The design of manufacturing planning and control systems is a strategic decision for manufacturing firms. In this paper we analyze the interrelationships among the choices of planning and control approaches at different hierarchical levels, including sales and operations planning (chase; level), master scheduling (make-to-order; assemble-to-order; make-to-stock), material planning (time-phased;...

This research identifies factors affecting the operation of a supply chain in a large, asset rich transport utility, and how a recent Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP) implementation was perceived with respect to its usability for the task. A lack of trust in the ERP, ineffective training methods and complexity in extracting the data from the ERP were identified as a problem which lead ...

Operations research specialists at UPS and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) created a system to optimize the design of service networks for delivering express packages. The system simultaneously determines aircraft routes, fleet assignments, and package routings to ensure overnight delivery at minimal cost. It has become central to the UPS planning process, fundamentally transfor...

Nowadays operational research (OR) claims to be known as the science of better by the scientific community and by the industry. OR provides a set of techniques and tools for thinking, analysing and solving, which leads to taking decisions in a structured and focused way towards efficiency and optimality. Due to these aspects, the advance of telecommunications research has been strongly linked t...

This paper proposes new research themes concerning decision support in intermodal transport. Decision support models have been constructed for private stakeholders (e.g. network operators, drayage operators, terminal operators or intermodal operators) as well as for public actors such as policy makers and port authorities. Intermodal research topics include policy support, terminal network desi...

The aim of this paper is to present the results of an analysis of implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) effectiveness from the perspective of implementation policy and operational effectiveness. Re-engineering has become increasingly important recently due to the rapid changes in the business environment. By implementing ERP systems, companies can standardize their business processes ...

In many domains, planning and scheduling problems have been considered separately. This historical decomposition leads to sub-optimal solving methods as task scheduling and planning share important sub-problems. In fact, on practical examples, there is no reason to separate coordination of activities and synchronization tasks. Furthermore, resource usage is not only relevant for task scheduling...

This study investigates the differences between failed and operational businesses from a psychological perspective. The sample included 71 operational and 20 failed business owners from Suva, the capital of Fiji. It was hypothesized that operational business owners more often employ a detailed and long-term planning strategy, whereas failed business owners more often pursue a reactive strategy,...

Healthcare issues continue to pose huge problems and incur massive costs. As a result there are many challenging problems still unresolved. In this paper, we will carry out an extensive scientific survey of different areas of management and planning in an attempt to identify where there has already been a substantial contribution from management science methods to healthcare problems and where ...

The planning of evacuation operations for a riverine flood disaster is vital for minimizing their negative impacts on human lives. This paper aims to develop a systematic method to model and plan evacuation trip generation and distribution for riverine floods. To achieve this aim, it adapts the transportation or Hitchcock problem, an operations research technique employed in conventional four-s...