• Journal of Distribution Research
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.123-140
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• 2011

This study analyzed large distributors' trade features with local suppliers and their direct purchase features through the survey and the interview targeting some MDs(Merchandisers) in large retailers responsible for buying fresh foods (agricultural, fishery, livestock and proceeded products). As the result of conducting the survey targeting the large purchase MDs, it was found that when they select local suppliers, they importantly consider the factors of stable products supply, the quality management, the aggressive management attitude, the affordable (cheap) price, and the suggestion of differentiated goods in order. Concerning their direct purchases in local places, their preference toward the direct-purchase traders were higher than that toward vendors and whole markets as their existing major traders. Among the traders for direct purchase, they preferred farm corporations (including agricultural corporations) the most, and followed the National Agricultural Cooperative, and the unit agricultural cooperative in order. Regarding to the trades with suppliers, when they set the trade price, the merchandisers (MDs) of large distributors preferred long-term trades over 2 years, and utilized the factors of market rate(50.9%), production cost(31.2%) and sale price in the same industry(18.0%). For the local distribution organizations to aggressively counteract the changes of distribution environment in the consumption places, it needs some strategies to organize the agricultural production, to expand the production size and to specialize the distribution channels. And the supply system's continuality and stability are required, so it needs to establish the counteract system enabling to supply all year round through the link of production organizations. Additionally, as an effort to intensify the market negotiation ability, it should collect various market information from the consumption places.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.41-54
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• 2024

In this study, we compare and analyze the performance of three inventory management policies for raw material inventory management in a Precast Concrete production plant: Fixed Order Quantity Policy (FOQP), Fixed Order Interval Policy (FOIP), and (s, S) Ordering Policy (sSOP). In order to make more realistic conclusion, we developed and utilized the ARENA simulation model, a performance evaluation tool that considers the variance of raw material demand and supply for the entire production process in a PC production plant using multiple raw materials. For the three policies, reorder point, order quantity, target level, and order interval parameters were initialized by using Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) model and then optimized through OptQuest. As a result of optimization, inventory management costs were reduced by an average of 97.28% compared to the EOQ model that does not consider the variance of demand and supply. After setting three influencing factors, Project Occurrence Cycle (POC), Raw Material Lead-time (RML), and Unit Stock-out Cost (USC), a performance evaluation was conducted for the three policies. As a result of evaluation, the inventory management costs of FOQP and sSOP, which determine order intervals by considering inventory levels by real-time or daily, were 30.6% and 27.9% lower than FOIP with fixed order intervals respectively. In addition, inventory management costs were affected by RML and USC factors excluding POC, but the differences were 2.17% and 2.09% respectively, which were not large due to the optimization of parameters for responding the variance of raw material demand and supply.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.27-35
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• 2019

In order to solve the global warming and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, $CO_2$ capture technology was developed by applying oxy-fuel combustion. But there has been such a problem that its economic efficiency is low due to the high price of oxygen gases. ASU is known to be most suitable method to produce large quantity of oxygen, to reduce the oxygen production cost, the efficiency of ASU need to be improved. To improve the efficiency of ASU, exergy analysis can be used. The exergy analysis provides the information of used energy in the process, the location and size of exergy destruction. In this study, the exergy analysis was used for process developing and optimization of large scale ASU. The process simulation of ASU was conducted, the results were used to calculate the exergy. As a result, to reduce the exergy loss in the cold box of ASU, a lower operating pressure process was suggested. It was confirmed the importance of heat leak and heat loss reduction of cold box. Also, the unit process of ASU which requires thermal integration was confirmed.

• The Journal of Fisheries Business Administration
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.75-90
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• 2003

