Identifying and customizing suitable control strategies is a challenging task, especially when production systems have to cope with variable demands, forecast error, and unstable processes. The focus of this book lies on helping companies with complex and discrete production systems to tailor a production control strategy to their needs. Thereby, the mutual merits of "push" and "pull" systems are taken into account, leading to hybrid strategies. Consequently, the book addresses practitioners who are interested in looking behind the scenes and into the physics of production control. A real-life case study demonstrates the practical applicability of the presented framework.

This book is the first in the literature to present the state of the art and some interesting and relevant applications of the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP). The AHP is a conceptually and mathematically simple, easily implementable, yet extremely powerful tool for group decision making and is used around the world in a wide variety of decision situations, in fields such as government, business, industry, healthcare, and education. The aim of this book is to study various fuzzy methods for dealing with the imprecise and ambiguous data in AHP. Features: First book available on FAHP. Showcases state-of-the-art developments. Contains several novel real-life applications. Provides useful insights to both academics and practitioners in making group decisions under uncertainty This book provides the necessary background to work with existing fuzzy AHP models. Once the material in this book has been mastered, the reader will be able to apply fuzzy AHP models to his or her problems for making decisions with imprecise data.

This is the first book to present the fundamentals of nonlinear and mixed-integer optimization. It includes their applications in the important area of process synthesis in chemical engineering. Topics that are unique include the theory and methods for mixed-integer nonlinear optimization. introduction to modelling issues in process synthesis and optimization based approaches in the synthesis and of heat recovery of systems, distillation-based systems, and reactor-based systems. As well as an ideal graduate text this book is designed as a reference for any engineering student or researcher.

In today's developing world, international trade is a field that is rapidly growing. Within this economic market, traders need to implement new approaches in order to satisfy consumers' rising demands. Due to the high level of competition, merchants have focused on developing new transportation and logistics strategies. In order to execute effective transportation tactics, decision makers need to know the fundamentals, current developments, and future trends of intercontinental transportation. The Handbook of Research on the Applications of International Transportation and Logistics for World Trade provides emerging research exploring the effective and productive solutions to global transportation and logistics by applying fundamental and in-depth knowledge together with current applications and future aspects. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as international regulations, inventory management, and distribution networks, this book is ideally designed for logistics authorities, trading companies, logistics operators, transportation specialists, government officials, managers, policymakers, researchers, academicians, and students.

This book provides an understanding of the concept of marketing and its role in business and public organization including the need for scientific marketing analysis. It includes a variety of mathematical models applied for better decision making, promotional decisions in the presence of competition, and sales forecasting using an Operational Research (OR) approach. The book also provides a platform to academicians, practitioners, and researchers to gain understanding of marketing management concepts from an OR perspective. This book offers relevant, international perspectives on techniques for market assessment under one canopy. It will be helpful for those who want to gain insight into understanding the managerial aspects from an OR analyst point of view and is a collaboration that contains plenty of related and valuable techniques used in real-life problems faced by industries.

This book will cover heuristic optimization techniques and applications in engineering problems. The book will be divided into three sections that will provide coverage of the techniques, which can be employed by engineers, researchers, and manufacturing industries, to improve their productivity with the sole motive of socio-economic development. This will be the first book in the category of heuristic techniques with relevance to engineering problems and achieving optimal solutions. Features Explains the concept of optimization and the relevance of using heuristic techniques for optimal solutions in engineering problems Illustrates the various heuristics techniques Describes evolutionary heuristic techniques like genetic algorithm and particle swarm optimization Contains natural based techniques like ant colony optimization, bee algorithm, firefly optimization, and cuckoo search Offers sample problems and their optimization, using various heuristic techniques

The progress of science and technology has placed Queueing Theory among the most popular disciplines in applied mathematics, operations research, and engineering. Although queueing has been on the scientific market since the beginning of this century, it is still rapidly expanding by capturing new areas in technology. Advances in Queueing provides a comprehensive overview of problems in this enormous area of science and focuses on the most significant methods recently developed. Written by a team of 24 eminent scientists, the book examines stochastic, analytic, and generic methods such as approximations, estimates and bounds, and simulation. The first chapter presents an overview of classical queueing methods from the birth of queues to the seventies. It also contains the most comprehensive bibliography of books on queueing and telecommunications to date. Each of the following chapters surveys recent methods applied to classes of queueing systems and networks followed by a discussion of open problems and future research directions. Advances in Queueing is a practical reference that allows the reader quick access to the latest methods.

