Implementation of a Discount Policy the Shortage B2B Markets: a Marketing Ploy or Price Discrimination?

Modern research of B2B markets focuses on various aspects of information and economic interaction of market participants, but most often the features of marketing strategies in the field of promoting goods / services and building marketing communications are analyzed in order to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty. The issues of effective pricing and the implementation of discount policy as a tool to stimulate sales in B2B markets have not been practically studied. The variability in the application of seller pricing policy instruments in B2B markets under conditions of a limited number of buyers can have a significant impact on the intensity of competition in the market and, as a consequence, lead to a change in the market structure, its transformation and loss of balance. Therefore, the pricing system in non-equilibrium, in particular, shortage markets, in which the inefficient use of discount mechanisms by sellers can take the form of price discrimination of buyers due to the increased market power of the seller, is of considerable scientific and practical interest. This article, being a continuation of the discourse started by the authors on price discrimination in scarce markets, published in No. 3 of the journal Modern Competition, and is devoted to the study of the feasibility of using discounts in equilibrium and scarce B2B markets. At the end of the series of articles on price discrimination in scarce markets [1], the authors intend to publish a third article, which will examine the case of a shortage solid-rolled wheel market in Russia in 2018-2019 from the standpoint of assessing the feasibility of preserving discount programs for certain categories of buyers in the specified oligopolistic B2B market.

Increase of informativity of two-frequency method of defectometry at ultrasonic control of details and units of railway rolling stock

When forecasting the technical state of the parts and units of railway rolling stock in operation, an important task is to determine the shape of the discontinuity in ultrasonic non-destructive testing in order to predict its behavior in further operation (this is especially important if the discontinuity in the results of such control is acceptable). Author proposed a solution for the improvement of the two-frequency defectometry method. A mathematical apparatus was developed and a method for determining the coefficient of the discontinuity shape was elaborate on its basis. The method makes it possible to determine the shape of both a point and an extended discontinuity. The software product NDTRT-07.03.01.18 was developed to automate calculations in determining the shape of discontinuity by a two-frequency method. The article gives a description of the experimental studies carried out to evaluate the reliability of the proposed method. This method can be used in determining the shape of the discontinuity in the details of the rolling stock, in which the defect can have a different shape, for example: cast wheel centers; various shaped castings used in the manufacture of rolling stock units (brackets for locomotive bogies, cast sidewalls for cars), as well as in parts manufactured by the method of plastic deformation, including wheel treads, axles, all-rolled wheels, rolled wheel centers, etc. In these details discontinuities are predominantly planar in nature, but voluminous discontinuities are also encountered - non-deformable nonmetallic inclusions, therefore the developed method can be applied to such objects of rolling stock railways.

Simulation of wheel heating when drum braking

Application of heating control systems is rational for effective prevention of thermal-mechanical damages of the wheels and brake shoes of rolling stock. These systems enable to perform diagnosis of brake equipment elements and to evaluate the effectiveness of drum braking process in terms of wheel heating. The present study aims to assess wheel heating when drum braking and to define the most informative zones and threshold control values for heating control systems. Heating evaluation is conducted using finite element method under different braking modes. Research results are given as heating patterns in solid-rolled wheel of freight car; the influence of the air distributor mode on the wheel heating is considered, the most informative zones for heating control are identified.

Railway Wheelsets—a Critical Review

This paper gives a brief history of the evolution of wheelsets and then outlines the changes that have occurred in their design in the last 30 years, mainly due to the change to diesel and electric traction. Technical problems are discussed and the principal lines of research which have been followed are described. As a result, tyred wheel centres have largely been replaced by monobloc wheels with hardened treads, disc brakes have been introduced and the unmachined cast steel wheel has become a serious competitor to the traditional forged and rolled wheel. Of great importance is the introduction of computer analysis of wheel stresses which has led to modifications to the wheelset to reduce stress and to set limiting values.