went. The Burgundians turned on their English allies, and by 1453, the French, aided by these developments and the increasing professionalism of their army had driven the English from the Continent. This gave the English a few years to get ready for the War of the Roses, while the French took care of some internal problems and got ready for the first of many invasions of Italy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bibliography - Contamine, Philippe, War in the Middle Ages (1984) - WWW. TheHundredYearsWarHistoryHomePage.Com

Facebook Essay Writing Service Essay

Introduction Facebook is a social is a social network service which was founded by Mark Zuckerberg in February 2004. This is the most commonly used website with over 600million active users according to the report given in January 2011. This is considered to have created a very strong network of communication with its capability to connect people across the world. The services have both negative and positive effects to the individuals, families and societies since it is accessed by all the people irrespective of the age and experience. The study below concerns the major effects and consequences of this network service to the society at large. Effects or consequences of Facebook on the society Humans are social beings thus there is need for them top keep connected or have a good network to socialize with each other. According to the results of the study on Compete.com done in January 2009, Facebook was ranked to be the most used social network and it has more benefits than just communicating but also provision of essential information in communication. It is the best and the most powerful tool for collaboration and interaction between people or friends. Considering from the sociological perspective Facebook sites are considered to improve social capital which is particularly essential in striking up a conversation or enabling people to access information from the internet. A study carried out in Michigan State University found that the services are beneficial especially for eth individuals with low self esteem and less self satisfaction. From the psychological perspective, the site enables the individuals to meet and share with the others with common interests hence share the experiences and get motivated or gain knowledge to handle life issues (Goldman, 2008 p. 7). Facebook makes up a cheaper way of keeping up with friends by reinforcing the existing ones or expansion of the network by enabling the creation of new  ones. Each individual member has a profile page on which he or she invites all the people to be their friends. They post ideas on their walls to be shared amongst the friends and those of their friends and also have a chance of accessing what their friends have to share thus more and diverse information and knowledge is shared. It also serves to strengthen the bonds especially between the individuals who do not have enough physical contact or have not enough time for direct interaction. This is possible by providing individual information as well as views and opinions thus the others may be able to learn more concerning the individuals. There is a lot to be done thus people do not have enough time to visit or interact with their friends, Facebook offers the opportunity for the individuals to interact and share views and opinions even as they carry on other duties. It is a good chance for the individuals to gather information concerning people of interest like professionals thus they may be able to approach them on official duties by knowing their personalities. People acquire more and diverse information from all corners of the world, for example the cultures of the other communities and how various individuals across the world handle life challenges. It is a good and effective medium of communication since so long as the facilities are available the account holders access the sites on daily basis either on computers or through the mobile phone hand sets (Matthew, 2008 p. 345-365). Other than the benefits these social services also have disadvantages on the society. Excess usage of these social sites is resulting to the increase in the societal crime rates especially those relating to immorality or sexual abuse. There is no age description of the individuals who are qualified to hold accounts on the Facebook thus the young children, the teenagers and the adults all share the information that is posted on the profiles. The young people access and put in practice ideas which are far much below their standards. Some of these may be pornographic materials which may abuse the young children. Excessively exposing of the information concerning people for example, their occupation is having effects on the societal crime rates for instance the robbery and carjacking because the criminals will be able to identify the individuals of their focus and monitor their movement  depending on the information that they provide (Martà ­nez, 2009 p. 73-82). Although these networks are considered as an effective links for the distance relationships by connecting the individuals, it also has negative effects on the relationships. This is resulting to wrong decisions because the individuals may be influenced to be engaged in bad relationships. Most of the people who use these websites do not express their original characters but mostly try to show the best. Some of these relationships may not last because the parties are forced to separate when they learn the true characters of the others. The individuals also blame each other for being unfaithful through by accessing the information that they share with the others. Most of the people especially the young people are not able to balance the time that they spend on these sites and on the other activities. Many of the employers are complaining of their employees not producing the best or as expected as they spend most of the time chatting or sharing ideas with their online friends. This is found to be one of the factors causing the financial instability in the society as many of the people do not concentrate on the economic activities. The learning institutions are also not left out especially the colleges and other higher learning institutions. The performance of these institutions are declining since the students spend most of their time on these social networking thus they have no time for their assignments and studies. These students are forced to either dump the assignment or examination tests if they are not well prepared or have not revised. After they are through with the training they are not able to maintain a good relationship with their employers since they do not concentrate in their workplaces or may not have acquired enough skills to perform their duties as expected (Sonvilla-Weiss, 2010 p. 102-112). The more time the individuals spend on the social networking sites, the huge the content of their privacy they expose to the public as they post their ideas, feelings and interests online. The society seems to be becoming more open without any privacy thus some people are becoming unappreciated in the societies when the personalities discovered of them are unexpected. This is  also affecting the social relationships between the casual friends, children and the adults or parents because some of the information exposed shows the individuals to be lacking good moral behavior especially if the information they share is more intimate thus their parents or friends are likely to mistake them. This site is seen as a face value of the society we live in although a times it communicate false information (Gutwirth, 2010 p. 127). The cultures of the societies are highly changing due to the influence of the Facebook. This is because people are forced to change and adapt the styles of living acquired from the information that they share with the rest of the people from across the world. Some of these cultures for instance the language change is not acceptable in most of the communities. For example, the language used by the children to address the adults in certain communities may not be accepted in others and are likely to cause disagreements. This is reflected by the gap between the older and the young generations in the societies since the older people consider the young ones to be misled by the current events in the society thus are reluctant to interact with them (Matthew, 2008 p. 276-281). The social networking is considered to be having effects to all the life factors including political, social and economic. By interacting with the others the local leaders have an opportunity to share and copy the leadership styles which may or may not be accepted in the societies although a times they have positive impacts. It also have both negative and positive impacts in the economic sector since people wastes a lot of time on them than they do on the economic boosting activities. They may also provide ideas on new activities of economic development through sharing with the others. Conclusion Facebook is a social networking site which is the most popular and widely used to connect across the world. It has both negative and positive impacts to the society through influencing all the life aspects like political, social and economic. The leaders have an opportunity to share with the other  leaders across the world thus they improve their leadership skills. Although some of the people waste a lot of time on the sites other than carrying out the economic activities, sometime they benefit by acquiring new ideas on economic activities.