Originally published in 1970. Management consultants in the United Kingdom are often accused of cloaking their activities in secrecy. The confidential nature of consulting work often precludes the publication of case examples and it is only occasionally that press reports appear summarizing particular studies. Consulting firms, however, are in the unique position of gaining experience over the whole range of industry, commerce and government, and consequently have a full opportunity for spear-heading new developments and gathering technical know-how of wide value to managers. Science in Management outlines the methods used by a consulting firm specializing in operational research and computer science and describes numerous case examples taken from a wide range of industries and from the public sector. These examples cover tactical problems, problems which overlap functional boundaries within a company and a few major projects of a strategic nature. The aim of the twenty contributors has been to explain in relatively simple terms, some of the more important techniques and to illustrate by practical examples, the wide scope of the management science approach at all problem levels. The book will be helpful to all those seeking to apply science in management. It is written primarily for managers and those studying modern management methods, but parts of the book will be of interest to specialists as well.

This book provides guidelines for obtaining research and development (RD) results of a consistent and known quality. The approaches discussed here have been developed for an industrial research center engaged in RD to support operating divisions of the parent corporation.

Recognized as a "Recommended" title by Choice for their April 2021 issue. Choice is a publishing unit at the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACR&L), a division of the American Library Association. Choice has been the acknowledged leader in the provision of objective, high-quality evaluations of nonfiction academic writing. Metaheuristic optimization is a higher-level procedure or heuristic designed to find, generate, or select a heuristic (partial search algorithm) that may provide a sufficiently good solution to an optimization problem, especially with incomplete or imperfect information or limited computation capacity. This is usually applied when two or more objectives are to be optimized simultaneously. This book is presented with two major objectives. Firstly, it features chapters by eminent researchers in the field providing the readers about the current status of the subject. Secondly, algorithm-based optimization or advanced optimization techniques, which are applied to mostly non-engineering problems, are applied to engineering problems. This book will also serve as an aid to both research and industry. Usage of these methodologies would enable the improvement in engineering and manufacturing technology and support an organization in this era of low product life cycle. Features: Covers the application of recent and new algorithms Focuses on the development aspects such as including surrogate modeling, parallelization, game theory, and hybridization Presents the advances of engineering applications for both single-objective and multi-objective optimization problems Offers recent developments from a variety of engineering fields Discusses Optimization using Evolutionary Algorithms and Metaheuristics applications in engineering

This cross-disciplinary business book develops insight into the management of businesses operating in various economic sectors that take a proactive approach to the triple dimension of sustainability (economic, social and environmental), positioning itself as a key reference for both academics and practitioners in the wide area of business management. The concept of sustainability is today at the heart of international policies and debate, and plays a key role in deep changes to the organizational models of companies operating in a wide range of sectors of economic activity. In particular, this book aims to gain a deeper understanding of how stakeholder engagement can contribute to value co-creation both in the company and along the supply chain, and what distinguishes the differing involvement of stakeholders, in particular between public involvement and stakeholder participation. Each chapter of this book presents different modalities of stakeholder involvement and develops the concept of value co-creation from organizational and marketing perspectives. This book is recommended reading for those interested in the fields of stakeholder engagement and theory, sustainability, business studies, and sustainable development.

Contents:
1. Research Skills and How to Acquire Them 2. What is Research? 3. Ways of Knowing 4. Problem Fields 5. Problem Identification 6. Research Ethics 7. Research Strategies: The Experiment and Survey 8. Research Strategies: The Case-Study, Ethnography and Action Research 9. Data Construction by Asking Questions 10. Data Construction by Making Observations 11. Data Construction by Using Documents and Records 12. Data Analysis and Interpretation 13. Writing and Publication

Contents:
1. Research Skills and How to Acquire Them 2. What is Research? 3. Ways of Knowing 4. Problem Fields 5. Problem Identification 6. Research Ethics 7. Research Strategies: The Experiment and Survey 8. Research Strategies: The Case-Study, Ethnography and Action Research 9. Data Construction by Asking Questions 10. Data Construction by Making Observations 11. Data Construction by Using Documents and Records 12. Data Analysis and Interpretation 13. Writing and Publication

