161 research outputs found

    Fundamentals of Business

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    Fundamentals of Business, fourth edition (2023) is an open education resource intended to serve as a no-cost, faculty-customizable primary text for one-semester undergraduate introductory business courses. It covers the following topics in business: Teamwork; economics; ethics; entrepreneurship; business ownership, management, and leadership; organizational structures and operations management; human resources and motivating employees; managing in labor union contexts; marketing and pricing strategy; hospitality and tourism, accounting and finance, personal finances, and technology in business

    Productivity and flexibility improvement of assembly lines for high-mix low-volume production. A white goods industry case

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    Las tendencias globales de la personalización e individualización en masa impulsan la producción industrial en serie corta y variada; y por tanto una gran variedad de productos en pequeñas cantidades. Por ello, la customización en masa precisa de sistemas de ensamblaje que sean a la vez altamente productivos y flexibles, a diferencia de la tradicional oposición entre ambas características. La llamada cuarta revolución industrial trae diversas tecnologías habilitadoras que podrían ser útiles para abordar este problema. Sin embargo, las metodologías para implementar el ensamblaje 4.0 todavía no han sido resueltas. De hecho, para aprovechar todas las ventajas potenciales de la Industria 4.0, es necesario contar con un nivel previo de excelencia operacional y un análisis holístico de los sistemas productivos. Esta tesis tiene como objetivo entender y definir cómo mejorar la productividad y la flexibilidad de las operaciones de montaje en serie corta y variada.Esta meta se ha dividido en tres objetivos. El primer objetivo consiste en comprender las relaciones entre la Industria 4.0 y las operaciones de ensamblaje, así como sus implicaciones para los operarios. El segundo objetivo consiste en desarrollar una metodología y las herramientas necesarias para evaluar el rendimiento de diferentes configuraciones de cadenas de ensamblaje. El último objetivo consiste en el diseño de sistemas de ensamblaje que permitan incrementar su productividad al menos un 25 %, produciendo en serie corta y variada, mediante la combinación de puestos de montaje manual y estaciones automatizadas.Para abordar la fase de comprensión y definición del problema, se llevó a cabo una revisión bibliográfica sistemática y se desarrolló un marco conceptual para el Ensamblaje 4.0. Se desarrollaron, verificaron y validaron dos herramientas de evaluación del rendimiento: un modelo matemático analítico y varios modelos de simulación por eventos discretos. Para la verificación, y como punto de partida para los análisis, se ha utilizado un caso de estudio industrial de un fabricante global de electrodomésticos. Se han empleado múltiples escenarios de simulación y técnicas de diseño de experimentos para investigar tres cuestiones clave.En primer lugar, se identificaron los factores más críticos para el rendimiento de líneas de montaje manuales multi-modelo. En segundo lugar, se analizó el rendimiento de líneas de montaje semiautomáticas paralelas con operarios móviles en comparación con líneas semiautomáticas o manuales con operarios fijos, empleando diversos escenarios de demanda en serie corta y variada. Por último, se investigó el uso de trenes milkrun para la logística interna de líneas de ensamblaje multi-modelo bajo la influencia de perturbaciones.Los resultados de las simulaciones muestran que las líneas paralelas con operarios móviles pueden superar a las de operarios fijos en cualquier escenario de demanda, alcanzando como mínimo el objetivo de mejorar la productividad en un 25% o más. También permiten reducir cómodamente el número de operarios trabajando en la línea sin afectar negativamente al equilibrado de la misma, posibilitando la producción eficiente de bajo volumen. Los resultados de las simulaciones de logística interna indican que los milkrun pueden proteger las líneas de ensamblaje de las perturbaciones originadas en procesos aguas arriba.Futuras líneas de investigación en base a los resultados obtenidos en esta tesis podrían incluir la expansión e integración de los modelos de simulación actuales para analizar las cadenas de montaje paralelas con operarios móviles incorporando logística, averías y mantenimiento, problemas de control de calidad y políticas de gestión de los retrabajos. Otra línea podría ser el uso de diferentes herramienta para el análisis del desempeño como, por ejemplo, técnicas de programación de la producción que permitan evaluar el desempeño operacional de diferentes configuraciones de cadenas de montaje con operarios móviles, tanto en términos de automatización como de organización en planta. Podrían incorporarse tecnologías de la Industria 4.0 a los modelos de simulación para evaluar su impacto operacional global ¿como cobots para ensamblaje o para la manipulación de materiales, realidad aumentada para el apoyo cognitivo a los operarios, o AGVs para la conducciónde los trenes milkrun. Por último, el trabajo presentado en esta tesis acerca las líneas de ensamblaje semiautomáticas con operarios móviles a su implementación industrial.<br /

