Agent Technology in Supply Chains and Networks: An exploration of high potential future applications

This paper reports on an ongoing research project that\ud is aimed at evaluating how software agents can improve\ud performance of supply chains and networks. To conduct\ud this evaluation, first a framework is developed to classify\ud potential applications of software agents to supply\ud networks. The framework was used in workshop sessions\ud with logistics and information systems experts from\ud industry, software/consultancy and academia to identify\ud promising areas for agents. Based on the framework and\ud the outcome of the workshop sessions, this paper presents\ud promising application areas for the near future and\ud beyond

Taxonomic classification of planning decisions in health care: a review of the state of the art in OR/MS

We provide a structured overview of the typical decisions to be made in resource capacity planning and control in health care, and a review of relevant OR/MS articles for each planning decision. The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, to position the planning decisions, a taxonomy is presented. This taxonomy provides health care managers and OR/MS researchers with a method to identify, break down and classify planning and control decisions. Second, following the taxonomy, for six health care services, we provide an exhaustive specification of planning and control decisions in resource capacity planning and control. For each planning and control decision, we structurally review the key OR/MS articles and the OR/MS methods and techniques that are applied in the literature to support decision making

Planning the delivery of home social services: a mathematical programming-based approach to support routing and scheduling assignments

The increased average lifespan, together with low birth rates, are transforming the European Union's age pyramid. Currently, we are experiencing a transition towards a much older population structure. Given that the institutions that provide care to these population groups are limited by budgetary constraints, it is imperative to optimize several processes, among which route planning and staff scheduling stand out. This dissertation aims to develop a mathematical programming model to support the planning of routes and human resources for providers of Home Social Services. Beyond general Vehicle Routing Problems assumptions, the proposed model also considers the following features: i) working time regulations, ii) mandatory breaks, iii) users' autonomy, and iii) meals' distribution. The present model, implemented using GAMS software, focuses simultaneously on two objective functions: minimization of operating costs, and maximization of equity through the minimization of differences in teams' working times. Chebyshev's method was chosen to solve the developed multiobjective model. The model was built based on a Portuguese Private Institution of Social Solidarity. Through the application of the model, significant improvements are obtained when compared to the current planning of the partner institution, such as it is the case of an improved workload distribution between caregivers and routes that will result in lower costs for the institution. This model is fully enforceable to other institutions that provide services similar or equal to the institution used as a reference.O aumento da esperança média de vida, juntamente com baixas taxas de natalidade, estão a transformar a pirâmide etária da União Europeia. Atualmente, estamos a vivenciar uma transição direcionada para uma estrutura populacional muito mais envelhecida. Dado que as instituições que prestam cuidados a esta fração se encontram limitadas por restrições orçamentais, torna-se imperativo otimizar vários processos, dos quais se destacam planeamento de rotas e escalonamento de funcionárias. Esta dissertação visa introduzir um modelo de programação matemática com a finalidade de apoiar o planeamento de rotas e recursos humanos para prestadores de Serviços de Apoio Domiciliário. O modelo assenta, além dos pressupostos de um "Vehicle Routing Problem", nos seguintes: i) regulações de tempo de trabalho, ii) pausas obrigatórias, iii) autonomia dos utentes, e iv) distribuição de refeições. O modelo, desenvolvido através de software GAMS, foca-se em duas funções objetivo, simultaneamente: minimização dos custos operacionais, e maximização da equidade, através da minimização das diferenças nos tempos de trabalho das equipas. O método de Chebyshev foi o escolhido para desenvolver o modelo multiobjetivo. O modelo foi construído tendo por base uma Instituição Particular de Solidariedade Social em Portugal. Através da aplicação do modelo, obtêm-se melhorias significativas, quando comparado com o atual planeamento da instituição parceira, como é o caso de uma melhor distribuição da carga de trabalho entre as funcionárias e das rotas que resultam da redução dos custos operacionais da instituição. Este modelo é totalmente extensível a outras instituições que prestem serviços semelhantes ou iguais à instituição utilizada como referência

Milk Run Design: Definitions, Concepts and Solution Approaches

Efficient inbound networks in the European automotive industry rely on a set of different transport concepts including milk runs - understood as regularly scheduled pickup tours. The complexity of designing such a mixed network makes decision support necessary: In this thesis we provide definitions, mathematical models and a solution method for the Milk Run Design problem and introduce indicators assessing the performance of established milk runs in relation to alternative transport concepts

Modelling home care organisations from an operations management perspective

Home Care (HC) service consists of providing care to patients in their homes. During the last decade, the HC service industry experienced significant growth in many European countries. This growth stems from several factors, such as governmental pressure to reduce healthcare costs, demographic changes related to population ageing, social changes, an increase in the number of patients that suffer from chronic illnesses, and the development of new home-based services and technologies. This study proposes a framework that will enable HC service providers to better understand HC operations and their management. The study identifies the main processes and decisions that relate to the field of HC operations management. Hence, an IDEF0 (Integrated Definition for Function Modelling) activity-based model describes the most relevant clinical, logistical and organisational processes associated with HC operations. A hierarchical framework for operations management decisions is also proposed. This analysis is derived from data that was collected by nine HC service providers, which are located in France and Italy, and focuses on the manner in which operations are run, as well as associated constraints, inputs and outputs. The most challenging research areas in the field of HC operations management are also discussed

Arbeitsbericht (Working Paper) Nr. 2011-07, Dezember 2011

Ilmenauer Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsinformatik Nr. 2011-07 / Technische Universität Ilmenau, Fakultät für Wirtschaftswissenschaften, Institut für Wirtschaftsinformatik ISSN 1861-9223 ISBN 978-3-938940-40-2Abstract: Sub-daily personnel planning, which is the focus of our work offers considerable productivity reserves for companies in certain industries, such as logistics, retail and call centers. However, it also creates complex challenges for the planning software. We compare particle swarm optimisation (PSO), the evolution strategy (ES) and a constructive agentbased heuristic on a set of staff scheduling problems derived from a practical case in logistics. All heuristics significantly outperform conventional manual full-day planning, demonstrating the value of sub-daily scheduling heuristics. PSO delivers the best overall results in terms of solution quality and is the method of choice, when CPU-time is not limited. The approach based on artificial agents is competitive with ES and delivers solutions of almost the same quality as PSO, but is vastly quicker. This suggests that agents could be an interesting method for real-time scheduling or re-scheduling tasks

Analyst-driven development of an open-source simulation tool to address poor uptake of O.R. in healthcare

Computer simulation studies of health and care problems have been reported extensively in the academic literature, but the one-off research projects typically undertaken have failed to create an enduring legacy of widespread use by healthcare practitioners. Simulation and other modelling tools designed and developed to be used routinely have not fared much better either. Following a review of the literature and a survey of frontline analysts in the UK NHS, we found that one reason for this is because simulation tools have, to date, not been developed with the requirements of the end-user in the heart of the development process. Starting with a thorough needs assessment of NHS based healthcare analysts, this study outlines a set of practical design principles to guide development of simulation software tool for conducting patient flow simulation studies. The overall requirement is that patient flow be modelled over a number of inter-connected points of delivery while capturing the stochastic nature of patient arrivals and hospital length of stay, as well as the dynamic delays to patient discharge and transfer of care between different points of care delivery. In ensuring a cost-free solution that is both versatile and user-friendly, and coded in an increasingly popular language among the envisaged end users, the tool was implemented is the R programming language and software environment, with the user interface implemented in the interactive R-Shiny application. The talk will provide an overview of the project lifecycle including an illustrative example of an empirical simulation study concerning the centralisation of an acute stroke pathway