Browsing by Author "Kay, E."
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Item Open Access First report on containers(College of Aeronautics, 1966-12) Kay, E.; Pemberton, A. W.Everybody agrees that containers are a "good thing";the actual advantages of transporting cargo, and in particular, dry cargo, in containers over other forms of transport have, to our knowledge, nowhere been stated in quantitative terms. It is claimed that containers will reduce the turn-round time of ships, ease congestion in the docks, speed-up total transit time of cargo, reduce the risk of pilferage, reduce packaging cost and reduce total handling effort in all stages of transit. Given that all these advantages are real, it is obvious that they do not accrue in equal measure to all parties concerned in the movement of goods from consignor to consignee. There is indeed a likelihood of a conflict of interest between these parties. In this report we shall try to delineate the various problem areas, indicate the quantitative information that needs to be collected in order to decide how to solve these problems and outline an approach to such solutions.Item Open Access In-process stocks for automatic transfer lines(College of Aeronautics, 1969-01) Roberts, A. C.; Kay, E.Automatic transfer lines are playing an increasingly important role in production. As production rates and capital investment increase, the cost of line stoppages also increases. A line stoppage of an automatic transfer line occurs everytime any of the machines stops, unless there is a sufficient buffer stock between each machine in the line. Thus there arises the question of how much buffer stock between each machine is required to optimise line operation in accordance with some criterion such as maximum output or minimum cost. Though it is fairly easy to formulate this problem in mathematical terms, it has been shown (Ref.1) that an analytical solution is not possible. The problem can, however, be solved for each particular case by simulation. This report describes one such solution for the case of an automatic bottling plant in a brewery. The work was carried out as a thesis project for the college's diploma, by Mr. A.C. Roberts, a student in the Statistics and Operational Research section, School of Management, during the Academic year 1967/68. Mr. E. Kay of the Materials Handling Research Unit acted as project supervisor. As a bottling line is a prime example of an automatic transfer line, we believe that the method here described can be applied to all similar problems.Item Open Access A mathematical model for handling in a warehouse(College of Aeronautics, 1967-03) Kay, E.Item Open Access Notes on the feasibility of automatic warehousing(College of Aeronautics, 1968-10) Kay, E.; Pemberton, A. W.There is now sufficient information and experience available on the subject of automatic warehousing to make it possible for an organisation with major storage problems to assess the advantages and disadvantages of investing in one of these highly sophisticated systems provided it examines its requirements systematically and in detail. Additionally, it is becoming possible to compute the relative cost advantages of this kind of storage pattern as against the conventional one (i.e. Fork Lift Trucks and Pallet Handling). We believe that the present position regarding the feasibility of automatic warehousing is untenable to most organisations. There is, so far as we know, no detailed guide available or published which enables any organisations to make even a preliminary examination of the possible advantages of fully automated storage. From the theoretical work carried out at the Materials Handling Research Unit* we can now derive rules by which the various factors influencing feasibility can be measured and valid comparisons be made. The detailed application of these rules is likely to vary from case to case, and it would be impossible to comprehensively describe their use in a short and nontechnical publication. The notes which follow are not to be regarded as rigid guide lines, but attempt to set out the criteria by which an organisation may judge its own readiness to accept a change to mechanised storage.Item Open Access Second report on containers(College of Aeronautics, 1968-01) Kay, E.; Pemberton, A. W.In our first report on containers published in January,1967, we tried to summarise progress in this new mode of transportation and to define some of the problems which existed.Item Open Access Warehouse model: report no. 1(College of Aeronautics, 1966) Kay, E.1.1 The purpose of the research project has been outlined in Appendix 5 of the report to the Research Fellowship Council Meeting on 10th November, 1955. 1.2 In this first report we consider the simplest model of a warehouse only, that is a warehouse that receives and issues goods in the same unit and in which storage locations, each holding exactly one unit, can be arranged in the form of rectangular blocks (7,xatfrple : pallet racking) with unhindered excess to any unit located in the block. We consider that there are N different types of goods to be stored, that the average rate of movement through the warehouse for each type is known, and that input and output is variable. 1.3 We assume that the aim is to minimise handling cost or handling effort, and that this can be measured by a value which is directly proportional to 2 horizontal and 1 vertical distances from reference points (goods receiving and despatch points) to unit storage location in the block. Further, in this simple model, no stock policies such as FI20 etc. are imposed....[cont.]Item Open Access Warehouse model: report no. 2(College of Aeronautics, 1966) Kay, E.1.1. Report No. 1 dealt with the simple warehouse model in a static sense. This was sufficient, the only consideration being optimisation of handling, i.e. the problem posed was spatial. The problem becomes a dynamic one as soon as stock policies are taken into consideration, that is, as soon as the time dimension enters the problem. 1.2. Section 3 of this report deals with the most usual of stock policies, FIFO. Section 4 discusses the rarer policies of MINDIS, - a phrase coined by the author to describe the policy of minimising movement in the warehouse regardless of age of stock, - and LIFO. Section 5 details the mathematics used.