A comparative study of demand forecasting techniques for military helicopter spare parts

This paper deals with techniques applicable to predicting spare parts demand for military helicopters. The military helicopter is a distinct weapons system, whose unique configuration may preclude the direct application of forecasting techniques which have proved successful for other weapon systems. Furthermore, although the military helicopter has become extremely important tactically in modern warfare, it has received scant attention in terms of research concerning its supply support. Specifically, this paper summarizes research done to measure and compare the forecasting accuracy of six mathematical models, as they were applied to three prominent military helicopters. In addition, the paper describes attempts that were made to define, where possible, the conditions under which a specific forecasting technique might be applicable. In general, it is shown that the most accurate set of helicopter spare parts demand forecasts are produced by a second order polynomial exponential smoothing model. This model is observed to have most accurately described the highly volatile, and upward-trended demand time series which were the subject of the study.     

A solution for queues with instantaneous jockeying and other customer selection rules

This paper presents a general solution for the M/M/r queue with instantaneous jockeying and r > 1 servers. The solution is obtained in matrices in closed form without recourse to the generating function arguments usually used. The solution requires the inversion of two (Z^r?1) × (2^r?1) matrices. The method proposed is extended to allow different queue selection preferences of arriving customers, balking of arrivals, jockeying preference rules, and queue dependent selection along with jockeying. To illustrate the results, a problem previously published is studied to show how known results are obtained from the proposed general solution.     

The value statement

Frequently there exists an insufficient amount of actual data upon which to base a decision. In this paper a method is presented whereby the subjective opinions of a group of qualified persons are utilized to quantify the relative importance of a finite number of parameters or objectives. A means of testing the consistency among the judges is given which allows the decision maker to determine the validity of the opinions gathered. The application presented here is in the area of Multiple Incentive Contracting. Namely, a method is proposed to facilitate the answering of the question, “What is the value to the purchaser of an incremental change in the performance of a system?” Such a vehicle is not essential to the methodology proposed.     

A methodology for estimating expected usage of repair parts with application to parts with no usage history

In this paper a model is presented which focuses on the difficult problem of predicting demands for items with extremely low usage rates. These form the bulk of repair parts in military systems. The basic notion underlying the model is the pooling of usage data for common design items with movement for the purpose of estimating usage rates for similar items which have shown no movement. A unique feature of the model is that it also makes possible the estimation of usage rates for items newly introduced into a system for which no previous usage history is available.     

A comparison of usage data among types of aircraft

It has long been an accepted proposition that base level usage df technical repair items for aircraft is related to program elements. The program element most often cited in this connection is flying hours. Evidence of this relationship on a line item basis, however, has been sparse. This study suggests that although the supposed relation is intuitively plausible, for most line items it cannot be effectively utilized in projecting base level requirements. The basis of this conclusion is an analysis of demand characteristics for technical repair items for a variety of naval aircraft.     

A note on the “value” of bounds on EVPI in stochastic programming

The existing literature concentrates on determining sharp upper bounds for EVPI in stochastic programming problems. This seems to be a problem without an application. Lower bounds, which we view as having an important application, are only the incidental subject of study and in the few instances that are available are obtained at an extremely high cost. In order to suggest a rethinking of the course of this research, we analyze the need for bounds on EVPI in the context of its significance in decision problems.     

异构资源类型下多无人机任务分配

针对多无人机在执行侦察、打击任务的过程中携带任务资源的异构性,以及任务对于异构资源的要求,设计了一种改进的基于共识的捆绑算法(consensus-based bundle algorithm, CBBA)。考虑任务价值、任务执行时间窗以及航程代价等条件建立了多无人机对地目标侦察、打击任务分配模型。利用K-medoids聚类分析方法对多无人机进行基于距离和携带资源平衡的聚类,以解决多无人机对于异构资源类型的要求。对打击任务进行子任务生成,并利用改进后的CBBA求解所建立的任务分配模型,通过对比仿真实验验证了算法的可行性和有效性。     

保密通信中同相和正交通道失衡对干扰抑制性能的影响

针对同时存在恶意干扰与非法窃听的通信环境,提出一种协作干扰(cooperative jamming, CJ)掩护的保密通信架构,收发信机之间采用跳频技术躲避恶意干扰,并采用协作干扰技术阻塞非法窃听。但该架构的通信带宽较大,会在收发频率振荡器中引起显著的同相和正交(in-phase and quadrature, IQ)通道失衡。鉴于此,对收发IQ通道失衡引起的信号失真进行数学建模,给出接收机处信干噪比的数学表达式,并给出干扰抑制比的闭合表达式。仿真结果表明,收发IQ通道失衡引起的信号失真的功率远大于热噪声功率。随着收发IQ通道失衡加剧,所提架构的信干噪比和干扰抑制比性能均会急剧下降,当幅度和相位失衡分别达到0.95和π/50时,信干噪比和干扰抑制比均损失了47 dB。