bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Integrated Production, Distribution, and Inventory Planning at Libbey-Owens-Ford
Authors: Martin Clarence H. , Dent Denver C. , Eckhart James C.
Published: October 2008

FLAGPOL, a large-scale linear-programming model of the production, distribution, and inventory operations in the flat glass business of Libbey-Owens-Ford deals with four plants, over 200 products, and over 40 demand centers in a 12-month planning horizon. Annual savings from a variety of sources are estimated at over $2,000,000.
A Note on the Growth of a Production Planning System: A Case Study in Evolution
Authors: de Matta Renato , Miller Tan
Published: October 2008

In a previous issue of this journal, Liberatore and Miller [1985] described the efforts of a ceramic tile manufacturer, American Olean Tile Company, to implement a hierarchical production and distribution planning system. That original model-based planning system evolved and progressed over the next four to five years to produce long-range benefits for the firm. Among the enhancements American Olean introduced were the replacement of a static annual optimization model with several dynamic models, an improved inventory planning approach, and improved demand forecast models.
Book Reviews
Authors: Lev Benjamin
Published: October 2008

Tetzlaff, Ulrich A. W. 1990, Optimal Design of Flexible Manufacturing Systems, Physica-Verlag, Heidelberg, Germany (Springer-Verlag, New York), 190 pp., $52.00—reviewed by Franklin E. Grange

Francis, Richard L.; McGinnis, Leon F., Jr.; and White, John A. 1992, Facility Layout and Location: An Analytical Approach, second edition, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 589 + xvi pp., $68.00—reviewed by Yupo Chan

Kreiner, Howard W. 1992, Fields of Operations Research, Operations Research Society of America, Baltimore, Maryland, 150 pp., $15.00—reviewed by Carl Harris and Irving Greenberg

Birkholz, Charles B. and Villella, Jim 1991, The Battle to Stay Competitive: Changing the Traditional Workplace, Productivity Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 110 pp. (paper), $9.95—reviewed by Douglas A. Samuelson

Harrison, Alan 1992, Just-in-Time Manufacturing in Perspective, Prentice Hall International, London, 277+ pp., $28.00—reviewed by Dennis E. Kroll

Sekine, Kenichi 1990, One Piece Flow, Productivity Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 286 pp., $75.00—reviewed by K. V. Patri

Bazerman, M. H. and Neale, M. A. 1992, Negotiating Rationally, Free Press, New York, xii + 196 pp., $24.95—reviewed by Stanley Zionts

Bana e Costa, C. A., ed. 1990, Readings in Multiple Criteria Decision Aid, Springer-Verlag, New York, 660 pp., $115.00—reviewed by Yupo Chan
Scheduling Repairs at Texas Instruments
Authors: Sivakumar Raj A. , Batta Rajan , Tehrani Kazem
Published: October 2008

We developed a single-shift model at Texas Instruments' Cypress plant to schedule repairs of electronic assemblies. The model considers such shop-floor issues as technician capabilities and part preferences. While providing satisfactory results, the model has also found immediate acceptance on the shop floor, as it does not block out the human element—the supervisors.
People Skills: How to Improve the Odds of a Successful Project Implementation
Authors: Levasseur Robert E.
Published: October 2008

Experienced project leaders know they must resolve the business, technical, and personnel problems inherent in any change effort to be successful. Three ways to improve the odds of success are to (1) understand the culture of the organization, (2) take a broad, systems view of the problem, and (3) do an organization assessment before recommending any changes.
Plus Ça Change…
Authors: Wagner Harvey M.
Published: October 2008

The early years of operations research set the directions of scholarly research and commercial applications that continue today. After four decades the initial promise is a reality. As the field matured, we became skillful in getting successful applications. We also became insensitive, however, to what is required to sustain this success. The field never had a unifying core. The diversity of themes was recognized at the outset and continues to undermine further progress in educating practitioners. I reflect on how we got here and suggest educational changes that are long overdue.
Where We Ought to Be Going: The Potential of Spreadsheets
Authors: Vazsonyi Andrew
Published: October 2008

Spreadsheets empower millions of managers to avoid algebra and classical mathematics and unknowingly approximate solutions to their problems by elementary numerical analysis. They use spreadsheets to carry out vast quantities of computations and create graphical support. These business people are numerate in the sense that they deal comfortably with the fundamental notions of numbers and chance. A hurdle in disseminating MS/OR is the shortage of mathematically proficient managers. These numerate managers should be more capable, receptive, and sympathetic to MS/OR. I believe that spreadsheets are the manager's skeleton key to mathematical modeling.
Operations Analysis in the Army Air Forces in World War II: Some Reminiscences
Authors: Miser Hugh J.
Published: October 2008

