Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

Development Of A High-Level Discrete Event Simulation Model For The Harvesting Of White Button Mushrooms With Human-Robot Collaboration (Hrc), Ava Recchia

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Canada is a leading global mushroom producer, with the white button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) being the most popular type produced. Harvesting activities are labour-intensive, and farms are currently experiencing labour shortages, which are impacting productivity, growth, and overall revenue. Robotic technologies are valid mechanisms for mushroom harvesting and demonstrate a potential to reduce this gap. Examining the performance of a harvesting system with different robotics scenarios, such as manual, robotics automation, and human robot collaboration (HRC) is crucial to realizing this potential. Simulation models are useful tools for testing and assessing systems without making any physical change to the system. …

Applying Functional Data Analysis To Estimate The Mental Workload Of The Human Driver, David Olorunfemi Eniyandunmo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent studies have focused on accurately estimating mental workload using machine learning algorithms and extracting features from psycho-physiological measures. However, feature extraction leads to the loss of valuable information and often results in binary classifications that lack specificity in the identification of optimum mental workload levels. This study investigates the feasibility of using raw psycho-physiological data (EEG, facial EMG, ECG, EDA, pupillometry) combined with Functional Data Analysis (FDA) to estimate mental workload of human drivers. A driving scenario with five tasks was employed, and subjective ratings were collected using the modified Bedford workload scale. Results demonstrate that the FDA applied …

Automated Usability Evaluation Utilizing Log Files And Data Mining Techniques., Sima Shafaei

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Usability evaluation is one of the essential aspects of software production. This evaluation should be done during the entire life cycle of a software application, from pre-production to production and post-production. However, the collection and evaluation of usability data can be a very challenging, time-consuming, and expensive task to be conducted manually, particularly for certain types of products and working conditions. These challenges may include the need to recruit participants fully engage and motivate them during evaluation, and factor in environmental conditions. Other challenges may include collecting data in real-world environments, especially when the users are geographically dispersed, minimizing evaluator …

Visibility Based Hospital Inpatient Unit Design., Uttam Karki

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Patient fall is one of the adverse events in an inpatient unit of a hospital that can lead to disability and/or mortality. Healthcare literature suggests that increased visibility of patients by unit nurses is essential to improve patient monitoring and, in turn, reduce falls. However, such research has been descriptive in nature and does not provide an understanding of the characteristics of an optimal inpatient unit layout from a visibility-standpoint. This dissertation fills significant voids in this domain and adds much-needed realism to develop insights that hospital decision-makers can use to design their inpatient unit layout. Our first contribution (Chapter …

Experimental And Numerical Studies Of Laser Powder-Bed Fusion Process With Ti-6al-4v Powder: (1) Porosity And Mechanical Properties, And (2) Transient Phenomena In One- And Two-Dimensional Fabrications., Santosh K. Rauniyar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) process represents a form of metal additive manufacturing (AM) where micron-level powdered material is selectively melted and fused layer by layer to create intricate three-dimensional parts. This process involves rapid melting and solidification, leading to intense thermocapillary convection within the molten pool. The melt pool is a crucial element of the L-PBF process and refers to the localized region where the powder particles are melted and solidified to form each layer of the printed part. The shape and dimensions of the melt pool directly influence the accuracy and surface finish of the printed part. Precise …

Multi-Period, Multi-Platform Design And Lot-Sizing For Hybrid Manufacturing Considering Stochastic Demand And Processing Time, Md Sadman Sakib

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

During the era of digitalization, customer demand has become more customized than before. For this reason, the variety of products is increasing rapidly. Manufacturing industries are experiencing extraordinary challenges due to frequent updates of customer requirements. Now the manufacturers are focusing more on mass customization than mass production to keep pace with this situation, however, managing variety using the make-to-stock strategy increases holding costs, and the make-to-order strategy increases lead time. Moreover, uncertainty in demand is making mass customization more challenging. Though hybrid manufacturing is a promising concept for variety management, very few works consider stochastic demand. The concept of …

Improvement To An Existing Multi-Level Capacitated Lot Sizing Problem With Setup Carryover, Backlogging, And Emission Control, Rifat Bin Hasan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper presents a multi-level, multi-item, multi-period capacitated lot-sizing problem. The lot-sizing problem studies can obtain production quantities, setup decisions, and inventory levels in each period fulfilling the demand requirements with limited capacity resources, considering the Bill of Material (B.O.M.) structure while simultaneously minimizing the production, inventory, and machine setup costs. The paper proposes an exact solution to Chowdhury et al. (2018)'s[1] developed model, which considers the backlogging cost, setup carryover & greenhouse gas emission control to its model complexity. The problem contemplates the Dantzig-Wolfe (D.W.) decomposition to decompose the multi-level capacitated problem into a single-item uncapacitated lot-sizing sub-problem. To …