When we think of fundamental problems of the aquaculture industry, there are several strict conditions, and consequently the aquaculture industry is forced to change. Fish aquaculture has a structural supply surplus in production, aggravation of fishing grounds, stagnant low price due to recent recession, and drastic change of distribution circumstances. It is requested for us to initiate discussion on such issue as “how fish aquaculture establishes its status in the coastal fishery\ulcorner, will fish aquaculture grow in the future\ulcorner, and if so “how it will be restructured\ulcorner” The above issues can be observed in the mariculture of yellow tail, sea scallop and eel. But there have not been studied concerning seabream even though the production is over 30% of the total production of fish aquaculture in resent and it occupied an important status in the fish aquaculture. The objectives of this study is to forecast the future movement of sea bream aquaculture. The first goal of the study is to contribute to managerial and economic studies on the aquaculture industry. The second goal is to identify the factors influencing the competition between production areas and to identify the mechanisms involved. This study will examine the competitive power in individual producing area, its behavior, and its compulsory factors based on case study. Producing areas will be categorized according to following parameters : distance to market and availability of transportation, natural environment, the time of formation of producing areas (leaderㆍfollower), major production items, scale of business and producing areas, degree of organization in production and sales. As a factor in shaping the production area of sea bream aquaculture, natural conditions especially the water temperature is very important. Sea bream shows more active feeding and faster growth in areas located where the water temperature does not go below 13∼14$^{\circ}C$ during the winter. Also fish aquaculture is constrained by the transporting distance. Aquacultured yellowtail is a mass-produced and a mass-distributed item. It is sold a unit of cage and transported by ship. On the other hand, sea bream is sold in small amount in markets and transported by truck; so, the transportation cost is higher than yellow tail. Aquacultured sea bream has different product characteristics due to transport distance. We need to study live fish and fresh fish markets separately. Live fish was the original product form of aquacultured sea bream. Transportation of live fish has more constraints than the transportation of fresh fish. Death rate and distance are highly correlated. In addition, loading capacity of live fish is less than fresh fish. In the case of a 10 ton truck, live fish can only be loaded up to 1.5 tons. But, fresh fish which can be placed in a box can be loaded up to 5 to 6 tons. Because of this characteristics, live fish requires closer location to consumption area than fresh fish. In the consumption markets, the size of fresh fish is mainly 0.8 to 2kg.Live fish usually goes through auction, and quality is graded. Main purchaser comes from many small-sized restaurants, so a relatively small farmer and distributer can sell it. Aquacultured sea bream has been transacted as a fresh fish in GMS ,since 1993 when the price plummeted. Economies of scale works in case of fresh fish. The characteristics of fresh fish is as follows : As a large scale demander, General Merchandise Stores are the main purchasers of sea bream and the size of the fish is around 1.3kg. It mainly goes through negotiation. Aquacultured sea bream has been established as a representative food in General Merchandise Stores. GMS require stable and mass supply, consistent size, and low price. And Distribution of fresh fish is undertook by the large scale distributers, which can satisfy requirements of GMS. The market share in Tokyo Central Wholesale Market shows Mie Pref. is dominating in live fish. And Ehime Pref. is dominating in fresh fish. Ehime Pref. showed remarkable growth in 1990s. At present, the dealings of live fish is decreasing. However, the dealings of fresh fish is increasing in Tokyo Central Wholesale Market. The price of live fish is decreasing more than one of fresh fish. Even though Ehime Pref. has an ideal natural environment for sea bream aquaculture, its entry into sea bream aquaculture was late, because it was located at a further distance to consumers than the competing producing areas. However, Ehime Pref. became the number one producing areas through the sales of fresh fish in the 1990s. The production volume is almost 3 times the production volume of Mie Pref. which is the number two production area. More conversion from yellow tail aquaculture to sea bream aquaculture is taking place in Ehime Pref., because Kagosima Pref. has a better natural environment for yellow tail aquaculture. Transportation is worse than Mie Pref., but this region as a far-flung producing area makes up by increasing the business scale. Ehime Pref. increases the market share for fresh fish by creating demand from GMS. Ehime Pref. has developed market strategies such as a quick return at a small profit, a stable and mass supply and standardization in size. Ehime Pref. increases the market power by the capital of a large scale commission agent. Secondly Mie Pref. is close to markets and composed of small scale farmers. Mie Pref. switched to sea bream aquaculture early, because of the price decrease in aquacultured yellou tail and natural environmental problems. Mie Pref. had not changed until 1993 when the price of the sea bream plummeted. Because it had better natural environment and transportation. Mie Pref. has a suitable water temperature range required for sea bream aquaculture. However, the price of live sea bream continued to decline due to excessive production and economic recession. As a consequence, small scale farmers are faced with a market price below the average production cost in 1993. In such kind of situation, the small-sized and inefficient manager in Mie Pref. was obliged to withdraw from sea bream aquaculture. Kumamoto Pref. is located further from market sites and has an unsuitable nature environmental condition required for sea bream aquaculture. Although Kumamoto Pref. is trying to convert to the puffer fish aquaculture which requires different rearing techniques, aquaculture technique for puffer fish is not established yet.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.6-13
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• 2018

Utilizing the heat of cooling water discharge of coal-fired power plant, pipeline investment costs for businesses that supply heat to agricultural facilities near power plants increase in proportion to installation distance. On one hand, the distance from the power plant is a factor that brings difficulties to secure economic efficiency. On the other, if the installation distance is short, there is a problem of securing the heating demands, facility houses, which causes economical efficiency to suffer. In this study, the economic efficiency of 1km length of standard heat pipeline was evaluated. The sensitivity of the heat pipe to the new length variation was analyzed at the level of government subsidy, amount of heating demand and the incremental rate of pipeline with additional government subsidy. As a result of the analysis, it was estimated that NPV 131 million won and IRR 15.73%. The sensitivity analysis showed that NPV was negative when the length of heat pipe facility exceeded 2.6 km. If the government supports 50% of the initial investment, the efficiency is secured within the estimated length of 5.3 km, and if it supports 80%, the length increases within 11.4 km. If the heat demand is reduced to less than 62% at the new length of the standard heat pipe, it is expected economic efficiency is not obtained. If the ratio of government subsidies to initial investment increases, the elasticity of the new bloc will increase, and the fixed investment, which is the cost of capital investment for one unit of heating demand, will decrease. This would result in a reduction in the cost of production per unit, and it would be possible to supply heat at a cheaper price level to the facility farming. Government subsidies will result in the increased economic availability of hot plumbing facilities and additional efficiencies due to increased demand. The greater government subsidies to initial investment, the less farms cost due to the decrease in the price per unit. The results of the study are significant in terms of the economic evaluation of the effectiveness of the government subsidy for the thermal power plant heat utilization project. The implication can be applied to any related pilot to come.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.83-90
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• 2015