The literature describing operations research during World War II, the context in which OR began, is both varied and scattered. In his three papers [1987a, 1987b, 1987c], McCloskey offers an overview of wartime OR for both the United Kingdom and the United States, based conscientiously on the literature available in 1987, supplemented by a number of interviews.
The Oxford Experiment in H2X Radar Bombing
Authors: Price G. Baley
Published: October 2008

The Eighth Air Force, in England, established its operational research section in 1942, the first OR unit in the air force. The bombing accuracy subsection quickly established methods for using strike photographs to determine the accuracy of visual bombing. The cloud cover over Europe forced the air force to bomb with H2X radar blind bombing equipment on many missions; the accuracy was poor. G. B. Price, the subsection's specialist on H2X bombing, used two combat planes and crews for simulated H2X bombing of two targets in Oxford to test the inherent accuracy of the equipment.
Editorial: Process versus Personalities
Authors: Murphy Frederic H.
Published: October 2008

This is an essay about management science models representing processes versus the people-and-events view that most decision makers have. A number of colorful examples from the latest 150 years of history is given.
An Auction Method for Course Registration
Authors: Graves Robert L. , Schrage Linus , Sankaran Jayaram
Published: October 2008

Since 1981 the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business (GSB) has used a computerized course registration system that allocates limited classroom and faculty resources while satisfying students' preferences among course offerings. The method a) uses a market approach (complete with clearing prices) for allocating course sections to students, b) allows students to express preferences for combinations of courses rather than for single courses, c) allows students to express preferences for courses over multiple school terms rather than just one, and d) requires no waiting in registration queues.
How to Analyze the Results of Linear Programs—Part 2: Price Interpretation
Authors: Greenberg Harvey J.
Published: October 2008

In the second part of a four-part series, I consider an exercise in analysis that arises in many applications: Why is the price of 〈some commodity〉 equal to 〈whatever its solution value〉? The ability to interpret dual prices in a linear programming solution is part of economic analysis, and the mathematical basis is as old as linear programming, itself. New approaches, however, go beyond the usual duality arguments in answering this question in more practical terms. One of these new approaches is path tracing, which seeks a portion of the linear program that accounts for the row's price by activity costs from sources to the row. In some cases this is a simple path in a network problem. More generally, in ordinary network terms, it can be a tree or involve embedded cycles, but it is regarded as a path in hypergraph terms.
Using Linear Programming to Determine Post-Facto Consistency in Performance Evaluations of Major League Baseball Players
Authors: Zappe Christopher , Webster William , Horowitz Ira
Published: October 2008

We use linear programming to judge the consistency of the performance appraisals that Bill James has made of major league baseball players. In particular, we use a linear programming model to determine whether weights for the set of performance measures can be found such that the players' ordinal ratings can be reconstructed. This approach can be used to judge the consistency of performance appraisals for groups of employees.
How to Analyze the Results of Linear Programs—Part 3: Infeasibility Diagnosis
Authors: Greenberg Harvey J.
Published: October 2008

One problem in debugging a linear program is finding a way to diagnose an infeasible instance. The sources of error could be structural, such as inadvertent omission of activities, or data related, such as insufficient supply to meet demand. I present techniques that LP experts have used in practice for a variety of applications. It is important, however, to distinguish a diagnosis from an isolation. An isolation is a portion of the linear program obtained in some purposeful way to contain a probable cause. A diagnosis additionally requires an explanation of an isolation, which can require complex reasoning.
Managing Korea's System of Technological Innovation
Authors: Kim Ilyong
Published: October 2008

To restore their competitiveness as advanced countries increase their protection of technology, Korean firms must manage innovation better. They need to establish a coordinated system of technological innovation to achieve R & D synergy in terms of product level (raw materials, intermediate products, and finished products) and system level (R & D, engineering and production, and market). A survey of 89 R & D institutes indicates that compatibility between project and firm resources in large firms and between project and firm advertising and sales force in small or medium firms affects their success in launching new products based on R & D projects.
Franz Edelman Award for Management Science Achievement
Authors: Lembersky Mark , Graves Stephen C. , Murphy Frederic H.
Published: October 2008

This is the introductory text into the special issue devoted to the 22nd annual Franz Edelman Award for Management Science Achievement, sponsored jointly by TIMS and the College on the Practice of Management Sciences of TIMS and ORSA.
Coldstart: Fleet Assignment at Delta Air Lines
Authors: Subramanian Radhika , Scheff Richard P. , Quillinan John D. , Wiper D. Steve , Marsten Roy E.
Published: October 2008

Delta Air Lines flies over 2,500 domestic flight legs every day, using about 450 aircraft from 10 different fleets. The fleet assignment problem is to match aircraft to flight legs so that seats are filled with paying passengers. Recent advances in mathematical programming algorithms and computer hardware make it possible to solve optimization problems of this scope for the first time. Delta is the first airline to solve to completion one of the largest and most difficult problems in this industry. Use of the Coldstart model is expected to save Delta Air Lines $300 million over the next three years.
How to Analyze the Results of Linear Programs—Part 4: Forcing Substructures
Authors: Greenberg Harvey J.
Published: October 2008

