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Samples of sandwiches were taken from all petrol filling stations in the Bolton area selling such foodstuffs. These were bacteriologically examined and, when the results were obtained, all the petrol stations were visited and advice was given where improvements could be made. Resampling was carried out and the results were compared with the initial samples. The second set of results indicated a significant improvement in microbial flora. Further recommendations were made where necessary and it was possible to produce a Code of Practice from the results obtained.

This paper aims to propose an alternate, efficient and scalable modeling framework to simulate large-scale bike-sharing systems using discrete-event simulation. This study uses this model to evaluate several initial bike inventory policies inspired by the operation of the bike-sharing system in Mexico City, which is one of the largest around the world. The model captures the heterogeneous demand (in time and space) and this paper analyzes the trade-offs between the performance to take and return bikes. This study also includes a simulation-optimization algorithm to determine the initial inventory and present a method to deal with the bias caused by dynamic rebalancing on observed demand.

This paper is based on the analysis of an alternate and efficient discrete-event simulation modeling framework. This framework captures the heterogeneity of demand and allows one to experiment with large-scale models. This study uses this model to test several initial bike inventory policies and also combined them with an optimization engine. The results, provide valuable insights not only for the particular system that motivated the study but also for the administrators of any bike-sharing system.

The findings of this paper include: most of the best policies use a ratio of bikes: docks near to 1:2; however, it is important the way they are initially allocated; a policy that contradicts the demand profile of the stations can lead to poor performance, regardless the quick and dynamic changes of bike locations during the morning period; the proposed simulation-optimization algorithm achieves the best results.

The findings are limited to the initial inventory of the system under study. The model assumes a homogeneous probability distribution function for the travel time. This assumption seems reasonable for the system under study. This paper limits the tested inventory policies to simple practical rules. There might be other sophisticated methods to obtain better solutions, but they might be system-specific.

The insights of this paper are valuable for operators of bike-sharing systems because this study focuses on the analysis of the impact of the initial inventory assuming that dynamic rebalancing may not be existing during the morning peak-time. This paper finds that initial inventory has a great impact on the performance, regardless of how quickly the bikes are dispersed across the system. This study also provides insights into the effect of dynamic rebalancing on observed demand.

Increasing knowledge about the operation of the bike-sharing system has a positive effect on society because more cities around the world could consider implementing these systems as a public transportation mode. Furthermore, delivering suggestions on how to increase the user service level could incentivize people to adopt bikes as a mobility option, which would contribute to improve their health and also reduce air pollution caused by motorized vehicles.

This paper considers that the contributions of this work to existing literature are the following: this study proposes a novel efficient and scalable simulation framework to evaluate initial bike inventory policies; the analysis presented in the paper includes an approach to deal with the bias in the observed demand caused by dynamic rebalancing and the analysis includes the value of demand information to determine an effective initial bike inventory policy.

The purpose of this paper is to set out a method for evaluating environmental impacts in the area of gas stations.

The design and implementation of this study followed steps that enabled a survey to be conducted by combining a wide variety of sources and bibliographical material, such as manuals, regulations, standards, laws and articles necessary for drawing up the model and the indicators of environmental impacts; and next the authors used two case studies to test the proposed model and exemplify the application.

This research identified the sources that cause adverse environmental impacts and the main preventive actions, as well as those for eliminating environmental impacts caused by the activities of the gas stations, so was possible developing a model which evaluated the real environmental situation of gas stations, using indicators to identify opportunities for improvements in the enterprises with ISO 14001 certification and non‐certificated enterprises.

This study used some international standards and some specific laws from Brazil, but it can be adapted to the current standards for gas stations in other countries.

Based on findings, it is believed that by using the model proposed in this research study, it is possible to diagnose the real environmental situation of the gas stations, thereby contributing to the preservation of the environment, sustainable development and above all to improving people's quality of life.

The originality of this study is the development of a viable model that can be used by enterprise, researchers and governmental environmental agencies for evaluating the environmental impacts of gas stations, integrating four different variables.

LOCATED AT the company's Tulsa, Oklahoma refinery, the multi‐million dollar plant of the Sunray DX Oil Company has one of the world's most modern and complete lubricating oil blending, packaging and shipping plants.

As of December 2022, there were 119,000 gas stations, 10,800 gas stations and 4,488,000 charging piles nationwide, while the number of vehicles reached 312 million, including 11.49 million new energy vehicles. The imbalance between transportation energy supply and energy replenishment demand leads to crowded queues of vehicles at some stations and idle resources in others. How to reduce the phenomenon of large queues and improve the utilization rate of idle resources is the key to alleviating the imbalance between supply and demand.

