Operational Research Commons^™

Comparing Transport Policies In A Full-Scale 300mm Wafer Manufacturing Facility, J. E. Kiba, S. Dauz`Ere-P´Er`Es, C. Yugma, G. Lamiable

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

Research in semiconductor manufacturing ideally wants to determine the “best” transport policy to ensure continuous production. Determining such a policy is difficult because it depends on many factors such as the layout, the product types, the equipment, etc. Most of the transport policies found in the literature combine dispatching policies (scheduling of transport requests) and routing policies (selection of the path to move from one point to another). This paper investigates a policy called "minimum service" which consists in keeping a minimum number of available vehicles in bays, so that they can quickly answer transport requests and empty travel times …

The Human-Centric Warehouse, Kevin R. Gue

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

In theory and in practice, the objective of warehouse design has long been to meet operational requirements of throughput and service performance at minimum cost. A natural product of this “bottom line” approach has been warehouse buildings and operations ill-suited to the humans who spend their working lives interacting with them. We offer an explanation for the current approach, and argue that a new approach— a new paradigm —is needed. We then describe a comprehensive approach to warehouse design that includes human well-being as a primary goal.

Forklift Routing In Warehouses Using Dual-Commands And Stackable Pallets, Ahmed Hassan, Bill Ferrell

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

This research determines time optimal routes for loading and picking pallets that can be stacked on top of each other during transport in a manual warehouse that only contains full pallets and utilizes single deep storage. This research was motivated by the fact that we are seeing this situation on an ever increasing basis, particularly in warehouses that supply parts to automotive assembly. In practice, forklift drivers have developed strategies to take advantage of this opportunity but to our knowledge there is no literature that addresses this problem rigorously. The important features of this work are that a time based …

Plug-And-Work Material Handling Systems, Kai Furmans, Frank Schonung, Kevin R. Gue

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

One disadvantage of automated material handling systems is their relative Inflexibility: once racks are installed and conveyors are laid, making even mi-nor changes to a system can be cumbersome and expensive. However, recent progress in the capabilities and cost of basic system components, such as controllers, drives, and sensors, has made possible a new class of material handling systems having a much higher degree of flexibility. We propose underlying de- sign principles for such systems and describe several prototype plug-and-work" systems, which feature decentralized control and ease of reconfiguration.

Control Policies For A Dynamic Storage System With Multiple Lifts And Shuttles, Iris F.A. Vis, Hector J. Carlo, Paloma Diaz, Maria E. Laboy, Bruno Vanwijgaarden

11th IMHRC Proceedings (Milwaukee, Wisconsin. USA – 2010)

New types of Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems, able to achieve high throughput levels, are continuously being developed and require new control polices to take full advantage of the developed system. In this paper we study a dynamic storage system as developed by Vanderlande Industries consisting of a conveyor, two lifts, multiple transfer shuttles, and a storage rack. One of the decision problems for this system is the scheduling problem of the two lifts. In other words, which lift is going to handle which request and in which order. In this paper, we derive an integrated look-ahead heuristic based on …

Optimization Models And Algorithms For Spatial Scheduling, Christopher J. Garcia

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Spatial scheduling problems involve scheduling a set of activities or jobs that each require a certain amount of physical space in order to be carried out. In these problems space is a limited resource, and the job locations, orientations, and start times must be simultaneously determined. As a result, spatial scheduling problems are a particularly difficult class of scheduling problems. These problems are commonly encountered in diverse industries including shipbuilding, aircraft assembly, and supply chain management. Despite its importance, there is a relatively scarce amount of research in the area of spatial scheduling.