Mathematical Programming And Heuristic Design For Planning Of Operating Rooms, Justin William Britt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In Canada, a significant percentage of government spending goes towards healthcare. The three biggest spending areas are hospitals, drugs, and physicians. In a hospital, operating rooms (ORs) and the downstream resources, such as recovery ward (RW) beds, used by surgical patients are expensive to operate but improve the welfares of patients and provide a large portion of the revenue. Hospital managers must plan and schedule the ORs in order to utilize the physical resources and the human resources who staff them as efficiently as possible. OR planning and scheduling problems are divided into three phases: strategic, tactical, and operational. In …

Investigating The Financial Implications Of Converting Manufacturing From Existing Portfolio To Ppe Products During Covid-19 For Canadian Manufacturing Companies, Varun Charavanan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For the past three years, we have witnessed the effects that a disruptive event like COVID-19 can have on the industrial sector as well as the effects that have so far been felt throughout the world's supply chain. When the pandemic first began, sales of PPE products increased, which led to a shortage of PPE products in Canada due to supply chain disruptions and limited PPE product production in Canada. So, the Canadian government began importing PPE goods. This incident highlights the need for local production in Canada as many people were unable to afford PPE in time. Due to …

Smart Manufacturing Execution System Framework For Small And Medium-Size Enterprises, Mohamed Mahmoud Masoud

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In today's manufacturing scene, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) face the challenge of adapting to rapidly evolving technologies to remain competitive. Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) play a vital role in managing this transformation by systematically overseeing production processes. While Industry 4.0 has already established widely accepted automation techniques, Industry 5.0 presents further innovative advancements to enhance manufacturing. However, there is a scarcity of research on applying Industry 5.0. This thesis addresses this research gap by developing an Industry 5.0-based MES framework, specifically designed for SMEs. A systematic approach to implementing the framework is presented, starting with an analysis of common …

Development Of An Ergonomic Desk And Support For Optimal Keyboard Angle In The Sitting And Standing Workstation, Victor Eghujovbo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With the proliferation of computers in homes and workplaces, the keyboard has become an integral part of our daily lives, and it is difficult to imagine using a computer without one. Given the high prevalence of WMSDs among computer users and the growing global computer workforce, concerns exist about the escalation of computer related injury with Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) being one of the most reported WMSDs among office workers. The forceful and repetitive movements of the hand and wrist, prolonged use of the hand and wrist and a non-neutral or awkward wrist posture (where there is a migration from …

Models And Algorithms For Trauma Network Design., Sagarkumar Dhirubhai Hirpara

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Trauma continues to be the leading cause of death and disability in the US for people aged 44 and under, making it a major public health problem. The geographical maldistribution of Trauma Centers (TCs), and the resulting higher access time to the nearest TC, has been shown to impact trauma patient safety and increase disability or mortality. State governments often design a trauma network to provide prompt and definitive care to their citizens. However, this process is mainly manual and experience-based and often leads to a suboptimal network in terms of patient safety and resource utilization. This dissertation fills important …

Forecasting Hypotension By Learning From Multivariate Mixed Responses.., Jodie Ritter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Blood Pressure is the main determinant of blood flow to organs. Hypotension is defined as a systolic blood pressure less than 90 mmHg or a diastolic blood pressure less than 50 mmHg. The severity and duration of hypotension is associated with low blood flow to organs often result in organ damage and a high mortality rate. Predicting hypotension prior to surgery and during the surgery can reduce the incidence and duration resulting in better patient outcomes. This thesis uses preoperative bloodwork and vital signs as well as perioperative vital signs in 5-minute increments as inputs to forecast hypotension. Hypotension can …

A Multi-Objective Model For The Storage Location Assignment Problem, Kyle Armstrong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Order picking is the most laborious operation in a warehouse. Motivated by a real-world problem, this thesis developed a multi-objective model for the storage location assignment problem which assigns SKUs to storage locations such that the travel distance to pick a set of orders and the cost of damages associated with the order are minimized. This problem was formulated as a quadratic assignment problem and solved by CPLEX for the small and medium scale problems. A simple heuristic was introduced to solve for the large scale problem. This research refers to the warehouse operations of a large food retailer, Metro …

