Inducing coordination in supply chains through linear reward schemes

Decentralized decision‐making in supply chain management is quite common, and often inevitable, due to the magnitude of the chain, its geographical dispersion, and the number of agents that play a role in it. But, decentralized decision‐making is known to result in inefficient Nash equilibrium outcomes, and optimal outcomes that maximize the sum of the utilities of all agents need not be Nash equilibria. In this paper we demonstrate through several examples of supply chain models how linear reward/penalty schemes can be implemented so that a given optimal solution becomes a Nash equilibrium. The examples represent both vertical and horizontal coordination issues. The techniques we employ build on a general framework for the use of linear reward/penalty schemes to induce stability in given optimal solutions and should be useful to other multi‐agent operations management settings. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2006     

Using real options analysis to value reoptimization options in the shifting bottleneck heuristic

The reoptimization procedure within the shifting bottleneck (SB) involves reevaluation of all previously scheduled toolgroup subproblems at each iteration of the SB heuristic. A real options analysis (ROA) model is developed to value the option to reoptimize in the SB heuristic, such that reoptimization only occurs when it is most likely to lead to a schedule with a lower objective function. To date, all ROA models have sought to value options financially (i.e., in terms of monetary value). The ROA model developed in this paper is completely original in that it has absolutely no monetary basis. The ROA methodologies presented are shown to greatly outperform both full and no reoptimization approaches with respect to both computation time and total weighted tardiness. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2006     

海战场态势评估问题的研究

对海战场综合态势进行态势评估和威胁分析是信息融合系统的最高层级,态势评估结果将对指挥员的指挥决策起到非常重要的作用。根据海军作战理论分析了海战场态势的表示方法,并基于模板方法设计了一种战场当前态势与模板数据库中态势进行匹配的算法。该算法特别适用于高层推理如态势或威胁评估。     

Economic design of X¯ control charts for two manufacturing process models

Control charts are widely used for process surveillance. The design of a control chart refers to the choice of sample size, the width of the control limits, and the interval between samples. Economic designs have been widely investigated and shown to be an effective method of determining control chart parameters. This article describes two different manufacturing process models to which the X¯ control chart is applied: The first model assumes that the process continues in operation while searches for the assignable cause are made, and the second assumes that the process must be shut down during the search. Economic models of the control chart for these two manufacturing process models are developed, and the sensitivity of the control chart parameters to the choice of model is explored. It is shown that the choice of the proper manufacturing process model is critical because selection of an inappropriate process model may result in significant economic penalties.     

On the isbell and marlow fire programming problem

A complete solution is derived to the Isbell and Marlow fire programming problem. The original work of Isbell and Marlow has been extended by determining the regions of the initial state space from which optimal paths lead to each of the terminal states of combat. The solution process has involved determining the domain of controllability for each of the terminal states of combat and the determination of dispersal surfaces. This solution process suggests a solution procedure applicable to a wider class of tactical allocation problems, terminal control attrition differential games. The structure of optimal target engagement policies in “fights to the finish” is discussed.     

The discrete max-min problem

The historic max-min problem is examined as a discrete process rather than in its more usual continuous mode. Since the practical application of the max-min model usually involves discrete objects such as ballistic missiles, the discrete formulation of the problem seems quite appropriate. This paper uses an illegal modification to the dynamic programming process to obtain an upper bound to the max-min value. Then a second but legal application of dynamic programming to the minimization part of the problem for a fixed maximizing vector will give a lower bound to the max-min value. Concepts of optimal stopping rules may be applied to indicate when sufficiently near optimal solutions have been obtained.     

A maximum utility solution to a vehicle constrained tanker scheduling problem

A modification to the Dantzig and Fulkerson Tanker Scheduling Problem is described. An insufficient number of vehicles and a utility associated with each vehicle delivery are assumed. The new problem is shown to be equivalent to a Transshipment Problem, the solution of which is the same as the maximal utility solution of the modified Tanker Scheduling Problem. An example is given.     

Simulations to explore alternative sequencing rules

A flexible simulation system has been designed to permit investigation of sequencing rules in a large job shop, with continual input of new work. The objective is to understand what happens rather than to find optimum rules, with many conflicting measures of effectiveness: work in process, finished goods investment, delays, machine and labor utilization, and effort to implement. A few problem areas have been explored.     

Suboptimal algorithms for the quadratic assignment problem

The idea of combining relatively simple continuous methods with discrete procedures is used for the construction of suboptimal algorithms for quadratic assignment problems. Depending on the nature of the special problem these steps may vary in complexity. The simplest procedures require minimum storage space and result in tolerable computation times. Different choices of parameters and random variations may be used in order to obtain statistical distributions of suboptimal solutions. Computational results for sample problems indicate improvements on results of Steinberg, Gilmore, and Hillier and Connors.