Performance of cellular bucket brigades with hand-off times

Ministry of Education, Singapore under its Academic Research Funding Tier

Dynamic Quay Crane Allocation

We introduce simple rules for quay cranes to handle containers along a berth where vessels arrive continuously in time. We first analyze a model where workload is continuous. Our analysis shows that if the system is configured properly, it will always converge to a state with the maximum possible throughput regardless of external disruptions or changes in workload. Numerical simulations based on a discrete workload model suggest that, by following the same rules, the system can still converge to state with throughput that is very close to its upper bound

Performance of cellular bucket brigades with hand-off times

Ministry of Education, Singapore under its Academic Research Funding Tier

Operating modes in manufacturing cells : an action research study

This paper describes the operating modes adopted in manufacturing cells of an assembly controller’s heat boilers firm and its influence on the productivity. The paper also presents the difficulties that cells faces when it is formed free of care in selecting and recruiting adequate and motivated people to form the team for operating the cells. These careless and other factors discussed here causes lower productivity. One of the appointed advantages of the cells is the possibility of varying the number of operators when the demand varies. In spite of this, this advantage could be a disadvantage if the persons recruited are not prepared or motivated. This action research industrial study shows that the cells must be part of a strategy of the company not an easy solution that someone thinks that “may be it works here”. When the cells are adopted inside this spirit its difficult to achieve all the benefits of the cells transforming these, many times, in failures

Analysis of Regulatory Options to Reduce Ethylene Oxide Emissions in Southern Louisiana

Toxic chemicals are dangerous when exposed directly to humans but are often vital for the production of goods and services. Ethylene Oxide is a carcinogenic gas used as a commercial sterilizer and emitted during the manufacturing process of common household goods. The term fence-line communities describes the residents living adjacent to facilities emitting toxic chemicals into the air. Several predominately minority, low-income fence-line communities in Southern Louisiana are exposed to higher than average levels of Ethylene Oxide from nearby manufacturing facilities. This raises environmental justice and overall public health concerns in the area. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is charged with protecting the environment and human health within the United States. Under the Clean Air Act, the agency must establish regulations for toxic air pollutants used in manufacturing. Regulations surrounding EtO are changing due to a recent study indicating the chemical has a higher associated cancer risk than previously thought. Industrial emitters believe the new cancer risk estimate is overly conservative and community members fear the regulation is not conservative enough. Ethylene Oxide exposure and associated cancer risk is an ongoing problem for Southern Louisiana communities and current regulatory measures have not brought emission levels to what the EPA deems sufficient for the protection of public health. The following analysis will evaluate policy alternatives for Ethylene Oxide regulation using effectiveness, political feasibility, and technical feasibility as measurement criteria. Alternatives will then be evaluated on these criteria and a policy recommendation made. The recommendation could be used to guide the future direction of Ethylene Oxide regulation. Before developing potential policy alternatives, a brief explanation of Ethylene Oxide and its usage, associated cancer risk, environmental justice concerns, and status of the policy will be outlined