Advanced Techniques for Assets Maintenance Management

16th IFAC Symposium on Information Control Problems in Manufacturing INCOM 2018 Bergamo, Italy, 11–13 June 2018. Edited by Marco Macchi, László Monostori, Roberto PintoThe aim of this paper is to remark the importance of new and advanced techniques supporting decision making in different business processes for maintenance and assets management, as well as the basic need of adopting a certain management framework with a clear processes map and the corresponding IT supporting systems. Framework processes and systems will be the key fundamental enablers for success and for continuous improvement. The suggested framework will help to define and improve business policies and work procedures for the assets operation and maintenance along their life cycle. The following sections present some achievements on this focus, proposing finally possible future lines for a research agenda within this field of assets management

Disrupting Illicit Supply Networks: New Applications of Operations Research and Data Analytics to End Modern Slavery

Report from a 2017 National Science Foundation workshop on promising research directions for applications of operations research and data analytics toward the disruption of illicit supply networks like human trafficking. The workshop was funded by the NSF’s Operations Engineering (ENG) and the Law & Social Sciences Program (SBE) under grant # CMMI-1726895. The report addresses the opportunity to apply advances from the fields of operations research, management science, analytics, machine learning, and data science toward the development of disruptive interventions against illicit networks. Such an extension of the current research agenda for trafficking would move understanding of such dynamic systems from descriptive characterization and predictive estimation toward improved dynamic operational control.Bureau of Business Researc

A COVID-19 Recovery Strategy Based on the Health System Capacity Modeling. Implications on Citizen Self-management

Versión preprint depositada sin articulo publicado dada la actualidad del tema. *Solicitud de los autoresConfinement ends, and recovery phase should be accurate planned. Health System (HS) capacity, specially ICUs and plants capacity and availability, will remain the key stone in this new Covid-19 pandemic life cycle phase. Until massive vaccination programs will be a real option (vaccine developed, world wield production capacity and effective and efficient administration process), date that will mark recovery phase end, important decisions should be taken. Not only by authorities. Citizen self-management and organizations self-management will be crucial. This means: citizen and organizations day a day decision in order to control their own risks (infecting others and being infected). This paper proposes a management tool that is based on a ICUs and plants capacity model. Principal outputs of this tool are, by sequential order and by last best data available: (i) ICUs and plants saturation estimation data (according to incoming rate of patients), (ii) with this results new local and temporal confinement measure can be planned and also a dynamic analysis can be done to estimate maximum Ro saturation scenarios, and finally (iii) provide citizen with clear and accurate data allow them adapting their behavior to authorities’ previous recommendations. One common objective: to accelerate as much as possible socioeconomic normalization with a strict control over HS relapses risk

Models and metaphors: complexity theory and through-life management in the built environment

Complexity thinking may have both modelling and metaphorical applications in the through-life management of the built environment. These two distinct approaches are examined and compared. In the first instance, some of the sources of complexity in the design, construction and maintenance of the built environment are identified. The metaphorical use of complexity in management thinking and its application in the built environment are briefly examined. This is followed by an exploration of modelling techniques relevant to built environment concerns. Non-linear and complex mathematical techniques such as fuzzy logic, cellular automata and attractors, may be applicable to their analysis. Existing software tools are identified and examples of successful built environment applications of complexity modelling are given. Some issues that arise include the definition of phenomena in a mathematically usable way, the functionality of available software and the possibility of going beyond representational modelling. Further questions arising from the application of complexity thinking are discussed, including the possibilities for confusion that arise from the use of metaphor. The metaphor of a 'commentary machine' is suggested as a possible way forward and it is suggested that an appropriate linguistic analysis can in certain situations reduce perceived complexity

Master’s Program in Money and Finance (MMF)

The Master’s program in Money and Finance (MMF) is an innovative joint venture of the Department of Money and Macroeconomics and of the Department of Finance, both located in the new House of Finance. The program offers promising students from all over the world an intellectually stimulating and challenging setting in which to prepare for their professional careers in central banking, commercial banking, insurance and other financial services. By being located in Frankfurt, one of the world's leading financial centers and the only city in the world with two central banks (the ECB and the German Bundesbank), it offers unique opportunities for interaction with practitioners. The program is taught exclusively in English; knowledge of German is not required for admission to, or completion of the program. It has been designed with a view to establishing itself as a leading Masters program integrating studies in monetary economics, macroeconomics and finance and a major gateway to high-profile jobs in the banking and financial sector

Rural Reform and Fiji's Indigenous Sugarcane Growers: An Application of Stochastic Frontier Analysis

We examine the performance of Fiji's indigenous sugarcane growers, measuring their technical efficiency using a stochastic frontier production function. Of particular interest are the cooperative or communal farming structures among new entrants into Fiji's sugar industry. These structures are emerging in response to government rationalisation policies in agricultural support-from individuals to groups-and the growing emphasis from the indigenous community on economic activity to reflect community requirements, values and imperatives. Our study finds that growers who are members of a cooperative group have higher levels of technical efficiency than growers who live in villages and that their performance is on par with galala or independent growers. Group structures are used as vehicles to centralise management decision-making and pool resources, thereby overcoming experience and capital accumulation constraints. The research also shows that these structures provide a vital mechanism for aligning cultural values and legitimising individual economic activity that has communal benefits. This finding is not only important for Fiji's struggling agricultural sector, it points a way forward for other South Pacific island nations and other countries where agricultural intensification is carried out on communally owned land

Risk, Research, and Returns: Valuation of the Potential of Improved Citrus Cultivars

Replaced with revised version of paper 02/04/08.Crop Production/Industries, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Risk and Uncertainty,

ESTIMATING THE IMPACTS OF DIFFERING PRICE-RISK MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES ON THE NET INCOME OF SALINAS VALLEY LETTUCE PRODUCERS: A STOCHASTIC SIMULATION APPROACH

While government safety-net programs are used to mitigate the price risk for commodity producers, limited programs exist for specialty crop producers. Specialty crop producers utilize forward contracts to reduce downside price risk. In order to estimate the method of price-risk management, if any, that is preferable to selling at market determined prices, a stochastic simulation model was constructed. The completed simulation model was used to estimate probability distributions for Salinas Valley net income under different pricing scenarios. Probabilities of reaching various net income thresholds were compared. Results indicate that Salinas Valley lettuce producers should maximize profitability by using forward contracts.Farm Management, Risk and Uncertainty,

Economics and Environmental Markets: Lessons from Water-quality Trading

Water-quality trading is an area of active development in environmental markets. Unlike iconic national-scale air-emission trading programs, water-quality trading programs address local or regional water quality and are largely the result of innovations in water-pollution regulation by state or substate authorities rather than by national agencies. This article examines lessons from these innovations about the "real world" meaning of trading and its mechanisms, the economic merits of alternative institutional designs, utilization of economic research in program development, and research needed to improve the success of environmental markets for water quality