Application Of Operations Research Methods Research Articles

DIVERSIFICATION STRATEGY AS A WAY TO INCREASE THE COMPETITIVENESS OF A FREIGHT FORWARDING COMPANY

Topicality. The need of introducing new strategies and services to the activities of freight forwarding companies in order to increase their own competitiveness and maintain their positions in the market in due to the growing number of logistics service providers such as NVOCC (Non-Vessel Operating Common Carrier) the services of traditional freight forwarders and their functional differences become unclear.Aim and tasks. The systematization of diversification`s types of the activities made by freight forwarding companies as a strategic direction of increasing competitiveness in the market of relevant services, determination of diversification strategy`s types and relevant areas of activity made by freight forwarding companies, development of an algorithm for implementing the diversification`s strategy of freight forwarding companies, formation of a management decisions’ list that should accompany the process of diversification freight forwarding companies.Materials and Methods. This scientific research was conducted in accordance with the logic and methodology of system analysis, the theory of transport processes and systems, as well as with the application of operations research methods. The theoretical basis of the study was the works of leading experts in strategic management, diversification of the activities of enterprises and the work of freight forwarding companies. The morphological method was used to substantiate the development directions of transport and forwarding services. Methods of analysis and synthesis were used to structure the process of development of freight forwarding services and to structure the process of development of a transport and forwarding company.Research results. Today freight forwarding companies are the first among all integrators of various transport services, which form certain delivery systems both for single shipments and for long-term transport services of regular deliveries, therefore the need of implementing a diversification strategy in the activities of enterprises is increasing so that the integration processes pass in a fully satisfactory manner. Since freight forwarding companies simply do not provide additional services to the transportation process, but are organizers and coordinators of cargo delivery, the main task of the freight forwarder is to free the cargo owner from solving issues related to cargo transportation. That is why there is a dependency between the range of services that freight forwarding companies can offer and the client's problems that these services can cause. Of course, it is more convenient and profitable for the client to transfer all types of cargo-related work to one company, which will completely take over the organization and implementation of the process without the involvement of third companies. In order for the implemented diversification strategy to bring only competitive advantages and positive consequences to the freight forwarding company, it is necessary to study and analyze the market, the behaviour of competitors, consumers and suppliers when developing a strategy and planning new areas of activity. It is no less important to distinguish the directions the diversification strategy in order for better understanding what goals should be aimed. Only with proper analysis, development of the goals and plans, understanding trends and taking into account possible risks, it is possible to accept the proper and desired results of the implementation of the diversification strategy of freight forwarding companies.Conclusion. Due to the fact that freight forwarding companies today are organizers and coordinators of freight transportation, they need to diversify their activities and range of services to fully satisfy the needs of consumers, which consist in acquiring a complete package of services that could free the cargo owner from solving any kind of issues, related to the transportation of goods. In order for the implemented diversification strategy to bring only competitive advantages and positive consequences to the freight forwarding company, it is necessary to study and analyze the market, the behaviour of competitors, consumers and suppliers when developing a strategy and planning new areas of activity.

Special Issue “Mathematical Methods for Operations Research Problems”

This Special Issue of Mathematics is dedicated to the application of Operations Research methods to a wide range of problems [...]

A MODEL OF CLOSED CIRCUITS FORMING IN A LOGISTICS SYSTEM WITH FEEDBACK

The subject of the research in the article is the reverse flows of material resources within the circular processes of closed supply chains of the logistics system with feedback. The aim of this article is to develop a model of the formation of reverse material flows using the processes of circular economy, which will achieve maximum efficiency of the logistics system. To achieve this aim it is necessary to solve the following tasks: to determine the essence and study the evolution of the circular economy through changes in the frameworks that form it; develop a graphical model of a logistics system with feedback, which is based on the implementation of circular processes; develop a mathematical model of the logistics system with feedback and conduct experimental calculations confirming its adequacy. Methods of systems analysis, operations research, namely linear programming (distribution problem is solved by the simplex method) are used to solve the tasks set in the study. The following results were obtained: the essence of the circular model of the economy, the evolution of its economic frameworks and the processes that are part of them were studied; the graphical model of the logistics system with feedback was presented by means of circular processes; a mathematical model of the logistics system with feedback was created. Conclusions. The concept of a circular economy is based on the principles and objectives of the concept of sustainable development and emphasizes the need to close logistics systems, i.e. to create logistics systems with feedback. The tools for the implementation of its concept are closed supply chains, which include direct and reverse material flows. Closed circuits are created through the use of circular processes, which create logistics loops that provide feedback between the participants in the chain and allow you to organize the reverse flow of products, their components, raw materials and materials. The application of operations research methods allows to create a mathematical model of the task of optimizing return material flows and to distribute material resources by loops, so that the total cash flows of the logistics system reach the maximum value and ecodestructive impact on the environment by creating return flows of secondary material resources was minimal.

