Transformations of node‐balanced routing problems

This article describes a polynomial transformation for a class of unit‐demand vehicle routing problems, named node‐balanced routing problems (BRP), where the number of nodes on each route is restricted to be in an interval such that the workload across the routes is balanced. The transformation is general in that it can be applied to single or multiple depot, homogeneous or heterogeneous fleet BRPs, and any combination thereof. At the heart of the procedure lies transforming the BRP into a generalized traveling salesman problem (TSP), which can then be transformed into a TSP. The transformed graph exhibits special properties which can be exploited to significantly reduce the number of arcs, and used to construct a formulation for the resulting TSP that amounts to no more than that of a constrained assignment problem. Computational results on a number of instances are presented. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 62: 370–387, 2015     

延安新区压实Q_2黄土增减湿高压压缩变形特性

为研究压实Q2黄土在高压力条件下的增减湿高压压缩变形特性,采用DGD系列型高压固结仪分别对不同初始压实度和不同初始含水率条件下的压实Q2黄土试样进行高压压缩试验,分析压实Q2黄土压缩变形特性随初始压实度和初始含水率的变化规律;运用不同方法对压缩试验成果进行整理,分析侧限条件下压实Q2黄土应力应变关系特点。结果表明:压实Q2黄土的压缩变形特性受初始压实度和初始含水率的影响较大,在最大压实度和最优含水率处的压缩变形量最小;初始压实度不同,拟合压实Q2黄土应力应变关系曲线的函数也不同,在较低初始压实度条件下,用双曲线拟合效果较好,此时割线模量与应力呈线性关系,在较高初始压实度条件下,用幂函数拟合效果更好。     

基于改进粒子群优化算法的微电网孤岛选址定容

分析了在重要孤立系统中采用微电网供电的必要性,在此基础上提出了采用由非支配排序法和拥挤距离排序法改进的粒子群算法进行微电网选址定容,其目的是改进多目标微电网规划问题的优化结果。通过改进算法与基本算法算例结果的对比分析,验证了改进算法在求解孤岛选址定容问题上具有较强的寻优能力、较高的收敛精度和较稳定的最优解,为进一步研究微电网孤岛选址定容问题提供了思路。     

A note on the forecast performance of temporal aggregation

Earlier research on the effects of nonoverlapping temporal aggregation on demand forecasting showed the benefits associated with such an approach under a stationary AR(1) or MA(1) processes for decision making conducted at the disaggregate level. The first objective of this note is to extend those important results by considering a more general underlying demand process. The second objective is to assess the conditions under which aggregation may be a preferable approach for improving decision making at the aggregate level as well. We confirm the validity of previous results under more general conditions, and we show the increased benefit resulting from forecasting by temporal aggregation at lower frequency time units. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 61: 489–500, 2014     

Lot streaming with supplier–manufacturer coordination

Lot splitting refers to breaking a production lot into smaller sublots during production. Coordinating lot splitting decisions across multiple stages of a production process is a challenging task. Traditional lot splitting and lot streaming models implicitly assume that the entire system is operated and owned by the same firm, or there exists a coordinator who controls the operation of all machines in the system. In this paper, we consider the situation where the machines in a multiple‐stage production process are owned and managed by different companies. Every item in a given production lot has to go through the processing by the supplier's machine, followed by the manufacturer's machine, and so on. We develop and analyze coordination mechanisms that enable different parties in the supply chain to coordinate their lot splitting decisions so as to achieve a systemwide optimum. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2004     

Group testing procedures with quantitative features and incomplete identification