Often, solution values are forced by implication of some of the constraints. A forcing substructure is a portion of the linear program that forces some of the variables to have only one value in every feasible solution. In some cases, finding a forcing substructure reveals an error, and in other cases, it leads to a reduction of the linear program. Discovering and explaining forcing substructures are aspects of good model management. Besides its role when debugging a model, understanding forcing substructures deepens our understanding of the solution by revealing some activity levels that are determined by implications of the constraints, not by economic preference.
The Russell-Yasuda Kasai Model: An Asset/Liability Model for a Japanese Insurance Company Using Multistage Stochastic Programming
Authors: Cariño David R. , Kent Terry , Myers David H. , Stacy Celine , Sylvanus Mike , Turner Andrew L. , Watanabe Kouji , Ziemba William T.
Published: October 2008

Frank Russell Company and The Yasuda Fire and Marine Insurance Co., Ltd., developed an asset/liability management model using multistage stochastic programming. It determines an optimal investment strategy that incorporates a multiperiod approach and enables the decision makers to define risks in tangible operational terms. It also handles the complex regulations imposed by Japanese insurance laws and practices. The most important goal is to produce a high-income return to pay annual interest on savings-type insurance policies without sacrificing the goal of maximizing the long-term wealth of the firm. During the first two years of use, fiscal 1991 and 1992, the investment strategy devised by the model yielded extra income of 42 basis points (¥8.7 billion or US$79 million).
Telephone Companies Analyze Price Quotations with Bellcore's PDSS Software
Authors: Katz Paul , Sadrian Amir , Tendick Patrick
Published: October 2008

Increasingly, organizations that buy many products from several suppliers solicit discounts based on the total dollar volume of business awarded. Bellcore developed PDSS, a user-friendly, PC-based decision support program that assists telephone companies in analyzing price quotations under business volume discounts. PDSS uses a mixed-integer-programming model to minimize the total cost of purchases subject to several types of constraints and may save an organization five to 15 percent on purchase costs. Since its initial release, PDSS has been applied successfully to categories of products with a total purchase cost of more than $600 million.
Improving Pupil Transportation in North Carolina
Authors: Sexton Thomas R. , Sleeper Sally , Taggart Robert E.
Published: October 2008

North Carolina uses data envelopment analysis (DEA) to produce a pupil transportation funding process that encourages operational efficiency and reduces expenditures. To do so, we extended the DEA methodology to nonhomogeneous units by integrating DEA with a regression model that adjusts the DEA output to account for variations in site characteristics and to ensure that the final funding allocations were fair. The new process has led to changes in bus routes and schedules, adjustments in school start and stop times, and reductions in the inventory of buses. Between 1990 and 1993, the state saved $25.2 million in capital costs and $27.9 million in operating costs, and it expects savings to increase.
SAPHIR: A Decision Support System for Course Scheduling
Authors: Ferland Jacques A. , Fleurent Charles
Published: October 2008

Producing a schedule for an academic institution is a highly combinatorial problem and a very demanding task. In order to obtain an acceptable solution, human factors also have to be taken into account. We developed a decision support system incorporating efficient optimization procedures and interactive tools to help the user adjust the schedule to his or her specifications. Our system, which is implemented on a micro-computer, is now used each term in two major Canadian universities in Montreal and Sherbrooke.
Book Reviews
Authors: Lev Benjamin
Published: October 2008

Carter, Grace M.; Murray, Michael P.; Walker, Robert G.; and Walker, Warren E. 1992, Building Organizational Decision Support Systems, Academic Press, New York, 358 pp., $49.95—reviewed by Sean B. Eom

Gulledge, Thomas R. and Lovell, C. A. Knox, eds. 1992, International Applications of Productivity and Efficiency Analysis, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 199 pp., $80.00/Dfl170.00—reviewed by Per Nikolaj D. Bukh

Ansell, J. and Wharton, F., eds. 1992, Risk: Analysis, Assessment and Management, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 220 pp., $59.95—reviewed by Lawrence Leemis

Morgan, M. Granger and Hendrion, Max 1990, Uncertainty: A Guide for Dealing with Uncertainty in Quantitative Risk and Policy Analysis, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 332 pp., $44.50—reviewed by John Whittaker
Future: A Knowledge-Based System for Threat Assessment
Authors: de Jongh P. J. , Carden K. J. , Rogers N. A.
Published: October 2008

During 1988 and 1989, we developed the Future system to help aid the South African Navy to identify threatening events early. The navy currently uses the system daily, improving productivity and reducing risk. The navy uses the system to monitor and interpret shipping movements recorded in a data base. It is a real-time knowledge-based system and its development followed an iterative analysis, design, and implementation methodology. The success of the system, largely, can be attributed to the development methodology followed and to the way in which the knowledge-acquisition process was conducted.
Forecasting Practices in US Corporations: Survey Results
Authors: Sanders Nada R. , Manrodt Karl B.
Published: October 2008

