bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Optimal Acquisition of FMS Technology Subject to Technological Progress*
Authors: Roth Aleda V. , Gaimon Cheryl , Krajewski Lee 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTIn order to gain competitive advantage, a firm must link its technology choice to its total manufacturing strategy and business unit's goals. A dynamic model is presented to examine the strategic decision concerning the acquisition of flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) technology. A major contribution of this model is its ability to capture the strategic benefits of FMS with respect to economies of scope and technological progress. Decisions such as the timing and size of new technology acquisition and the scrapping of conventional capacity are explored as a firm plans for the upgrading of its facility to meet future dynamic strategic goals. This model may be used to assist with strategic planning because it identifies the critical relationships and trade‐offs between various exogenous forces (such as market growth or decay, the cost of acquiring flexible manufacturing systems, and the rate of technological progress) and the decision variables considered.
Use and Abuse of Weights in Multiple Objective Decision Support Models*
Authors: Schenkerman Stan 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTThis paper examines difficulties with the use of weights to solve multiple objective decision support models: misunderstanding of the meaning of weights, issues of commensurability and, most important, the likely inability of weights alone to isolate the decision maker's most‐preferred point. The constraint method is shown to be an attractive alternative.
Optimal Delivery Time Quotation and Order Sequencing
Authors: De Prabuddha , Ghosh Jay B. , Wells Charles E. 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the problem of quoting a common delivery time for several orders. The decision maker responsible for the quote must trade off the cost associated with a long delivery time against the cost of tardy orders that might be induced by a short delivery time. First, an aggregate cost model is investigated where it is assumed that some cost is incurred if the quoted delivery time exceeds a given threshold and the cost of order tardiness is dependent on the order. Both exact and heuristic solution procedures are proposed for this model. Finally, for the situation where the costs cannot be quantified, a bicriteria formulation of the problem is pursued and the set of nondominated solutions is identified.
A Congruence Construct of User Involvement
Authors: Doll William J. , Torkzadeh Gholamreza 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTThe MIS literature has devoted considerable attention to the relationship between user involvement and MIS success; unfortunately, this research has produced conflicting results. Recent research on a discrepancy model of user involvement has provided a framework for reconciling studies showing positive, negative, or no impact of involvement on user satisfaction. In this discrepancy model, individual differences between perceived and desired levels of involvement define three conditional states or frames of reference that govern the relationship between involvement and end‐user satisfaction. The discrepancy model indicates that studies of user involvement need to control for individual differences by dividing respondents into three groups corresponding to these conditional states.Building upon the discrepancy concept, this paper presents a congruence construct of user involvement (i.e., a measure of involvement “relative” to an individual's desire to get involved) as an alternative way of modeling this contingency relationship. The reliability and validity of the involvement congruence construct are assessed. Perceived and congruence constructs of involvement are compared as predictors of end‐user computing satisfaction. The results suggest that involvement congruence is a better predictor than perceived involvement and may offer theoretical as well as empirical advantages over the use of component measures. Furthermore, the congruence method of modeling the discrepancy effect has research design advantages (i.e., it does not require dividing respondents by frame of reference).
Producer's and Consumer's Risk When Proportion Defective Is a Random Variable
Authors: Graves Samuel B. , Ringuest Jeffrey L. 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTIn acceptance sampling, producer's and consumer's risk are traditionally based on assumed fixed values of p, the proportion of the lot which is defective. A more useful definition of producer's risk would be the probability of rejecting a lot in which the proportion defective falls within some range of acceptable values. Similarly, a more useful definition of consumer's risk would be the probability of accepting a lot in which the proportion defective falls within some range of unacceptable values. In this paper, we construct measures of these more useful definitions of risk by assuming that p follows either a uniform or triangular probability distribution. The proposed measure yields consumer's risk values, β', which are smaller than the traditionally computed values by a factor of up to twenty times. The proposed measure of producer's risk, α', gives values smaller than traditional values by a factor of two to four times. Decision makers who adopt the proposed measures may be able to reduce sample sizes substantially while maintaining given risk levels.
Partitioning Work Centers for Group Technology: Insights from an Analytical Model*
Authors: Suresh Nallan C. 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTThis paper develops analytical approximations based on an M/M/c queuing model, for the operating characteristics of job shop work centers. The model is used to analyze the effects of partitioning a work center and introducing setup reduction into the cell components. The results using this model are shown to be consistent with the results of prior simulation‐based studies of group technology under certain parameter ranges. A simulation experiment was conducted to verify the effects with multi‐item, non‐Markovian assumptions, and the general effects predicted by the model were found to apply.