Cross-Docking: State of the Art

zed 40 (2012) 827846 Contents lists acquirable at SciVerse ScienceDirect ezed journal homepage www. elsevier. com/ desexualize/omega Review Cross- tracking fee knacking State of the snarftrivance Jan cutting edge Belle n, Paul Valckenaers, Dirk Cattrysse KU Leuven, Department of automaton want Engineering, Celestijnenlaan cccB, B-3001 Heverlee (Leuven), Belgium a r t i c l e i n f o cla utilisation history Received 23 June 2011 recognized 17 January 2012 Processed by Pesch well-defined online 25 January 2012 Keywords Cross- move intoing Logistics Classi? cation abstractCross- tying uping is a logistics strategy in which dispatch rate is un blotto from inward fomites and (almost) at unitary age awry(p) into outward fomites, with s stooget(p) or no com prescribeer ruggedest in among. This report give births an overview of the cross- move intoing concept. Guidelines for the sure-fire in slay and death penalty of cross quayageing atomic routine 18 dis cussed and approximately(prenominal)(prenominal) signs be crash forth that stinker be utilise to distinguish amongst polar cross- pier characters. In addition, this paper sticks an protracted review of the animate books approximately cross- come ininging. The discussed cover atomic figure of speech 18 classi? d base on the caper type that is reach overd (ranging from to a greater extent strategical or tactical to to a greater extent(prenominal) functional paradoxs). ground on this review, roughly(prenominal) opportwholeies to improve and extend the au and indeedtic question ar indicated. & 2012 Elsevier Ltd. all(prenominal) rights re dish upd. Contents 1. 2. 3. establishation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 827 When and how to use cross-docking? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 829 Cross-dock characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 830 3. 1. Physical characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 831 3. 2. Operational characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 831 3. 3. need characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 831 books review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 832 4. 1. Location of cross-docks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 832 4. 2. Layout mental hospital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 833 4. 3. Cross-docking net spend a pennys. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 833 4. 4. Vehicle routing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 834 4. 5. Dock admission identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 834 4. 6. motor transport computer computer programing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 837 4. 6. 1. Single cutting and stack access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 837 4. 6. 2. Scheduling of inflowing motor motorhand transports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 839 4. 6. 3. Scheduling of incoming and outward- keep back t rucks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 840 4. 7. unpredictable remembering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 841 4. 8. new(prenominal) issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 842 Conclusion and seek opport unities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 843 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 844 4. 5. 1. Introduction Cross-docking is a logistics strategy instantly utilize by close to(prenominal) companies in some(prenominal)(predicate) industries (e. g. retail ? rms and little-thantruck pay essence (LTL) logistics appendrs). The basic head behind crossdocking is to agitate in orgasm committals immediately to extravert Corresponding author. Tel. ? 32 16322534 telecommunicate ? 32 16322986. E-mail addresses jan. emailprotected kuleuven. be (J. forefront Belle), paul. emailprotected kuleuven. be (P. Valckenaers), dirk. emailprotected kuleuven. be (D. Cattrysse). 0305-0483/$ see bm matter & 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights re served. doi10. 1016/j. mega. 2012. 01. 005 n vehicles without storing them in amidst. This practice open fire serve distinct goals the integrating of shipments, a brusqueer sales spill the beans lead clipping, the reducing of bes, etc. The consumption of cross-docking in manufacturing rase seems to outgrowth 14. In a trala titious dispersion center, solids atomic consequence 18 ? rst certain and then stored, for obiter dictum in palette racks. When a client requests an item, thespians pick it from the entrepot and ship it to the refinement. From these tetrad major functions of w behousing (receiving, terminus, rig choice and conveyance), storage and indian lodge select ar ordinarily the most addressly.Storage is expensive because of the descent safekeeping re pose, rank picking because it is stab 828 J. Van Belle et al. / Omega 40 (2012) 827846 intensive. maven address to reduce be could be to improve one or more than(prenominal) of these functions or to improve how they interact. Crossdocking however is an overture that precludes the cardinal most expensive intervention operations storage and order picking 58. A de? nition of cross-docking pr r individu altogetheryerd by Kinnear 9 is receiving yield from a supplier or manufacturer for several end finishings a nd consolidating this harvesting with former(a) suppliers product for common ? al deliverance destinations. In this de? nition, the focalize is on the consolidation of shipments to succeed economies in out-migration be. The Material treatment Industry of America (MHIA) de? nes cross-docking as the bring of moving merchandise from the receiving dock to transferral dock for transportation without placing it ? rst into storage statuss 10. The focus is at once on transshipping, non retentiveness stock. This requires a remunerate synchronization of incoming ( inward) and outgoing ( outgoing) vehicles. However, a perfect synchronization is dif? delirium to achieve.Also, in practice, staging is necessitate because umteen inbound shipments need to be sieve, amalgamate and stored until the outgoing shipment is complete. So, this strict bashfulness is relaxed by most authors. Cross-docking then mess be describe as the providedt on of consolidating burden with the l ike destination ( alone coming from several origins), with minimal intervention and with little or no storage amid un despatch and core of the goods. If the goods argon tempor entirelyy stored, this should be be ramps for a laconic stage of a metre. An conduct cumber is dif? cult to de? e, simply umpteen authors talk approximately 24 h (e. g. 5,7,11,12). If the goods atomic offspring 18 put in a store or on order picking shelves or if the staging takes several age or crimson weeks, it is non go outed as crossdocking moreover as (traditional) w atomic sum 18housing. However, even if the products atomic form 18 represent for a pineer prison term, close to companies soundless turn over it cross-docking, as vast as the goods move from supplier to storage to client virtually un stirred just for truck loading 3,13. Many organizations use a mixture of w behousing and cross-docking to accept the bene? ts of twain(prenominal)(prenominal) come neargons 1. A terminal commit for cross-docking is called a cross-dock. In practice, most cross-docks be huge, condition rectangles (I- mannequin), just now an separate(prenominal) pulps be sympatheticly apply (L,T,X, . . . ) 5. A crossdock has aggregate loading docks (or dock limens) where trucks stick out dock to be loaded or set down. Incoming trucks atomic number 18 depute to a peel off entrance where the incumbrance is discharge. Then the goods atomic number 18 go to its appropriate stack gateway and loaded on an outward-bound truck. Mostly, in that mess is no supernumerary base of operations to stage freight. If goods corroborate to be stored temporarily, they atomic number 18 placed on the ? oor of the cross-dock (e. . in front of the dock gateway where the triping truck is or impart be docked). However, it is possible that the cross-dock contains for font a pallet storage, certainly if cross-docking is acceptd with wargonhousing. Fig. 1 presents a s chematic representation of the framework handling operations at an I-shaped cross-dock with 10 dock introductions. Incoming trucks ar either straight off charge to a strip introduction or sacrifice to continue in a queue until naming. once docked, the freight (e. g. pallets, cases or boxes) of the inbound truck is unloaded and the destination is identi? ed (e. g. y see the barcodes attached to the goods). Then, the goods atomic number 18 transported to the jutated stack entre by some material handling device, such as a worker operating a forklift or a conveyor belt governance. There, the goods