Spatial pricing and product allocation in online retailing

Spatial pricing means a retailer price discriminates its customers based on their geographic locations. In this article, we study how an online retailer should jointly allocate multiple products and facilitate spatial price discrimination to maximize profits. When deciding between a centralized product allocation ((i.e., different products are allocated to the same fulfillment center) and decentralized product allocation (ie, different products are allocated to different fulfillment centers), the retailer faces the tradeoff between shipment pooling (ie, shipping multiple products in one package), and demand localization (ie, stocking products to satisfy local demand) based on its understanding of customers' product valuations. In our basic model, we consider two widely used spatial pricing policies: free on board (FOB) pricing that charges each customer the exact amount of shipping cost, and uniform delivered (UD) pricing that provides free shipping. We propose a stylized model and find that centralized product allocation is preferred when demand localization effect is relatively low or shipment pooling benefit is relatively high under both spatial pricing policies. Moreover, centralized product allocation is more preferred under the FOB pricing which encourages the purchase of virtual bundles of multiple products. Furthermore, we respectively extend the UD and FOB pricing policies to flat rate shipping (ie, the firm charges a constant shipping fee for each purchase), and linear rate shipping (ie, the firm sets the shipping fee as a fixed proportion of firm's actual fulfillment costs). While similar observations from the basic model still hold, we find the firm can improve its profit by sharing the fulfillment cost with its customers via the flat rate or linear rate shipping fee structure.     

Delivery‐date and capacity management in a decentralized internal market

We study competitive due‐date and capacity management between the marketing and engineering divisions within an engineer‐to‐order (ETO) firm. Marketing interacts directly with the customers and quotes due‐dates for their orders. Engineering is primarily concerned with the efficient utilization of resources and is willing to increase capacity if the cost is compensated. The two divisions share the responsibility for timely delivery of the jobs. We model the interaction between marketing and engineering as a Nash game and investigate the effect of internal competition on the equilibrium decisions. We observe that the internal competition not only degrades the firm's overall profitability but also the serviceability. Finally, we extend our analysis to multiple‐job settings that consider both flexible and inflexible capacity. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2008     

显示界面复杂目标辨认研究

为了使作战人员更快速地辨认武器系统显示界面目标,研究人对不同复杂程度及大小的目标符号辨认情况,为武器系统显示界面的目标编码设计提供依据。提出目标符号复杂度的定义,建立复杂度计算公式,对符号的复杂程度进行量化。通过测定被试完成搜寻特定目标的时间,建立反应时间和符号复杂度与大小、高复杂度目标数量与大小的线性回归模型。提取被试辨认不同复杂度目标的脑电信号,分析脑负荷。结果表明符号复杂度越低或尺寸越大,目标越容易辨认;当大小一定时,人对复杂度3以下的目标辨认情况较好,对复杂度3以上的目标辨认绩效明显下降;脑负荷随着目标复杂度的增大而增大。结论为武器系统显示界面的符号复杂度应设计在3以下,高复杂度目标符号使用时应合理调整其大小。     

机动管线水顶油排空油水混合物切割工艺研究

排空是机动管线的一项经常性作业。在水顶油排空过程中,不可避免地会产生混油,因此混油的切割工艺尤为关键。通过对机动管线水顶油排空作业终端混油切割流程、设备操作的分析,提出了采用1个三通球阀代替2个闸阀的切割流程,自行搭建了实验平台,测量了三通球阀的流动特性,论证了三通球阀作为机动管线混油切割阀的可行性。实验表明,新流程的使用降低了切割操作难度,提高了切割作业的快速性和准确性。     

