NASA Contributions to Mathematical Modeling and Simulation and Their Potential Use Outside the Aerospace Industry

Potentials for technology transfer can be found where you would least expect them. I approached the task in the title with great skepticism. Although NASA had undoubtedlymade extensive use of mathematical modeling and computer simulation, it seemed unlikely that they could be used for anything except the special purpose for which they were intended. But I developed a methodical approach to try to find out. First, a week in a NASA library with catalogues of report titles, abstracts and microfiche produced about 150 possible candidates - much to my surprise. The filtering process included discussions with other staff members at Abt Associates with first-hand knowledge of current problems in business, education, transportation, social programs, etc. and •with senior people in NASA Headquarters who were generally familiar with the work that had been done and, more importantly, knew about current programs. With this background information, I knew who to visit in the NASA centers and what to talk about. Because of the time lag between completion of a project and publication of an abstract in a catalog of reports, memories fade about projects that were usually carried out by someone else several years ago. But there are usually more important projects whose abstracts have not yet made the archives

In Focus of Comparing with Korean Case

This study predicts the short – term manpower demand of the shipping and port logistics industry in Malaysia by applying trend analysis and regression analysis on the relevant industrial indicators. Forecasted results are then compared to the outcomes of the forecasted result for human resource demand in Korea. Coping with Malaysia’s new port development at Straits of Malacca, the over dependency on foreign labour force is highlighted across the mass media. Hence, this study would like to draw focal attention on the urge to gather data from all relevant sub – sectors of shipping and port logistics industry in Malaysia; and then forecast in detail the total manpower demand for the abovementioned industry. On top of that, this study also aims to provide a specific overview on the changes of employment trends over the years for all sub – sectors relevant to shipping and port logistics industry in Malaysia. This study utilizes data from ‘ Economy Census Report 2011 – Transportation and Storage Services’ published by Department of Statistics Malaysia which is usually updated once in every 5 year starting from 2000 with reference to the year before. Hence, this paper has used data from year 2000 to year 2010 to forecast the required manpower for year 2011. Result shows that the total short – term forecasted human resource demand for year 2011 is 75, 956 people. Comparing to year 2010, it is a slight decrease of 0.44%. Meanwhile, the findings of this study reveals that the sub – sectors of shipping and port logistics industry in Malaysia are segregated at the moment. In general, shipping and port logistics industry in Malaysia are delegated to be under Ministry of Transport ( MOT ) Malaysia, together with road as well as air transport. Data provisions relevant to shipping and port logistics