The Interaction Effects Between General Thinking Skills and an Interactive Graphics‐Based DSS to Support Problem Structuring*
Authors: Loy Stephen L. 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTAn interactive graphics‐based problem‐structuring aid, GISMO, based on concepts from structural modeling and motivated by research in imagery theory and cognitive psychology was incorporated into a decision support system. A laboratory experiment was conducted to investigate the relationships between three individual general thinking skills (GTS) and the effectiveness of the problem‐structuring tool. A theoretical model of the roles of GTS and GISMO in problem formulation and a methodology for testing the model are presented. The model posits that the effectiveness of visual problem‐structuring aids in formulating or understanding complex problems is influenced by specific cognitive skills (i.e., visual‐thinking, verbal, and logical‐reasoning skills).The results indicate GISMO use is related to higher levels of problem‐structure understanding, regardless of verbal and logical‐reasoning skills. Also, the results indicate a strong interaction effect between GISMO use and visual‐thinking skill. Subjects classified as high visual thinkers benefited more from the use of GISMO than the low visual‐thinking subjects. The results of the experiment lend support for the findings of a previous study of GISMO reported in the literature, and the image theorist view that the ability to create and use visual, mental images is related to better problem‐solving performance.
Master Scheduling in Assemble‐To‐Order Environments: A Capacitated Multiobjective Lot‐Sizing Model
Authors: Lewis Holly S. , Sweigart James R. , Markland Robert E. 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTBasic characteristics of an assemble‐to‐order environment make effective master scheduling extremely difficult. Limited resource capacities and dynamic customer end‐item demand contribute to the complexity of the master production scheduling problem. To gain flexibility and responsiveness within this system, the master production schedule (MPS) focuses at the component level. This research proposes a master scheduling technique for manufactured components which combines a multiobjective capacitated multi‐item/multi‐stage lot‐sizing model with an interactive multiple objective optimization solution procedure. To evaluate the model's performance as a realistic and practical master scheduling tool, this study focuses on the National Cash Register (NCR) electronics manufacturing facility in Columbia, South Carolina.
Dynamic Group Scheduling Heuristics in a Flow‐through Cell Environment*
Authors: Mahmoodi Farzad , Tierney Edward J. , Mosier Charles T. 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTThe increased use of cellular manufacturing configurations designed to grapple with increasing competitive pressures is providing manufacturing managers and engineers with a broad variety of operational challenges. Many questions concerning the best procedures and policies for the day‐to‐day operation of manufacturing cells are still unanswered. The primary objective of this study is to compare the performance of traditional single‐stage heuristics and the two‐stage group scheduling heuristics that have exhibited superior performance in previous studies in a flow‐through cell environment under a rigorous set of experimental conditions. Such a comparison is of great interest since each previous study has focused on proposing new heuristics and testing them against some particular baseline heuristic, often without comprehensive comparisons to the broad variety of previously proposed heuristics.Two single‐stage heuristics and four two‐stage heuristics are examined under sixteen experimental conditions (four experimental factors at two levels each). The experimental factors examined are shop load, due date tightness, setup to run‐time ratio, and interarrival time distribution. Results vary by experimental condition and performance criteria, but in general, two‐stage heuristics outperformed single‐stage heuristics under all experimental conditions, as well as being relatively insensitive to changing experimental conditions. In addition, two of the two‐stage heuristics displayed superior performance on all performance measures under most experimental conditions. Finally, the results indicated that interarrival time distribution does have a major impact on the performance of scheduling heuristics.
An Experimental Comparison of Dispatching Rules for Field Service Support*
Authors: Hill Arthur V. 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTField service repair management is increasing in importance as “high tech” machines such as computers, communication systems, and copy machines are becoming more popular and more widely disbursed geographically. Complicating the management of these systems are response time performance guarantees (e.g., 8‐hour response time), which are a popular marketing tool for many field service businesses [21]. These response time), guarantees especially complicate the field service dispatching problem. With response time guarantees, dispatchers must consider travel times and other issues to determine which call should be assigned to an available technician.This research proposes several dispatching rules that might be applied for dispatching sequential‐trip technicians in this environment and compares these rules in a simulation experiment to determine which rule is best in terms of average tardiness. The proposed composite travel time‐expiration time rule was found to be the best on average tardiness performance and on all other tardiness‐related measures. Given the increased importance of tardiness performance in field service organizations, the proposed composite rule appears to have promise.
