Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

A Heuristic Algorithm For Determining The Part Set In A Powder-Bed Additive Manufacturing Machine., Sonja Dieder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this research is to develop a procedure for the placement of a priority part into a planned build in a powder-bed additive manufacturing machine. Toward that goal, a heuristic procedure was developed that seeks to maximize the revenue in a scheduled build, subject to due-date constraints; i.e., all parts with the closest due date will not only be included in the build, but will be placed near the bottom of the build. Likewise, any part in the scheduled build that does not have an immediate due date is a candidate for removal in order to accommodate a …

Simulation Model For Optimization Of A Landside Harbor Logistic Chain Of Container Terminals., Klaus Striegel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The world wide transportation of all kind of goods with containers is a fast growing business. The challenge is to transport in the shortest time to the lowest cost. The vessels therefore become bigger and bigger. The biggest vessel with 16000 TEU is since December 2012 in service. But the next generation with 18000-22000 TEU is already being built. This raises questions in acceleration of loading and unloading process, the handling in the yards of the harbors and the transportation of the containers to Hinterland. The most common way is still to transport the container from the yard by truck, …

Robust Network Interdiction With Invisible Interdiction Assets, Nail Orkun Baycik

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

We study a version of the shortest path network interdiction problem in which the follower seeks to find the shortest path on a given network and the leader seeks to maximize the follower's shortest path length by interdicting arcs. We consider placement of interdictions that are not visible to the follower; however, we seek to locate interdictions in a manner that is robust against the possibility that some interdiction locations become known to the follower. We formulate the problem as a bi-level program, and use the simulated annealing heuristic to identify high quality solutions. We apply our approach to investigate …

Decentralized Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning In Average-Reward Dynamic Dcops, Duc Thien Nguyen, William Yeoh, Hoong Chuin Lau, Shlomo Zilberstein

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Researchers have introduced the Dynamic Distributed Constraint Optimization Problem (Dynamic DCOP) formulation to model dynamically changing multi-agent coordination problems, where a dynamic DCOP is a sequence of (static canonical) DCOPs, each partially different from the DCOP preceding it. Existing work typically assumes that the problem in each time step is decoupled from the problems in other time steps, which might not hold in some applications. Therefore, in this paper, we make the following contributions: (i) We introduce a new model, called Markovian Dynamic DCOPs (MD-DCOPs), where the DCOP in the next time step is a function of the value assignments …

On Understanding Diffusion Dynamics Of Patrons At A Theme Park, Jiali Du, Akshat Kumar, Pradeep Reddy Varakantham

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this work, we focus on the novel application of learning the diffusion dynamics of visitors among attractions at a large theme park using only aggregate information about waiting times at attractions. Main contributions include formulating optimisation models to compute diffusion dynamics. We also developed algorithm capable of dealing with noise in the data to populate parameters in the optimization model. We validated our approach using cross validation on a real theme park data set. Our approach provides an accuracy of about 80$% for popular attractions, providing solid empirical support for our diffusion models.

Overcoming Hard Problems In Software Testing With Testing As A Service, Brianna Floss

Theses and Dissertations

Software testing is a crucial phase of the software development lifecycle, responsible for assuring that the system under test meets quality standards, requirements, and consumer needs. Unfortunately, software testing is not without flaws. Some problems are timeless while others are brought on by new technologies and methodologies. As software systems grow in size and complexity, quality becomes significantly more difficult to ensure. With recent advancements in cloud computing, the internet’s vast and elastic resources are available for testing. Testing as a Service (TaaS) offers accessible services that handle testing activities to consumers on a pay-as-you-test basis in hopes of providing …

Investigating Present And Future Interactions Between Radio Frequency Identification, Additive Manufacturing And Supply Chain Management, Michael Nobuhiro Ochi

Master's Theses

A screening experiment was paired with research observing the past, present and futures of additive manufacturing (a.k.a. rapid prototyping, 3D printing), radio frequency identification, and supply chain management. The experiment tested different properties of objects created with a desktop fused deposition modelling printer to observe if any single factors or interactions affected the read range of embedded passive UHF RFID inlay. The combination of material and infill percentage had a statistically significant effect on read range, however the analysis is weak since the data could not justify the normality assumption of ANOVA. Furthermore, the size of the effect was small …

Dynamic Modelling Of Impact Of Lean Policies On Production Levelling Feasibility, Hoda Elmaraghy, Ahmed Deif

Industrial Technology and Packaging

A dynamic systems approach is proposed to investigate challenges of implementing production leveling and associated costs. A model of a lean cell is developed using system dynamics. The model captures various lean tools influencing production leveling. Comparative cost analysis between various leveling implementation policies for stochastic demand with multiple products is conducted. Results showed that determining the most feasible leveling policy is highly dictated by both capacity scalability cost and limitations. The developed model and revealed insights can help lean practitioners to better decide on when and how to implement production leveling as well as determine production lots sizes.

