Since the 1970s, the global retail clothing industry has experienced intense international competition and major shifts in the pattern of consumer demand. These pressures have had far-reaching implications for the clothing industry in the areas of pricing, design, quality, manufacturing processes and employment (Rath, 2002). According to this author, "In the 1970s, traditional manufacturers, particularly High Street retailers with their own manufacturing capacity, found themselves unable to compete with low

Solving the 1D Bin Packing Problem Using a Parallel Genetic Algorithm: A Benchmark Test The past few decades have witnessed the introduction in a wide range of technological innovations that have had an enormous impact on consumers, businesses and governmental agencies. Computer-based applications in particular have been key in facilitating the delivery of a wide range of services and information, and computer processing speeds have consistently increased incrementally. Computer processing speeds,

Pharmaceutical industries have to operate in an environment that is highly competitive and subject to a wide variety of internal and external constraints. In recent times, there has been an increasing trend to reduce the cost of operation while competing with other companies that manufacture products that treat similar afflictions and ailments. The complexities in drug research and development and regulations have created an industry that is subject to intense

Ayers (2000, p. 4) describes a supply chain as "Life cycle processes supporting physical, information, financial, and knowledge flows for moving products and services from suppliers to end-users." A supply chain can be short, as in the case of a cottage industry, or quite long and complex as in the manufacture, distribution, and sales of automobiles. In fact, the automobile supply chain has its origin in the mining of the