摘要:

AbstractThe texts of OR are littered, explicitly and implicitly, with myths about the‘expert’that are taken for self-evident truths. We would like to challenge these. This paper presents arguments following a postmodern route which views the world as text, where all phenomena and events can be regarded as text and, as such, subject to narrative analysis. Narrative analysis explodes and disperses text to reveal forms and codes according to which meanings are possible. The paper will introduce a case study drawing on our experiences in community OR, which we aim to use to demonstrate this approach.

ISSN:0160-5682    

DOI:10.1057/jors.1994.118

出版商:Taylor&Francis    

年代:1994

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

AbstractThis paper describes an approach to project risk analysis based on the assessment of risk associated with a prototype activity, which may typify a set of actual project activities in a variety of ways. Risk associated with the actual activities is assessed by treating these activities as variations on the prototype activity. In appropriate circumstances, this approach offers savings in the time and effort spent on risk analysis, possibly at the expense of some detail. The approach was conceived to deal with a commercially sensitive industrial project; in this paper it is illustrated by means of three hypothetical examples, which demonstrate a wide range of potential applications.

ISSN:0160-5682    

DOI:10.1057/jors.1994.119

出版商:Taylor&Francis    

年代:1994

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

AbstractThis paper concerns a computer system which has been devised to timetable the county cricket matches in England. The context of the work is discussed and the many constraints and objectives described. Details of the solution method are given; it involves tabu search with a form of diversification dependent on the solution subcosts as well as the overall cost. Experiments are described which suggest that this type of diversification may have wide applicability to large, complex, multi-objective combinatorial problems.

ISSN:0160-5682    

DOI:10.1057/jors.1994.120

出版商:Taylor&Francis    

年代:1994

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

AbstractThis paper demonstrates how the use of the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) can be useful in finding a way to reduce the traffic problem on both sides of Istanbul. The factors which affect both the benefits and costs of crossing the Bosphorus are analysed in two separate hierarchies and the decision is made in terms of benefit-to-cost ratios.

ISSN:0160-5682    

DOI:10.1057/jors.1994.121

出版商:Taylor&Francis    

年代:1994

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

AbstractDynamic load balancing in multicomputers can improve the utilization of processors and the efficiency of parallel computations through migrating the workload across processors at runtime. We present a survey and critique of dynamic load balancing strategies that are iterative: that is, workload migration is carried out through transferring processes across nearest neighbour processors. Iterative strategies have become prominent in recent years because of the increaasing popularity of point-to-point interconnection networks for multicomputers.

ISSN:0160-5682    

DOI:10.1057/jors.1994.122

出版商:Taylor&Francis    

年代:1994

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

AbstractThis paper provides a complete framework to consider manufacturing, inspection and rework activities in two-stage transfer-line production systems. The purpose of this paper is to analyse some of the transient state characteristics of a two-stage production system subject to an initial buffer of infinite capacity, inspection at both the inter- and end-stages and rework. The first stage of the system is never starved and the second stage is never blocked. A stochastic model is developed to analyse the system and explicit analytical expressions for some of the system characteristics have been obtained using the state-space method and regeneration point technique. All the random variables involved in the analysis are assumed to be arbitrary (general). Numerical illustrations have also been presented for some particular cases.

ISSN:0160-5682    

DOI:10.1057/jors.1994.123

出版商:Taylor&Francis    

年代:1994

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

AbstractThe paper addresses the problem of assessing the accuracy and utility of automatic quality tests used in high-speed production. A method is proposed for estimating the probabilities that the production process produces a product which is defective, that non-defective product will pass the test, and that a defective product fails the test. Data for printed circuit manufacture are used to demonstrate the method. Models of the effectiveness of various product testing procedures are investigated, the expected net profit is calculated and the probability of dispatching a defective product to a customer assessed.

ISSN:0160-5682    

DOI:10.1057/jors.1994.124

出版商:Taylor&Francis    

年代:1994

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

AbstractThe use of a bi-directional, as opposed to a one-way, transportation system, can increase the operational efficiency of automated guided vehicles in both manufacturing and warehousing environments. However, the full potential will only be realized if the routeing algorithms pay particular attention to the problem of collision avoidance. This paper is concerned with the development of such an algorithm. The method is based on the use of delays and deviations to avoid collisions that could arise when using the shortest routes for each vehicle, and is applicable to any transportation system which can be represented as a network with known travel times.

ISSN:0160-5682    

DOI:10.1057/jors.1994.125

出版商:Taylor&Francis    

年代:1994

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

AbstractIn this study, we develop and analyse an optimal solution procedure for the inventory lot-sizing problem with a general class of time-varying demand functions. The objective of the procedure is to determine the optimal replenishment schedule over a finite planning horizon during which shortages are allowed and are completely backordered. We show that the procedure yields a unique optimal replenishment schedule for both increasing and decreasing demand patterns. We also discuss two particular cases of linear and non-linear demand trend models, and we illustrate the optimal solution procedure with four numerical examples.

ISSN:0160-5682    

DOI:10.1057/jors.1994.126

出版商:Taylor&Francis    

年代:1994

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

AbstractThe service level provided by an inventory system can be measured in various ways. If different measures are used at a number of stock-holding depots, difficulties may arise in comparing performance or assessing the impact of depot centralization or decentralization. If the same measures are used at all depots but the inventory system changes from being based on one measure to another, similar problems arise. In this paper, relationships between six of the most frequently used service measures are presented, enabling each to be converted to a common measure. Data requirements for using the relationships are considered and, where appropriate, alternative relationships are presented which depend on data which may be more readily available in practice.

ISSN:0160-5682    

DOI:10.1057/jors.1994.127

出版商:Taylor&Francis    

年代:1994

数据来源: Taylor