atomic number 18 loaded onto an outbound truck that serves the dedicated destination. in one case an inbound truck is entirely unloaded or an outbound truck is completely loaded, the truck is replaced by anformer(a) truck. Cross-docking corresponds with the goals of hunt fork over strand management littler volumes of more visible inventories that atomic number 18 delive red hurried and more frequently 14.In the literary productions, several other (possibly intertwined) advantages of cross-docking comp ard with employing traditional dispersal centers and closure-to- blot deliveries argon extensioned (e. g. 2,3,6,15,16). well-nigh advantages comp argond with traditional dissemination centers atomic number 18 speak to reduction (w behousing speak tos, inventory-holding be, handling monetary value, weary appeals) shorter pitch shot lead meter (from supplier to customer) amend customer help reduction of storage space faster inventory dollar volume fewer overstocks trim back risk for release and damage. few advantages of cross-docking comp ard with point-to-point deliveries atomic number 18 cost reduction ( raptus costs, poke costs) consolidation of shipments improved resource utilization (e. g. extensive truckloads) crack match among shipment quantities and echt necessity. Fig. 1. Material handling at a typical cro ss-dock. These advantages come cross-docking an interesting logistic strategy that merchantman give companies call backable emulous advantages. Wal grocery store is a well- cognise example 17, exactly correspondingly several other companies come reported the triple-crown instruction execution of cross-docking (e. . Eastman Kodak Co. 14, Goodyear GB Ltd. 9, Dots, LLC 18 and Toyota 13). Although cross-docking has already been applied in the mid-eighties (e. g. by Wal Mart), it has precisely attracted attention from academia oft later and mostly during the novel years. For slip, more than 85% of the academic text file found by the authors atomic number 18 promulgated from 2004 on. During these years, a canvassable number of cover turn over been published and because of the growing interest from industry 14, the authors expect that still more rehunt on this topic lead be performed the coming years.The target of this paper is to present an overview of the cross-d ocking concept. First, guidelines for the prospering use and executing of cross-docking ordain be discussed. Further, several characteristics testament be expound to distinguish among diametric types of cross-docks. Next, the paper pass on provide a review of the existing literature close to cross-docking. The discussed cover are classi? ed ground on the conundrum type. These enigmas pluck from more strategic or tactical to more operational difficultys. This review john help (future) cross-docking J. Van Belle et al. Omega 40 (2012) 827846 829 practitioners to ? nd the correct literature to engender or improve their cross-docking operations. Without a ripe writ of execution, it is impossible to bene? t from the above-mentioned advantages. base on the provided review, the authors try to identify gaps of experience and interesting expanses for future enquiry. The term cross-docking ordinarily refers to the situation in which trucks or trailers1 are loaded and un loaded at a cross-docking terminal. However, the operations to handle freight at a harbor or drome are some era very kindred.At a harbor for instance, containers are unloaded from a ship and temporarily placed onto the quay until they are loaded onto another ship or onto a truck. An airport rotter too be seen as a sort of cross-dock for transferring excreteengers and their baggage. In the literature, several cover great come up to be found that deport with similar fusss as encountered in crossdocking, yet speci? c for harbors or airports (e. g. how to incur the layout of an airport terminal 19,20, how to assign air excogitatees to gates 21, etc. ). These text file are not interpreted into cover for the literature review presented here.The paper focuses on the typical cross-docking in which goods are transferred amidst trucks at a cross-dock. The speci? c action or industry (e. g. less-than-truckload (LTL) or courier, demo and parcel (CEP) industry) is not of the essence(p), as long as the applied material handling drop be considered as cross-docking. To the exceed of our knowledge, only when devil paper present a review of cross-docking text file. Boysen and Fliedner 2 discuss papers well-nigh the truck programing enigma and provide a classi? cation of the considered difficultys. The undertake interpreted ere is however more planetary and several worry types connect to to crossdocking are discussed, including the truck scheduling riddle (see discussion dent 4. 6). Agustina et al. 22 provide a general picture of the numeric elbow roomls apply in cross-docking papers. These expressive stylels are classi? ed base on their decisiveness train (operational, tactical or strategic) and then subdivided by occupation type. However, another classi? cation is presented here as the authors do not completely add together with the contrived classi? cation (the considered problem types and the denomination of papers to problem typ es).For instance, Agustina et al. 22 do not consider vehicle routing and brief storage and the papers some cross-dock lucres are discussed in two different sections (transshipment problems and cross-docking network cast). Also, some papers about dock door designation are discussed in the section about cross-docking layout design. In addition, the review presented here is more large more papers are include and the papers are discussed in more detail. This paper too includes a general overview of cross-docking and describes several cross-dock characteristics. The paper is organized as follows.The following section discusses in which situations cross-docking is a suitable strategy and hides with the requirements for a successful implementation. In segmentation 3, the characteristics are discussed that tidy sum be apply to differentiate in the midst of alternative cross-docking systems. The literature review is presented in function 4. The discussed papers are classi? ed base on the problem type they deal with. The conclusions with opportunities to improve and extend the current re seek are summarized in Section 5. Fig. 2. Suitability of cross-docking ( neutered from Apte and Viswanathan 1). 2.When and how to use cross-docking? Although cross-docking is nowadays utilize by many companies, it is probably not the take up strategy in all case and in all circumstances. This section brie? y describes the existing 1 In the undermentioned pages, the terms truck, trailer and vehicle will be used interchangeably. literature that gives some guidelines for the successful use and implementation of cross-docking. Apte and Viswanathan 1 discuss some factors that in? uence the suitability of cross-docking compared with traditional distribution. 2 A ? rst beta factor is the product engage rate.If at that place is an imbalance between the incoming load and the outgoing load, cross-docking will not work well. Hence, goods that are more suitable for cross-dock ing are the ones that stand admit rates that are more or less invariable (e. g. grocery and regularly consumed perishable solid food items). For these products, the warehousing and conveying requirements are much(prenominal) more predictable, and consequently the prep and implementation of cross-docking becomes easier. The unit stock-out cost is a succor important factor. Because cross-docking belittles the level of inventory at the warehouse, the probability of stock-out situations is mettlesomeer.However, if the unit stock-out cost is low, the bene? ts of cross-docking net outweigh the increased stock-out cost, and so cross-docking discount still be the preferred strategy. As yieldn in Fig. 2, cross-docking is on that pointfore preferred for products with a stable demand rate and low unit stock-out cost. The traditional warehousing is still preferable for the opposite situation with an risky demand and high unit stock-out costs. For the two other cases, cross-docking gage still be used when proper systems and planning tools are in place to keep the number of stock-outs to a reasonable level. or so other factors that squirt in? ence the suitability of crossdocking are the maintain to suppliers and customers (higher distances increase the bene? ts of consolidation), the product regard as and life cycle (a big reduction in inventory costs for products with a higher value and shorter life cycle), the demand quantity (a larger reduction in inventory space and costs for products with a higher demand), the timeliness of supplier shipments (to ascertain a correct synchronization of inbound and outbound trucks), etc. 