Human-Machine Collaboration In Healthcare Innovation, Breeze Fenton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Almost every individual has visited a healthcare institute, whether for an annual checkup, surgery, or a nursing home. Ensuring healthcare institutes are using human-machine collaboration systems correctly can improve daily operations. A maturity assessment and an implementation plan have been developed to help healthcare institutes monitor the human-machine collaboration systems. A maturity model, the Smart Maturity Model for Health Care (SMMHC), is a tool designed for maturity assessment. A four-step implementation plan was also created in this research. The implementation plan views the maturity of the institute and develops a strategy on how to improve it. The research utilized Integrated …

Simulation Analysis Of Patient Wait Times For Computed Tomography And Magnetic Resonance Imaging Considering Covid-19 Impact, Selena Celic

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Due to world-wide increasing population and life expectancy, the volume of chronic illnesses and number of patients admitted into hospitals is growing. Hospital services can be extremely important and expensive—particularly for Computed Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) diagnostic imaging. Ontario hospitals follow a public healthcare system with four patient priority levels and wait time targets for each of the four priority levels. Along with increasing needs for diagnostic imaging services, COVID-19 was declared a pandemic virus on March 11th, 2020, by the World Health Organization (WHO), which was followed by the Premier of Ontario declaring a state of …

Machine Learning Models For Lodi Indices., Lucas A. Bruns

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Two indices published monthly by the Logistics and Distribution Institute (LoDI) predict changes in logistics and distribution activity levels nationally and regionally and are useful for organizations when planning projects and expenses. This research validates the current linear regression model, updates the index conversion method, and introduces machine learning models.

New source data are introduced to the models to validate the current linear regression model and a comparative analysis verifies that the current source data are robust. A rolling average is used for index conversion in place of a fixed reference month to reflect recent changes in employment levels.

Three …

High-Density Parking For Autonomous Vehicles., Parag J. Siddique

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In a common parking lot, much of the space is devoted to lanes. Lanes must not be blocked for one simple reason: a blocked car might need to leave before the car that blocks it. However, the advent of autonomous vehicles gives us an opportunity to overcome this constraint, and to achieve a higher storage capacity of cars. Taking advantage of self-parking and intelligent communication systems of autonomous vehicles, we propose puzzle-based parking, a high-density design for a parking lot. We introduce a novel method of vehicle parking, which leads to maximum parking density. We then propose a heuristic method …

Work Order And Subassembly Identification And Tracking System, Israa El-Sabbagh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The research encompassed in this thesis includes the development of a work order and subassembly identification and tracking software system created in-house and tested at SPM Automation (Canada) Inc. The research is motivated by the significant losses the company is enduring and the recurring problems occurring at the facility (i.e., excess inventory, late ordering, reordering, misplaced components, etc.). These problems are critical in the progress and profits of the company.

An extensive literature review was completed, and the research gaps were presented. The optimal work order and subassembly process was created using Process Mapping Methodology, Cause-and-Effect Diagrams, and 5Why Analysis. …

An Investigation Of Barriers And Facilitators To Living Kidney Donation, Rachel E. Crenshaw

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is strong interest in increasing living kidney donation, as the need for kidney transplants is quite high. Although previous studies outline some barriers and facilitators associated with donating, living kidney donation comprises only a small percentage of overall kidney transplants and thus further research on factors influencing the decision to donate is needed to find ways to increase the donor pool. Ten semi-structured interviews of living kidney donors were completed and analyzed for common themes that either support the current literature or surface additional barriers and facilitators. In addition, a systematic review and analysis of social medial support groups …

Optimization With Interval Data: New Problems, Algorithms, And Applications., Mohsen Mohammadi Dehcheshmeh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The parameters of real-world optimization problems are often uncertain due to the failure of exact estimation of data entries. Throughout the years, several approaches have been developed to cope with uncertainty in the input parameters of optimization problems, such as robust optimization, stochastic optimization, fuzzy programming, parametric programming, and interval optimization. Each of these approaches tackles the uncertainty in the input data with different assumptions on the source of uncertainty and imposes different requirements on the returned solutions. In this dissertation, the approach we take is that of interval optimization, and more specifically, interval linear programming. The two main problems …

In-Situ Process Monitoring For Metal Additive Manufacturing (Am) Through Acoustic Technique, Md Shahjahan Hossain

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is currently a widely used technology in different industries such as aerospace, medical, and consumer products. Previously it was mainly used for prototyping of the products, but now it is equally valuable for commercial product manufacturing. More profound understanding is still needed to track and identify defects during the AM process to ensure higher quality products with less material waste. Nondestructive testing becomes an essential form of testing for AM parts, where AE is one of the most used methods for in situ process monitoring. The Acoustic Emission (AE) approach has gained a reputation in nondestructive testing …