In this dissertation, spatial scheduling problems are …

Investigating An Optimal Decision Point For Probability Bounds Analysis Models When Used To Estimate Remedial Soil Volumes Under Uncertainty At Hazardous Waste Sites, Charles O. Dankwah

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Hazardous waste site remediation cost estimation requires a good estimate of the contaminated soil volume. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) currently uses deterministic point values to estimate soil volumes but the literature suggests that probability bounds analysis (PBA) is the more accurate method to make estimates under uncertainty. The underlying statistical theory is that they are more accurate than deterministic estimates because probabilistic estimates account for data uncertainties. However, the literature does not address the problem of selecting an optimal decision point from the interval-valued PBA estimates. The purpose of this study was to identify the optimal …

Examining Strategic Information Technology In Relationship To The Need For Technology Modernization, Jill A. Brown

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Strategic planning can be a critical business process for today’s organizations, especially for IT organizations that are facing continually changes in technology. This research was designed to investigate IT organizations’ use of strategic planning and determine if the organization uses their strategic plan to set project priorities. The second part of this research was to determine if the IT strategic plans are aligned with the overall organization’s strategic plan.

This research was conducted using a mail-type survey to IT Executives from organizations with sales/revenues under 100 million dollars, a maximum of 5000 employees, and SIC codes of 201 thru 399. …

A Job-Shop Scheduling Model Using Genetic Algorithm And Giffler Thompson Approach, Nikhil Deepak Bumb

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The major objective of this thesis topic is to study the challenging research subject of job shop scheduling with the intent of optimizing the makespan. The job - shop scheduling problem is one of the hardest combinatorial optimization problems. The main aim of scheduling is an efficient allocation of shared resources like machines, operators or both over time for competing activities.

This research focuses on developing a model for optimizing job shop scheduling problem using genetic algorithm and the Giffler Thompson (priority dispatching rule) technique. Considering different parameters, the model comes up with an appropriate way to schedule the tasks …

Course Portfolio - Discrete Event Simulation, Paul Savory

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

This course portfolio, written by Dr. Paul Savory, provides an overview of his Discrete Event Simulation course at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. It offers an overview of the course goals, a summary of the classroom activities for achieving them, and a detailed assessment of student learning. He highlights his introduction of the simul8 programming environment to his students. In addition to exploring his students’ learning, Dr. Savory also explores different approaches for documenting his teaching by including multimedia clips (video and audio), uses graphs, uses color, and incorporates images. The resulting portfolio is one that can be reviewed, shared, and …

Learning Without Default: A Study Of One-Class Classification And The Low-Default Portfolio Problem, Kenneth Kennedy, Brian Mac Namee, Sarah Jane Delany

Conference papers

This paper asks at what level of class imbalance one-class classifiers outperform two-class classifiers in credit scoring problems in which class imbalance, referred to as the low-default portfolio problem, is a serious issue. The question is answered by comparing the performance of a variety of one-class and two-class classifiers on a selection of credit scoring datasets as the class imbalance is manipulated. We also include random oversampling as this is one of the most common approaches to addressing class imbalance. This study analyses the suitability and performance of recognised two-class classifiers and one-class classifiers. Based on our study we conclude …

An Analytical Framework And Model Formulation For Measuring Risk In Engineering Enterprise Systems: A Capability Portfolio Perspective, Paul Raphael Garvey

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This work formulates an analytical framework and computational model for assessing risk in engineering enterprise systems. It addresses the engineering management problem of how to represent, model, and measure risk in large-scale, complex systems engineered to function in enterprise-wide environments.

The research in this dissertation extends current practice in the management of risk for traditional systems and creates new constructs and protocols for the management of risk in engineering large-scale, complex, and highly networked enterprise systems. This work advances engineering management theory and analytic practice as applied to the measurement and management of risk for enterprise systems engineered within capability …

Developing A Philosophical Profile Of The Individual For Complex Problem-Solving Through Agent-Based Modeling, Ipek Bozkurt

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Research that focuses on the emotional, mental, behavioral and cognitive capabilities of individuals has been abundant within disciplines such as psychology, sociology, and anthropology, among others. The main argument made in this dissertation, however, is that a different perspective is necessary in order to gain insight about individuals when facing the complex problems that are presented within engineering and management disciplines. This is done by developing the Philosophical Profile of the Individual (PPI) that uses epistemology, ontology and teleology as underlying dimensions of philosophical predispositions. The epistemology dimension considers whether an individual is an Empiricist or a Rationalist, the ontology …

Operational Knowledge Transfer In Municipal Utility Organizations, G. Christian Guvemator Iv