Evaluation and screening of vaccines against tuberculosis depends on development of proper cost effective disease models along with identification of different immune markers that can be used as surrogate endpoints of protection in preclinical and clinical studies. The objective of the present study was therefore evaluation of subcutaneous model of M.tuberculosis infection along with investigation of different immune biomarkers of tuberculosis infection in BALB/c mice. Groups of mice were infected subcutaneously with two different doses : high ($2{\times}10^6CFU$) and low doses ($2{\times}10^2CFU$) of M.tuberculosis and immune markers including humoral and cellular markers were evaluated 30 days post M.tuberculosis infections. Based on results, we found that high dose of subcutaneous infection produced chronic disease with significant (p<0.001) production of immune markers of infection like $IFN{\gamma}$, heat shock antigens (65, 71) and antibody titres against panel of M.tuberculosis antigens (ESAT-6, CFP-10, Ag85B, 45kDa, GroES, Hsp-16) all of which correlated with high bacterial burden in lungs and spleen. To conclude high dose of subcutaneous infection produces chronic TB infection in mice and can be used as convenient alternative to aerosol models in resource limited settings. Moreover assessment of immune markers namely mycobacterial antigens and antibodies can provide us valuable insights on modulation of immune response post infection. However further investigations along with optimization of study protocols are needed to justify the outcome of present study and establish such markers as surrogate endpoints of vaccine protection in preclinical and clinical studies in future.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.3-12
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• 2016

The purpose of this study is to provide a domestic applicable modular building construction process by benchmarking international best practices. In this study, we derive the risk factors that may occur in performing a modular construction projects and the modular construction management factors through case analysis. In order to effectively respond to risks in performing a modular building projects, we propose the modular building construction process which is separated by a transportation, lifting, assembly steps based on the unit module construction sequence. It is the key to providing management information and guidelines for the design, production, construction participants by reflecting the information for each step in the process. This study would prevent a potential hazard which may occur in the construction process. Consequently, It could result in saving the entire cost of modular construction project as shortening the project schedule and could improve workability of modular construction.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.64-71
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• 2018

Background: The cultivation of ginseng (Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer) in greenhouses could reduce the use of pesticides and result in higher yield; however, construction costs are problematic. The adaptation of direct-sowing culture in greenhouses could reduce the cost of ginseng production. Methods and Results: To improve seedling establishment in direct-sowing culture, effects of sowing density (SD), number of seeds sown per hole (SN), and thinning (TH) treatment on the root yield were investigated after 3 years of seeding. The emergence rate was significantly influenced by SD, but not by SN or TH. Damping-off and rusty roots increased with an increase in SN with diminishing effects of SN on seedling establishment. Root weight and diameter were affected by SD, SN, and TH, however, there were no statistical significances. The total number of roots harvested per unit area increased with increasing SD and SN, and the weight of roots was affected by SD, but not by SN or TH. Conclusions: Multi-seed sowing per hole and/or thinning might not be an efficient method for the direct-sowing culture of ginseng. The SD for direct seeding culture in greenhouses should be approximately $33-42seeds/m^2$ for an optimum yield of 3-year-old ginseng.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.543-551
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• 2011

The paper deals with the comparative study of design optimization based on various approximation techniques in strength design of riser support structure installed on floating production storage and offloading unit(FPSO) using offshore operation loading conditions. The design optimization problem is formulated such that structural member sizing variables are determined by minimizing the weight of riser support structure subject to the constraints of structural strength in terms of loading conditions. The approximation techniques used in the comparative study are response surface method based sequential approximate optimization(RBSAO), Kriging based sequential approximate optimization(KBSAO), and the enhanced moving least squares method(MLSM) based approximate optimization such as CF(constraint feasible)-MLSM and Post-MLSM. Commercial process integration and design optimization(PIDO) tools are employed for the applications of RBSAO and KBSAO. The enhanced MLSM based approximate optimization techniques are newly developed to ensure the constraint feasibility. In the context of numerical performances such as design solution and computational cost, the solution results from approximate techniques based design optimization are compared to actual non-approximate design optimization.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.431-438
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• 2016

Large energy consumption is one of the main weaknesses of RO desalination. A new method is proposed to reduce the energy consumption of RO desalination which depends on the salinity of the feedwater. Low salinity feedwater can be obtained using groundwater wells which extracts both fresh groundwater and subsurface sea water. Subsurface feedwater is advantageous in overcoming other problems associated with surface seawater intakes. Salinities of groundwater depend on a number of factors. In this work a new simulation-optimization model is proposed to identify well locations and pumping rates with would provide the required design flow rate with the minimum salinity. When groundwater is developed in a coastal area, the saltwater wedge advances inland and may contaminate existing groundwater wells, which must be prevented. The model can protect existing wells while developing minimum salinity feedwater. Examples are provided to demonstrate the usage of the model.