    Operational Research: methods and applications

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    This is the final version. Available on open access from Taylor & Francis via the DOI in this recordThroughout its history, Operational Research has evolved to include methods, models and algorithms that have been applied to a wide range of contexts. This encyclopedic article consists of two main sections: methods and applications. The first summarises the up-to-date knowledge and provides an overview of the state-of-the-art methods and key developments in the various subdomains of the field. The second offers a wide-ranging list of areas where Operational Research has been applied. The article is meant to be read in a nonlinear fashion and used as a point of reference by a diverse pool of readers: academics, researchers, students, and practitioners. The entries within the methods and applications sections are presented in alphabetical order. The authors dedicate this paper to the 2023 Turkey/Syria earthquake victims. We sincerely hope that advances in OR will play a role towards minimising the pain and suffering caused by this and future catastrophes

    Operational research:methods and applications

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    Throughout its history, Operational Research has evolved to include a variety of methods, models and algorithms that have been applied to a diverse and wide range of contexts. This encyclopedic article consists of two main sections: methods and applications. The first aims to summarise the up-to-date knowledge and provide an overview of the state-of-the-art methods and key developments in the various subdomains of the field. The second offers a wide-ranging list of areas where Operational Research has been applied. The article is meant to be read in a nonlinear fashion. It should be used as a point of reference or first-port-of-call for a diverse pool of readers: academics, researchers, students, and practitioners. The entries within the methods and applications sections are presented in alphabetical order

    Operational Research: Methods and Applications

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    Throughout its history, Operational Research has evolved to include a variety of methods, models and algorithms that have been applied to a diverse and wide range of contexts. This encyclopedic article consists of two main sections: methods and applications. The first aims to summarise the up-to-date knowledge and provide an overview of the state-of-the-art methods and key developments in the various subdomains of the field. The second offers a wide-ranging list of areas where Operational Research has been applied. The article is meant to be read in a nonlinear fashion. It should be used as a point of reference or first-port-of-call for a diverse pool of readers: academics, researchers, students, and practitioners. The entries within the methods and applications sections are presented in alphabetical order. The authors dedicate this paper to the 2023 Turkey/Syria earthquake victims. We sincerely hope that advances in OR will play a role towards minimising the pain and suffering caused by this and future catastrophes

    Operational Research: Methods and Applications

    Get PDF
    Throughout its history, Operational Research has evolved to include a variety of methods, models and algorithms that have been applied to a diverse and wide range of contexts. This encyclopedic article consists of two main sections: methods and applications. The first aims to summarise the up-to-date knowledge and provide an overview of the state-of-the-art methods and key developments in the various subdomains of the field. The second offers a wide-ranging list of areas where Operational Research has been applied. The article is meant to be read in a nonlinear fashion. It should be used as a point of reference or first-port-of-call for a diverse pool of readers: academics, researchers, students, and practitioners. The entries within the methods and applications sections are presented in alphabetical order

    ECOS 2012

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    The 8-volume set contains the Proceedings of the 25th ECOS 2012 International Conference, Perugia, Italy, June 26th to June 29th, 2012. ECOS is an acronym for Efficiency, Cost, Optimization and Simulation (of energy conversion systems and processes), summarizing the topics covered in ECOS: Thermodynamics, Heat and Mass Transfer, Exergy and Second Law Analysis, Process Integration and Heat Exchanger Networks, Fluid Dynamics and Power Plant Components, Fuel Cells, Simulation of Energy Conversion Systems, Renewable Energies, Thermo-Economic Analysis and Optimisation, Combustion, Chemical Reactors, Carbon Capture and Sequestration, Building/Urban/Complex Energy Systems, Water Desalination and Use of Water Resources, Energy Systems- Environmental and Sustainability Issues, System Operation/ Control/Diagnosis and Prognosis, Industrial Ecology

    Expanding the Horizons of Manufacturing: Towards Wide Integration, Smart Systems and Tools

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    This research topic aims at enterprise-wide modeling and optimization (EWMO) through the development and application of integrated modeling, simulation and optimization methodologies, and computer-aided tools for reliable and sustainable improvement opportunities within the entire manufacturing network (raw materials, production plants, distribution, retailers, and customers) and its components. This integrated approach incorporates information from the local primary control and supervisory modules into the scheduling/planning formulation. That makes it possible to dynamically react to incidents that occur in the network components at the appropriate decision-making level, requiring fewer resources, emitting less waste, and allowing for better responsiveness in changing market requirements and operational variations, reducing cost, waste, energy consumption and environmental impact, and increasing the benefits. More recently, the exploitation of new technology integration, such as through semantic models in formal knowledge models, allows for the capture and utilization of domain knowledge, human knowledge, and expert knowledge toward comprehensive intelligent management. Otherwise, the development of advanced technologies and tools, such as cyber-physical systems, the Internet of Things, the Industrial Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Cloud Computing, Blockchain, etc., have captured the attention of manufacturing enterprises toward intelligent manufacturing systems