Dynamic Lean Assessment For Takt Time Implementation, Rehab M. Ali, Ahmed M. Deif

Industrial Technology and Packaging

Increasing volatility, global competitiveness, and sales crisis all force the manufacturers to commit to the journey of world-class manufacturing performance via adopting “lean systems” to enable economic success in difficult times. Among the journey to lean, one of the hardest steps is measuring the progress of lean polices implementation especially in this highly dynamic market. This paper presents a dynamic model to evaluate the degree of leanness in manufacturing firms. The model is based on system dynamics approach and presents a “leanness score” for the manufacturing system. In addition, it examines the dynamics associated with the application of “One-piece flow” …

Impact Of Dynamic Capacity Policies On Wip Level In Mix Leveling Lean Environment, Ahmed Deif, Hoda Elmaraghy

Industrial Technology and Packaging

Balancing demand's product variety in production planning is one aspect of variety management challenge. This phenomenon is described in lean systems as mix leveling. This paper approach product mix leveling problem from a dynamic perspective. A system dynamics model is developed to explore the dynamics associated with the WIP level performance at different mix leveling policies in a lean environment. The system captures different lean tools and policies. Results showed that the best WIP performance is sensitive to both the degree of lean tools implementation as well as the capacity scalability level of the system. The presented analysis showed that …

An Integrated Approach To Assess Manufacturing Greeness Level, Ahmed H. Salen, Ahmed Deif

Industrial Technology and Packaging

This paper proposes an integrated approach for relative greenness level assessment in selected manufacturing industries at the system level. The approach builds on existing methodologies to develop a multi-layer tool box called “Greenometer” which focus on the strategic comparison for cross industries evaluation as well as tactical comparison for intra-industries. The assessment tool captures the fundamental evaluation parameters of green manufacturing namely; Environment, Energy, Resources and Economy. In addition, the Greenometer employs geometric mean method (GMM) for the strategic layer and data envelopment analysis (DEA) for the tactical layer and will be used for different selected manufacturing disciplines. The proposed …

Applying The Systems Engineering Principles To The Design Process Of A Mobile Aquaponics System, Brandy Maki, Sue Benolken, Jim Mccluskey

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Systems Engineering is an interdisciplinary approach to product development which encompasses extended design factors (e.g. manufacturing, social, economic, human factors, safety, and schedule) into the technical design process to create an optimal product and/or service. Systems Engineering principles have proven to be highly effective in managing and implementing complex projects, yet can be utilized on any design project. The implementation of Systems Engineering into the design of a mobile aquaponics system will be examined as well as the successes, challenges, and opportunity for future improvements. Aquaponics is a food production system that ecologically integrates aquaculture and hydroponics. This particular system …

Compressed Air Leak Study, Colin Knue, Suresh Kumar Baskaran

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

Today compressed air plays very important role as part of expense. A huge chunk of expenditure can be saved as such. Effort in terms of monetary and energy will be a waste if even fraction of the compressed air is lost because of leak in the system without making the best use of it. There are leak detection and repair systems that can be adapted to overcome such wastage of compressed air. In this project, a procedure using ultrasonic leak detector to identify, locate and repair leaks is adapted. The summary of controlling already existing leaks and preventing more new …

Systems Simulation Analysis Of A Hospital Rapid Response System, Shoruk Mansour

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

The poster presents a systems simulation analysis of a hospital rapid response system. Analysis of interventions and future work related to the project are included.

Ergonomics Study Led Lighting Assembly, Marylin Glass-Angeles, Nathan Christensen, Josef Imesh, Lorena Peña, Natalia Matos

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

The current assembly process of the LED Lighting product line at Landscape Forms (LF) combines high force exertion, motion repetition and an uncomfortable posture. Therefore, Industrial Engineers overseeing the manufacturing of these products raised a concern for their workers health and were interested in identifying injury risks related to the current methodology as well as opportunities for the reduction of such risks.

The Green Manufacturing Industrial Consortium’S (Gmic) Approach To Zero-Waste-To-Landfill (Zwtl), Nathan J. Christensen, Marylin Glass-Angeles

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

Introduction: As organizations continually seek to reduce various forms of waste, some may seek to reduce their landfill impact and improve recycling and material disposal practices. Many organizations interested in reducing their landfill waste have embarked on a zero-waste-to-landfill (ZWTL) journey. This journey involves thoroughly exploring the landfill waste of an organization, reverse tracking the waste to its source, and establishing new practices and procedures for eliminating the source of waste from the landfill stream. The purpose of this poster is to describe the methodology used by the Green Manufacturing Initiative to assist companies on their ZWTL journey.

Veneer Defect Data Collection & Analysis, Marylin Glass-Angeles, Josef Imesh, Nathan Christensen, Nathan Bowen, Zachary Miller

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

Objectives: This project is Phase I of a two part study with the purpose of aiding Steelcase in reducing defects occurring in the sanding step of the wood manufacturing process. During Phase I, the team collected data and used the results to identify the greatest material and profit losses. The continuing goal of the study will be to address these issues to the greatest extent possible.

Modeling And Analysis Of Patient Care Assistants’ Workflow, Ewing Tiong

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

Background

While there is a considerable amount of research on medium-to-long decision support models for healthcare systems, little emphasis is placed on research that focuses on short-term operational decisions made by healthcare providers. Patient care assistants (PCAs) provide both indirect and direct patient care under the supervision of a registered nurse (RN). Main responsibilities include:

• Gathering patient data
• Assisting patients with activities of daily living (ADLs)

Acuta Enews April 2014 Vol. 43 No. 4

ACUTA Newsletters

In this Issue...

I Annual Conference 2014

2 Stand by Me

3 ACUTA Seeking Presenters for Fall Seminar in Boston

4 Conference Gold: Top 10 Tweets

6 Board Report

7 Info Links I Check It Out

9 Conference Photo Section

Robustness Of Complex Networks To Global Perturbations, Samuel Heiserman

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

This thesis studies the robustness of complex dynamical networks with non-trivial topologies against global perturbations, following Robert May’s seminal work on network stability, in order to find critical stability thresholds of global perturbations and to determine if their impact varies across different network topologies. Numerical analysis is used as the primary research method. Dynamical networks are randomly generated in the form of a coefficient matrix of stable linear differential equations. The networks are then inflicted with global perturbation (i.e., addition of another random matrix with varying magnitudes) and their stabilities are tested for each perturbation magnitude, to determine at what …