A novel approach for planning of shipbuilding processes

Shipbuilding is acknowledged as an uncertain, complex, and unique industrial effort that yields massive products consisting of numerous parts and is vulnerable to unexpected events. The industry is also dominated by customer requirements through designs tailor-made for a specific ship. Planning in shipbuilding is therefore considered a formidable process. Consequently, many studies have been conducted to develop a planning framework for the industry to efficiently handle planning process. Yet none of these studies are deemed substantial enough to be regarded as holistic, straightforward, well-accepted, and compatible with the nature of shipbuilding. This study is therefore an important contribution by presenting a novel, hybrid, and integrated general-purpose planning framework applicable to all shipbuilding processes. The novel method exploits historical ship construction scheduling data, synthesizing hierarchical planning, dynamic scheduling, and discrete-event simulation, which is validated through an empirical study in this paper

The development of a methodology for the evaluation of installed CAPM system’s effectiveness and efficiency

The objective of this work was to design, develop and evaluate an audit for a Computer Aided Production Management (CAPM) system. Such systems, despite their costs of purchase and implementation, find wide application in industry but there is still considerable debate as to their contribution to the overall performance of a company. A variety of possible methodologies were explored. However, it was found that most of the existing analytical techniques tended to focus on a comparison of systems with respect to best practice or to require data that a company was unlikely to have. Best practice is not an absolute measure, nor does it take account of different company types and their individual requirements. A flexible methodology, 'the CAPM Audit', designed to establish the effectiveness and efficiency of any installed CAPM system, has been developed. The audit is a development of the Delphi approach and is designed to establish the contribution of the CAPM system to the company's overall competitive position. In its development, a generic model for any CAPM system was devised to facilitate analysis without reference to any particular technology, management mode, or manufacturing control system. The audit developed (in the form of a workbook) consists of four stages: stage one establishes the context; stage two determines the underlying architecture of the system; stage three quantifies the contribution to the company's competitive position; and stage four identifies the causes of any failure of the CAPM system. The design of the audit is such that: it enables a systematic investigation of the effectiveness and efficiency of an installed CAPM system to be completed; it enables the CAPM system's contribution to the company to be identified; and it also enables any inadequacies to be determined

NASA space station automation: AI-based technology review

Research and Development projects in automation for the Space Station are discussed. Artificial Intelligence (AI) based automation technologies are planned to enhance crew safety through reduced need for EVA, increase crew productivity through the reduction of routine operations, increase space station autonomy, and augment space station capability through the use of teleoperation and robotics. AI technology will also be developed for the servicing of satellites at the Space Station, system monitoring and diagnosis, space manufacturing, and the assembly of large space structures

Visual management in design management within a digital environment

Difficulties in managing the construction design process are strongly related to its nature, as a large number of interdependent decisions are involved, which need to be made by many different stakeholders, in an environment that has a high degree of uncertainty. Moreover, there is a growing use of digital tools to support design. Traditional communication approaches used in design management only partially comply with the requirements of digital contexts, and new methods and tools are necessary to address these challenges. Visual Management (VM) has the potential to increase process transparency in the design stage, in order to support collaboration and communication and facilitate the transfer of information. However, the literature on the implementation of VM to support design management is still scarce. Moreover, there is limited understanding of the connection between VM and information and communication technologies (ICT). This investigation aims to propose a set of requirements to support VM applications for design planning and control within digital contexts, which can potentially contribute to improving the effectiveness of VM. This set of requirements were initially identified within the literature, considering different fields of knowledge, and then refined in an empirical study that was developed in collaboration with an infrastructure design and consultancy company in the UK. The secondary objectives are (i) to devise a concept map connecting different VM constructs related to design management systems and (ii) to propose guidelines for the integration of Visual Management in design management within digital environment. The Design Science Research approach was the methodological approach adopted in this investigation, which involved incremental learning cycles for devising the artefact, carried out in three different projects. The main findings include (i) the definition of a set of VM requirements that are applicable to the context investigated in this research study; (ii) an assessment of the relevance of the requirements for different types of visual practices, hierarchical planning levels, and stakeholders that are involved; (iii) the identification of some current limitations and challenges of implementing digital VM in construction design. From a practical perspective, this set of requirements may guide practitioners and academics in devising and assessing digital VM practices.As dificuldades no gerenciamento de projeto são consequência da natureza do processo de projeto, o qual envolve um grande número de decisões interdependentes, que precisam ser tomadas por diversos stakeholders, em um ambiente com um alto grau de incerteza. Além disso, há um crescente uso de ferramentas digitais para apoiar o gerenciamento de projeto. As abordagens de comunicação tradicionais usadas no gerenciamento de projeto atendem apenas parcialmente aos requisitos dos contextos digitais, e novos métodos e ferramentas são necessários para enfrentar esses desafios. A gestão visual (GV) tem o potencial de aumentar a transparência do processo de projeto, permitir melhor colaboração e comunicação e facilitar a transferência de informações. No entanto, a literatura sobre a implementação de GV para apoiar a gestão de projetos ainda é escassa, e também há uma compreensão limitada da conexão entre GV e tecnologias de informação e comunicação (TIC). O principal objetivo deste trabalho de pesquisa é propor um conjunto de requisitos para apoiar aplicações de GV para planejamento e controle de projetos em contextos digitais, que podem contribuir potencialmente na maior eficácia de GV. Esse conjunto de requisitos foi inicialmente identificado na literatura, considerando diferentes áreas do conhecimento, e posteriormente refinado em um estudo empírico desenvolvido em colaboração com uma empresa de projeto e consultoria de infraestrutura no Reino Unido. Os objetivos secundários são: (i) elaborar um mapa conceitual relacionando diferentes conceitos de GV para sistemas de gestão de projetos, e (ii) propor diretrizes para a adoção de GV em gestão de projeto considerando contextos digitais. Design Science Research foi a abordagem metodológica adotada nesta investigação, através de ciclos de aprendizagem incrementais para a concepção do artefato, os quais foram realizados em três projetos diferentes. As principais contribuições incluem (i) definição de um conjunto de requisitos de GV aplicáveis ao contexto investigado nesta pesquisa; (ii) avaliação da relevância dos requisitos para diferentes tipos de práticas visuais, níveis hierárquicos de planejamento e stakeholders envolvidos; e (iii) identificação de algumas limitações e desafios na implementação da GV digital em projeto de construção. De uma perspectiva prática, esse conjunto de requisitos pode orientar profissionais e acadêmicos na elaboração e avaliação de práticas de GV digital