We present a group testing model for items characterized by marker random variables. An item is defined to be good (defective) if its marker is below (above) a given threshold. The items can be tested in groups; the goal is to obtain a prespecified number of good items by testing them in optimally sized groups. Besides this group size, the controller has to select a threshold value for the group marker sums, and the target number of groups which by the tests are classified to consist only of good items. These decision variables have to be chosen so as to minimize a cost function, which is a linear combination of the expected number of group tests and an expected penalty for missing the desired number of good items, subject to constraints on the probabilities of misclassifications. We treat two models of this kind: the first one is based on an infinite population size, whereas the second one deals with the case of a finite number of available items. All performance measures are derived in closed form; approximations are also given. Furthermore, we prove monotonicity properties of the components of the objective function and of the constraints. In several examples, we study (i) the dependence of the cost function on the decision variables and (ii) the dependence of the optimal values of the decision variables (group size, group marker threshold, and stopping rule for groups classified as clean) and of the target functionals (optimal expected number of tests, optimal expected penalty, and minimal expected cost) on the system parameters.© 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2011     

Evaluating cost and reliability integrated performance of stochastic logistics systems

The significance of integrating reliability into logistics performance has been established [The Logistics Performance Index and Its Indicators, World Bank International Trade and Transport Departments, (2010)]. Hence, as a response to the work by the World Bank, the present article aims to evaluate the performance index R_b,d of logistics systems as the probability that a specified demand d can be distributed successfully through multistate arc capacities from the source to the destination under the constraint that the total distribution cost should not exceed the cost limitation b. This article provides a pioneering approach for a straightforward computation of the performance index R_b,d. The proposed algorithm is a hybrid between the polynomial time capacity‐scaling algorithm, which was presented by Edmonds and Karp [JACM 19 (1972)], and the decomposition algorithm, which was presented by Jane and Laih [IEEE (2008)]. Currently, the proposed approach is the only algorithm that can directly compute R_b,d. An illustration of the proposed algorithm is presented. The results of the computational experiments indicate that the presented algorithm outperforms existing algorithms. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2012     

Service design at diagnostic service centers

We study a service design problem in diagnostic service centers, call centers that provide medical advice to patients over the phone about what the appropriate course of action is, based on the caller's symptoms. Due to the tension between increased diagnostic accuracy and the increase in waiting times more in‐depth service requires, managers face a difficult decision in determining the optimal service depth to guide the diagnostic process. The specific problem we consider models the situation when the capacity (staffing level) at the center is fixed, and when the callers have both congestion‐ and noncongestion‐related costs relating to their call. We develop a queueing model incorporating these features and find that the optimal service depth can take one of two different structures, depending on factors such as the nurses' skill level and the maximum potential demand. Sensitivity analyses of the two optimal structures show that they are quite different. In some situations, it may (or may not) be optimal for the manager to try to expand the demand at the center, and increasing skill level may (or may not) increase congestion. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2012     

Inventory pooling games for expensive,low‐demand spare parts

We consider several independent decision makers who stock expensive, low‐demand spare parts for their high‐tech machines. They can collaborate by full pooling of their inventories via free transshipments. We examine the stability of such pooling arrangements, and we address the issue of fairly distributing the collective holding and downtime costs over the participants, by applying concepts from cooperative game theory. We consider two settings: one where each party maintains a predetermined stocking level and one where base stock levels are optimized. For the setting with fixed stocking levels, we unravel the possibly conflicting effects of implementing a full pooling arrangement and study these effects separately to establish intuitive conditions for existence of a stable cost allocation. For the setting with optimized stocking levels, we provide a simple proportional rule that accomplishes a population monotonic allocation scheme if downtime costs are symmetric among participants. Although our whole analysis is motivated by spare parts applications, all results are also applicable to other pooled resource systems of which the steady‐state behavior is equivalent to that of an Erlang loss system. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2012     

军校开展创先争优活动的几点思考

发挥创先争优的推动作用不断提高院校人才培养质量,必须着眼军队院校科学发展,把坚持办学育人正确方向作为创先争优的根本要求;着眼有效履行职能使命,把培养高素质新型军事人才作为创先争优的重要目标;着眼弘扬我军优良作风,把培育当代革命军人核心价值现作为创先争优的重要内容;着眼坚强党的基层组织,把解决党支部建设存在的突出问题作为创先争优的着力点.