This title offers a fast track route to mastering global operations. It covers the key areas of international marketing and distribution, logistics, import/export compliance and government regulations. It includes examples and lessons from some of the world's most successful businesses, including Nortel Networks, Terranova Forest Products and Ampro Electronics, and ideas from the smartest thinkers, including Adrian Wooldridge, Christopher Bartlett, Sumantra Ghoshal and John Micklethwait. It also includes a glossary of key concepts and a comprehensive resources guide.

As the world's third-ranking economic power, Japan's style of management, such as the lifetime employment system, the seniority system, and an enterprise union, has been well studied. However, little else is known about the Japanese management control systems (MCSs) and management accounting systems, which are significantly different from other economic powers. This book sheds light on Japanese MCSs and the differences with those of the United States, illustrated with examples from Mitsubishi Electric, Kao, and more. This book aids not only researchers in management accounting, but also provides more useful insight for international investors and management accountants that can prove useful in business management.

While return-on-investment measurement programs have gained wide accep tance and popularity over the last few years, two key components to su ccessful program evaluation are often neglected: learning and performa nce evaluation. This book provides a step-by-step approach for develo ping learning and performance measures and a method for analyzing and reporting results. The easy to use format serves as a quick referencey featuring the necessary checklists to evaluate the situation and tools for immediate application in a number of organizational settingsysale s, leadership, and technical. It will prove an invaluable resource for anyone involved in training, HRD, human resource measurement and eval uation, and performance improvement.

Series Information:
Routledge Studies in Human Resource Development

With contributions from some of the world's leading practitioners in the field, this volume draws together contemporary experience in the application of technology to distributed learning. It offers an appraisal of the strategies and processes for managing change in open and distance learning and presents a progressive vision for all those involved in this widespread discipline. It can be used as a guide for those implementing Web-based learning.

This book covers the issues related to optimization of engineering and management problems using soft computing techniques with an industrial outlook. It covers a broad area related to real life complex decision making problems using a heuristics approach. It also explores a wide perspective and future directions in industrial engineering research on a global platform/scenario. The book highlights the concept of optimization, presents various soft computing techniques, offers sample problems, and discusses related software programs complete with illustrations. Features Explains the concept of optimization and relevance to soft computing techniques towards optimal solution in engineering and management Presents various soft computing techniques Offers problems and their optimization using various soft computing techniques Discusses related software programs, with illustrations Provides a step-by-step tutorial on how to handle relevant software for obtaining the optimal solution to various engineering problems

This book examines the implications of new trends of globalisation in corporate research and development. It looks in particular at aspects of integration in developing countries and the impact this will have on the host countries.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203160533

Students with diverse backgrounds will face a multitude of decisions in a variety of engineering, scientific, industrial, and financial settings. They will need to know how to identify problems that the methods of operations research (OR) can solve, how to structure the problems into standard mathematical models, and finally how to apply or develop computational tools to solve the problems.

Perfect for any one-semester course in OR, Operations Research: A Practical Introduction answers all of these needs. In addition to providing a practical introduction and guide to using OR techniques, it includes a timely examination of innovative methods and practical issues related to the development and use of computer implementations. It provides a sound introduction to the mathematical models relevant to OR and illustrates the effective use of OR techniques with examples drawn from industrial, computing, engineering, and business applications

Many students will take only one course in the techniques of Operations Research. Operations Research: A Practical Introduction offers them the greatest benefit from that course through a broad survey of the techniques and tools available for quantitative decision making. It will also encourage other students to pursue more advanced studies and provides you a concise, well-structured, vehicle for delivering the best possible overview of the discipline.

