Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Profit Based Simulation Model For The Rail Transportation Industry, Mark Patrick Doran

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Schedules often conflict in the rail transportation industry. Operations managers assign resources and make scheduling decisions with no visibility of the revenue, cost, and profitability characteristics of the route they are manipulating. Transit speed decisions focus on ensuring trains safely reach their destination on time with little regard given to the actual service needs of the customer. Although all customers want on-time deliveries, few actually pay a premium to garner this level of preferential treatment. Operating in this type of environment results in decisions that severely erode profits.

In this dissertation, a simulation model referred to as the Rail Profit …

Early Copper Smelting In The Lake Superior Region:A Case Study Of The Isle Royale And Ohio Mining Company, 1846-1852, Adrian Blake

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The lodes of native copper found in the Lake Superior region presented new opportunities for investors and miners alike. Making these opportunities pay required the unique challenges presented by the region’s remoteness and unique geological formations to be overcome. A primary way in which these newly emerging companies overcame these challenges was through successful vertical integration of the copper refining industries. Smelting came to the region early, but met with little success as the workers first needed to retool their skills and experiences to the demands of the region’s mineral deposits. In 1848 the Isle Royale and Ohio Mining Company …