Space station advanced automation

In the development of a safe, productive and maintainable space station, Automation and Robotics (A and R) has been identified as an enabling technology which will allow efficient operation at a reasonable cost. The Space Station Freedom's (SSF) systems are very complex, and interdependent. The usage of Advanced Automation (AA) will help restructure, and integrate system status so that station and ground personnel can operate more efficiently. To use AA technology for the augmentation of system management functions requires a development model which consists of well defined phases of: evaluation, development, integration, and maintenance. The evaluation phase will consider system management functions against traditional solutions, implementation techniques and requirements; the end result of this phase should be a well developed concept along with a feasibility analysis. In the development phase the AA system will be developed in accordance with a traditional Life Cycle Model (LCM) modified for Knowledge Based System (KBS) applications. A way by which both knowledge bases and reasoning techniques can be reused to control costs is explained. During the integration phase the KBS software must be integrated with conventional software, and verified and validated. The Verification and Validation (V and V) techniques applicable to these KBS are based on the ideas of consistency, minimal competency, and graph theory. The maintenance phase will be aided by having well designed and documented KBS software

Fairness aspects in personnel scheduling

In industries like health care, public transport or call centers a shift-based system ensures permanent availability of employees for covering needed services. The resource allocation problem – assigning employees to shifts – is known as personnel scheduling in literature and often aims at minimizing staffing costs. Working in shifts, though, impacts employees’ private lives which adds to the problem of increasing staff shortage in recent years. Therefore, more and more effort is spent on incorporating fairness into scheduling approaches in order to increase employees’ satisfaction. This paper presents a literature review of approaches for personnel scheduling considering fairness aspects. Since fairness is not a quantitative objective, but can be evaluated from different point of views, a large number of fairness measurements exists in the literature. Furthermore, perspective (group vs individual fairness) or time horizon (short-term vs long-term fairness) are often considered very differently. To conclude, we show that a uniform definition and approach for considering fairness in personnel scheduling is challenging and point out gaps for future research

DOC 2020-07 Master of Construction Engineering and Management

Legislative AuthorityREFERENCE: DOC 2019-03 Actions Pertaining to Degree Programs and Academic Departments (Revised

Balancement de ligne et assignation de tâches aux employés : modèle mathématique et application au domaine aéronautique

Depuis de nombreuses années, le balancement des lignes d’assemblage et la gestion des ressources humaines sont étudiés par la communauté scientifique. Les chercheurs développent de plus en plus de modèles mathématiques permettant de résoudre des problèmes de plus en plus complexes dans des domaines très variés. Cependant, le projet qui suit porte sur un domaine peu étudié du fait de ses particularités industrielles. Il est vrai que les lignes d’assemblage comme celle de finition intérieure dans l’aéronautique ne se comportent pas comme les lignes d’assemblage traditionnelles. Le faible volume de production est, entre autres, un critère démarquant ce type de ligne. Ce mémoire va présenter un algorithme permettant d’assigner des tâches à des postes, mais également, un modèle mathématique assignant ces tâches à des employés spécifiques. Ces deux assignations se font sous les contraintes principales de précédence et de compétence de la main-d'oeuvre. En effet, l’industrie aéronautique a besoin de main-d'oeuvre très qualifiée dans des spécialités précises, n’importe quel employé ne peut exécuter toutes les tâches qui permettront de mener à bien le projet. Lors de l’élaboration du modèle, un plan d’expérience a été développé afin de voir s’il était robuste et permettait de résoudre des problèmes de taille industrielle. Des facteurs variables ont donc été utilisés afin de couvrir au maximum la réalité industrielle, parmi eux se retrouve le nombre de spécialités sur un même poste de travail, les types d’antécédence et la durée élémentaire des tâches. L’exemple proposé par la suite a été élaboré grâce aux données industrielles fournies par une entreprise de la région. L’objectif à atteindre a été d’organiser au mieux les postes de travail en minimisant le nombre d’employés total du fait des coûts importants que cette main-d'oeuvre très qualifiée engendre. La résolution du modèle mathématique s’est faite de façon exacte ce qui a engendré des limitations sur la taille des problèmes pouvant être résolus dans un temps raisonnable.---------- ABSTRACT Since many years, assembly line balancing and human resources management are studied by scientists. Researchers develop, in various contexts, more and more mathematics models to solve more and more complex problems. However, the following project deals with a part less studied due to its industrial constraints. Assembly lines like interior fittings in aerospace industry are admittedly quite different than traditional ones. The low volume of production is, as example, a criterion which makes them different. This memoir will present an algorithm that assigns tasks to stations and a mathematic model that assigns tasks to a specific employee. Both assignments are under two major constraints: precedence and competency. Indeed, the aerospace industry needs to have really qualified employees in specific specialities. All the employees do not have the skills to complete all tasks that are necessary to succeed in fulfilling the project. When the model was developed, an experiment plan has been drawn up to test it and see if it can solve industrial problems. Some variables were used to cover as well as possible the industrial reality. Among them, we can find the number of competencies on a station, the kind of precedence and the task time. The proposed example has been developed thanks to industrial data given by a regional company. The objective was to organize stations in minimizing as well as possible the total number of employees. Indeed, they are very expensive because of their competencies. The mathematic model was solved in an exact method, which generated some limitations on the size of the problems that have to be solved in a moderate time