Operations research for resource planning and -use in radiotherapy: a literature review.

BackgroundThe delivery of radiotherapy (RT) involves the use of rather expensive resources and multi-disciplinary staff. As the number of cancer patients receiving RT increases, timely delivery becomes increasingly difficult due to the complexities related to, among others, variable patient inflow, complex patient routing, and the joint planning of multiple resources. Operations research (OR) methods have been successfully applied to solve many logistics problems through the development of advanced analytical models for improved decision making. This paper presents the state of the art in the application of OR methods for logistics optimization in RT, at various managerial levels.MethodsA literature search was performed in six databases covering several disciplines, from the medical to the technical field. Papers included in the review were published in peer-reviewed journals from 2000 to 2015. Data extraction includes the subject of research, the OR methods used in the study, the extent of implementation according to a six-stage model and the (potential) impact of the results in practice.ResultsFrom the 33 papers included in the review, 18 addressed problems related to patient scheduling (of which 12 focus on scheduling patients on linear accelerators), 8 focus on strategic decision making, 5 on resource capacity planning, and 2 on patient prioritization. Although calculating promising results, none of the papers reported a full implementation of the model with at least a thorough pre-post performance evaluation, indicating that, apart from possible reporting bias, implementation rates of OR models in RT are probably low.ConclusionsThe literature on OR applications in RT covers a wide range of approaches from strategic capacity management to operational scheduling levels, and shows that considerable benefits in terms of both waiting times and resource utilization are likely to be achieved. Various fields can be further developed, for instance optimizing the coordination between the available capacity of different imaging devices or developing scheduling models that consider the RT chain of operations as a whole rather than the treatment machines alone.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12911-016-0390-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Operations Research challenges in forestry: 33 open problems

Forestry has contributed many problems to the Operations Research (OR) community. At the same time, OR has developed many models and solution methods for use in forestry. In this article, we describe the current status of research on the application of OR methods to forestry and a number of research challenges or open questions that we believe will be of interest to both researchers and practitioners. The areas covered include strategic, tactical and operational planning, fire management, conservation and the use of OR to address environmental concerns. The paper also considers more general methodological areas that are important to forestry including uncertainty, multiple objectives and hierarchical planning.

Quantitative models for sustainable supply chain management: Developments and directions

Sustainability, the consideration of environmental factors and social aspects, in supply chain management (SCM) has become a highly relevant topic for researchers and practitioners. The application of operations research methods and related models, i.e. formal modeling, for closed-loop SCM and reverse logistics has been effectively reviewed in previously published research. This situation is in contrast to the understanding and review of mathematical models that focus on environmental or social factors in forward supply chains (SC), which has seen less investigation. To evaluate developments and directions of this research area, this paper provides a content analysis of 134 carefully identified papers on quantitative, formal models that address sustainability aspects in the forward SC. It was found that a preponderance of the publications and models appeared in a limited set of six journals, and most were analytically based with a focus on multiple criteria decision making. The tools most often used comprise the analytical hierarchy process or its close relative, the analytical network process, as well as life cycle analysis. Conclusions are drawn showing that numerous possibilities and insights can be gained from expanding the types of tools and factors considered in formal modeling efforts.

