A model towards global demographics: an application—a universal bank branch geolocator based on branch size

Financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation “Regulación Financiera y Sector Bancario en Tiempos de Inestabilidad: Mecanismos de Prevención y Resolución de la Crisis” (ECO2014-59584-P), Junta de Andalucía “Excellence Groups” (P12.SEJ.2463) and Junta de Andalucía (SEJ340) is gratefully acknowledged.Branch size strongly depends on branch cash holdings. However, while any exhaustive study into branch cash holdings1 must include demographics around branches, there are major variations when defining demographics according to “local” parameters, as opposed to “internationally accepted” ones. This wide fluctuation in definitions makes cross-border comparisons very difficult. The present paper intends to overcome these difficulties by developing a global spatial model that uses cash holdings as a major determinant of branch size and where geographical concepts are replaced by “internationally accepted” notions. Specifically, the contributions of this paper are twofold: firstly, it presents a theoretical model (based on Markov and Gibbs random fields) to analyse the branch cash holdings from a global spatial standpoint. Secondly, it introduces a universal branch geolocator based around a decision model that redesigns the bank branch network according to branch size. Importantly, the model variables (including branch size as the main criterion) can be replaced/expanded as needed through the use of a highly versatile decision-making tool that can be applied to a wide range of contexts, even non-banking ones as long as they are influenced by demographics.Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (ECO2014-59584-P)Junta de Andalucía (P12.SEJ.2463), (SEJ340

Reliability assessment of manufacturing systems: A comprehensive overview, challenges and opportunities

Reliability assessment refers to the process of evaluating reliability of components or systems during their lifespan or prior to their implementation. In the manufacturing industry, the reliability of systems is directly linked to production efficiency, product quality, energy consumption, and other crucial performance indicators. Therefore, reliability plays a critical role in every aspect of manufacturing. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of the most significant advancements and trends in the assessment of manufacturing system reliability. For this, we also consider the three main facets of reliability analysis of cyber–physical systems, i.e., hardware, software, and human-related reliability. Beyond the overview of literature, we derive challenges and opportunities for reliability assessment of manufacturing systems based on the reviewed literature. Identified challenges encompass aspects like failure data availability and quality, fast-paced technological advancements, and the increasing complexity of manufacturing systems. In turn, the opportunities include the potential for integrating various assessment methods, and leveraging data to automate the assessment process and to increase accuracy of derived reliability models

Analytical customer relationship management in retailing supported by data mining techniques

Tese de doutoramento. Engenharia Industrial e Gestão. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 201