industry in Malaysia are reflected to be segregated as it is inconsistent with industrial standard of the nation. Instead, data is always provided generally under titles such as ‘ Sea Transport ’, ‘ Cargo Handling and Stevedoring Services’, ‘ Storage and Warehousing ’, ‘ Port Operations ’ and the like in various reports for ‘ Transportation and Storage Services ’. Owing to the distinctive characteristics of the mentioned businesses, this study justified that precise and comprehensive data provision in accordance to a nation’s standard industrial code as what we could find in Korean case, is very fundamental. If Malaysia aims to become unrivalled maritime nation, identifying exact talent gap by investigating all relevant sub – sectors, is necessary. On the other hand, the research limitation of this paper states that the outdated data as well as small data sample size has restricted the quality of this study. Hence, this study proposes Malaysia to constantly update the statistics for accurate short – term forecasts due to the nature of shipping and port logistics industry which is subjected to cornucopian internal and external influences in this ever – changing world. For a better understanding of the changes in employment trend over the years, we will need more data input. Specifically, bigger data sample could be attained in terms of having data for more industrial variables ( such as number of facilities and storages, sales values ) and more years. As a sum, this study intends to call for attention on the specific data provisions for a longer period of time. The former could ensure better overall understanding of the different kinds of business nature and needs within the shipping and port logistics industry; while the latter could more adequately verify the forecasting results obtained. With this, this paper wishes to provide some insights into policy implications for the development of shipping and port logistics industry. To a larger extent, devising good policies which suit the characteristics of respective sub – sectors within shipping and port logistics could definitely facilitate effective nurturing process of talented manpower for shipping and port logistics industry in long term.|본 논문은 말레이시아 (Malaysia) 해운·항만 물류산업의 단기 인력수요 예측에 관하여 연구하였다. 말레이시아 해운 항만물류 산업과 연관된 지표들을 사용하여 추세분석과 회귀분석을 통해 직접적인 단기 인력수요에 대한 예측치를 제시하였다. 그리고 말레이시아 해운 항만물류 산업의 인력수요 예측결과를 한국의 해운 항만물류 산업 인력수요 예측결과와 비교하였다. 말라카 해협의 항만개발이 진행됨에 따라 해운 항만물류 산업의 인력수요가 증가하고 있는데, 외국인 노동력자에 대한 의존도가 높은 것이 문제점으로 지적되고 있다. 이러한 상황에서 본 연구는 말레이시아의 해운·항만 물류산업의 인력수요 예측 정확성을 높이기 위해 관련 데이터들을 수집하여 해운 항만물류 산업의 미래 인력수요를 예측해 보고자 하였다. 이 연구는 말레이시아 해운 항마물류 산업의 세부 업종별 소요인력 추세를 분석하고 이를 통해 산업의 전반적인 인력수요를 예측하였다. 말레이시아의 해운·항만 물류산업들은 독립된 산업영역을 구축하고 있지 않다. 말레이시아의 해운 항만 물류산업은 내륙 및 항공 운송산업과 함께 교통부 (Ministry of Transport; MOT)에서 총괄하여 주관하고 있다. 말레이시아 교통부의 해운·항만 물류산업 유관분야에 관해 집계되는 데이터들은 일반적으로 ‘해상운송업’, ‘화물하역 서비스업’, ‘물류창고업’, ‘항만관리 및 운영업’, 그리고 ‘운송 및 보관 서비스업’을 포함하고 있다. 해운 항만물류 산업은 다양한 업종을 포함하고 있으므로, 타 산업과 달리 산업의 세부분류에 따른 데이터의 정의 및 분류를 명확히 할 필요가 있다. 이를 위해 본 연구에서는 말레이시아 해운 항만물류 산업의 세부분류의 구분을 한국의 표준산업분류 코드에 기초하여 해당 데이터들을 분류하였다. 말레이시아가 해양강국을 지향한다면 해운 항만물류 산업의 세부업종별 인력 수요와 공급에 대한 조사를 통해 수급상의 정확한 갭을 확인하여야 할 것이다. 또한, 본연구는 말레이시아 해운 항만물류 산업의 단기 인력수요 예측의 정확성을 높이기 위해서 관련 최신 통계자료들을 지속적으로 집계하여 갱신할 필요가 있다는 것을 제안하였다. 