OR Forum—Intelligence Operations Research: The 2010 Philip McCord Morse Lecture

This paper is the archival record of the INFORMS Philip McCord Morse Lecture delivered in 2010. It considers applications of operations research to intelligence problems in national security and counterterrorism. The phrase “intelligence operations research” can be interpreted in two different ways: as intelligence operations} research, meaning studies to characterize and improve the operations of intelligence agencies themselves, and as intelligence operations research, meaning the application of operations research methods to specific substantive intelligence problems. After defining intelligence, I review the intelligence production process (or the intelligence cycle) with reference to the intelligence community of the United States. I then consider the extent to which operations research has been deployed inside this intelligence community and summarize previous attempts to apply operations research methods to intelligence problems. I close with some suggestions for future intelligence operations research studies.

On the future of library operations research

PurposeThis paper sets out to describe the development of problem‐structuring methods within operations research (OR) and to suggest that these might define new areas of collaborative activity between library management and OR modellers.Design/methodology/approachThe paper identifies a requirement for the twenty‐first century academic library to be flexible, inclusive and responsive to rapidly changing environments. The use of problem‐structuring methods provides OR modellers with a methodological approach that can assist decision making under just these conditions, and so a management approach that places problem‐structuring methods firmly within library planning processes is suggested.FindingsSince the rapid growth of library OR in the 1960s and 1970s (using primarily statistical and quantitative techniques) there has been a significant downturn in new applications and model developments within the last 20 years. This has coincided with a debate on the future of OR that has moved it away from the application of quantitative techniques, and the new paradigms evolving from that debate could stimulate a regeneration of interest in library OR.Originality/valueThe paper explores a possible future for library OR. The application of OR methods within libraries has undoubtedly had its successes and a wider appreciation of the potential use of problem‐structuring methods within library management could resolve many of the issues associated with planning library operations on the brink of the second decade of the twenty‐first century.

Supply chain planning in the German automotive industry

Following the evolution in the computer industry, quite a lot of car manufacturers currently intend to move from a built-to-stock oriented production of standardized cars towards a customized built-to-order (BTO) production. In the premium segment of Germany’s automotive industry, the share of customized BTO cars traditionally is comparatively high. Nevertheless, German car manufacturers have spent a lot of efforts in recent years to further increase this share in order to realize short delivery times, high delivery reliability and a fast responsiveness. Surprisingly, comprehensive overviews of the short- and mid-term planning landscape of car manufacturers cannot be found in the scientific literature. Thus, the first part of the paper discusses supply chain planning, as traditionally established in the premium segment of the German automotive industry, and reviews methods of Operations Research (OR) that are able to support the various planning tasks involved. In the second part, the major change in strategy, currently to be observed in the German automotive industry, is briefly summarized in order to derive its impacts for the planning system and for the respective planning methods. In this way, challenges for a future application of OR methods in the automotive industry can be identified.

Modelling and analysis of supply chain management systems: an editorial overview

Background to the special issue Manufacturing/service companies have undergone many evolutionary stages and paradigm shifts: from craft production to mass production, from mass to lean and now to agile manufacturing. These developments rely on market requirements and dynamism of the market. In a global market environment, companies have to compete based on flexibility and responsiveness. A number of companies attempt to improve the agility level by distributed enterprises. The concept of supply chain management (SCM) helps the companies in this environment to achieve effective enterprise integration. In the literature, there are numerous papers dealing with the concepts and strategies of SCM. However, there is a need for modelling of supply chain environments with the objective of measuring the performance of various strategies, methods and techno-logies. For this, the application of operational research methods can be used. The supply chain is a worldwide network of suppliers, factories, warehouses, distribution centers, and retailers through which raw materials are acquired, transformed, and delivered to customers. 1 Application of operational research models/techniques has been extensively used in solving the problems of operations management. The essential motivation behind the modelling and analysis is to effectively design and control operations systems for improving competitiveness by producing quality goods and services. These operational research models/techniques can also be applied to solve the problems of supply chain management that include the design of value-added activities, throughput time evaluation, order management, and supplier selection and development. This editorial first presents a brief review of some of the existing literature on the modelling and analysis of SCM and then introduces the papers in this special issue. In conclusion some future research directions are indicated.