Therefore, from the perspective of spatio-temporal equilibrium of urban transportation energy supply stations, multi-energy supply station cooperation is established in view of the phenomenon of large spatio-temporal differences among different energy supply stations, and corresponding inducing strategies are adopted for energy supplement vehicles in the road network, so that part of queued users go to energy supply stations with fewer vehicles, so as to balance the supply and demand of transportation energy in the region. On this basis, the income distribution of urban transportation energy supply station is discussed.

The total revenue after the cooperation was 13,095, an increase of 22.9%. Secondly, in terms of distribution rationality, three impact factors are selected and Shapley correction value is used to distribute the total income. Compared with independent operation, both sites have a certain degree of increase.

Traffic congestion at energy supply stations is closely related to the number, location and number of vehicles at energy supply stations. Therefore, using a cooperative approach of energy trading cannot solve the queuing problem. In addition, there are a few research results on the equalization of energy supply station services considering time-of-use pricing. However, these studies do not consider the vehicular grooming at congested stations. As far as the authors know, there are no relevant research results in the research on the service equilibrium of energy supply stations based on cooperative games.

The purpose of this paper is to increase understanding of the logic of business network formation among the co-located and external actors of a facility.

The research adopts a theory-building approach through developing propositions inductively from the empirical case study on four purposefully sampled modern service station facilities. The focus is on analyzing how a facility and its inherent co-located actors represent an entity that forms a business network with external actors in the facility’s environment.

The findings propose that when co-located with a large number of actors, the facility and its actors represent an entity that is connected to a wide business network of multiple external actors. On the other hand, when co-located with a small number of actors, the facility becomes a part of the overall supply in the surrounding business environment with a differentiated offering for competitive advantage.

The research suggests that an appropriate co-locating strategy, for example, when planning the tenant mix of the facility, can contribute to creating a vivid business network in the external environment, which raises the facility to a role of a central entity in such a network.

The findings explaining how co-location affects the businesses within the facility and within a wider networked environment are novel to the scholarly knowledge on co-location. The research bridges the theories of co-location and business networks that have been treated as separate discourses in previous research.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Index by subjects, compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

The purpose of this paper is to explore and identify the causes of the failure of the Larkin Company (Buffalo, NY), once one of the nation's largest mail‐order houses in the decades surrounding 1900.

Borrowing conceptual frameworks from both recent management and historical scholarship on organizational failure that integrates exogenous and endogenous factors, this study employs traditional historical methods to explain the causes of Larkin's failure. The main primary sources include the Larkin Company records, government documents, personal papers, trade journals, and other primary sources.

Begun as a modest soap manufacturer by John D. Larkin, in Buffalo, in 1875, the Larkin Company grew to become one of the largest mail‐order houses in the USA in the decades surrounding 1900 owing to its innovative direct marketing practices, called the “factory‐to‐family” plan, that relied on unpaid women to distribute its products. In 1918, anticipating the chain store boom, Larkin established two grocery store chains (other retail ventures followed). The company regularly lost money in these ventures and, combined with a shrinking mail‐order economy, struggled during the 1920s and 1930s, and eventually liquidated in 1941‐1942. A number of exogenous and endogenous factors, acting alone and in various combinations, proved too challenging to second‐ and third‐generation family members who ran the company after 1926.

This research paper tries to understand the decline of an important progressive firm during the interwar period. Whereas Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward were able to make the transition from mail order to stores, Larkin Company failed to navigate this transition successfully. It also adds to the small but important literature in management and business history on organizational failure and may serve as a cautionary tale for family businesses.

Since the market penetrations of service robots are only successful to a limited types of services, the purpose of the paper is to look into the reasons why the market penetrations are lagged from both technical and nontechnical perspectives. Automatic robotic recharging services, especially robotic refueling systems, are used as the case study for the investigation.

This paper surveyed the relevant technologies and products and conducted the feasibility study and risk management for new development of automated robotic refueling systems. This paper developed a cost model for the evaluation of robotic refueling systems.

There are no major technical barriers that exist for the development of robotic refueling systems, but two main risks of developing new robotic refueling systems are interference of existing patents and the extreme effort to further reduce the development cost of automated refueling systems. The recommendations have been made to new developers of service robots.

The suggestions are made for further development on service robots, in general; however, this paper does not cover the physical development of service robots.

This study was actually conducted for a client company who has a strong interest in developing new products for automatic robotic refueling systems. The reported work has great significance for new comers in this area to understand the state of the art, technological challenges and some potential risks in the field.

To the best of authors’ knowledge, it will be the first academic paper to summarize the research and development effort on automatic recharging business. The targeted field is very typical in promoting robots in services. Even robotic refueling was proposed at very early stage of robotic application, the market penetration of refueling robots the market penetration is very limited, not because the technology readiness but some other factors. This work has its significance to identify technical and nontechnical challenges to promote robots in services.