A Decomposition Approximation for Periodic Kanban‐Controlled Flow Shops*
Authors: Berkley Blair J. 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTThe kanban system is a pull method of production control in which the material‐handling operation between two stations is initiated by the downstream station. Most often, because of limited transportation resources, the physical distance separating workstations, or other factors, the material‐handling operation is performed periodically. The number of withdrawal kanbans must be set large enough to satisfy production requirements over the period between occurrences of the material‐handling operation‐the withdrawal cycle time. This paper presents a decomposition approximation for kanban‐controlled flow shops that explicitly considers the withdrawal cycle time. Several examples are given to show how the approximation method can be used to determine the required number of kanbans, the required withdrawal cycle time, or both.
Master Production Scheduling Under Rolling Planning Horizons with Fixed Order Intervals
Authors: Campbell Gerard M. 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTFixed interval scheduling is studied in the context of a rolling horizon framework that is developed by building on previous work in the master scheduling area. The rolling horizon framework includes a stationary scheduling model which uses the “time fencing’concept by partitioning the planning horizon into three sections. The lengths of these sections and the frequency at which the stationary problem is updated and resolved are discussed as parameters of the rolling horizon model. Two different interpretations of the freeze interval parameter are examined, enabling confirmation and clarification of results presented in an earlier study. Details are given for three methods of calculating safety stocks as a function of rolling horizon parameters, including a method which results in optimal safety stock levels. A comparison of the safety stock methods shows that the constant safety stock method can result in inventories that are significantly above optimal under certain conditions, whereas the constant service level method consistently yields nearly optimal results.
Assembly Line Balancing with Resource Dependent Task Times*
Authors: Faaland Bruce H. , Klastorin Theodore D. , Schmitt Thomas G. , Shtub Avraham 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTPaced assembly lines are widely used in repetitive manufacturing applications. Most previous research on the design of paced lines has assumed that each task along the line can be performed by only one worker (or a fixed number of workers). In many cases, however, task duration times may be reduced by increasing the number of workers or changing the equipment assigned to work stations. Thus, the problem becomes one of assigning resource alternatives (e.g., workers and/or equipment) and tasks to work stations to minimize total cost for a desired production rate. For this problem, we present three procedures. The first formulates the problem as a shortest path problem and guarantees optimality. The second and third are heuristic adaptations of the shortest path procedure that are capable of solving large problems. The procedures are compared in terms of solution quality and computation time on a set of 128 randomly generated problems for which optimal solutions could be found. Our simulation results indicate that the choice of procedure depends on problem complexity and resource costs.
Setup Reduction in the Economic Production Quantity Model
Authors: Kim Seung Lae , Hayya Jack C. , Hong Jae‐Dong 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTWe present an analysis of setup cost reduction using the economic production quantity model. The objectives of the paper are to draw conclusions by investigating several classes of setup reduction functions and to provide a general solution procedure. We examine the trade‐offs between reduced inventories and increased capital investment and show that given any hypothetical setup cost reduction function, we can determine whether the total relevant cost can be reduced and how the reduction is achieved.
Fundamental Insights into Part Family Scheduling: The Single Machine Case
Authors: Wemmerlöv Urban 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTA simulation study was conducted to investigate the behavior of family scheduling procedures in a dynamic dispatching environment. Two scheduling rules that incorporate setup avoidance mechanisms (FCFS‐F and SPT‐F) and two that do not (FCFS and SPT) were applied to a single machine. The scheduling environment was varied by controlling several important factors: the machine utilization, the number of setup configurations (families), the size of the family setup times relative to the job run times, the frequency by which members of the part families were released for processing, and the distribution of job interarrival and job run times.The major results from the study are the following: (1) The degree of stability in the system is the most influential factor with respect to mean flow time and flow time variance. Under low variance service and interarrival time distributions, the impact of scheduling rule selection is minor. (2) Conversely, under unstable scheduling situations, family scheduling procedures can have a substantial impact. (3) Clear interaction effects are noticed between all factors. The environment most conducive to family scheduling is characterized by high resource utilization, low setup‐to‐run time ratio, few part families, and erratic job arrivals. (4) Under conditions favorable to family scheduling, setup avoiding procedures can be used to increase output while at the same time reduce the mean and variance of flow time. (5) The shortest processing time rule (SPT) performs well with respect to mean flow time when relative setup times are small. Overall, however, SPT‐F generates the lowest mean flow time while FCFS‐F produces the lowest flow time variance.This study shows that scheduling procedures that consider setups in their structure can outperform rules that do not under many different operating conditions. However, the magnitude of this advantage very much depends on the scheduling environment. The results also highlight the fact that it may be better to try to reshape the manufacturing environment than worry about selecting the correct scheduling rule. If the environment cannot be stabilized, then the choice of a setup avoiding procedure, allocation of families to machines, and setup reduction become important issues.
