IJCRR - 4(1), January, 2012
Pages: 74-85
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APPLICATION OF OPERATIONS RESEARCH WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO TRANSPORTATION
PROBLEM
Author: V. P. Deshmukh, S. P. Shinde
Category: General Sciences
Abstract:Decision making in today?s social and business environment has become a complex task. High costs of technology, material, labor, competitive pressures, different economic, social as well as political factors and view points, greatly increase the difficulty of managerial decision making. For well handling of arising problem the decision maker must examine a problem from both qualitative as well as quantitative approach. In today?s global era Operations Research tools can help the decision maker to solve the arising problem. Operations Research represents the study of optimal resource allocation. In order to make the effective and efficient decisions, managers must have fundamental understanding of the decision science tools utilized in developing set of recommendations to choose from. The Operations research is usually the mathematical treatment, analysis of a process, problem, or Operations to determine its purpose and effectiveness and to gain maximum efficiency. Quantitative methods which comprises of Simulation, Linear and nonlinear programming, Queuing Theory and Stochastic Modeling are well-accepted techniques by both research and practice communities. Project scheduling techniques: PERT and CPM are efficient tools for scheduling and monitoring lengthy, complex and expensive projects of that time. This research Paper focuses mainly on the process of
Operations research and explains some of the applications of Operations Research, elaborates some of the applications and benefits that may be gained by incorporating Operations Research into the actual business framework. The researcher has a wide interest in the foresaid topic andtheir further research area is the same.
Keywords: Operations Research, optimal resource allocation, optimum solution, Performance Evaluation and Review Techniques & Critical Path Method
Full Text:
1. INTRODUCTION
In the global age decision making in business environment has become a complex task. High costs of technology, materials, labor, competitive pressures and so many different economic, social as well as potential factors and view points, greatly increase the difficulty of managerial decision making [27]. Whenever some national crises emerges due to the emerges due to the impact of political , economic or cultural factors the talents from all walks of life join together to overcome the situation and solve the problems. These combined efforts always result in new discoveries and techniques. O.R is also outcome of such situations [28]. The term Operations Research describes the discipline that is focused on the application of information technology for informed decisionmaking. Operations Research represents the study of optimal resource allocation. In Operations Research much of the actual work is conducted by using analytical and numerical techniques to develop and manipulate mathematical models of organizational systems that are composed of people, machines, and procedures Some of the problems in the area of hospital management, energy conservation, environmental pollution, etc. have been solved by Operations Research specialists and this is an indication that Operations Research can also contribute towards the improvement in the social life and areas of global need.
1.1 History of Operations Research
Operations Research as a new field started in the late 1930's and has grown and expanded tremendously in the last 30 years. The British army conducted exercises on the radar system for detecting the aircrafts. In July 1938, the Superintendent of Bawdsey Research Station, announced that although the exercise had demonstrated the technical feasibility of the radar system for detecting aircraft, its Operational achievements were not up to what was required. He therefore proposed that a crash program of research into the Operational - as opposed to the technical - aspects of the system should begin. The term "Operational Research" was coined as a suitable description of this new branch of applied science. On 15th May 1940, with German forces advancing rapidly in France, Stanmore Research Section was asked to analyze a French request for ten additional fighter squadrons. They prepared graphs for Winston Churchill (British Prime Minister), based upon a study of current daily losses and replacement rates, indicating how rapidly such a move would deplete fighter strength. No aircrafts were sent and most of those currently in France were recalled. This is held by some to be the most strategic contribution to the course of the war made by Operations Research as the aircraft and pilots saved were consequently available for the successful air defense of Britain, the Battle of Britain. In 1941 Operational Research Section (ORS) was established in Coastal Command which was to carry out some of the most well-known Operations Research work in World War II. Thus Operations Research was born as a separate field of specialization. In order to make the effective and efficient decisions, managers must have fundamental understanding of the decision science tools utilized in developing set of recommendations to choose from. The Operations Research is usually the mathematical treatment, analysis of a process, problem, or Operations to determine its purpose and effectiveness and to gain maximum efficiency. The Operations technique is utilized by functional groups such as Industrial Engineering in effort to support Operations Managers to make economically feasible decisions on a range of systematic challenges. The main responsibilities of Operations management are to manage and operate as efficiently and effectively as possible with the given resources.
Quantitative methods which comprises of Simulation, Linear and nonlinear programming, Queuing Theory and Stochastic Modeling, are well-accepted techniques by both research and practice communities. Functional entities such as Industrial or Systems Engineering use methodologies to provide feasible alternatives for Operations s mangers to decide on. An important component of decision-making process is verifying and validating alternatives, which typically involve decision makers, engineers or analysts. Growth of Operations Research is to a large extent, the result of the widespread availability of computers. Most Operations Research involves carrying out a large number of numeric calculations and without computers this would simply not be possible. In India, Operations Research came into existence in 1949 when an Operations Research unit was established at Regional Research Laboratory, Hyderabad. Also Prof. R.S.Verma set up an Operations Research team at Defense Science Laboratory to solve problems of store, purchase and planning. During the 1950?s there was substantial progress in the application of Operations Research techniques for civilian activities along with a great interest in the professional development and education in OR. Many colleges and universities introduced Operations Research in their curricula. They were generally schools of engineering, public administration, business management, applied mathematics, economics, computer science etc. In 1953, Prof. P.C. Mahalanobis [8] established an Operations Research team in the Indian Statistical Institute, Calcutta to solve problems related to national planning and survey. In 1958, project scheduling techniques: PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) and CPM (Critical Path Method) were developed as efficient tools for scheduling and monitoring lengthy, complex and expensive projects of that time. The real development of Operations Research in the national field was carried out by Prof. Mahalanobis in India when he used it in national planning. It is also being used in Railway, waiting or queuing problems of passengers for tickets at booking windows or trains queuing up in marshalling yard, waiting to be sorted out are tackled by various Operations Research technique.
2.1 Operations Research Process
The actual Operations Research process can be described in the following steps [15]:
- Identification of problem
- Data collection and mathematical model construction
- Solving the mathematical model Identification of optimum solution
- Validity of solution
- Solution Implementation
- Model modification
- Establishing controls over the solution
Specific Application Area: Operations Research in Manufacturing The term Operations in Operations Research may suggests that the manufacturing application category represents the original home of Operations Research. That is not quite accurate, as the name originated from military Operations, not business Operations. Nevertheless, it is a true statement that Operations Research?s successes in contemporary business pervade manufacturing and service Operations, logistics, distribution, transportation, and telecommunication. The myriad applications include scheduling, routing, workflow improvements, elimination of bottlenecks, inventory control, business process reengineering, site selection, or facility and general Operational planning. Revenue and supply chain management reflect two growing applications that are distinguished by their use of several Operations Research methods to cover several functions. Revenue management entails first to accurately forecasting the demand, and secondly to adjust the price structure over time to more profitably allocate fixed capacity. Supply chain decisions describe the who, what, when, and where abstractions from purchasing and transporting raw materials and parts, through manufacturing actual products and goods, and finally distributing and delivering the items to the customers. The prime management goal here may be to reduce overall cost while processing customer orders more efficiently than before. The power of utilizing Operations Research methods allows examining this rather complex and convoluted chain in a comprehensive manner, and to search among a vast number of combinations for the resource. Optimization and allocation strategy are most effective and hence beneficial to the Operations.
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