Une approche à base d'agents pour la planification et l'ordonnancement en temps réel de personnel dans un contexte de chaîne d'assemblage flexible

La recherche abordée dans le cadre de cette thèse s'intéresse à la gestion des ressources humaines opérationnelles, et plus spécifiquement aux problèmes de planification de ces ressources dans un contexte dynamique. Un intérêt particulier est porté au problème d'ordonnancement en temps réel du personnel travaillant sur une chaîne d'assemblage. Nous abordons cette problématique dans une perspective de gestion par compétences et ce, en nous basant sur le profil de compétences dans la modélisation de l'offre et de la demande en main-d'oeuvre. Quatre principaux axes de recherche sont exploités. Le premier axe vise l'aspect théorique de la modélisation du problème d'ordonnancement du personnel. A cet effet, nous proposons un modèle mathématique du problème d'affectation dynamique des employés sur une chaîne d'assemblage avec la prise en considération des préférences, des compétences et des déplacements inter-postes des employés. En nous basant sur ce modèle, et grâce à l'utilisation du solveur commercial de type Cplex, nous avons pu résoudre des instances de problèmes de petite taille. Les résultats obtenus démontrent que la production d'une solution optimale requiert un temps de calcul important, ce qui risque de générer une rigidité et une moindre réactivité de la fonction d'ordonnancement face à des perturbations d'un environnement dynamique. Le deuxième axe de recherche porte sur l'élaboration d'une approche distribuée à base d'agents pour la résolution du problème d'ordonnancement du personnel. L'approche proposée se base sur l'utilisation de plusieurs catégories d'agents intelligents qui coopèrent entre eux à travers la formation de coalitions. Chaque coalition est formée de deux agents-employés qui auront décidé de coopérer entre eux en s'échangeant une partie de leurs activités d'assemblage afin d'améliorer leur profit et en conséquence, la qualité de la solution globale d'ordonnancement. Les résultats d'ordonnancement du personnel obtenus à partir des premiers tests sont encourageants. Ils démontrent que notre approche à base d'agents permet d'obtenir des solutions de bonne qualité en des temps raisonnables. Le troisième axe de recherche porte sur le réordonnancent du personnel en temps réel face aux aléas liés à l'absence d'employés. À cet effet, nous proposons une extension de l'approche à base d'agents ainsi que deux variantes de l'approche de recuit simulé, qui permettent de résoudre le problème de réordonnancement. Nous avons pu tester les performances de ces deux approches sur plusieurs cas du problème d'ordonnancement et de réordonnancement du personnel. L'ensemble des résultats démontre que l'algorithme à base d'agents conduit à de très bonnes solutions en comparaison avec le recuit simulé. Enfin, nous avons exploité les algorithmes à base d'agents et de recuit simulé, qui sont développés dans cette recherche, pour étudier deux aspects de la gestion stratégique des ressources humaines : la flexibilité dans l'élaboration des horaires de travail et l'impact de la prise en considération des préférences dans le processus d'ordonnancement du personnel. Dans les deux cas, les résultats de simulation obtenus corroborent les hypothèses initiales de recherche, à savoir la pertinence et l'intérêt de la notion de flexibilité et de la prise en compte des préférences dans le processus d'ordonnancement du personnel

A High School Guide for Teaching Automotive Technology

The field of automotive training was studied. A program was developed to be used with junior and senior students in automotive technology. Instructional units of study covering automotive technology for an academic year were developed. The program was fully developed and covers most phases of automotive repairs and maintenance known in the field

Decent working time: New trends, new issues.

Includes selected papers from the 9th International Symposium on Working Time, Paris (2004), looking at the increasing use of results-based employment relationships for managers and professionals, and the increasing fragmentation of time to more closely tailor staffing needs to customer requirements (e.g., short-hours, part-time work). Moreover, as operating/opening hours rapidly expand toward a 24-hour and 7-day economy, the book considers how this has resulted in a growing diversification, decentralization, and individualization of working hours, as well as an increasing tension between enterprises' business requirements and workers' needs and preferences regarding their hours. It addresses issues such as increasing employment insecurity and instability, time-related social inequalities, particularly in relation to gender, workers' ability to balance their paid work with their personal lives, and the synchronization of working hours with social times, such as community activities. In addition, the book offers suggestions on how policy-makers, academics, and the social partners can together help further develop effective policies for advancing "decent working timeRéduction du temps de travail; Aménagement du temps de travail; Horaires de travail; Labor laws and legislation; Developed countries; Trend; Arrangement of working time; Flexible hours of work; Hours of work;

Дослідження системи операційного менеджменту організації, на прикладі Apple Computer, Inc

