BJOLP, The Big Joint Optimal Landmarks Planner uses landmarks to derive an admissible heuristic, which is then used to guide a search for a cost-optimal plan. In this paper we review landmarks and describe how they can be used to derive an admissible heuristic. We conclude with presenting the BJOLP

A cost-optimal nonperiodic inspection policy is derived for complex multicomponent systems. The model takes into consideration the degradation of all the components in the system with the use of a Bessel process with drift. The inspection times are determined by a deterministic function and depend on the system’s performance measure. The nonperiodic policy is developed by evaluating the expecte...

When designing a sourcing strategy in practice, a key task is to determine the average order rates placed to each source because that affects costs and supplier management. We consider a firm that has access to a responsive near-shore source (e.g., Mexico) and a low-cost offshore source (e.g., China). The firm must determine an inventory sourcing policy to satisfy random demand over time. Unfor...

bstract: The paper analyzes the efficiency and productivity of the Romanian banks from 2006-08. It uses a non-parametric approach, the data envelopment analysis (DEA) to analyze banks’ efficiency. Based on a sample of 15 commercial banks, our findings reveal that although the efficiency of the Romanian commercial banks improved since 2006, the cost efficiency scores are relatively low. Also, ev...

The literature analysing efficiency of financial institutions has enveloped rapidly over the last years. Most studies have focused on the input side analysing input technical and cost efficiency. Only few studies have examined the output side evaluating output technical and revenue efficiency. We know that both sides are relevant when evaluating efficiency of financial institutions. Therefore t...

Using recent financial and traffic data on a large sample of airports worldwide, we develop a composite non-standard profit function approach to estimate cost and revenue efficiencies of Spanish airports. Results show that, while profit margins under cost-efficient conditions are consistent with the existing literature, the important losses experienced by small airports in Spain are largely due...

The purpose of this paper is to quantify the efficiency with which Australian universities utilise their teaching resources. The study estimates the cost efficiency of 36 universities over the period 1995-2002 using stochastic frontier analysis. The present study differs from previous cost and efficiency studies of Australian universities in two respects. First, it employs stochastic frontier a...

Manual video annotation on shot and on object level is a very time consuming and therefore cost intensive task. Automatic object and shot re-detection is one step forward in order to provide a cost efficient solution for temporally detailed video annotation. In this demonstration a tool will be shown which integrates novel video visualisation, navigation and interactive object re-detection tech...

The channel choice branch of e-government studies citizens’ and businesses’ choice of channels for interacting with government, and how government organizations can integrate channels and migrate users towards the most cost-efficient channels. In spite of the valuable contributions offered no systematic overview exist of channel choice. We present a literature review of channel choice studies i...

In this paper we inspect remote health care, and especially alert call concept and usability design for Chinese Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) patients. Generally, remote health care can facilitate cost efficient and improved treatment and follow-up of various illnesses. For service providers it can offer expanded service palette, enable easier access of medical information and su...