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This paper describes an order release and loading technique, which considers the routing as well as the machine flexibility of a modern job shop production. The workload control approach involves three steps. In a first step 'lead orders', i.e. urgent production orders that are either processed on a known bottleneck or are of high value, are identified. Afterwards transfer batches of the lead part types are calculated using the aspired machine time as a control parameter. This parameter defines an adequate processing time of a machining center before it is set up for a new job. Finally, the bottom-line workload of the machining centers is determined by allocating and sequencing transfer batches. The procedure is tested by a simulation program that replicates the performance of the production facility of a machine manufacturer, consisting of a Flexible Manufacturing Cell that is embedded into a job shop production for heavy parts.

This paper analyzes North-South technology transfers in a model of oligopolistic competition and spatial product differentiation. Two firms in the North supply a high-tech good and a technically related low-tech good.They decide about licensing the low-tech good to suppliers in the South.With the license Southern firms get access to technology from the North, which enables them-with a certain probability-to enter the market for the high-tech good. Northern firms may therefore license strategically to influence the competitive environment in the high-tech market. In this setting, multiple equilibria with and without licensing may arise, and the resulting outcomes may be inefficient from the viewpoint of the Northern firms.

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