Joint pricing,assortment, and inventory decisions for a retailer's product line

Consider a set of product variants that are differentiated by some secondary attributes such as flavor, color, or size. The retailer's problem is to jointly determine the set of variants to include in her product line (“assortment”), together with their prices and inventory levels, so as to maximize her expected profit. We model the consumer choice process using a multinomial logit choice model and consider a newsvendor type inventory setting. We derive the structure of the optimal assortment for some important special cases, including the case of horizontally differentiated items, and propose a dominance relationship for the general case that simplifies the search for an optimal assortment. We also discuss structural properties of the optimal prices. Finally, motivated by our analytical results, we propose a heuristic solution procedure, which is shown to be quite effective through a numerical study. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2007     

Impact of tax reduction policies on consumer purchase of new automobiles: An analytical investigation with real data‐based experiments

We investigate and compare the impact of the tax reduction policies implemented in the United States and China to stimulate consumer purchase of new automobiles and improve manufacturers' profits. The U.S. policy provides each qualifying consumer with a federal income tax deduction on state and local sales and excise taxes paid on the purchase price (up to a cutoff level), whereas the Chinese policy reduces the vehicle sales tax rate for consumers. We observe that these policy designs are consistent with the tax management system and the economic environment in the respective country. We analytically determine the effects of the two tax reduction policies on the automobile sales and the manufacturer's and the retailer's profits. Numerical examples are then used to provide insights on the importance of certain factors that influence the effects of the two policies. Finally, a numerical experiment with sensitivity analysis based on real data is conducted to compare the merits and characteristics of the two policies under comparable conditions. We find that the U.S. policy is better than the Chinese policy in stimulating the sales of high‐end automobiles, whereas the Chinese policy is better than the U.S. policy in improving the sales of low‐end automobiles. The U.S. policy is slightly more effective in increasing the profitability of the automobile supply chain; but, in general, the Chinese policy is more cost effective. The methodology developed herein can be used to evaluate other tax reduction policies such as those related to the purchase of energy‐saving vehicles and to serve as a decision model to guide the choice of alternative tax reduction policies. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 61: 577–598, 2014     

WinCC与Matlab的软件接口方法研究

为了充分利用WinCC开发周期短、可靠性高及可维护性强等优点和Matlab丰富的数据分析处理函数库,解决WinCC开发系统调用Matlab函数库的问题,提高应用系统的数据分析处理能力,研究了WinCC与Matlab的软件接口方法,提出了可使应用系统脱离Matlab环境运行的基于可执行文件的混合编程方法,并以油罐泄漏检测...     

投影式电容触摸屏柔性振动触觉反馈研究

良好的触觉反馈是普通触摸屏人机界面友好性的重要体现.基于现有触觉反馈方式,以投影式电容触摸屏为研究对象,提出了柔性振动技术,分析了触摸屏各种输入方式的触觉反馈实现方式.与采用其他触觉反馈技术的情况相比,采用柔性振动技术的触觉反馈拟真度较高,结构较为简单,具有更好的人机界面友好性.     

长期贮存的固体发动机药柱脱粘界面裂纹分析

为了分析长期贮存的固体导弹发动机药柱脱粘层界面裂纹在燃气内压和轴向过载联合作用下的扩展情况,建立了发动机药柱在包覆层与推进剂之间脱粘的三维有限元计算模型,并于脱粘界面的裂纹尖端设置三维奇异裂纹元,模拟脱粘界面裂纹扩展。在包覆层与推进剂之间设置不同深度脱粘,计算了在燃气内压和轴向过载联合作用下不同贮存期、不同深度的界面裂纹尖端的应力强度因子,得到了界面裂纹应力强度因子随贮存时间、脱粘深度的变化规律,对长期贮存的固体发动机脱粘界面裂纹的扩展进行了分析。     

解非线性振动问题的摄动谐波平衡法

本文在谐波平衡法的基础上,引进摄动的思想,得出了用解析法解非线性振动问题的一个新的有效方法——摄动谐波平衡法。该方法无需对解的形式及谐波系数的量级预先有所了解,这是谐波平衡法所不能比拟的。另外,该方法使非线性振动问题的求解过程变得简单,只涉及解线性代数方程的运算,不必求解微分方程,这又比Lindstedt-Poincare方法、多尺度方法优越。