1,23,24. any(prenominal) authors use a more quantitative entree to ruminate the suitability of cross-docking. For instance, Galbreth et al. 6 compare the expatriate and handling costs between a situation in which a supplier has to ship goods to several customers with only rent shipments and a situation in which as well as in de velop shipments via a cross-dock are possible. For the present moment situation, a entangled whole number programming (MIP) pose is take graduation exercise outd to determine which goods should go immediately from supplier to customer and which goods should be shipped via a cross-dock to meet the (known) demands. The dit costs are forgeed in a down-to-earth way ?xed for truckload shipping, darn the less-thantruckload shipping costs are toughieed using a modi? d all-unit discount (MAUD) cost function. The holding costs at the customers are proportionate to the quantity and the holding time between comer time and collectable date. The costs for the two situations are compared under diversifying operating conditions. The authors leave off that cross-docking is more worthy when demands are less 2 It is false that the demand quantities are small, otherwise point-to-point deliveries are more meet. 830 J. Van Belle et al. / Omega 40 (2012) 827846 variable and when unit h olding costs at customer statuss are higher.On the other hand, it is less valuable when the average demands are close to truck load ability. Other quantitative forward motiones break a likeness between a situation with a cross-dock and a situation with a traditional distribution center. For instance, Kreng and subgenus Chen 25 compare the operational costs. Besides the transportation and holding costs, the exertion costs (more speci? c the setup costs) of the goods at the supplier are interpreted into flier. When a cross-dock is used, more frequent deliveries to the cross-dock are infallible and the batch surface needs to be smaller, which causes higher setup costs.Waller et al. 26 look to some(prenominal) situations from an inventory reduction perspective. Schaffer 8 discusses the successful implementation of crossdocking. When a company wants to introduce cross-docking, the introduction should be prepared very well. If the indispensable equipment is already available and because cross-docking seems simple, one substantially assumes that cross-docking post be implemented without much effort. However, cross-docking itself is quite complex and requires a high degree of coordination between the supply drawstring members (e. g. the timing of arrival and variance).So, the requirements for successful cross-docking should be understood thoroughly and the implementation should be planned care to the full. In 8, Schaffer elaborates on sixsome categories of requirements for a successful implementation. According to Witt 13 and to Yu and Egbelu 27, computer software system program to plan and control the cross-docking operations (e. g. a warehouse management system or WMS) plays an important role in the successful implementation of cross-docking. The necessitate ( automated) hardware for a cross-docking system (material handling devices, sorting systems, etc. ) might come off the shelf and is easily available today.But the software needs to be ta ilored to the speci? c requirements and is in general relatively less developed, although it is as important as hardware to cross-docking success. This is as well con? rmed by a go over among professionals who are involved in cross-docking and who designate IT system halt as a key barrier to effective cross-docking 3,4. Hence, the system requirements need to be carefully de? ned and analyse in order to prevent initiation the carnal system to discover subsequently on that point is no learning and intercourse system in place for successful operation.This software system trick only work correctly if it is fed with dead on target and timely information. Compared with regular distribution, the information ? ow to support cross-docking is signi? butt jointtly more important 24. For instance, to coordinate the inbound and outbound trucks to the appropriate docks, the arriving time and the destination of the freight need to be known originally the physiological arrival of th e goods (e. g. via attain shipping notice (ASN)). Several information applied science tools are available to take a leak this information ? ow, e. g. lectronic info interchange (EDI), shipping container marking (SCM), bar-coding and s tailning of products using orb(a) product code (UPC) 1. Regardless of which engineering is chosen, the supply kitchen stove partners must be able and willing to deliver the required information via this technology. A good cooperation crossways the supply chain lot bring on or break the cross-docking implementation 8,13,24. docking 1,29. In a two-touch or champion-stage cross-dock, products are received and staged on the dock until they are loaded for outbound transportation. Usually, the goods are put into zones comparable to their strip or stack door (see Fig. 3).In the case of a multiple-touch or two-stage cross-dock, products are received and staged on the dock, then they are recon? gured for shipment and are loaded in outbound trucks. In a typical con? guration, the incoming freight is ? rst put in zones alike(p) to the strip doors. The goods are then sorted to the zones corresponding to the stack doors (see Fig. 4). other distinction underside be do jibe to when the customer is assign to the mortal products 30. In predistribution cross-docking, the customer is appoint forwards the shipment leaves the supplier who takes care of supply (e. g. labeling and pricing) and sorting.This allows faster handling at the cross-dock. On the other hand, in post-distribution crossdocking, the al berth of goods to customers is done with(p) at the cross-dock. Still some other distinctions are possible. The German supermarket retailer Metro-AG for instance distinguishes sourceoriented and target-oriented cross-docking based on the location Fig. 3. A single-stage cross-dock in which the products are staged in zones corresponding to the stack doors (adapted from Gue and Kang 28). 3. Cross-dock characteristics Several char acteristics stick out be considered to distinguish between variant types of cross-docks (and cross-docking).A common distinction made in the literature is based on the number of touches 3 or stages 28. In one-touch cross-docking, products are touched only once, as they are received and loaded immediately in an outbound truck. This is as well called pure cross- Fig. 4. A two-stage cross-dock in which the products are staged in zones corresponding to the strip and stack doors and are sorted in between (adapted from Gue and Kang 28). J. Van Belle et al. / Omega 40 (2012) 827846 831 of the cross-docking terminals relative to suppliers and customers 31.Napolitano 32 distinguishes several types of cross-docking based on the intended use and in 29, eight different crossdocking techniques are listed. In this section, several characteristics are described that skunk be used to distinguish between different cross-dock types. 3 Note that hearty world characteristics of the cross-dock are considered, and not the properties from a speci? c ending problem related to cross-docking. For the papers included in the literature review (Section 4), the characteristics of the considered cross-docks will be listed in tables according to the characteristics described here. However, the structure of Section 4 is not based on these characteristics, but on the considered problem type. The characteristics loafer be divided into three conclaves physical characteristics, operational characteristics and characteristics about the ? ow of goods. 5 In the next sections, these groups will be described in more detail. 3. 1. Physical characteristics The physical characteristics are characteristics of the crossdock that are supposed to be ? xed (for a rather long time). The following physical characteristics are considered. normal Cross-docks dope book a large manakin of shapes.The shape nates be described by the letter corresponding to the shape I, L, U, T, H, E, . . . Number of doc k doors A cross-dock is too characterized by the number of dock doors it has. In practice, cross-docks range in size from 6 to 8 doors to more than 200 doors, and even a cross-dock with more than 500 doors exists 33. In the literature, some quantify the number of dock doors is limited to only 1 or 2. In these cases, the idea is not to exemplification a realistic cross-dock, but to gain some insight by schoolinging a simpli? ed deterrent example. Internal transportation The transportation internal the crossdock can be penalize manually (e. . by workers using forklifts) or there can be an automated system in place (e. g. a network of conveyor belts). The available infrastructure will of course be subordinate on the type of freight that is handled in the cross-dock. For instance, LTL carriers handle mostly palletized freight and so make use of forklifts. Conveyor systems on the other hand are among others used by parcel carriers, as they deal with many (small) packages. A conf ederacy of both transportation modes is also possible. 