Development of efficient scheduling methods and their application in a mechanical production system

L’évolution continue des environnements de production et l’augmentation des besoins des clients, demandent un processus de production plus rapide et efficace qui contrôle plusieurs paramètres en même temps. Nous nous sommes intéressés au développement de méthodes d’aide à la décision qui permettent d’améliorer l’ordonnancement de la production. L’entreprise partenaire (Norelem) fabrique des pièces de précision mécanique, il faut donc prendre en compte les différentes contraintes de ressources (humaines et d’outillage) existantes dans l’atelier de production.Nous avons abordé l’étude d’un atelier d’ordonnancement de type open shop ou chemin ouvert, où une tâche peut avoir de multiples séquences de production puisque l’ordre de fabrication n’est pas fixé et l’objectif à minimiser est le temps total de séjour. Des contraintes d’affectation de ressources humaines (multi-compétences) et de disponibilité d’outillage ont été prises en compte.Des modèles mathématiques linéaires et non-linéaires ont été développés pour décrire la problématique. Etant donné que les méthodes exactes sont limitées aux instances de petites tailles à cause des temps de calcul, des méthodes de résolution approchées ont été proposées et comparées. De plus, nous avons abordé l’optimisation multi-objectif en considérant trois objectifs, la minimisation du temps total de séjour et l’équilibrage de charge des ressources (humaines et machines).L’efficacité des méthodes est prouvée grâce à des tests sur des instances théoriques et l’application au cas réelThe continuous evolution of manufacturing environments and the growing of customer needings, leads to a faster and more efficient production process that controls an increasing number of parameters. This thesis is focused on the development of decision making methods in order to improve the production scheduling. The industrial partner (Norelem) produces standardized mechanical elements, so many different resource constraints (humans and tools) are presented in its workshop.We study an open shop scheduling problem where one job can follow multiple production sequences because there is no fixed production sequence and the objective function is to minimize the total flow time. In addition, multi-skilled personnel assignment and tool’s availability constraints are involved.Mathematical models: linear and non-linear formulations have been developed to describe the problem. Knowing the exact method limitations in terms of instance sizes because of the duration, heuristics methods have been proposed and compared. Besides that, the multi-objective optimization was exposed to deal with three objectives as total flow time minimization and workload balancing concerning both, humans and machines.The efficiency of these methods was proved by several theoretical instance tests and the application on the real industrial cas

Développement de méthodes d'ordonnancement efficaces et appliquées dans un système de production mécanique

The continuous evolution of manufacturing environments and the growing of customer needings, leads to a faster and more efficient production process that controls an increasing number of parameters. This thesis is focused on the development of decision making methods in order to improve the production scheduling. The industrial partner (Norelem) produces standardized mechanical elements, so many different resource constraints (humans and tools) are presented in its workshop.We study an open shop scheduling problem where one job can follow multiple production sequences because there is no fixed production sequence and the objective function is to minimize the total flow time. In addition, multi-skilled personnel assignment and tool’s availability constraints are involved.Mathematical models: linear and non-linear formulations have been developed to describe the problem. Knowing the exact method limitations in terms of instance sizes because of the duration, heuristics methods have been proposed and compared. Besides that, the multi-objective optimization was exposed to deal with three objectives as total flow time minimization and workload balancing concerning both, humans and machines.The efficiency of these methods was proved by several theoretical instance tests and the application on the real industrial caseL’évolution continue des environnements de production et l’augmentation des besoins des clients, demandent un processus de production plus rapide et efficace qui contrôle plusieurs paramètres en même temps. Nous nous sommes intéressés au développement de méthodes d’aide à la décision qui permettent d’améliorer l’ordonnancement de la production. L’entreprise partenaire (Norelem) fabrique des pièces de précision mécanique, il faut donc prendre en compte les différentes contraintes de ressources (humaines et d’outillage) existantes dans l’atelier de production.Nous avons abordé l’étude d’un atelier d’ordonnancement de type open shop ou chemin ouvert, où une tâche peut avoir de multiples séquences de production puisque l’ordre de fabrication n’est pas fixé et l’objectif à minimiser est le temps total de séjour. Des contraintes d’affectation de ressources humaines (multi-compétences) et de disponibilité d’outillage ont été prises en compte.Des modèles mathématiques linéaires et non-linéaires ont été développés pour décrire la problématique. Etant donné que les méthodes exactes sont limitées aux instances de petites tailles à cause des temps de calcul, des méthodes de résolution approchées ont été proposées et comparées. De plus, nous avons abordé l’optimisation multi-objectif en considérant trois objectifs, la minimisation du temps total de séjour et l’équilibrage de charge des ressources (humaines et machines).L’efficacité des méthodes est prouvée grâce à des tests sur des instances théoriques et l’application au cas rée

