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The purpose of the paper is to analyze reliability characteristics of batch service queuing system with a single server model that envisages Poisson input process and exponential service times under first come, first served (FCFS) queue discipline.

With the help of renewal theory and stochastic processes, a model has been designed to discuss the reliability and its characteristics.

The instantaneous and steady-state availability along with the maintenance model of the systems subject to generalized M/M_b/1 queuing model is derived, and a few particular cases for availability are obtained as well. For supporting the developed model, a case study on electrical distribution system (EDS) has been illustrated, which also includes a comparison for the system subject to M/Mb/1 queuing model and the system without any queue (delay).

It is a quite realistic model that may aid to remove congestion in the system while repairing.

The purpose of this paper is to provide simulation modelling for bulk arrival bulk service queueing system involved in a textile industry and analyze the performance metrics.

This paper describes the simulation modelling of a bulk queueing system with limited number of admissions and multiple vacations. The model is developed for the proposed queueing system using Flexsim 2017, and it is explained through an application observed in a textile industry involving the process of cone winding.

In this paper, the simulation model has been developed to study the behaviour of queues at different resources in a production system. Various performance measures such as average components, average waiting time, total number of inputs and outputs, processing time and idle time involved in a textile industry are evaluated using simulation and justified through numerical illustration.

The proposed simulation model may be used in various scenarios wherever a real time situation exists related to bulk queueing system. The results produced in this paper can be used by the manufacturing industries to enhance the need-based accuracy. It is worth pointing out that the findings are of direct practical relevance and can be successfully used for a number of industrial applications.

The approach suggested in this paper attempts to deal with the queueing system involved in a textile industry and provides numerical results in less time with less computer resources. It provides a reasonably good approximation for simple and complex queueing models where it is difficult to find closed form of theoretical results.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the transition of a collection in Texas A&M University's institutional repository from single item submission to batch importation as a primary method of ingest. This transition was made possible with assistance and technical work on behalf of the library.

The digital initiatives staff examined the workflow of the collection's manager and submitters. A process was created to produce the necessary data structures for batch import from resources that were already being generated by the collection workflow.

It was found that batch importing assistance provided by the library improved the collection's growth rate and efficiency without interrupting the workflow of the collection management team.

This paper demonstrates the benefit of libraries and other institutional repository hosts offering batch‐loading assistance to managers of large repository collections.

This paper should resonate with institutional repository managers and digital services librarians, as many have neglected to offer batch importing or other assistance to users citing a lack of resources.

The section of VINE (pp 19–25)has as a common theme retrospective conversion. It is a topic which seems to have been giving rise to more and more interest of late as the proliferation of online database systems makes the problem increasingly acute for a growing number of libraries. There are a range of options open to libraries — keyboarding, either directly to an in‐house database or via a bureau service, buying‐in records from an external source and in a recognised format, or using scanning techniques. In practice many libraries will adopt a mix of all three depending on the quality and content of the catalogue to be converted. I am not intending in these pages to look at all facets and problems of retrospective conversion: the Catalogue and Index Group of the Library Association ran an extremely well attended One‐Day Seminar in January this year which addressed many of the issues and choices retrospective conversion raises. (The Proceedings will be published later this year in the CIG's Newsletter). There are three articles in this VINE looking at recon. These first pages assume the buying‐in approach and give a quick guide to some of the data sources for retrospective conversion currently around and the special retrospective services being offered by the database holders; where no special provision for retrospective as opposed to current services exists, as in the case of SWALCAP for example, then the organisation has not been included. The next article outlines a new service using an intelligent scanner and format recognition software; and the final part of the trilogy recounts the particular experiences of Edinburgh University Library with a range of these services.

VINE is produced at least four times a year with the object of providing up‐to‐date news of work being done in the automation of library housekeeping processes, principally in the UK. It is edited and substantially written by the Information Officer for Library Automation based in Southampton University Library and supported by a grant from the British Library Research and Development Department. Copyright for the articles rests with the British Library Board and opinions expressed in VINE do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the British Library. The subscription for 1984 to VINE is: £23 for UK subscribers, £26 to overseas subscribers (including airmail delivery). Second and subsequent copies to the same address are charged at £14 for UK and £16 for overseas. VINE is available in either paper or microfiche copy and all back issues are available on microfiche.

THAT INDUSTRY is beset by too many chiefs and too few indians is painfully obvious today. This is true of privately‐owned businesses as well as—though maybe not so disastrously—those in the public sector.

Today, the telecommunication issue in Europe is possibly the most important influence in the growth and establishment of the on‐line information market in that region. Europe is behind the USA in developing cheap, publicly available switched dial‐up networks on demand such as Tymnet and Telenet in America. The situation is complicated by the different regulations in each country and by the monopoly status afforded to the PTTs, the European postal, telegraph and telephone agencies. In Europe, it is illegal for a third party to access a network leased to any two parties. Thus, a circuit leased to Tymshare for communicating with its computers in Europe or the United States cannot be sold by Tymshare to any other party, although such ‘illegal’ access has been tolerated by the PTTs for some time. A number of PTTs, however, are now ‘legalizing’ the traffic by controlling third party access to Tymshare's nodes in Europe. As usual, the consumer has to pick up the tab for the added circuits, equipment, billing and overhead required for such control. It might be that, as the European countries develop their own networks, they will be motivated to encourage traffic by reducing charges and simplifying access. In the meantime On‐Line Review will monitor the scene which should really be the concern of the telecommunications experts, leaving our readers to get on with the business of accessing information efficiently and without restrictions. Here are some European telecommunications news items.