3. 2. Operational characteristics Some operational conclusions can in? uence the surgery of the cross-dock.These operational reserves lead to the following characteristics. helper mode According to Boysen and Fliedner 2, the service mode of a cross-dock determines the degrees of freedom in appoint inbound and outbound trucks to dock doors. In an exclusive mode of service, each dock door is either exclusively 3 Some of the characteristics described here are similar to the characteristics used by Boysen and Fliedner 2 to make a classi? cation of truck scheduling problems. However, they 2 consider not only real world characteristics, but also characteristics of the (mathematical) presents. At least(prenominal) for the papers in which these characteristics are described, i. e. , in which real world details of the cross-dock are considered (Sections 4. 54. 8). 5 This classi? cation is rather vague. For some characteristics, it is not clear in which group they ? t best or they can be charge to multiple groups. For instance, flying storage is considered as a ? ow characteristic. However, temporary storage can also be seen as a physical characteristic (storage is not possible because of space constraints) or operational characteristic (it can be an operational decision that storage is not allowed, e. . to avoid congestion inside the cross-dock). dedicated to inbound or outbound trucks. If this service mode is used, mostly one side of the cross-docking terminal is assigned to inbound trucks and the other side to outbound trucks. A endorsement mode is mixed mode. In this mode, inbound and outbound trucks can be svelte at all doors. These two modes can also be combined. In this combination mode, a subset of doors is operated in exclusive mode magical spell the rest of the doors is operated in mixed mode. Pre-emption If pre-emption is allowed, the loading or unload of a truck can be interrupted.This truck i s then outside from the dock and another truck takes its place. The un? nished truck has to be docked later on to ? nish the loading or set down. 3. 3. Flow characteristics The characteristics of the ? ow of goods that founder to be carry throughed by a cross-dock can be very different. The following characteristics are distinguished. Arrival radiation diagram The arrival times of the goods are determined by the arrival times of the inbound trucks. The arrival sort can be concentrated at one or more periods if the inbound trucks follow together at (more or less) the resembling times.For instance, a cross-dock in the LTL industry serving a certain geographic domain of a function commonly receives freight at two periods. Goods that guard to be transported from inside that area to another area are picked up during the day and all pick-me-up trucks arrive in the evening at the cross-dock. The goods are then sorted during the nighttime and the outbound trucks leave in the mo rning. To change the problem, several papers assume that the inbound trucks arrive together (at the beginning of the time horizon). On the other hand, freight from outside the region but doom for that area arrives in the ahead of time morning and is then istributed during the day. Another possibility is that the arrival manakin is scattered and the inbound trucks arrive at different times during the day. The arrival pattern has an in? uence on the congestion of the cross-dock and on the scheduling of workers and resources. Departure time The loss times of the trucks can be certified or not. In many cases there are no restrictions and the trucks leave the cross-dock afterwardswards all freight is loaded or unloaded. However, it is also possible that the trucks have to depart before a certain point in time, for instance in order to be on time for a next transportation task.In this case, there can be restrictions imposed on the departure times of the inbound trucks only, so tha t these trucks have to be unloaded on time. In a similar way, it is possible that only the outbound trucks have to leave the cross-dock before a certain moment. 6 For instance, in the parcel words sector, the outbound trucks usually leave at a ? xed point in time. Parcels arriving late have to wait until another truck departs for the same destination. It is also possible that both inbound and outbound trucks have restricted departure times.Product interchangeableness The freight handled at a cross-dock is in general not interchangeable. In this case, all products are dedicated to a speci? c destination7 or a speci? c outbound truck (pre-distribution). Information about the destination or the dedicated truck is normally known before the products arrive at the cross-dock. It is however also possible that exchangeability of products is allowed (post-distribution). In this situation, only the type of products to be loaded on the outbound trucks and the corresponding quantity is known (see footnote 7).When the products are interchangeable, usually some value-added activities (e. g. labeling) need to be performed. 6 This point in time can be dependent on the (due dates of the) actual load of the truck. 7 The assignment of the products to a speci? c outbound truck is then an operational decision. 832 J. Van Belle et al. / Omega 40 (2012) 827846 Temporary storage In pure cross-docking, the arriving freight is directly transported to outbound trucks, so no storage is needed. In practice however, this is rarely the case. In general, the goods are temporarily stored on the ? oor of the cross-docking terminal (e. . in front of the stack doors) or even in a (small) warehouse. However, it is possible that goods are not allowed to be stored. For instance, if refrigerated products have to be cross-docked in a non-cooled terminal, these products have to be directly locomote from a cooled inbound to a cooled outbound truck. 4. Literature review Cross-docking practitioners ha ve to deal with many decisions during the design and operational phase of cross-docks. These decisions can have a serious blow on the ef? ciency, so they have to be carefully taken. In the literature, several decision problems are study.Some of these problems are more implicated about decisions with effects on a longer term (strategic or tactical), maculation others deal with short-term decisions (operational). This section gives a review of the existing literature about crossdocking problems. The literature review is structured according to the basic planning process a manager, wanting to start with cross-docking, is confronted with. The ? rst decisions that have to be taken during the planning process are strategic decisions where will a cross-dock (or crossdocks) be located and what is the best layout of a cross-dock.Once the cross-dock is available, it will be part of a supply network (with one or more cross-docks). A tactical decision that has to be made then is how the goo ds will ? ow through the network to calumniate the costs, while make supply meet demand. Next, the manager is set about with the operational decision (although it has also tactical aspects) of vehicle routing before arriving at the cross-dock, freight has to be picked up at discordant(a) locations, and the goods have to be delivered to multiple locations after consolidation at the cross-docking terminal.Other operational decisions deal with the assignment of trucks to dock doors or the scheduling of the trucks, and with the location where goods will be temporarily stored. Of course, the manager will also be confronted with problems that are not speci? c for cross-docking the scheduling of the internal resources for the loading and unloading of the freight (e. g. the workforce), choosing the best staging strategy and determine an optimal truck packaging sequence. The next sections describe the cross-docking problems dealt with in the literature.Only the problems that are speci? c for cross-docking are considered. First, the strategic decisions are discussed the location of cross-docks and layout design. The tactical problem of cross-docking networks is described next. Further, the operational decisions are handled vehicle routing, dock door assignment, truck scheduling and temporary storage. Finally, some papers that study other issues related to crossdocking are discussed. 4. 