Analysis of mine ventilation systems using operations research methods

A mine ventilation system consists of interconnected airways, work places and ventilation control devices. It can be represented as a network, in which the airways and work places are depicted as lines and the connection points of these lines as nodes. This representation permits application of Operations Research methods in analysis and design of mine ventilation systems. This paper presents two Operations Research models for optimization of ventilation control device locations and sizes in two different mine ventilation systems: a controlled flow ventilation system, for which a mixed integer programming model is introduced, and a semi-controlled flow ventilation system, which is formulated as a nonlinear, nonconvex model. Two hypothetical examples are used to demonstrate the applicability of these models.

Neke mogućnosti optimizacije u sistemu elektroenergetskog obezbeđenja

Tools for providing electric power to all consumers and all electric equipment as well as maintenance of those tools give rise to specific problems in processes of the electric power supply to all military units both in peace and war time. A set has been obtained during the system analysis of parameters necessary for a design at highest level, for providing a needed conditions for successful electric power supply in training, living and working in peace as well as for performing all tasks in combat circumstances. The application of operational research methods is an essential and a necessary part of any analysis, design and planning of electric power supply.

Short-term Operation Planning in Electric Power Systems

A practical application of operational research methods is shown here for the short-term operation planning in an electric power system. Two interactive application programs are presented: a short-term load forecasting program and a unit commitment optimisation program. For the load prediction within the load forecasting program a four-component weather dependent load model is used, whereby for the weather-dependent load component an econometric model, and for the time-dependent load component a seasonal multiplicative ARIMA-model is applied. The unit commitment is optimized using dynamic programming. With this method the start-up and shut-down costs can easily be taken into consideration. Special features are necessary to allow the optimal scheduling of a large number of generators to minimize storage requirements and execution time of the program. For every cost-optimal unit commitment determined the reliability of the energy supply is then calculated.The success of the application software depends to a large extent on the man-machine interface. Special attention has to be paid to the man-machine dialogue. The dialogue has to be structured in such a way that the user has the facility to control the programs as easily as possible.All input data has to be checked and in case of a false input an error message has to be displayed and a new input requested. The data-base has to be protected against wrong actions.

The Practice of Operations Research in Libraries

The application of operations research methods to library-type problems has a long history which predates the formation of the Operations Research Society. Its practice continues today but much of its emphasis has shifted from concern with the specific problems of a librarian or a library manager to the more general problems of designing large information networks and satisfying the information needs of large classes of users through a variety of services. By moving in these directions, the operations researcher is largely following the course of the application of computers to library-type problems, since much of the motivation on the part of the librarians for the practice of operations research is in preparation for or defense against the relentless onslaught of computer-based automation of information activities. In many respects, it seems that these developments have resulted more in a change of the scale of the problems encountered rather than a change in the substance of the problems, since all of the old concerns and admonitions seem to carry just as much weight now as before. In some respects, they are even more pertinent since the potential rewards and potential risks are much greater in today's large scale applications.

Application of Operations Research Methods To Correctional Problems

The paper discusses basic operations research techniques to build models for optimization problems and some of the difficulties encountered in applying these techniques to address correctional problems, and indicates some possible areas in the criminal justice system that can be explored using these methods. It briefly reviews four different correctional projects that are currently being undertaken by the Pennsylvania Bureau of Correction. Most of these projects use linear programming and integer linear programming methods.

Improved Delivery of Library Materials: The Cleveland Experience

This paper describes a project designed to improve services to library users by solving, through the application of operations research methods, a complex problem of delivery of library materials in an urban, multisystem library service region. Unique features, methodology, results, and limitations are discussed.

Models for planning of the food supply in Sweden under emergency conditions

This study deals with the application of operational research methods to a specific planning problem connected with current Swedish agricultural policy. It is therefore of particular interest to countries where - as in Sweden - an important policy goal is to assure self-sufficiency in the matter of food products in case of a national emergency such as a trade blockade or military aggression. The application of operational research methods to the above-mentioned problem, however, raises some problems of a more theoretical character. A procedure for the analysis of the consequences of certain random variables by a combination of programming and simulation models is thus developed. The study may therefore as well have a certain interest within a wider context.