By surveying current forecasting practices at 500 US corporations, we explored the reasons managers rely heavily on judgmental forecasting methods and attempted to identify what needs of practitioners are not met with current procedures. Although managers are more familiar with quantitative forecasting methods than in the past, the level of usage has not increased. Practitioners continue to rely largely on judgmental forecasting methods. The major obstacles cited to the use of formal forecasting are lack of relevant data and low organizational support. Further, when quantitative forecasting methods are used, they frequently are judgmentally adjusted. Most practitioners prefer a bias in the forecast that is related to the organizational reward system.
The New Dynamism: Part 2
Authors: Frey Donald N.
Published: October 2008

American manufacturing industries are making unprecedented and rapid changes in response to increasing international competition. New low-working-inventory manufacturing systems, more rapid product innovation, greater product variety, and the strategic and tactical use of the manufacturing learning curve are all changes management scientists need to understand. The industry's capability for change and employees' abilities to support change determine how fast such changes can be introduced and absorbed.
Investing in the Turn-of-the-Year Effect in the US Futures Markets
Authors: Ziemba William T.
Published: October 2008

Security markets have consistent patterns of a seasonal or fundamental nature that provide excess returns in relation to their risk and hence may violate the efficient market hypothesis. These so-called anomalies or statistical regularities occur because of increased cash flows, institutional constraints and policies, behavioral considerations, the timing of information, the slowness of markets to react to new information, the interaction of informed and uninformed traders with market makers, and window dressing by portfolio managers. The turn-of-the-year effect in which low capitalized small stocks outperform high capitalized big stocks is one of the most reliable. A good way to invest in this anomaly is to use a futures spread that is long in small stocks and short in big stocks. This strategy has low costs and is easy to implement. I have successfully used this strategy with real money in my private mutual fund and in other accounts in the turns-of-the-years from 1983/1984 to 1993/1994, making profits in each of these 11 years.
SuperUnits and SuperShares
Authors: Weigel Eric J.
Published: October 2008

In the fourth quarter of 1992, new instruments called SuperUnits and SuperShares were introduced into the US capital market. They essentially consist of fully collaterized traded baskets of securities designed to mimic the behavior of the Standard and Poor 500 stock index. SuperUnits have symmetrical payoffs while SuperShares have option-like payoff characteristics. Unlike other trading vehicles for the S&P 500, these new instruments are long-dated, allowing investors to mold their payoff functions over periods longer than those afforded by commonly used derivatives, such as the S&P 500 futures or the S&P 100 options.
Editorial: Zeno Was Right
Authors: Murphy Frederic H.
Published: October 2008

An essay about logical consistency, philosophy, and applicability of sciences both in our understanding of the world and in resolving practical problems.
People Skills: Students—Don't Make the Grade but Miss the Point
Authors: Levasseur Robert E.
Published: October 2008

An essay about people's skills and their necessity for a success in business of MS/OR.
Book Reviews
Authors: Lev Benjamin
Published: October 2008

Ramamurthy, K. G. 1990, Coherent Structures and Simple Games, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, xii + 160 pp., $79.00—reviewed by Marco LiCalzi

Freeman, James A. 1994, Simulating Neural Networks with Mathematica, Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts, 341 pp., $39.75—reviewed by Sheo G. Misra

Shoji, Shiba; Graham, Alan; and Walden, David 1993, A New American TQM: Four Practical Revolutions in Management, Productivity Press, Portland, Oregon, 606 pp., $49.95—reviewed by Stanley J. Stough

Ahuja, R. K.; Magnanti, T. L.; and Orlin, J. B. 1993, Network Flows—Theory, Algorithms, and Applications, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 846 pp., $78.67—reviewed by Gary R. Waissi

Tsuchiya, S. 1992, Quality Maintenance: Zero Defects Through Equipment Management, Productivity Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 223 pp., $59.95—reviewed by Paulo A. Dasilva
Can We Secure Future-Responsive Management Through Systems Thinking and Design?
Authors: Ulrich Werner
Published: October 2008

Future-responsive management may depend on C. West Churchman's understanding of systems design and management. Future-responsive management raises fundamental cognitive and methodological difficulties. No conceivable systems approach can make these difficulties disappear, but we can at least try to understand them and to face them self-critically. To this end, the systems idea has more to contribute than is generally recognized.
A Hierarchical-GIS-Based Decision Model for Forest Management: The Systems Approach
Authors: Vertinsky I. , Brown S. , Schreier H. , Thompson W. A. , van Kooten G. C.
Published: October 2008