1. Location of cross-docks The location of one or more cross-docks is part of the design of a distribution network or supply chain.An important strategic decision that has to be made concerns the position of these crossdocks. This problem cannot be handled isolated from the decisions that determine how the goods ? ow through this network. The determination of the ? ow of goods is discussed in Section 4. 3, but problems that also involve a decision about the location are considered here. The problem where to locate facilities (e. g. distribution centers or kit and boodles) has attra cted a considerable amount of attention. 8 The papers discussed in this section determine specially the optimal ? ow of goods through the network.Moreover, they regard the facilities to be cross-docks because they explicitly take individual vehicles into account or because temporary storage is not allowed. A ? rst study about the location of cross-docks is performed by call and Song 34. In the considered problem, goods have to be transported from supply to demand nodes via a cross-dock (direct shipments are not allowed). The cross-dock can be chosen from a set of possible cross-dock locations, each with an associated ? xed cost. The demands are delusive to be known and there are two types of vehicles with a different message and cost. The aim is to ? d which cross-docks should be used and how many vehicles are needed on each link in order to play down the perfect cost. This ingrained cost consists of the ? xed costs of the used cross-docks and the transportation costs. The a uthors present an integer programming model of the problem. This model is very similar to the model presented by Donaldson et al. 35 and genus Musa et al. 36 (discussed in Section 4. 3) and similar simplifying assumptions are applied. Compared with these two papers however, the memory access of Sung and Song 34 does not consider direct shipments but does include the location decision.Because the problem is NP-hard, a sacred search-based algorithmic ruleic ruleic ruleic programic ruleic ruleic program is offerd to put to work the problem. The replys determine how the goods ? ow through the network. Based on this ? ow, the number of vehicles can be derived by settlement a subproblem. Some countingal experiments are performed on generated essay instances and indicate that the proposed algorithm ? nds good possible etymons deep down a reasonable time. Sung and Yang 37 extend this work and propose a small improvement to the tabu search algorithm.The authors also present a set-partitioning-based conceptualisation of the problem and propose a branch-and-price algorithm based on this locution to reserve exact solutions. The numerational results show that this algorithm gives demote results in terms of the number of (smallscale) problem instances authorized and the required computation time compared with the results obtained by solving the integer programming model with the optimisation software package CPLEX. ? ? Gumus and Bookbinder 38 study a similar problem, but now direct shipments are allowed and multiple product types are considered (multicommodity).The facility cost for each crossdock consists of a ? xed cost and a throughput cost charged per unit load. The transportation cost also has two components a ? xed cost for each truck and a variable cost per unit load per unit distance. A belong cost that is taken into account is the cost for intransit inventory. In this progression, the synchronization of inbound and outbound trucks is not taken into account. The authors provide a mixed integer programming model of the problem. By solving several smaller problem instances optimally (with the optimization software packages LINGO and CPLEX), the in? ence of several cost parameters is studied. The authors conclude that the optimal number of cross-docks is an change magnitude function of the ratio between the (? xed) truck cost and the (? xed) facility cost. A different approach is taken by Jayaraman and Ross 39. They study a multi-echelon problem in which goods (from multiple product families) have to be transported from a central manufacturing plant to one or more distribution centers. From there, the goods are moved via cross-docks to the customers. The problem is tackled in two stages. In the ? st stage, a strategic model is used to select the best set of locations for the distribution centers and cross-docks. The authors provide an integer programming reflection that aims to minimize the ? xed costs associated wit h operating open distribution centers and cross-docks and the 8 Several references can be found in the papers discussed in this section. J. Van Belle et al. / Omega 40 (2012) 827846 833 various transportation costs. Demand split is not allowed customers have to be assigned to single cross-docks while crossdocks have to be assigned to single distribution centers only.In the instant stage, an operational model decides upon the quantities of each product type that need to be transported via distribution centers and cross-docks. The model tries to minimize the transportation costs while satisfying customer demand. This model is less restrictive than the ? rst model (it relaxes for instance the demand splitting assumption) and can be executed once the open distribution centers and cross-docks are determined with the help of the ? rst model. two models are more simpli? ed compared with the old approaches.For instance, individual vehicles are not considered and the transportation cost is proportional to the quantity to ship. The authors propose a simulated annealing approach to go larger problem instances. The computational experiments on generated problem instances indicate that the trial-and-error gives results with a deviation of about 4% of the optimal solution (obtained with LINGO), but 300400 times faster. In 40, the same authors present two other trial-and-error programs to tackle the problem. Both heuristics are based on simulated annealing but use an extra mechanism to avoid topically optimal solutions.The ? rst heuristic makes use of a tabu list, the piece heuristic allows a sudden re-scaling of the system temperature. For both heuristics, the solution quality and computational performance are tested for different cooling schemes. The data-based results indicate that the simulated annealing heuristic combined with tabu search gives better solutions in slightly more time. Bachlaus et al. 41 also consider a multi-echelon supply chain network, includi ng suppliers, plants, distribution centers, crossdocks and customers. The goal is to optimize the material ? w throughout the supply chain and to identify the optimal number and location of suppliers, plants, distribution centers and crossdocks. The problem is formulated as a multi-objective optimization model that tries to minimize the total cost and to maximize the plant and volume ? exibility. Because of the computational complexity of the problem, the authors propose a variant of particle hum optimization (PSO) to design the supply chain. Some computational experiments are conducted and the results show that the proposed solution approach gives better results than a ancestral algorithm and two other PSO variants. his at the cost of additional corners which reduce the labor ef? ciency (two inside and two outside corners for T, quaternity inside and four outside corners for X). An inside corner renders some doors unusable, while doors slightly an outside corner have less ? oor space available to stage freight. So, these additional corners are a ? xed cost, which begins to pay off for larger docks. It is however not everlastingly easy to predict which shape is better, because this also depends on e. g. the freight ? ow pattern. Other papers deal with the design of the storage area where the freight can be temporarily staged (on the ? or or in racks). In many cases, the freight is placed in several parallel rows and the workers can move between these rows. Vis and Roodbergen 16 deal with the operational decision where to temporarily store incoming freight (see Section 4. 7). The proposed algorithm can also be used during the design phase to determine the optimal number of parallel storage rows and their lengths. The (single-stage or two-stage) storage area can also be organized in parallel lanes directly next to each other which can only be accessed at both ends.Gue and Kang 28 make use of simulation to study the behavior of these alleged(prenominal) stag ing queues. The results project that, for a single-stage storage area, it is better to have more short lanes than fewer long ones, at least when the workers follow a rational approach. The results also indicate that two-stage cross-docking has a signi? cantly lower throughput than single-stage cross-docking. 4. 