The object of investigation is the process of managing of operating activities of Apple, Inc. The aim of the work is to formulate theoretical approaches and to develop practical recommendations on directions of improvement of operating management at the organization. Research methods cover methods of analysis, synthesis, comparison, detailing, system approach. This master’s research paper analyzes the operational management of Apple, Inc. and provides recommendations for it’s improvement. In particular, the main directions of solving the problems of operational management of the company have been outlined, the proposals on improvement of expansion distribution network and organization of innovative activity of the Apple Inc. have been made.Об'єкт дослідження ‒ процес управління операційною діяльністю компанії Apple, Inc. Мета дослідження - формування теоретичних підходів та розробка практичних рекомендацій щодо напрямів вдосконалення системи операційного менеджменту компанії Apple, Inc. Методи дослідження: методи аналізу, синтезу, порівняння, деталізації, системний підхід. У роботі проведено аналіз операційного менеджменту Apple, Inc., а також викладені рекомендації щодо його вдосконалення. Зокрема, окреслено основні напрями вирішення проблем операційного менеджменту компанії, внесено пропозиції щодо розширення дистриб’юторської мережі, а також вдосконалення організації інноваційної діяльності Apple Inc.Introduction 6 CHAPTER 1 THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT 8 1.1 Meanings and definition of operational management 8 1.2 Principles and methods of operations management 12 1.3 Factors affecting the Operations activity of Apple Inc. company 21 CHAPTER 2 RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS 31 2.1 Сompany introduction 31 2.2 SWOT - analysis of Apple Inc. Company 46 2.3 Analysis of operation management at Apple Inc 50 CHAPTER 3 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVING OF OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT AT THE APPLE INC 63 3.1 The main directions of solving operational management problems of the company 63 3.2 Recommendations concerning improvements of Distribution in the organization 65 3.3 Recommendations concerning improvements of innovative activity at the organization 67 CHAPTER 4 SPECIAL PART 73 4.1 Current trends in the field 73 4.2 Company policy in the market 75 CHAPTER 5 RATIONALE FOR RECOMMENDATIONS 77 5.1 Statement for recommendations at Company 77 CHAPTER 6 OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY AT THE ENTERPRISE 79 6.1 The aim of occupational health 79 6.2 Organization of occupational health and safety at the enterprise 86 CHAPTER 7 ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES 92 7.1 Environmental issues in the field 92 7.2 Еnvironmental factors 94 Conclusions 96 References 98 Appendices 10

Human Aspect on Chain of Custody (CoC) System Performance

The tropical forests cover 24% of tropical land area. They are the most productive terrestrial ecosystems on earth with high priorities for biodiversity conservation. These forests store a substantial amount of carbon in biomass and soil, and they also regulate the transfer of carbon into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide (CO2). Indonesia is having the third tropical forest area in the world after Brazil and Congo. Over 50 years forest has been felled both legally as well as illegally. High rate of forest degradation resulted from unsustainable forest management, rampant illegal logging, forest area encroachment, conversion and natural disaster. All urges rapid improvement of management system of Indonesia’s forest resources (Holmes, 2002). Forest certification is one tool that can support the achievement of sustainable forest management goal. Under current operation of join certification protocol between the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Indonesian Ecolabelling Institute (LEI) in Indonesia, forest management units must be able to show the required performance indicated in LEI criteria and indicator as well as FSC principles and criteria to attain certification of their products. The gap between current practices and performance required by forest certifications schemes is still enormous. The performance of forest certification system from LEI is determined very much by the human that is involved in the process of planning and operation. The name of certification system is chain of custody (CoC) certification. CoC operation involves activities such as tracing raw material from the forest to the factory, through shipping and manufacturing, to the final end product. In all of the above processes, the roles of human are critical, although the specific roles played from one process to another are different. In this paper we present an identification of human aspect and other factors that predominantly affect CoC system performance

The Outsourcing of Apparel and Textiles: Manufacturing Site Selection

The outsourcing of American manufacturing to the international sector historically utilizes supply chain/logistics analysis (lowest-cost supplier and transportation networks) as the primary method in site selection. This approach stems from Alfred Weber's (1929) location theory, compared to the neoclassical Heckscher-Ohlin theory that focuses on the exploitation of location endowments such as natural resources, capital and labor (Harrington and Warf, 1995). Since established transportation networks are more efficient than in times past, site selection may rely more on the cultural characteristics of the outsourced labor market than on transportation costs. The objective of this research is to determine whether the Weberian or the Heckscher-Ohlin factor model is relevant in today's outsourcing practices. An empirical case study evaluates why some outsourced production initially placed with contractors proximal to the United States was later transferred to contractor locations a greater distance away - arguably, costing more to the producer and consumer. Data collection takes place through quantitative and qualitative surveys of twenty-five outsourcing professionals. Three cultural characteristics are considered: 1) time sensitivity, 2) on-time delivery, and 3) the establishment of long-term relationships between the foreign contractor and the U.S. manufacturer. The research will demonstrate that apparel outsourcing site selection is broader than supply chain/logistics/cost analysis and contributes a qualitative perspective to business practices. It responds to previous research that apparel manufacturers have a preference for contractors at close distance. If cultural considerations influence site selection, then some locations are preferred over others that do not possess similar traits, regardless of distance