We developed a decentralized decision support system for forest management with a central coordination mechanism. It consists of (1) an LP model, a forest estate simulation model, and a geographic information system linked in an iterative process, at the regional level, and (2) a provincewide central coordination mechanism using a system of charges and subsidies that reflect provincewide values in regional decisions. Each of the components of the decision support system can be used independently, but their linkages provide the facility to deal with the complex pattern of interactions between subsystems and the global system of the forest resource. To date, the simulation and the geographic information system have been implemented for use in a commercial forest neighboring Mount Revelstoke and Glacier National Parks.
Churchman's Theory of Design Integrity
Authors: Swanson E. Burton
Published: October 2008

I revisit West Churchman's masterwork The Design of Inquiring Systems and interpret it as presenting a theory of a system's design integrity, which is in essence a theory of a design's wholeness, soundness, and virtue. This theory is especially powerful in its professional application, where the role of critical observer—or responsible social witness—also deserves special attention.
Organizations and Their Purposes: A Note on Churchman's Philosophy of Management
Authors: Verma Niraj
Published: October 2008

In my journey in understanding and appreciating West Churchman's writings, I have distilled three ideas from a small selection of Churchman's writings relevant to the practice of management science. By reconstructing these ideas and by putting them in the broad context of Churchman's contributions, I trace the impact of Churchman's philosophy on the study of organizations and their purposes.
Securing: One Man's Quest for the Meaning of Therefore
Authors: Mason Richard O.
Published: October 2008

C. West Churchman has devoted most of his professional life to understanding the processes by which humankind secures improvement in social systems. This quest permeates his philosophy, teaching, and personal actions.
Database Marketing Increases Prospecting Effectiveness at Merrill Lynch
Authors: Labe Russell P.
Published: October 2008

Establishing new client relationships is critical in the financial services industry. Merrill Lynch uses database marketing to enhance its prospecting efforts. The management science group developed a discriminant model to identify high quality prospects using US household demographic data. We used high quality clients, known as priority households, as the target group and field tested the resulting priority model along with three alternative models. I evaluated the performance of all the models after six months, using the performance of Merrill Lynch's existing prospecting program as a baseline. The priority model significantly outperformed the baseline, with 167 percent higher assets, 39 percent higher revenues, and a 43 percent higher conversion rate. This success led Merrill Lynch to adopt the priority model in its ongoing prospecting efforts. Annual benefits are estimated at $3.5 to $6 billion in incremental client assets and $200,000 to $450,000 in incremental revenues.
A Decision Support System for Acquisitions Budgeting in Public Libraries
Authors: Gleeson Michael E. , Ottensmann John R.
Published: October 2008

Public libraries are computerizing their activities and producing mountains of managerially useful data. Our decision support system organizes these data and brings them to bear in producing materials acquisition budgets. Acquisition of new materials costs public libraries in the United States over $850 million per year. The Monroe County (Indiana) Public Library allocated its 1992 acquisitions budget using the DSS and found the system “flexible, workable, and above all, extremely valuable.” The DSS has four modules: a database module that allows comparison across budget categories and inspection of trends in costs, circulation, acquisitions, stocks, turnover rates, and discards; a forecasting module that uses time series techniques to make cost and circulation forecasts; a budget-allocation module that produces a satisfactory allocation by iteratively solving a continuous knapsack problem; and a scenario-testing module that calculates future stock.
Comestible Considerations in Research Development
Authors: Sobol Marion G.
Published: October 2008

I provide advice on sources of material for research publications and factors to consider in writing and publishing research articles and demonstrate how to combine grocery list considerations and academic publishing aspirations. Topics related to comestibles in various disciplines, such as economics, marketing, real estate, packaging, and applied operations management, can be synthesized with appropriate, inappropriate, and nonexistent statistical and operations research techniques. Readers may wish to develop similar lists of research opportunities from the mundane activities of their everyday lives.
Using the Systems Approach to Increase Management Science Impact on Business
Authors: Huysmans Jan H.
Published: October 2008

Management Science has done a lot for business, but not as much as it could have. Ironically, the very factors that have enabled MS to contribute more effectively to the solution of business problems (easy availability of massive computing power and analytic software tools) also led many management scientists to focus one-sidedly on the techniques of their trade (solving mathematical models and building simulations) at the expense of the ultimate objective, improving business systems. Many managers, as a result, have turned to more accessible and easily understood management tools for help. The systems approach—which to many is the essence of MS—emphasizes defining and structuring business problems, and making the interrelationships and possibly inconsistencies in management thinking explicit. It could be the umbrella for many other management tools and thus place MS in the central support position to management that the profession consistently claims for it but rarely seems to achieve.
The New Dynamism: Part 3
Authors: Frey Donald N.
Published: October 2008