Organizations increasingly use temporary designs. Many temporary organizations are assembled by "mixing and matching" building blocks from static, bureaucratic, parent organizations into a temporary configuration. At the same time, such "mixed and matched" temporary organizations often operate under difficult and dangerous circumstances. During operations, these temporary organizations can experience numerous internal problems: ranging from friendly fire in a military context to budget and time issues in construction projects and problematic coordination in a crisis management context. This book develops insight into the relationship between a "mixing and matching" temporary design strategy and operational problems. To so do, military and crisis management contexts are systematically studied from a sociotechnical design perspective that emphasizes self-organization to develop organizational controllability. Operating Under High-Risk Conditions in Temporary Organizations demonstrates that a "mixing and matching" design strategy can be related to system failure. Furthermore, it is shown that a process of self-design emerged in which operators attempted to create ad-hoc networks for meaningful, safe and controllable operations. The analyses result in a model that shows mechanisms between characteristics of organizational design and controllability of operations. Not only does this model have relevance to the military and crisis management contexts, relevance is also demonstrated for a broader family of temporary organizations and application of sociotechnical network design theory.

A complete guide for turning a relocation plan into a reality
The Office Relocation Sourcebook provides relocation teams, at firms of all sizes, with the background information and practical guidance they need to pull off a relocation project cost-effectively and with a minimum of disruption to the employees being moved. Written by the head of the Human Factors Group at Exxon Biomedical Sciences, Inc., this valuable resource:
* Arms you with all the forms, checklists, surveys, and summaries guaranteed to make any office relocation project as painless and cost-efficient as possible
* Guides you step by step through the entire relocation process, from the initial planning stages to post-project evaluation
* Covers both the nuts-and-bolts issues and crucial human factors side of the relocation equation
* Features a computer disk packed with valuable relocation tools, including a comprehensive relocation template

Take the sting out of your next relocation project with The Office Relocation Sourcebook.
Office relocation is one of the most challenging aspects of a facility professional's job. This challenge and the thrill of meeting it are even greater for members of the relocation team who have had little or no prior relocation experience. To begin with, there are the thousand and one logistical details that go into the designing, planning, and implementation of a relocation project. Then, there is the seemingly impossible task of keeping affected employees happy and supplied with everything they need to perform their jobs--without running into massive cost overruns.
The Office Relocation Sourcebook takes the sting out of relocation. Written by an author with twenty-five years' experience in facility management and human factors design, this valuable resource provides all the background information and practical guidance needed to pull off a cost-effective relocation project with a minimum of disruption. These methods and techniques are appropriate for firms of any size, regardless of the number of employees being relocated.
Writing in a warm, conversational style, peppered with handy checklists, summaries, and survey tools, Dennis Attwood guides you step by step through the entire relocation process, from the initial planning stages to post-project evaluation. He provides coverage of nuts-and-bolts issues through the human factors side of the relocation equation. For instance, Attwood explores workers' reasons for resisting relocation and describes innovative communication techniques that can substantially reduce employee resistance and the common adverse side effects of disrupting the workplace. In his discussion of work system planning, he compares traditional design arrangements, such as the neighborhood and team concepts, with alternative workplace strategies, including reuse of existing office space, and the office outside of the company.
The enclosed disk supplies a variety of useful tools and, in addition to the forms and checklists found in the book, arms you with a valuable relocation template.
Make your next office relocation project a success with The Office Relocation Sourcebook.

The importance of automation in the various industries has increased dramatically in recent years; business process automation serves to enhance product quality, improve process safety and plant availability, and efficiently utilize resources and lower emissions. With almost every industry facing sweeping and unprecedented change, Process Automation Strategy in Services, Manufacturing and Construction responds to a rapid pace of transformation that is both a major challenge and a fantastic opportunity. Customers' expectations grow higher, economic pressures require them to do more with less, and each day new competitors appear. Examining case studies and examples of robotic process automation (RPA) across a range of industries and sectors, the authors explore the links between customer satisfaction and organizational performance, and how automation improves service for the end user. Appealing to business researchers, academics and practitioners, Process Automation Strategy in Services, Manufacturing and Construction brings to life the current trends in process automation and considers what the future holds.

There was much development of both education and industry in post-World War II Britain. There was, on the one hand, an extension of public education to the secondary school stage and the substantial financial help that was available, which meant that increasing numbers were going to university. On the other, there had been immense advances in scientific and technical knowledge and its application to industry. These advances in industry produced an increase in the demand for trained graduates. This book, first published in 1957, examines this correlation, and provides guidance for both graduates and hiring managers. This title will be of interest to students of human resource management and business studies.