A partitioning technique for obtaining solutions to the modularization problem

A significant problem in electronic system design is that of partitioning the functional elements of an equipment schematic into subsets which may be regarded as modules. The collection of all such subsets generated by a particular partitioning forms a potential modular design. The specific problem is to determine that partitioning of the schematic that minimizes a cost function defined on the subsets subject to specified hardware, design, packaging, and inventory constraints. This problem is termed the modularization problem. This paper presents a method for obtaining restricted solutions to the modularization problem by employing some recent developments in linear graph theory obtained by one of the coauthors. Numerical results from the solution of several typical problems are presented.     

An efficient heuristic procedure for the uncapacitated warehouse location problem

This paper introduces an efficient heuristic procedure for a special class of mixed integer programming problems called the uncapacitated warehouse (plant) location problem. This procedure is derived from the branching decision rules proposed for the branch and bound algorithm by the author in an earlier paper. It can be viewed as tracing a single path of the branch and bound tree (from the initial node to the terminal node), the path being determined by the particular branching decision rule used. Unlike branch and bound the computational efficiency of this procedure is substantially less than linearly related to the number of potential warehouse locations (integer variables) in the problem. Its computational efficiency is tested on problems found in the literature.     

Further light on nonparametric selection efficiency

A nonparametric selection procedure ??bs was proposed by Bechhofer and Sobel (1958) and studied by Dudewicz (1971) in comparison with other procedures under normal and uniform alternatives. He found ??BS always required larger sample sizes, sometimes substantially so. For 2-point populations we find more extreme results. We also find that ??BS may be substantially better than reasonable competitors designed specifically for 2-point populations. Finally, a new nonparametric selection procedure (conjectured to be better than ??BS) is proposed.     

Discounted production scheduling and employment smoothing

We consider the problem of minimizing the sum of production, employment smoothing, and inventory costs over a finite number of time periods where demands are known. The fundamental difference between our model and that treated in [1] is that here we permit the smoothing cost to be nonstationary, thereby admitting a model with discounting. We show that the values of the instrumental variables are nondecreasing in time when demands are nondecreasing. We also derive some asymptotic properties of optimal policies.     

Economic impact and the notion of compensated procurement

The paper consists essentially of two parts. In the first part a linear economic impact model is presented whose structure is based on subcontracting flows. The structural coefficients are defined in terms of flows per area. The model is derived from two identities that are analogous to the income and expenditure identities of national income accounting. The parameters are prime contracts and when one or several of the prime contracts are changed, the model determines the impacts of such changes on the various regions that have been selected. The impacts can be combined with regional multipliers to derive changes in regional income and regional employment. Fragmentary data for this kind of model have been collected on a one-time basis by DOD in 1965 and some results based on the data are presented. The second part of the paper is concerned with normative economics. A scheme is suggested, called compensated procurement, that outlines how the Department of Defense might employ the impact model in a macroeconomic setting. The basic idea is that a stabilization fund be established to finance an array of potential projects which are contracted for to balance sudden shifts in defense demand. Only short-run stabilization is advocated.