Businesses (and institutions) increasingly depend upon information systems for competitive advantage. Many investments in computerized systems have not paid off or had overruns in time and money. Reasons include lack of clearly defined business objectives and their measurements. To help this, a taxonomy business of information systems is defined—transaction systems, increasingly computerized, and decision support systems (DSSs), of multiple media and transmission modes, not well computerized, and often directed too high in organizations for operational effectiveness. Finally, installation of new information systems must go slowly to obtain employee understanding and acceptance.
Successfully Implementing Statistical Process Control in Integrated Steel Companies
Authors: Harris C. Ruth , Yit Walter
Published: October 2008

Implementing quality management techniques, such as statistical process control (SPC), is a competitive necessity for today's integrated steel producers in North America. We compared successful and unsuccessful SPC project implementations at 12 integrated steel companies to determine the differences in key factors. Successful implementations had larger teams and more middle management support than unsuccessful implementations.
Correcting Casualty Estimates
Authors: Barr Donald R. , Bryson Marion R.
Published: October 2008

Data from battle simulations can be used to estimate the casualties in real battles. An instrumentation system measures and records events and variables and controls simulated kills of battle units in military field experiments. After-action reviews show that kills have not always been assessed properly. Since the kills assigned during a trial affect the simulated battle (and the data), the estimates of expected casualties may be incorrect. It is possible to correct initial casualty estimates to account for errors in assessing kills.
Lessons from the Marketplace
Authors: Fraser Niall M.
Published: October 2008

In consulting using a negotiation support system, I learned eight lessons that may guide developers of decision and negotiation support systems.
Editorial: Refereeing—How Blind Should We Be?
Authors: Rothkopf Michael H.
Published: October 2008

Interfaces is going to start using double-blind refereeing. Sort of. My purpose in this editorial is to explain what this means, give some history and context, and mostly to explain why we are doing it.
How to Make a Decision: The Analytic Hierarchy Process
Authors: Saaty Thomas L.
Published: October 2008

People make three general types of judgments to express importance, preference, or likelihood and use them to choose the best among alternatives in the presence of environmental, social, political, and other influences. They base these judgments on knowledge in memory or from analyzing benefits, costs, and risks. From past knowledge, we sometimes can develop standards of excellence and poorness and use them to rate the alternatives one at a time. This is useful in such repetitive situations as student admissions and salary raises that must conform with established norms. Without norms one compares alternatives instead of rating them. Comparisons must fall in an admissible range of consistency. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) includes both the rating and comparison methods. Rationality requires developing a reliable hierarchic structure or feedback network that includes criteria of various types of influence, stakeholders, and decision alternatives to determine the best choice.
Planning the Size and Organization of KLM's Aircraft Maintenance Personnel
Authors: Dijkstra Matthijs C. , Kroon Leo G. , Salomon Marc , van Nunen Jo A. E. E. , Van Wassenhove Luk N.
Published: October 2008

We developed a decision support system (DSS) for the aircraft maintenance department of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines at Schiphol Airport. This department inspects and maintains aircraft during their ground time at the airport. Its main resource is its workforce. Since January 1990 the DSS has supported management in analyzing several capacity planning problems related to the size and the organization of the workforce. In particular, management uses the DSS to determine the appropriate number of maintenance engineers and their training requirements, and to analyze the efficiency and effectiveness of the maintenance department.
Model World: Ethics in the Not So Real MS/OR World
Authors: Gass Saul I.
Published: October 2008

Unlike most professional societies, neither TIMS nor ORSA have a code of ethics! The recently published book, Ethics in Operations Research, edited by William A. Wallace [1994], reports the results of a 1990 workshop (supported by the Sloan Foundation) held at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. As a participant, I found that the workshop reinforced my view that the MS/OR profession has not been willing to recognize or address the ethical problems and situations that its members encounter. More important, many of the workshop participants felt that the future utility of MS/OR will suffer if the profession does not take a proactive position in formalizing an ethical code and professional standards.
Advice for Building Expert Systems: Precepts or Proverbs?
Authors: Will Richard P. , Hardaway Donald E.
Published: October 2008

Useful criteria for developing and implementing expert systems could provide essential information to guide practitioners in building successful systems. Many sources contain such criteria in a variety of forms, including summaries of the actions and precautions practitioners should take to produce successful systems. The advice, however is often contradictory and proverb-like. It provides little or no clarification of environmental context or supportive empirical evidence but exemplifies both precept and proverb.
Statistical and Simulation Analysis Assists Santa Clara Valley Water District Planning
Authors: Dean Burton V. , Salstrom Roger L. , Fiedler Jim , Molnar Bill , Haake Kent
Published: October 2008