The Development Of A Holistic Quality Score Using In-Situ Monitoring Of Laser Powder Bed Fusion, Ryan Daigneault

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Additive manufacturing processes allow for a great degree of flexibility in terms of part production. The process is autonomous once the part has started printing in that the operator generally does not need to intervene until the part is finished. One issue that this introduces, however, is an inability to determine part quality during the printing process. Once a part has started printing, the operator must either wait until the part is finished or regularly check on the part during the print to determine the part quality. Using data gathered from multiple sensors, a quality score can be used to …

A Machine Learning Approach For Allocating Route Cost To Customers For Transportation And Logistics Services., Alison Davis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Advancements in big data enabled management practices inspire logistics companies to study deeper into their transportation operations with a data driven approach. One such question asks: How can a logistics firm identify high-cost customers in their service network? In the presence of rich data on routes involving many customers, this thesis develops a framework to allocate a route cost among customers that the route serves, where each route is associated with multiple route features related to the transportation cost. Cost is allocated using the proportional allocation approach in combination with the random forest method in machine learning. First, this framework …

Optimization And Simulation Models To Improve Access To Organ Transplantation In The United States., Fatemeh Karami

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Organ allocation in the U.S. is administrated by the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS). UNOS’s mission is to ensure fair and equitable allocation of organs as stated in the Code of Federal Regulations, which reads "neither place of residence nor place of listing shall be a major determinant of access to transplant". Despite the regulations, there has been endless controversy surrounding the disparity in access to organ transplants. In this context, the primary research goal in this dissertation was to reduce geographic disparity in access to transplants in the U.S., with a focus on heart and kidney transplants. To …

Effects Of Design Autonomy On The Flow Experience, Antonio F Coriano

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Most modern workplace settings are laden with operating procedures aimed at standardizing action in the name of efficiency. The cost of this standardization is the autonomy of the operator. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi stated the problem concisely in his 1975 work Beyond Boredom and Anxiety “… [M]ost of the institutions that take up our time…are organized around the assumption that serious work is grim and unpleasant. Because of this assumption, most of our time is spent doing unpleasant things”. An experiment was created to study and better understand how to redress this harmful situation. Sixteen subjects were given a SolidWorks computer-aided design …

Gridhub: A Grid-Based, High-Density Material Handling System., Gang Hao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the past twenty years, the share of e-commerce has increased (FRED, 2019). Since more and more activities, such as picking and sorting customers’ orders, are done in warehouses, high efficiency warehouses are in demand. Furthermore, the efficiency of warehouses is related to customer satisfaction (Colla and Lapoule, 2012). Storage systems are key components in warehouses, which are related to the efficiency of warehouse operations. In this dissertation, we address an automatic puzzle-based storage system under decentralized control. We call this system GridHub. GridHub meets standards of Industry 4.0 (Lasi et al., 2014), and it features high throughput with parallel …

Aisle Design For Order Picking Operations With Unit-Load Replenishment., Dominic Ian Sleigh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The warehouse design problem has been addressed in the last decade with fewer constraints than ever before. Between optimization for unit load and order picking warehouses, the former has had extensively more research performed. Unit load optimization efforts have promised labor savings of 20-22%. Of the existing research for order-picking warehouses, only small improvements of less than 4% have been claimed. We propose the design optimization for order-picking warehouses requires consideration for inherently incurred unit load operations from pallet inbound activities, as well as forward-pick area replenishment. We perform experiments comparing optimization of aisle design using order picking data with …

A Study Of Nonlinear Dynamics Of Eeg Responses To Simulated Unmanned Vehicle Tasks, Ziqing Xu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the contemporary world, mental workload becomes higher as technology evolves and task demand becomes overwhelming. The operators of a system are usually required to complete tasks with higher complicity within a shorter period of time. Continuous operation under a high level of mental workload can be a major source of risk and human error, thus put the operator in a hazardous working environment. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor and assess mental workload. In this study, an unmanned vehicle operation with visual detection tasks was investigated by means of nonlinear analysis of EEG time series. Nonlinear analysis is considered …

Hybrid Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment-Based Multi-Objective Optimization: A Case For Sustainable Fleet Mix, Burak Sen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sustainable transportation idea includes not only switching from conventional energy sources to alternative fuel resources, but also diverging from private vehicle use and shifting to alternative transportation modes. As a part of alternative transportation mode, utilizing alternative fuels in public transportation operation supports sustainable transportation at it full-glance. Given their implications in terms of air quality and sustainable movement of people, transit buses, which provide the primary public transportation service, are considered an ideal domain for the deployment of alternative fuels. An input-output (IO) model is developed based on Eora database – a detailed IO database that consists of national …