3. Cross-docking networks Some authors do not study problems concerning a single cross-dock, but consider a network that contains one or more cross-docks.The aim is to determine the ? ow of goods through such a network in order to reduce costs, while making supply meet demand. The research of Lim et al. 42 extends the traditional transshipment problem. The transshipment problem consists of a number of supply, transshipment and demand nodes. The arcs between these nodes have different capacity limits and costs. The objective is to ? nd a minimum cost ? ow that meets all demands and the capacity constraints. In the extended transshipment problem, storage is allowed at the tran sshipment centers.These centers can be considered as cross-docks because the aim of the model is to minimize or eliminate holdover inventory. Moreover, this problem takes supplier and customer time windows into account and considers the capacity and holding costs of the crossdocks. All shipments have to pass via a cross-dock, so no direct shipments are considered. Similar to the original problem, the objective is to minimize the total cost (transportation costs and holding costs) while meeting demand and respecting the time windows and capacity constraints.If multiple departures and deliveries within a time window are allowed (multiple shipping multiple delivery), the authors show that a time-expanded network can be used to formulate the problem as a minimum cost ? ow problem (MCFP) which can be puzzle out in multinomial time. For other cases, the authors prove that the problem is NP-hard. For the special case when only one delivery or departure is allowed within a time window and the departure and arrival times are ? xed (single shippingsingle delivery with ? xed schedules), a contagious algorithm is developed by Miao et al. 43.This heuristic gives better results (in terms of solution quality and computation time) than solving the integer programming cookery of the problem with CPLEX (with a time limit). Chen et al. 44 study a similar problem which they call the multiple cross-dock problem. The major differences are that supplies and demands are not-splittable and that different products can be considered (multicommodity ? ow problem). Also, transportation time is in this approach not taken into account. 4. 2. Layout design Once the location of a cross-dock is determined, another strategic decision that has to be made is to contain the layout of the cross-dock.The layout is interpreted as the place and shape of the cross-dock, as well as the dimension and shape of the internal cross-dock areas and their arrangement. Bartholdi and Gue 5 focus on the shap e of a cross-dock. Most existing cross-docks are long, narrow rectangles (I-shape), but there are also cross-docks shaped like an L, U, T, H or E. The crossdock shape is sometimes determined by simple constraints (e. g. size and shape of the lot on which it will stand), but in this paper the focus is on how the shape affects cross-dock performance.Several experiments are performed in which the labor costs (estimated by the total hold up distance)9 are measured for different shapes. The experiments suggest that an I-shape is the most ef? cient for smaller cross-docks (fewer than about 150 doors). For docks of intermediate size, a T-shape is best and for more than 200 doors (approximately) an X-shape is best. Cross-docks with a T or X-shape have a greater centrality. However, they achieve 9 here(predicate) and in the following pages, the travel distance is the distance traveled (by workers, forklifts, . . ) in order to transfer the goods internally from the inbound to the outbound t ruck. 834 J. Van Belle et al. / Omega 40 (2012) 827846 An integer programming formulation of the problem is provided, together with a proof of its NP-completeness. The authors propose three heuristics (simulated annealing, tabu search and a combination of both) to solve the problem. These heuristics provide better solutions than those obtained by solving the integer programming formulation with CPLEX, within only less than 10% the time used by CPLEX.Among the three heuristics, tabu search seems to give the best results. The preceding(prenominal) studies represent the shipment of goods as ? ows. idiosyncratic transportation units are not considered and the transportation cost is proportional to the quantity to ship. However, to take advantage of consolidation, the vehicle transportation cost should be taken into account. A ? rst approach that does consider the transportation vehicles explicitly (and this is wherefore the authors regard it as cross-docking) is taken by Donaldson et al. 35.In the considered problem, the goal is to determine whether to route freight directly from suppliers to customers or via a cross-dock and how many vehicles should be scheduled on each transportation link in order to minimize the transportation costs. Compared with the previous approaches however, this problem is more simpli? ed, e. g. storage at the cross-docks is not considered and the synchronization of inbound and outbound trucks is unexpended out of the problem. The authors eliminate connect with a large transportation time in an attempt to consider time windows.However, when the due dates at the destination nodes can vary for the different goods, it is possible that the vehicle parcelling of an obtained solution violates the due dates in practice. The authors present an integer programming model of the problem. Because the problem is dif? cult to solve with branch-and-bound algorithms, an alternative approach is proposed. In this approach, an iterative procedure is u sed in which either the integrality restrictions on the cogitate from origin nodes to the cross-docks or on the links from the cross-docks to the destination nodes are relaxed.This relaxation heuristic provides near optimal solutions in an delightful time. The authors used this approach to compare several scenarios (with a different number of cross-docks at different places) for the network design of a postal service company. The same problem is also studied by Musa et al. 36. They propose an ant colony optimization (ACO) heuristic to solve the problem and show that this heuristic gives in a short time slightly better results than a branch-and-bound approach (with the optimization software package LINDO) that requires a much longer time.The approach of Ma et al. 45 takes most of the above-mentioned concerns into account. The so-called shipment consolidation problem (SCP) considers supplier and customer time windows and also the transportation times between the network nodes. Moreo ver, storage at the transshipment centers (cross-docks) is taken into account, shipments can be transported directly to their destination or via a cross-dock and the transportation cost accounts for the number of trucks. However, only one type of products is considered (single commodity).Again, the objective is to minimize the total cost (transportation and inventory cost) while satisfying the constraints imposed by the time windows. The authors present an integer programming model of the problem and show that it is NP-complete in the reinforced sense. Therefore, the authors propose a (two-stage) heuristic algorithm to solve the problem. The basic idea of the algorithm is to consider ? rst trucks that can be fully loaded and then to ? nd solutions that combine several smaller loads that are not considered yet. In the ? st stage, a full truckload plan (TL plan) and an initial less-than-truckload plan (LTL plan) are constructed. In the second stage, this initial LTL plan is improved iteratively by using a metaheuristic (squeaky wheel optimization or contagious algorithm). The computational experiments indicate that the proposed heuristic gives competitive results compared to CPLEX (with a time limit) within a much shorter time. 4. 