Heuristic Estimation of the Efficient Frontier for a Bi‐Criteria Scheduling Problem
Authors: De Prabuddha , Ghosh Jay B. , Wells Charles E. 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTWe examine a single‐machine scheduling problem where the objective is to minimize the mean and the variance of the job completion times simultaneously. We seek to identify the efficient frontier which is obtained by parametrically solving a weighted combination of the two criteria. The identification of the true efficient frontier for this problem is notoriously difficult. To estimate the frontier, we propose a heuristic procedure which is quite general and can be applied to other bi‐criteria problems as well. It involves repeated applications of a relatively new technique called beam search in an adaptive manner. To evaluate the proposed procedure, we introduce two measures of performance and conduct a computational study. The results of the study indicate that the procedure is highly effective.
Modelling the Telecommunication Pricing Decision
Authors: Brown Kate , Norgaard Richard 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTThe local telecommunication pricing decision on residential, business, and private lines is modeled. This study demonstrates that when regulators use a weighted sum linear goal programming model to determine prices, adjustments can be made to Ramsey prices that reflect the regulators’ concerns about the trade‐off of fairness with efficiency. An actual example shows that when regulators’ preferences were taken into account, residential prices were 14 percent lower than efficient optimal Ramsey prices.
Simultaneous Determination of Joint Product Cost Allocations and Cost‐Plus Prices*
Authors: Cheng C. S. Agnes , Liao Woody M. 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTUse of the net realizable value approach for joint manufacturing cost allocations requires knowledge of selling prices of joint products. However, joint product selling prices themselves are functions of the allocated costs under a cost‐plus pricing policy. In this case, it is necessary to determine joint cost allocations and joint product prices simultaneously. This paper applies a nonlinear programming (NLP) approach to simultaneously determine the optimal joint production decision, joint product cost‐plus prices, and joint cost allocations using the net realizable value method. The NLP solution provides not only the optimal joint production and pricing decisions, but also the necessary conditions for such optimal decisions.
Neural Networks: A New Tool for Predicting Thrift Failures*
Authors: Salchenberger Linda M. , Cinar E. Mine , Lash Nicholas A. 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTA neural network model that processes input data consisting of financial ratios is developed to predict the financial health of thrift institutions. The network's ability to discriminate between healthy and failed institutions is compared to a traditional statistical model. The differences and similarities in the two modelling approaches are discussed. The neural network, which uses the same financial data, requires fewer assumptions, achieves a higher degree of prediction accuracy, and is more robust.
Burn‐in Time and Estimation of Change‐Point with Weibull‐Exponential Mixture Distribution*
Authors: Chou Kuocheng , Tang Kwei 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTMany industrial products have three phases in their product lives: infant‐mortality, normal, and wear‐out phases. In the infant‐mortality phase, the failure rate is high, but decreasing; in the normal phase, the failure rate remains constant; and in the wear‐out phase, the failure rate is increasing. A burn‐in procedure may be used to reduce early failures before shipping a product to consumers. A cost model is formulated to find the optimal burn‐in time, which minimizes the expected sum of manufacturing cost, burn‐in cost, and warranty cost incurred by failed items found during the warranty period. A mixture of Weibull hyperexponential distribution with shape parameter less than one and exponential distribution is used to describe the infant‐mortality and the normal phases of the product life. The product under consideration can be either repairable or non‐repairable. When the change‐point of the product life distribution is unknown, it is estimated by using the maximum‐likelihood estimation method. The effects of sample size on estimation error and the performance of the model are studied, and a sensitivity analysis is performed to study the effects of several parameters of the W‐E distribution and costs on the optimal burn‐in time.
Management Policies to Improve the Effectiveness of Multi‐Station Service Organizations*
Authors: Clark Thomas D. , Hammond Donald H. , Cossick Kathy L. 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTA SLAM based simulation model of a multi‐station, tandem queuing structure characteristic of a variety of service systems is employed to test various design options for the system. The model is based on an extensive study of the State of Florida driver licensing offices. The multiple objectives of low time in the system for customers and the efficient use of personnel resources are employed to measure the benefits of policy options. The use of simulation analysis permits the incorporation of complex system characteristics, therefore providing a realistic representation of the effects of possible management actions. Effective methods to control labor in such systems are suggested.