Information architecture for effective Workload Control: an insight from a successful implementation

The implementation of Workload Control (WLC), a Production Planning and Control concept uniquely designed for Make-To-Order companies, has been a constant challenge. Scholars argued that WLC is largely developed through simulations of well-defined environments while much more complex circumstances (e.g. information availability) have emerged in field research. A recent trend of WLC research is to improve the practical applicability of the concept, where empirical evidence is essential. However, success in WLC implementation remains impeded. The availability of data has been a significant area that frustrates the implementation process. While there is a tendency to simplify data requirements in recent WLC theory development, it is important to understand and maintain the information that is essential for the concept to be effective. For the first time in the field, this paper details the information architecture for WLC. Key informational entities of relevance to the input/output control functions in WLC as well as performance measurement are discussed based on evidence from a successful implementation. The paper not only sheds light for practitioners on how to construct an information system that facilitates successful WLC implementation but also has implications for future development of WLC mechanisms coping with information uncertainties in practice

Balancing Demand and Supply in Complex Manufacturing Operations: Tactical-Level Planning Processes

By balancing medium-term demand and supply, tactical planning enables manufacturing firms to realize strategic, long-term business objectives. However, such balancing in engineer-to-order (ETO) and configured-to-order (CTO) operations, due to the constant pressure of substantial complexity (e.g., volatility, uncertainty, and ambiguity), induces frequent swings between over- and undercapacity and thus considerable financial losses. Manufacturers respond to such complexity by using planning processes that address the business’s needs and risks at various medium-term horizons, ranging from 3 months to 3 years. Because the importance of decision-making increases exponentially as the horizon shrinks, understanding the interaction between complexity and demand-supply balancing requires extending findings reported in the literature on operations and supply chain planning and control. Therefore, this thesis addresses complexity’s impact on planning medium-term demand-supply balancing on three horizons: the strategic– tactical interface, the tactical level, and the tactical–operational interface.To explore complexity’s impact on demand–supply balancing in planning processes, the thesis draws on five studies, the first two of which addressed customer order fulfillment in ETO operations. Whereas Study I, an in-depth single-case study, examined relevant tactical-level decisions, planning activities, and their interface with the complexity affecting demand–supply balancing at the strategic–tactical interface, Study II, an in-depth multiple-case study, revealed the cross-functional mechanisms of integration affecting those decisions and activities and their impact on complexity. Next, Study III, also an in-depth multiple-case study, investigated areas of uncertainty, information-processing needs (IPNs), and information-processing mechanisms (IPMs) within sales and operations planning in ETO operations. By contrast, Studies IV and V addressed material delivery schedules (MDSs) in CTO operations; whereas Study IV, another in-depth multiple-case study, identified complexity interactions causing MDS instability at the tactical–operational interface, Study V, a case study, quantitatively explained how several factors affect MDS instability.Compiling six papers based on those five studies, the thesis contributes to theory and practice by extending knowledge about relationships between complexity and demand–supply balancing within a medium-term horizon. Its theoretical contributions, in building upon and supporting the limited knowledge on tactical planning in complex manufacturing operations, consist of a detailed tactical-level planning framework, identifying IPNs generated by uncertainty, pinpointing causal and moderating factors of MDS instability, and balancing complexity-reducing and complexity-absorbing strategies, cross-functional integrative mechanisms, IPMs, and dimensions of planning process quality. Meanwhile, its practical contributions consist of concise yet holistic descriptions of relationships between complexity in context and in demand– supply balancing. Manufacturers can readily capitalize on those descriptions to develop and implement context-appropriate tactical-level planning processes that enable efficient, informed, and effective decision-making

Operational Research in Education

Operational Research (OR) techniques have been applied, from the early stages of the discipline, to a wide variety of issues in education. At the government level, these include questions of what resources should be allocated to education as a whole and how these should be divided amongst the individual sectors of education and the institutions within the sectors. Another pertinent issue concerns the efficient operation of institutions, how to measure it, and whether resource allocation can be used to incentivise efficiency savings. Local governments, as well as being concerned with issues of resource allocation, may also need to make decisions regarding, for example, the creation and location of new institutions or closure of existing ones, as well as the day-to-day logistics of getting pupils to schools. Issues of concern for managers within schools and colleges include allocating the budgets, scheduling lessons and the assignment of students to courses. This survey provides an overview of the diverse problems faced by government, managers and consumers of education, and the OR techniques which have typically been applied in an effort to improve operations and provide solutions