Using Extend simulation software, we analyzed the Santa Clara County, California water supply. We determined that (1) the drought situation (1987–1992) can be expected to occur two or three times per 100 years, and (2) the supply will frequently not meet current annual demand and will fall far short of projected demand by 2020. We evaluated alternative courses of action. Using our analyses, the Santa Clara Valley Water District (1) negotiated a clause that saved $4 million on water contracts during 1992–1993, (2) evaluated using a storage facility in another California county, and (3) started preliminary engineering and environmental studies on a new reservoir.
Franz Edelman Award for Management Science Achievement
Authors: Taylor Philip E. , Graves Stephen C. , Rothkopf Michael H.
Published: October 2008

Members of INFORMS are all fascinated by the mathematical and statistical elegance of MS/OR models. Franz Edelman was additionally driven by a desire to implement MS/OR and to produce practical and realizable benefits. His pioneering work at RCA laid the foundation for greater recognition of the power of MS/OR to improve the quality and cost effectiveness of products and services and has also led to this the 23rd Franz Edelman Award for Management Science Achievement. This years’ competition drew attention to the international character of MS/OR by including six top quality finalists from China, India, Japan, and the United States. Applications crossed both the public and private sectors, showing the multicultural and multilingual aspects of MS/OR.
SONET Toolkit: A Decision Support System for Designing Robust and Cost-Effective Fiber-Optic Networks
Authors: Cosares Steven , Deutsch David N. , Saniee Iraj , Wasem Ondria J.
Published: October 2008

Bellcore has built the SONET Toolkit decision support software to design robust fiber-optic networks that protect services against the consequences of a cable cut (link) or an equipment failure (node). The Synchronous Optical NETwork (SONET) makes these survivable designs cost-effective when planned carefully. The SONET Toolkit reads in data about the network, its embedded capacity, the available equipment, the customer demands, and the protection requirements for the services. It can also incorporate planning constraints. It produces an economic mix of SONET self-healing rings and other architectures that satisfy demand and protection requirements. Use of this software system by the Bellcore client companies has saved 10 to 30 percent in costs and orders of magnitude in time.
Scheduling a Flexible Manufacturing System with Tooling Constraints: An Actual Case Study
Authors: Flanders Seth W. , Davis Wayne J.
Published: October 2008

Material handling and the provision of supporting resources, particularly tools, in flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs) can constrain production. To improve the productivity for an existing FMS, we first developed a simulation model that included constraints arising from material handling and tool management. Detailed simulations of the FMS showed that a simple set of heuristic rules could produce several alternative schedules of nearly optimum performance. They also showed that when the flow of tooling was considered the FMS was operating near or over capacity. The goal of the study—to generate slack production time for the manufacture of additional parts—was unachievable. Clearly companies must consider the constraints arising from material handling and the flow of supporting resources in scheduling, yet these constraints have seldom been considered in simulations of FMSs.
Reengineering at American Express: The Travel Services Group’s Work in Process
Authors: Ballou Roger H.
Published: October 2008

American Express became involved in reengineering when we found that we could not close our major gaps in cost, quality, and speed through continuous improvement. While embarking on a series of margin improvements to bring our short-term economics back into line, we also selected two major processes for strategic reengineering, to make fundamental longer-term changes in the way we do business. Although we have just begun to implement the major redesigns, we have already learned the following lessons that could help you in your reengineering efforts: set up a group to enable reengineering, beware of the “reengineering” label, start small, start all projects with the customer, agree on your redesign before you set cost-savings targets, include key functions as early as possible, highlight linkages between projects, challenge the status quo, use a structured approach to managing the changes, and people will not believe it until it happens to them.
Creativity in MS/OR: Managing the Process of Formulating the Problem
Authors: Volkema Roger J.
Published: October 2008

The role of problem formulation in creative problem solving is often overlooked in MS/OR training and practice. In our rush to develop techniques for solving problems, we accept initial formulations as givens, fail to fully explore the boundaries of the problem, and shorten the creative process by making a premature evaluation. Finding opportunities rather than simply solving the problem-as-given is the real challenge. To do this we must understand the importance of formulating problems and know the techniques for managing the process (Evans [Evans, J. R. 1991. Creative Thinking in the Decision and Management Sciences. South-Western, Cincinnati, Ohio.]).
Practice Abstracts: Submission Guidelines
Authors: Keefer Donald L.
Published: October 2008

The intent of the “Practice abstracts” feature of Interfaces is to provide practitioners with a convenient way to document the gist of their projects, achievements, and experiences in the open literature without writing full-fledged papers. We hope that many practitioners will be able to base submissions on existing internal documents such as company or government agency reports and newsletters. We want to encourage the silent majority of OR/MS practitioners to exchange information and experiences with each other and with the rest of the OR/MS community, for the benefit of all of us.
AHP in Political Group Decisions: A Study in the Art of Possibilities
Authors: Carlsson Christer , Walden Pirkko
Published: October 2008