해운·항만 물류산업은 급변하고 있는 세계경기에 따라 지속적으로 대·내외적인 영향을 받고 있다. 그러므로 해운 망만물류 산업의 변화의 추세와 미래동향을 정확히 알기 위해서는 산업 내외의 다양한 관련지표의 수집 뿐만 아니라 이들 데이터를 장기간에 걸쳐 확보하는 것이 필수적이다. 결론적으로 본 연구는 장기간에 걸친 양질의 세분화된 데이터의 수집 및 확보 필요성을 강조한다. 말레이시아 해운 항만물류 산업의 세부 업종별 테이터는 다양한 업종의 사업특성과 요구사항을 잘 이해할 수 있도록 해주며, 장기간의 데이터는 예측결과의 정확성을 높여준다. 이 연구는 말레이시아 해운 항만물류 산업에 대한 정책의 실행 방향성을 제시하였다. 본 연구를 통해 장기적인 관점에서 말레이시아 해운·항만 물류산업의 효과적인 인력양성이 촉진될 것으로 기대한다.Chapter 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Importance and Objectives of this Research 1 1.2 Methodology and Scope of Research 5 Chapter 2 Literature Review 7 2.1 Theoretical Discussion of Industrial Human Resource Supply and Demand 7 2.1.1 The importance of Human Resource Planning 7 2.1.2 Methodology of Forecasting Human Resource Demand 12 2.1.3 Overview Projections of Human Resource Forecasting across Nations and the Major Labour Market Models 26 2.1.4 Functions of Labour Market Outlook 34 2.1.5 Previous Researches Pertinent to Forecasting Human Resource Demand and Supply Plan 36 2.2 Human Resource Forecasting of Maritime Industry 41 2.2.1 Forecasted Seafarers Shortage by BIMCO / ICS 41 2.3 Human Resource Forecasting in Malaysia 45 2.3.1 The Beginning of Human Resource Planning 45 2.3.2 Agencies Related to Labour Force of Malaysia 46 2.3.3 Structure of Malaysia’s Current Workforce 49 Chapter 3 Malaysia’s Shipping and Port Logistics 50 3.1 Overview of the Maritime Industry of Malaysia 50 3.1.1 Overview of the Maritime Industry of Malaysia 50 3.1.2 Illustration of Malaysia’s Maritime Industry Structure, Maritime Governance Structure, Maritime Cluster as well as Maritime Ancillary and Support Industries 52 3.1.3 Malaysia’s Merchant Fleet Size by Deadweight Tonnes 57 3.2 Economic Contribution of Maritime Industry in Malaysia 58 3.3 Malaysia’s Port and Logistics 64 3.4 Issues Encountered & Future Needed Developments 69 3.5 The Main Challenge - Over – reliance on Foreign Seafarers / Shortage of Local Qualified Seafarers 71 Chapter 4 Data Analysis 73 4.1 Data Inputs for the 5 Sub – sectors with Meaningful Data 74 4.2 Data Analysis of Forecasting Human Resource Demand in Shipping and Port Logistics Malaysia 84 4.2.1 Sea Transport 84 4.2.2 Cargo Handling and Stevedoring Services 87 4.2.3 Storage and Warehousing 90 4.2.4 Port Operation 93 4.2.5 Shipping and Forwarding Companies 96 4.2.6 Summary of the Short – term Forecasted Human Resource Demand for Shipping and Port Logistics Malaysia in 2011 99 4.3 Comparison between Malaysia’s and Korea’s Human Resource Forecast 100 4.3.1 Comparison of Classifications of Sub – sectors for Shipping and Port Logistics in Malaysia and Korea 100 4.3.2 Comparison between Malaysia and Korea Regarding the Input Factors for Human Resource Demand Forecast of Shipping and Port Logistics Industry ( According to Each Sub – sectors ) 103 4.3.3 Comparison between Malaysia and Korea Regarding the Forecasting Approaches and Summary of Meaningful Results of Human Resource Demand Forecasts for Shipping and Port Logistics Industry ( According to Each Sub – sectors ) 105 4.4 Discussion and Implementation 107 4.5 Planning Human Resource Supply 113 Chapter 5 Conclusion 116 5.1 Review of Findings 116 5.2 Research Limitations 117 5.3 Implications and Recommendations for Future Research 121 Reference 123Maste

