Business Process Modeling, Simulation and Design, Third Edition provides students with a comprehensive coverage of a range of analytical tools used to model, analyze, understand, and ultimately design business processes. The new edition of this very successful textbook includes a wide range of approaches such as graphical flowcharting tools, cycle time and capacity analyses, queuing models, discrete-event simulation, simulation-optimization, and data mining for process analytics. While most textbooks on business process management either focus on the intricacies of computer simulation or managerial aspects of business processes, this textbook does both. It presents the tools to design business processes and management techniques on operating them efficiently. The book focuses on the use of discrete event simulation as the main tool for analyzing, modeling, and designing effective business processes. The integration of graphic user-friendly simulation software enables a systematic approach to create optimal designs.

The book Scatter Search by Manuel Laguna and Rafael Marti represents a long-awaited "missing link" in the literature of evolutionary methods. Scatter Search (SS)-together with its generalized form called Path Relinking-constitutes the only evolutionary approach that embraces a collection of principles from Tabu Search (TS), an approach popularly regarded to be divorced from evolutionary procedures. The TS perspective, which is responsible for introducing adaptive memory strategies into the metaheuristic literature (at purposeful level beyond simple inheritance mechanisms), may at first seem to be at odds with population-based approaches. Yet this perspective equips SS with a remarkably effective foundation for solving a wide range of practical problems. The successes documented by Scatter Search come not so much from the adoption of adaptive memory in the range of ways proposed in Tabu Search (except where, as often happens, SS is advantageously coupled with TS), but from the use of strategic ideas initially proposed for exploiting adaptive memory, which blend harmoniously with the structure of Scatter Search. From a historical perspective, the dedicated use of heuristic strategies both to guide the process of combining solutions and to enhance the quality of offspring has been heralded as a key innovation in evolutionary methods, giving rise to what are sometimes called "hybrid" (or "memetic") evolutionary procedures. The underlying processes have been introduced into the mainstream of evolutionary methods (such as genetic algorithms, for example) by a series of gradual steps beginning in the late 1980s.

Computing Tools for Modeling, Optimization and Simulation reflects the need for preserving the marriage between operations research and computing in order to create more efficient and powerful software tools in the years ahead. The 17 papers included in this volume were carefully selected to cover a wide range of topics related to the interface between operations research and computer science. The volume includes the now perennial applications of rnetaheuristics (such as genetic algorithms, scatter search, and tabu search) as well as research on global optimization, knowledge management, software rnaintainability and object-oriented modeling. These topics reflect the complexity and variety of the problems that current and future software tools must be capable of tackling. The OR/CS interface is frequently at the core of successful applications and the development of new methodologies, making the research in this book a relevant reference in the future. The editors' goal for this book has been to increase the interest in the interface of computer science and operations research. Both researchers and practitioners will benefit from this book. The tutorial papers may spark the interest of practitioners for developing and applying new techniques to complex problems. In addition, the book includes papers that explore new angles of well-established methods for problems in the area of nonlinear optimization and mixed integer programming, which seasoned researchers in these fields may find fascinating.

The evolutionary approach called scatter search originated from strategies for creating composite decision rules and surrogate constraints. Recent studies demonstrate the practical advantages of this approach for solving a diverse array of optimization problems from both classical and real world settings. Scatter search contrasts with other evolutionary procedures, such as genetic algorithms, by providing unifying principles for joining solutions based on generalized path constructions in Euclidean space and by utilizing strategic designs where other approaches resort to randomization. The book's goal is to provide the basic principles and fundamental ideas that will allow the readers to create successful applications of scatter search. The book includes the C source code of the methods introduced in each chapter.

From the Foreword:
Scatter Search represents a "missing link" in the literature of evolutionary methods... From a historical perspective, the dedicated use of heuristic strategies both to guide the process of combining solutions and to enhance the quality of offspring has been heralded as a key innovation in evolutionary methods, giving rise to what are sometimes called "hybrid" or ("memetic") evolutionary procedures. The underlying processes have been introduced into the mainstream of evolutionary methods (such as genetic algorithms, for example) by a series of gradual steps beginning in the late 1980s. Yet this theme is an integral part of the scatter search methodology proposed a decade earlier, and the form and scope of such heuristic strategies embedded in scatter search continue to set it apart. Although there are points in common between scatter search and other evolutionary approaches, principally as a result of changes that have brought other approaches closer to scatter search in recent years, there remain differences that have an important impact on practical outcomes. Reflecting this impact, a hallmark of the present book is its focus on practical problem solving. Laguna and Marti give the reader the tools to create scatter search implementations for problems from a wide range of settings. Although theoretical problems (such as abstract problems in graph theory) are included, beyond a doubt the practical realm has a predominant role in this book....'
Fred Glover, University of Colorado