Open shop scheduling problem with a multi-skills resource constraint: a genetic algorithm approach

International audienc

A NSGA-II and NSGA-III comparison for solving an open shop scheduling problem with resource constraints

International audienc

Correction to: Comparative effectiveness and safety of non-vitamin K antagonists for atrial fibrillation in clinical practice: GLORIA-AF Registry

International audienceIn this article, the name of the GLORIA-AF investigator Anastasios Kollias was given incorrectly as Athanasios Kollias in the Acknowledgements. The original article has been corrected

Patterns of oral anticoagulant use and outcomes in Asian patients with atrial fibrillation: a post-hoc analysis from the GLORIA-AF Registry

Background: Previous studies suggested potential ethnic differences in the management and outcomes of atrial fibrillation (AF). We aim to analyse oral anticoagulant (OAC) prescription, discontinuation, and risk of adverse outcomes in Asian patients with AF, using data from a global prospective cohort study. Methods: From the GLORIA-AF Registry Phase II-III (November 2011-December 2014 for Phase II, and January 2014-December 2016 for Phase III), we analysed patients according to their self-reported ethnicity (Asian vs. non-Asian), as well as according to Asian subgroups (Chinese, Japanese, Korean and other Asian). Logistic regression was used to analyse OAC prescription, while the risk of OAC discontinuation and adverse outcomes were analysed through Cox-regression model. Our primary outcome was the composite of all-cause death and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). The original studies were registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01468701, NCT01671007, and NCT01937377. Findings: 34,421 patients were included (70.0 ± 10.5 years, 45.1% females, 6900 (20.0%) Asian: 3829 (55.5%) Chinese, 814 (11.8%) Japanese, 1964 (28.5%) Korean and 293 (4.2%) other Asian). Most of the Asian patients were recruited in Asia (n = 6701, 97.1%), while non-Asian patients were mainly recruited in Europe (n = 15,449, 56.1%) and North America (n = 8378, 30.4%). Compared to non-Asian individuals, prescription of OAC and non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC) was lower in Asian patients (Odds Ratio [OR] and 95% Confidence Intervals (CI): 0.23 [0.22-0.25] and 0.66 [0.61-0.71], respectively), but higher in the Japanese subgroup. Asian ethnicity was also associated with higher risk of OAC discontinuation (Hazard Ratio [HR] and [95% CI]: 1.79 [1.67-1.92]), and lower risk of the primary composite outcome (HR [95% CI]: 0.86 [0.76-0.96]). Among the exploratory secondary outcomes, Asian ethnicity was associated with higher risks of thromboembolism and intracranial haemorrhage, and lower risk of major bleeding. Interpretation: Our results showed that Asian patients with AF showed suboptimal thromboembolic risk management and a specific risk profile of adverse outcomes; these differences may also reflect differences in country-specific factors. Ensuring integrated and appropriate treatment of these patients is crucial to improve their prognosis. Funding: The GLORIA-AF Registry was funded by Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy

In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. A key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process vs. those that measure flux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process); thus, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation needs to be differentiated from stimuli that result in increased autophagic activity, defined as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (in most higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the field understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy

In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. A key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process vs. those that measure flux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process); thus, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation needs to be differentiated from stimuli that result in increased autophagic activity, defined as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (in most higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the field understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field