One of the most heated political controversies in our hometown in recent years was the optimal location of a grand, new ice-hockey arena—later to become the main venue of the 1991 world championships in ice hockey. A group of local administrators put together an AHP model (with helpful guidance from us) and decided the best location. This was, however, not the final outcome. The political groups agreed on the third ranked site. The political process rarely recognizes optimal decisions; it can be politically convenient to make inconsistent decisions.
Lower In-Process Inventories and Better On-Time Performance at Tanner Companies, Inc.
Authors: Bowers Melissa R. , Agarwal Anurag
Published: October 2008

In the early 1990s, Tanner Companies had a 74 percent on-time delivery rate and high levels of work in process. To increase on-time deliveries and raise customer service levels, the company focused on production planning and scheduling for the first time. In developing a short-term planning system, we began by designing a garment information system which provided the basis for an analytical heuristic-based scheduling model. During the development process, we actively involved users and managers at all levels to ensure employee support and smooth installation. As a result, the scheduling model was a big success. In one year, it decreased WIP levels by $200,000 and increased on-time deliveries to over 90 percent. The garment information and scheduling system has been well received and has become an integral part of daily operations at Tanner Companies.
The Politics of Lot Sizing
Authors: Blossom Aaron Paul
Published: October 2008

In attempting to implement a simple, computational lot-sizing procedure in a factory producing automobile parts, I met substantial resistance, even though the company is renowned for using high technology in its products. I recommended a multiple-item economic order quantity model but was prevented from implementing it by interdepartmental politics. I realized that people can resist the force of logic, that dividing a plant into functional departments can impede progress, that people with little knowledge of well-established methods have little motivation to adopt them, and that even very small changes can yield large returns.
For Richer or for Poorer: Reporting OR/MS Implementation
Authors: Assad Arjang A. , Wasil Edward A.
Published: October 2008

Few reports of implementation in OR/MS adopt an evolutionary perspective or extend over a sufficiently long span of time. Using a representative sample of accounts, including those in this special issue, we discuss the challenges of taking the longer view. Greater diversity in reporting practice in our field would capture the reality of implementing OR/MS with greater fidelity.
Twenty Years of Strategic Distribution System Design: An Evolutionary Perspective
Authors: Geoffrion Arthur M. , Powers Richard F.
Published: October 2008

Using optimization to design distribution systems became technically feasible a little more than two decades ago, and developments have occurred at a rapid rate ever since. These developments can be understood in terms of six evolutionary processes. Four are core: evolution of algorithms, data development tools, model features and software capabilities, and how companies actually use software for designing distribution systems. The other two are environmental: evolution of logistics as a corporate function and of computer and communications technology.
Evolutionary Steps in Expert Systems Projects
Authors: Duchessi Peter , O’Keefe Robert M.
Published: October 2008

An expert system is computer software that applies human expertise to solve problems, and successful applications result in numerous, diverse benefits. Generally, projects that develop expert systems go through several important evolutionary steps and contain unforeseen events. Our longitudinal study of two successful projects, the computer-aided requisition engineering system developed at General Electric Motors and the logistics management system developed at IBM, showed that establishment of a funded project, establishment of a multi-disciplinary development team, understanding and control of data, broad user involvement, internal development of new expertise, expansion of the user base, personnel shifts and reassignment of tasks and responsibilities, and the emergence of new business opportunities are important evolutionary steps in expert systems projects. In addition, the study revealed that top management support, business benefits, and a talented multidisciplinary team were critical to implementation success in both companies.
The Evolution of Texaco’s Blending Systems: From OMEGA to StarBlend
Authors: Rigby Billy , Lasdon Leon S. , Waren Allan D.
Published: October 2008

Gasoline blending is a critical refinery operation. In the 1980s, Texaco developed OMEGA, an optimization-based decision support system, to assist in planning and scheduling its blending operations. OMEGA ran primarily on minicomputers and on a mainframe computer system. In 1990, Texaco began replacing OMEGA with StarBlend, a Microsoft Windows application, running on personal computers and client-server networks. StarBlend uses a multi-period extension of OMEGA’s blending model written in the GAMS modeling language and extracts model data from relational databases. Its improved features make it easier to use and it enables blenders and blend planners to more readily incorporate future requirements into current blending decisions. Currently, StarBlend is operational in all Texaco refineries. As federal and state regulations on auto emissions become more complex, StarBlend’s importance will continue to increase.
L. L. Bean Improves Call-Center Forecasting
Authors: Andrews Bruce H. , Cunningham Shawn M.
Published: October 2008

We developed and implemented two forecasting models for use at L. L. Bean, Inc., a widely known retailer of high-quality outdoor goods and apparel. The models forecast calls incoming to L. L. Bean’s call center so that efficient staffing schedules for telephone agents can be produced two weeks in advance. We used the ARIMA/transfer function methodology to model these time series data since they exhibit seasonal patterns but are strongly influenced by independent variables, including holiday and advertising interventions. The improved precision of our models is estimated to save $300,000 annually through enhanced scheduling efficiency.