    Enterprise Performance Management in High-Tech Engineering: Developing a Holistic Model

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    The aim of this research is to develop a holistic model of Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) for high-tech engineering (HTE) companies. To deal with the complexity of such an EPM system, which involves human factors as well as technology, the thesis uses Soft Systems Methodology (SSM). This is an approach to system analysis that is suitable for dealing with complex phenomena that involve people. By using the approach of SSM, this research provides a different perspective on EPM than that found in the existing literature. Case studies were conducted at HTE firms to gain a deep understanding of how performance management was currently implemented. By applying the tools of SSM, the researcher derived conceptual models for both the EPM and the HTE itself. Within the holistic model, these act as the serving system (EPM) and the system served (HTE). SSM helped to guide the researcher to understand the complexity of the performance management system as a whole and how different aspects of operational and strategic performance integrate together. Taking this perspective, the thesis shows that, while an EPM system does have constituent parts, the behaviour of the whole system cannot be determined – or managed – from an understanding of those subsystems alone. Instead, the full character of the EPM system can only be understood when those subsystems are brought together and are interacting with each other. The holistic model produced in this research is derived from sound theoretical foundations. It uses ideas and principles taken from Control, Goal, and Stakeholder theories. Social Learning and Social Cognitive theories were also used to support an understanding of how social phenomena influence performance management within HTE. The main contribution of this research is a holistic model of EPM that is specifically tailored to HTE firms and underpinned by the five theories mentioned previously. The data – collected from study participants with practical experience of HTE – was used to reinforce the theoretical foundations of the EPM system. This is another important contribution made by this research. The holistic model developed in this research can be used across the entire organisation to form a complete Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) system. While specifically applicable to HTE firms, it also contributes to the wider performance management literature

    Integrated feedstock optimisation for multi-product polymer production

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    Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2022.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: A chemical complex can have multiple value chains, some of which may span across geographical locations. Decisions regarding the distribution of feedstock and intermediate feedstock to different production units can occur at different time intervals. This is highlighted as two problems, a feedstock distribution problem and an intermediate feedstock distribution problem. Unexpected events can cause an imbalanced value chain which requires timely decision-making to mitigate further adverse consequences. Scheduling methods can provide decision support during such events. The purpose of this research study is to develop an integrated decision support system which handles the two problems as a single problem and maximises profit in the value chain for hourly and daily decision-making. A high-level DSS architecture is presented that incorporates metaheuristic algorithms to generate production schedules for distribution of feedstock through the value chain. The solution evaluation process contains a balancing period to enable the application of metaheuristics to this type of problem and a novel encoding scheme is proposed for the hourly interval problem. It was found that metaheuristics algorithms can be used for this problem and integrated into the proposed decision support system.AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: ’n Chemiese kompleks kan verskeie waardekettings hê, waarvan sommige oor geografiese gebiede strek. Besluite rakende die verspreiding van grondstowwe en intermediêre grondstowwe na verskillende produksie-eenhede kan op verskillende tydsintervalle plaasvind. Dit word uitgelig as twee probleme: ’n probleem met die verspreiding van grondstowwe en ’n intermediêre grondstowwe verspreidingsprobleem. Onverwagte gebeure kan ’n ongebalanseerde waardeketting veroorsaak wat tydige besluitneming benodig om verdere gevolge te versag. Beplanningsmetodes kan ondersteuning bied tydens sulke geleenthede. Die doel van hierdie navorsingstudie was om ’n geïntegreerde stelsel vir besluitnemingsondersteuning oor die twee probleme as een probleem te ontwikkel, wat wins in die waardeketting vir uurlikse en daaglikse besluitneming maksimeer. ’n Hoëvlak DSS-argitektuur word aangebied met metaheuristieke om produksieskedules vir verspreidingstowwe deur die waardeketting te genereer. Die oplossingsevalueringsproses bevat ’n balanseerperiode om die metaheuristiek op hierdie tipe probleme toe te pas, en ’n nuwe koderingskema word voorgestel vir die uurlikse intervalprobleem. Die gevolgtrekking word gemaak dat metaheuristieke vir hierdie probleem gebruik kan word en ge¨ıntegreer kan word in die voorgestelde ondersteuningsstelsel vir besluitneming.Doctora
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