The purpose of this paper is to present the use of activity-based costing (ABC) approach as an alternative option to the traditional cost accounting system. The contribution of this study is to demonstrate, through a simple example, the application of that costing system in a service (maintenance) industry, i.e. the paper intended to develop a procedure for a cost model that help in calculating any maintenance job cost, to a reasonable degree of accuracy, based on the actual activities performed.

This research uses a simple example whereby hypothetical activities and cost data of maintaining an injector and a pump, of an internal combustion engine, are used, presented and analyzed based on the use of the developed procedure.

ABC system provides more accurate cost estimates rather than the traditional “order costing” methods that uses unit-level costs which are variable in relation to change in service volume. Traditional cost methods distort the costs by applying overhead uniformly over different jobs of varied complexities and activities scope. On the other hand, ABC is a useful means to distribute the overhead costs in proportion (fairly) to the actual activities performed in a specific job and, hence, enhance the rationality of decision making, i.e. will not distort the accounting information used for cost reduction, pricing, and evaluation matters. The results obtained from the analysis showed that allocating costs to the maintained injector decreased from $83.55 to $71.95 and, finally, to $67.57 when using the workshop-wide, two-stage and ABC overhead allocation methods, respectively; while that of the pump increased from $298.90 to $340.34 and, finally, to $359.48 when using the same three methods, in the same order, respectively. The result is quite fair when considering the complexity of the fuel pump, in terms of design and maintenance, when compared with the injector. Notice that using volume to allocate overhead costs results in over costing high-volume products, e.g. injectors (simple in terms of design and operation) and under costing low-volume products, e.g. pumps (more complex in terms of design and operation). The paper recommends to use ABC as a more accurate and fair method when charging maintenance job orders based on the analysis of costing two maintained items in the same premise while consuming different overhead resources.

This study attempts to analyze different methods to calculate a specific corrective maintenance job order. It strives to remedy the drawbacks of the traditional overhead costing of a job order when using principles related to the size of service, such as the direct labor cost/hours, as an allocation base. Consequently, the study proposed a new costing method, i.e. application of ABC. The traditional costing approach is considered by many firms as the best costing method. Nevertheless, it allocates overhead cost over job performed uniformly (equally) not differentiating between the complexity of the job and variety of the activities performed, e.g. using the same allocation base for “oil change” and “fuel pump adjustment” activities. So, ABC prevents cost distortions (unfairness) that could not be prevented by traditional cost accounting system. The author believes that the method presented in this paper will provide a useful management tool for costing maintenance jobs based on the appropriate selected activity drivers in maintenance workshops. The method could be applied for costing maintenance activities in maintenance of all industrial sectors.

The use of traditional costing method has proven to be distorted by applying overhead uniformly over different jobs of varied complexities and activities scope. In this paper the authors strive to present an effective costing alternative that outperforms the traditional ones with regard to overhead allocation. The paper aims to find reliable and fair maintenance costing method, i.e. to find out the relationships between maintenance activities and cost drivers. Although, ABC is widely used in manufacturing industry, no application or current research has presented an applicable thorough worked-out example, with the exception, to the author’s knowledge, of one in the aeronautical industry, to implement ABC method in maintenance industry. The importance of using this method comes from the fact that it provides, relatively, accurate and fair maintenance bills that provide customer satisfaction and firm good image. Hence, the paper is relevant in this respect and intended to contribute to the practice of maintenance management.

Overview All organisations are, in one sense or another, involved in operations; an activity implying transformation or transfer. The major portion of the body of knowledge concerning operations relates to production in manufacturing industry but, increasingly, similar problems are to be found confronting managers in service industry. It is only in the last decade or so that new technology, involving, in particular, the computer, has encouraged an integrated view to be taken of the total business. This has led to greater recognition being given to the strategic potential of the operations function. In order to provide greater insight into operations a number of classifications have been proposed. One of these, which places operations into categories termed factory, job shop, mass service and professional service, is examined. The elements of operations management are introduced under the headings of product, plant, process, procedures and people.

VINE is produced at least four times a year with the object of providing up‐to‐date news of work being done in the automation of library housekeeping processes, principally in the UK. It is edited and substantially written by the Information Officer for Library Automation based in Southampton University Library and supported by a grant from the British Library Research and Development Department. Copyright for VINE articles rests with the British Library Board, but opinions expressed in VINE do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the British Library. The subscription for 1981 for VINE is £20 for UK subscribers and £23 for overseas subscribers — subscription year runs from January to December.