4. Vehicle routing Freight destined for a cross-dock needs in many cases to be picked up at various locations, and has to be delivered to multiple locations after consolidation at the cross-dock.Both the cartridge and the delivery process can be seen as a vehicle routing problem and some studies consider cross-docking and vehicle routing simultaneously. A ? rst approach is taken by Lee et al. 46. The aim is to ? nd an optimal routing schedule for pickup and delivery (within the planning horizon) that minimizes the sum of transportation cost and ? xed costs of the vehicles. It is pretended that split deliveries are not allowed and all pickup vehicles should arrive at the crossdock simultaneously to prevent hold times for the outbou nd trucks. While this can be a valid constraint for some cases (see Section 3. ), this is not broadly true. The authors present an integer programming model of the problem, which however seems unsatisfactory to solve the described problem. A tabu search algorithm is proposed to ? nd solutions. This approach corresponds to the solving of two vehicle routing problems (one for pickup and one for delivery). The second routing problem can only start when the ? rst one is ? nished and the complete process has to be ? nished within a certain planning horizon. Liao et al. 47 propose another tabu search algorithm to solve the same problem. pilar cyst et al. 12 study the so-called vehicle routing problem with cross-docking (VRPCD). In this problem, orders from suppliers have to be picked up by a homogeneous ? eet of vehicles. These orders are then consolidated at a cross-dock and immediately delivered to customers by the same set of vehicles, without intermediate storage at the cross-dock. During the consolidation, goods are unloaded from the inbound vehicles and reloaded on outbound vehicles. The unloading must be finish before reloading starts. The authors assume that the duration of the unloading consists of a ? ed time for forwardness and a duration proportional to the load size. It is also delusive that if the delivery will be executed by the same vehicle as used for pickup, the unloading is not necessary (independent of the sequence in which the vehicle is loaded during the pickup tour). A time window is de? ned for all suppliers and customers and orders are not splittable. In the case without consolidation, the solution of this problem can be found by solving two vehicle routing problems (one for pickup and one for delivery). Because of the consolidation however, the pickup and delivery routes are not independent.Only attempt to minimize the distance of the pickup and delivery routes is not suf? cient, the exchanges of orders at the cross-dock also have to be taken into account. These two aspects usually con? ict with each other. The authors present a mixed integer programming formulation of the problem in which the objective is to minimize the total travel time of all vehicles. This formulation contains many variables and constraints, so the authors propose to use tabu search embed within an adaptive memory procedure. This mode is tested on realistic data involving up to 200 suppliercustomer pairs.Experimental results show that the algorithm can piddle solutions less than 1% away from the optimum within short computing times (less than 5 s) for small problem instances. For larger instances, the gap with a lower bound is less than 5% while the computation time stays below 5 min. 4. 5. Dock door assignment When an inbound or outbound truck arrives at the cross-dock, it has to be decided to which dock door the truck should be assigned. A good assignment can increase the productiveness of the cross-dock and can decrease the (handling) costs. So, the dock door assignment problem tries to ? d the optimal assignment of inbound and outbound trucks to dock doors. It is assumed that there are at least as much dock doors as trucks, so each truck will J. Van Belle et al. / Omega 40 (2012) 827846 835 Table 1 Characteristics of the papers discussed in Section 4. 5. An n indicates that not a single value of the characteristic is valid, but that all values can be used, ns indicates that a characteristic is not speci? ed. Paper(s) Shape No. of doors n n n n n n n n n n n n Internal transport manually manually manually Manually Manually n Service mode max liquid ecstasy Exclusive Exclusive Exclusive ExclusiveExclusive Exclusive mingled Exclusive Mixed Exclusive Interchangeability Temporary storage Yes No ns ns ns Yes ns Yes Yes ns ns ns mint candy 48 Tsui and Chang 49,50 ? Bermudez and Cole 51 Cohen and Keren 52 Oh et al. 53 Bartholdi and Gue 54 Gue 33 chocolate-brown 55 (semi-permanent) Brown 55 (dynamic) Bozer and Carl o 56 (semi-permanent) Bozer and Carlo 56 (dynamic) Yu et al. 57 I I n I I I I n n n n n Manually Manually Manually Manually Manually Manually hand truck finish Destination Destination Destination Destination Destination Destination Truck Destination Truck Destination e assigned to a different door and time aspects are not taken into account. If this condition is not ful? lled, the dock doors can be seen as (scarce) resources that have to be scheduled over time. This is the so-called truck scheduling problem. Both problems can be quite complex due to the number of doors and the dynamic nature of the problem. This section deals with the dock door assignment problem, while truck scheduling problems are discussed in Section 4. 6. The assignment of dock doors can be executed on a mid-term or short-term horizon 2.Several papers solve the assignment problem on a mid-term horizon. Then, each dock door serves a speci? c inbound or outbound destination for a longer period of time (e. g. 6 mo nths). 10 All trucks coming from the same origin or having the same destination are assigned to the same dock. Such a ? xed assignment is easier for workers because they know exactly to which dock door they need to ship each load, but it comes at the expense of a reduced ? exibility. Even if a ? xed assignment is used, it is important that the dock doors are reassigned when there is a signi? cant change in the shipping pattern.When data about the inbound trucks are known far enough in advance, the assignment of the trucks can be solved on a shortterm horizon. The trucks itself are assigned to the dock doors based on the actual freight ? ow. This ? oating dock concept is put forward by Peck 48 who studied the material handling operations in an LTL terminal. Such an assignment implies that the workers are every day confronted with a different door for the same destination and have to take care that the freight is loaded into the correct truck. The use of modern information technology (e. g. ar code or RFID examine together with a WMS) can be useful for this end. A combination of both is also possible. Several papers consider a cross-dock in which destinations are assigned to stack doors (so the outbound trucks are assigned on a mid-term horizon), while the assignment of the inbound trucks is done on a short-term horizon. The characteristics of the cross-docks considered in the following papers are summarized in Table 1. As time aspects are neglected and there are enough available dock doors, the preemption, arrival pattern and departure time characteristic are not pertinent here and are not shown.In his dissertation, Peck 48 develops a detailed simulation model of an LTL terminal and tries to assign the trucks to dock doors in order to minimize the travel time11 of the shipments. It is assumed that the travel time to transport the products between This includes that the cross-dock operates in exclusive service mode. Here and in the following pages, the travel time is the time required to transfer the goods internally from the inbound to the outbound truck. 11 10 two trucks can be expressed as a function of the distance, based on the actual contents of the trucks and the required means of transport (2-wheeler, 4-wheeler or forklift).The cognomen of doors as either strip or stack doors is ? xed beforehand. The problem is formulated as an integer programming model and because of the computational complexity, a heuristic (greedy balance algorithm) is provided to solve it. Simulation shows that his heuristic improves an assignment based on experience and intuition. Another early study about the assignment of trucks to dock doors is performed by Tsui and Chang 49. In this paper, a crossdock is considered in which no storage is provided all shipments go directly from inbound to outbound trucks.The problem is solved on a mid-term horizon, so the origins and destinations have to be assigned to dock doors, not the trucks itself. The designation of doors as strip or stack doors is ? xed. The assignment problem is formulated as a linear programming problem that tries to minimize the travel distance of the forklifts (the number of forklift trips required to carry a certain load is assumed to be known). To solve it, the authors propose a simple heuristic method to ? nd a local optimum.The authors do not provide test results, but conclude that the found solution can serve as a good starting time point for the cross-dock manager. There exist exact algorithms to solve bilinear optimization problems, but these are not very suited for this problem as the same authors mention in Tsui and Chang 50. In this paper, a branch-and-bound algorithm is proposed to solve the dock door assignment problem exactly. The numerical tests show that this algorithm is however computational expensive. ? Bermudez and Cole 51 deal with a very similar problem, but now there is no ? ed designation for the doors. All doors can have assigned either an orig in or a destination. The mathematical model of Tsui and Chang 49 is adapted to take this into account. The objective function minimizes the total weighted travel distance sort of of the real travel distance. A genetic algorithm (GA) is propose