Discrete Event Simulation Modelling for Dynamic Decision Making in Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing

With the increase in demand for biopharmaceutical products, industries have realised the need to scale up their manufacturing from laboratory-based processes to financially viable production processes. In this context, biopharmaceutical manufacturers are increasingly using simulation-based approaches to gain transparency of their current production system and to assist with designing improved systems. This paper discusses the application of Discrete Event Simulation (DES) and its ability to model the various scenarios for dynamic decision making in biopharmaceutical manufacturing sector. This paper further illustrates a methodology used to develop a simulation model for a biopharmaceutical company, which is considering several capital investments to improve its manufacturing processes. A simulation model for a subset of manufacturing activities was developed that facilitated ‘what-if’ scenario planning for a proposed process alternative. The simulation model of the proposed manufacturing process has shown significant improvement over the current process in terms of throughout time reduction, better resource utilisation, operating cost reduction, reduced bottlenecks etc. This visibility of the existing and proposed production system assisted the company in identifying the potential capital and efficiency gains from the investments therefore demonstrating that DES can be an effective tool for making more informed decisions. Furthermore, the paper also discusses the utilisation of DES models to develop a number of bespoke productivity improvement tools for the company

DSS (Decision Support Systems) in Indian Organised Retail Sector

Indian organised retail industry is poised for growth. Rapid state of change due to speedy technological developments, changing competitive positions, varying consumer behaviour as well as their expectations and liberalized regulatory environment is being observed in organized retailing. Information is crucial to plan and control profitable retail businesses and it can be an important source of competitive advantage so long as it is affordable and readily available. DSS (Decision Support Systems) which provide timely and accurate information can be viewed as an integrated entity providing management with the tools and information to assist their decision making. The study, exploratory in nature plans to adopt a case study approach to understand practices of organized retailers in grocery sector regarding applications of various DSS tools. Conceptual overview of DSS is undertaken by reviewing the literature. The study attempts to describe practices and usage of DSS in operational decisions in grocery sector and managerial issues in design and implementation of DSS. Comparision across national chain and local organized retailer in grocery sector reveals that national chain having implemented ERP partially are mostly using the same for majority of operational decisions like inventory management, CRM, campaign management. Two local players use spread sheets and in house software to make the above operational decisions. The benefits realized remain the same across the retailers. Prioritization as well as quantification of benefits was not communicated. The issues of coordination, integration with other systems in case of ERP usage, training were highlighted. Future outlook of DSS by the respondents portrayed a promising picture.

A Technology Proposal for a Management Information System for the Director’s Office, NAL.

This technology proposal attempts in giving a viable solution for a Management Information System (MIS) for the Director's Office. In today's IT scenario, an Organization's success greatly depends on its ability to get accurate and timely data on its operations of varied nature and to manage this data effectively to guide its activities and meet its goals. To cater to the information needs of an Organization or an Office like the Director's Office, information systems are developed and deployed to gather and process data in ways that produce a variety of information to the end-user. MIS can therefore can be defined as an integrated user-machine system for providing information to support operations, management and decision-making functions in an Organization. The system in a nutshell, utilizes computer hardware and software, manual procedures, models for analysis planning, control and decision-making and a database. Using state-of-the-art front-end and back-end web based tools, this technology proposal attempts to provide a single-point Information Management, Information Storage, Information Querying and Information Retrieval interface to the Director and his office for handling all information traffic flow in and out of the Director's Office

Aerospace management techniques: Commercial and governmental applications

A guidebook for managers and administrators is presented as a source of useful information on new management methods in business, industry, and government. The major topics discussed include: actual and potential applications of aerospace management techniques to commercial and governmental organizations; aerospace management techniques and their use within the aerospace sector; and the aerospace sector's application of innovative management techniques

The training needs of industrial foremen : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Psychology at Massey University

This thesis reports the results of three interrelated studies relevant to the work and training of foremen. Training programmes for foremen which are based on traditional leadership research have not resulted in changes to objective performance outcomes. A review of the literature on observation studies of foreman's work suggested a Model of effective foreman behaviour. This model was tested in Study I, using data obtained from a continuous observation record of the work behaviours of nine foremen in one New Zealand plant. Correlations between work behaviours and four measures of performance outcome - productivity, turnover, absenteeism and accident rate - failed to provide support for the model. Two multidimensional scaling solutions were constructed to discover the underlying dimensions of behaviour. These also failed to correlate significantly with any of the performance criteria. It was concluded that no one model of effective behaviour could be prescribed for all foremen as the foremen's behaviour was largely under the control of the production system. It was also concluded that levels of performance outcomes were under the control of the production system, rather than under the control of the foremen's behaviour. However the study did identify one critical aspect of all foremen's jobs,-the Pacing Factor, which was simulated with an in-basket exercise in Study II. The simulation and a training exercise were pilot tested with thirty five trainees from supervisory courses. A three-group experimental design failed to indicate significant improvements to performance following a short training session, but post-hoc validity for the simulation was provided by one group of experienced trainees scoring significantly higher than the other groups. In a third study, five of the foremen from Study I completed the in-basket exercise. These foremen rated it as a realistic simulation of their jobs and their mean score was higher than that for the less experienced supervisory trainees. Ideas for the future development of the in-basket exercise and its use in training are outlined