Computing Tools for Modeling, Optimization and Simulation reflects the need for preserving the marriage between operations research and computing in order to create more efficient and powerful software tools in the years ahead. The 17 papers included in this volume were carefully selected to cover a wide range of topics related to the interface between operations research and computer science. The volume includes the now perennial applications of rnetaheuristics (such as genetic algorithms, scatter search, and tabu search) as well as research on global optimization, knowledge management, software rnaintainability and object-oriented modeling. These topics reflect the complexity and variety of the problems that current and future software tools must be capable of tackling. The OR/CS interface is frequently at the core of successful applications and the development of new methodologies, making the research in this book a relevant reference in the future. The editors' goal for this book has been to increase the interest in the interface of computer science and operations research. Both researchers and practitioners will benefit from this book. The tutorial papers may spark the interest of practitioners for developing and applying new techniques to complex problems. In addition, the book includes papers that explore new angles of well-established methods for problems in the area of nonlinear optimization and mixed integer programming, which seasoned researchers in these fields may find fascinating.

This book explores the meta-heuristics approach called tabu search, which is dramatically changing our ability to solve a host of problems that stretch over the realms of resource planning, telecommunications, VLSI design, financial analysis, scheduling, space planning, energy distribution, molecular engineering, logistics, pattern classification, flexible manufacturing, waste management, mineral exploration, biomedical analysis, environmental conservation and scores of other problems. The major ideas of tabu search are presented with examples that show their relevance to multiple applications. Numerous illustrations and diagrams are used to clarify principles that deserve emphasis, and that have not always been well understood or applied. The book's goal is to provide hands-on' knowledge and insight alike, rather than to focus exclusively either on computational recipes or on abstract themes. This book is designed to be useful and accessible to researchers and practitioners in management science, industrial engineering, economics, and computer science. It can appropriately be used as a textbook in a masters course or in a doctoral seminar. Because of its emphasis on presenting ideas through illustrations and diagrams, and on identifying associated practical applications, it can also be used as a supplementary text in upper division undergraduate courses. Finally, there are many more applications of tabu search than can possibly be covered in a single book, and new ones are emerging every day. The book's goal is to provide a grounding in the essential ideas of tabu search that will allow readers to create successful applications of their own. Along with the essential ideas, understanding of advanced issues is provided, enabling researchers to go beyond today's developments and create the methods of tomorrow.

This book explores the meta-heuristics approach called tabu search, which is dramatically changing our ability to solve a host of problems that stretch over the realms of resource planning, telecommunications, VLSI design, financial analysis, scheduling, space planning, energy distribution, molecular engineering, logistics, pattern classification, flexible manufacturing, waste management, mineral exploration, biomedical analysis, environmental conservation and scores of other problems. The major ideas of tabu search are presented with examples that show their relevance to multiple applications. Numerous illustrations and diagrams are used to clarify principles that deserve emphasis, and that have not always been well understood or applied. The book's goal is to provide hands-on' knowledge and insight alike, rather than to focus exclusively either on computational recipes or on abstract themes. This book is designed to be useful and accessible to researchers and practitioners in management science, industrial engineering, economics, and computer science. It can appropriately be used as a textbook in a masters course or in a doctoral seminar. Because of its emphasis on presenting ideas through illustrations and diagrams, and on identifying associated practical applications, it can also be used as a supplementary text in upper division undergraduate courses. Finally, there are many more applications of tabu search than can possibly be covered in a single book, and new ones are emerging every day. The book's goal is to provide a grounding in the essential ideas of tabu search that will allow readers to create successful applications of their own. Along with the essential ideas, understanding of advanced issues is provided, enabling researchers to go beyond today's developments and create the methods of tomorrow.

Business Process Modeling, Simulation and Design, Third Edition provides students with a comprehensive coverage of a range of analytical tools used to model, analyze, understand, and ultimately design business processes. The new edition of this very successful textbook includes a wide range of approaches such as graphical flowcharting tools, cycle time and capacity analyses, queuing models, discrete-event simulation, simulation-optimization, and data mining for process analytics. While most textbooks on business process management either focus on the intricacies of computer simulation or managerial aspects of business processes, this textbook does both. It presents the tools to design business processes and management techniques on operating them efficiently. The book focuses on the use of discrete event simulation as the main tool for analyzing, modeling, and designing effective business processes. The integration of graphic user-friendly simulation software enables a systematic approach to create optimal designs.

This essential metaheuristics tutorial provides descriptions and practical applications in the area of business analytics. It addresses key problems in predictive and prescriptive analysis, while also illustrating how problems that arise in business analytics can be modelled and how metaheuristics can be used to find high-quality solutions. Readers will be introduced to decision-making problems for which metaheuristics offer the most effective solution technique. The book not only shows business problem modelling on a spreadsheet but also how to design and create a Visual Basic for Applications code. Extra Material can be downloaded at http://extras.springer.com/978-3-319-68117-7.