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What Is "Operations Research"?: Science

Operations research is the application of analytical methods to help make better decisions. It involves using data and quantitative analysis to evaluate alternatives and help organizations operate more efficiently. Typical problems addressed include determining optimal production sequences, minimizing material waste, and calculating things like optimal elevator numbers or phone routing. The problem-solving process involves formulating the problem, creating a mathematical model, solving the model, and evaluating the solution. Key challenges are properly stating the problem verbally and translating it into a quantitative model. Models covered in the course include linear programming, integer programming, network flows, project scheduling, and decision trees.

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Birolang Haha
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15 views

What Is "Operations Research"?: Science

Operations research is the application of analytical methods to help make better decisions. It involves using data and quantitative analysis to evaluate alternatives and help organizations operate more efficiently. Typical problems addressed include determining optimal production sequences, minimizing material waste, and calculating things like optimal elevator numbers or phone routing. The problem-solving process involves formulating the problem, creating a mathematical model, solving the model, and evaluating the solution. Key challenges are properly stating the problem verbally and translating it into a quantitative model. Models covered in the course include linear programming, integer programming, network flows, project scheduling, and decision trees.

Uploaded by

Birolang Haha
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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What is “Operations Research”?

• other names: management science, decision


science
• application of information technology for decision-
making
• designing systems to operate in the most effective
way or
deciding how to allocate scarce human resources,
money,
equipment, or facilities
• closely related to several other fields:
o applied mathematics,
o computer science,
o economics,
o industrial engineering, and
o systems engineering
Typical problems faced by an O.R.
practitioner:
• In what sequence should parts be produced on a
machine in
order to minimize the change-over time?
• How can a dress manufacturer lay out its patterns
on rolls of
cloth to minimize wasted material?
• How many elevators should be installed in a new
office
building to achieve an acceptable expected waiting
time?
• What's the most efficient route for a long-distance
telephone
call?
• What is the lowest-cost formula for chicken feed
which will
provide required quantities of necessary minerals and
other
nutrients?
The Problem-Solving Process
• formulate the problem—study the situation to
identify
o objectives (for example, minimize cost or
maximize profit),
o alternative actions,
o constraints on the solutions,
o data requirements
• translate the problem from verbal and qualitative
description
into a mathematical, quantitative model
o the model will be an abstraction or simplification
of the
real situation
o some elements (unimportant, we hope) may be
ignored in
order to simplify the model
• select a computational method to solve the model
• evaluate the validity of the solution—
o is it reasonable?
o have we ignored some important requirement?
Partly because the course is being taught in
English,
your greatest challenge will probably be the first
two
steps:
• formulating the problem in a verbal,
quantitative
statement, and
• translating that verbal statement into a
mathematical statement
These steps involve more “art” than “science”!
Types of O.R. models to be studied in
this course:
• (Continuous) linear programming
• Integer linear programming
• Network flow models
• Project scheduling
• Decision trees
• Dynamic programming
Other O.R. models
• Nonlinear programming
• Markov chains (for random processes)
• Queueing (waiting line) models
• Simulation models
• Game theory
• Inventory theory
• Reliabilit

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