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Municipal water and wastewater utility systems experience several challenges related to maintaining an experienced operations workforce. One of these issues is the loss of operational knowledge as the current experienced workforce reaches the age of retirement. The future success of system operability depends upon a process that transfers the knowledge of the experienced employee into the organization before he or she retires. Recent investigations highlight the importance of, and the methods for, knowledge transfer; however, current literature does not include significant information on the municipal utility industry. The objective of this investigation is to identify how operational knowledge is being …

Network Optimization Of Dynamically Complex Systems, Ramez Ahmed Shamseldin

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The aim of this research is to optimize large scale network handling capabilities for large system inventories and to implement strategies for the purpose of reducing capital expenses. As computers become more and more networked, it is easier to share files among storage media. In addition, more bandwidth will be consumed by network flow because customers will be connected through networks which will transfer files and data, such as video files (MPEGn, AVI, WMV, etc.) to be watched at a customer's computer (host). Furthermore, these networks terminals will be used as mini warehouses to save files and data. Selective files …

Towards The Quantitative Analysis Of The Connectivity Value Of Networked Operations, Dean Deller

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

While the nature of and the approach to command and control is evolving in order to meet the challenges of Information Age warfare, the essential functions that must be accomplished remain constant. One of those essential functions is the arrangement of the assets within a combat force. Certainly, the many different ways to arrange a given set of assets will have different impacts on the combat effectiveness of the force. Some arrangements will enable self-synchronization, while other arrangements will impede it. How then, should an Information Age combat force be organized in order to optimize its effectiveness?

The concept of …

Adaptive Pareto Set Estimation For Stochastic Mixed Variable Design Problems, Christopher D. Arendt

Theses and Dissertations

Many design problems require the optimization of competing objective functions that may be too complicated to solve analytically. These problems are often modeled in a simulation environment where static input may result in dynamic (stochastic) responses to the various objective functions. System reliability, alloy composition, algorithm parameter selection, and structural design optimization are classes of problems that often exhibit such complex and stochastic properties. Since the physical testing and experimentation of new designs can be prohibitively expensive, engineers need adequate predictions concerning the viability of various designs in order to minimize wasteful testing. Presumably, an appropriate stochastic multi-objective optimizer can …

Exploitation Of Intra-Spectral Band Correlation For Rapid Feacture Selection And Target Identification In Hyperspectral Imagery, Michael K. Miller

Theses and Dissertations

This research extends the work produced by Capt. Robert Johnson for detecting target pixels within hyperspectral imagery (HSI). The methodology replaces Principle Components Analysis for dimensionality reduction with a clustering algorithm which seeks to associate spectral rather than spatial dimensions. By seeking similar spectral dimensions, the assumption of no a priori knowledge of the relationship between clustered members can be eliminated and clusters are formed by seeking high correlated adjacent spectral bands. Following dimensionality reduction Independent Components Analysis (ICA) is used to perform feature extraction. Kurtosis and Potential Target Fraction are added to Maximum Component Score and Potential Target Signal …

Host-Based Multivariate Statistical Computer Operating Process Anomaly Intrusion Detection System (Paids), Glen R. Shilland

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Combat Identification Modeling Using Neural Network Techniques, Changwook Lim

Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of this research were: (1) validating Kim’s (2007) simulation method by applying analytic methods and (2) comparing the two different Robust Parameter Design methods with three measures of performance (label accuracy for enemy, friendly, and clutter). Considering the features of CID, input variables were defined as two controllable (threshold combination of detector and classifier) and three uncontrollable (map size, number of enemies and friendly). The first set of experiments considers Kim’s method using analytical methods. In order to create response variables, Kim’s method uses Monte Carlo simulation. The output results showed no difference between simulation and the analytic …

Rubric For Presentation Evaluation, Paul Savory

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Instructional Materials

I have developed this rubric to allow classmates and myself to offer an evaluation or assessment of a student classroom presentation. It is my attempt to develop a standardized evaluation linked to specified criteria, making the grading process simpler and more transparent.

Rubric For Project Report Evaluation, Paul Savory

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Instructional Materials

I have developed this rubric to formalize the evaluation or assessment of a project report. It is my attempt to develop a standardized evaluation linked to specified criteria, making the grading process simpler and more transparent.

Rubric For Project Self-Evaluation, Paul Savory

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Instructional Materials

I have developed this rubric to allow each member of a project team to offer a self-assessment of their own performance on the projects. It is my attempt to develop a standardized evaluation linked to specified criteria, making the grading process simpler and more transparent.

Ruberic For Project Team Member Evaluation, Paul Savory

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Instructional Materials

I have developed this rubric to allow team members for course projects to offer an evaluation or assessment of the fellow members of their team. It is my attempt to develop a standardized evaluation linked to specified criteria, making the grading process simpler and more transparent.

Qualitative Mapping For Understanding The Collective Judgment Building Process : A Study Of The Federal Open Market Committee, Hyunjung Kim

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study develops a mapping method for studying a collective judgment building process in a decision-making group. Environmental uncertainties and a lack of information require a decision maker to make judgments about various issues relevant to the decision task. In a group setting, the members together weave their structural model of the system with available information to build a collective judgment for the decision task.

Egypt's Information Society Strategy: A Critical Lexicography, Neil Mcbride, Bernd Carsten Stahl

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

The development of ICT policies within developing countries in the past ten years has opened up a new area for study. These documents chart the ambitions of the countries for the use of ICT to promote rapid development. As such they are intercultural documents, developing at the interface between the culture of the country and western economic culture. This paper develops a critical approach to understanding these documents and studying their message. The approach involves the preparation of a critical dictionary which identifies relevant terms within the ICT policy document and reflects on their multiple meanings. The approach was applied …

Usability Investigation Of E-Business Web-Based Forms, Gerald V. Post, Albert Kagan, Betsy Page Sigman

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Usability on Web sites is critical because almost no training is provided for users on commercial sites. Instead, Web design relies on standards and consistency across sites. Traditional usability results indicated that computer forms should follow paper-based forms. Yet, Web paradigms have evolved that are quite different from paper-based forms. Specifically, this study reveals that users commit fewer errors and prefer simple forms limited to a single concept per screen. This conclusion significantly alters the recommendations for designing business forms.

Formal Verification Of Urban Traffic System Using The Concept Of Fuzzy Workflow Simulation, Manuj Darbari, Abhay Kumar Srivastava, Sanjay Medhavi

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Modeling complex urban traffic system requires extensive use of workflow methodologies which can simulate almost real time traffic situations. Number of studies were done in the field of Urban Traffic Simulation like PLOTS, NETSIM and PALAMICS but none of them could provide a real formal solution. Our paper proposes a methodology using Fuzzy Petri nets for modeling real time traffic system. Fuzzy Petrinets are also visualised and tested by using Flow- Charter and HPSIM software packages. These packages help in providing successive iterations of process model for further refinement.

Supporting The Virtual Community: Social Bookmarking As A User- Based Classification Scheme In A Knowledge Library, Nicole Lytle, Tony Coulsom

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

Knowledge libraries hold the promise of widespread access to information available anywhere, anytime, freeing patrons from the geographical and temporal boundaries that currently exist. The classification of materials and subsequent searching of knowledge library content is an overall problem with many complex parts. Relevant classification is important for optimal information retrieval. This is especially important for the virtual communities that exist with extended organizations. Rooted in the virtual community and digital library literature, this paper develops a theory for improving the information classification and retrieval process of knowledge libraries that support virtual communities by applying social bookmarking techniques.

Rapid Development Of Multimedia Instructional Modules For Information Technology Education, Nanda Ganesan

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

A multifaceted learning model was developed for implementing e-learning in a largely commuter campus. The primary objective of the model was to build a flexible learning environment that combined the learning effectiveness of in-class learning with the flexibility and accessibility of online learning. One of the components of the model was the multimedia instructional modules produced to teach various Information Technology courses. Several different types of modules were produced representing chalk-and-talk type of lectures, PowerPoint presentations and software tutorials. The chalk-and-talk type of lecture modules and the software tutorials that emulated the in-class learning experience contributed positively towards enhancing the …