IOE L1. Introduction to IOE

© Copyright Prof. Yavuz A. Bozer, 2023. All rights reserved.

All the rights to equipment and related photographs and diagrams belong to original copyright holders.

Introduction to Engineering: Process and Throughput Optimization 

I. Fast Food (Quick Service)  

Ex) Dominos.com to order a pepperoni and mushroom pizza. 

1. Why did you take it for granted that they have pepperoni and mushrooms on hand? 

2. What if they offered you pineapple and ham pizza instead? 

Customers will find out a substitution and this brings up competition. 

3. Would you keep going to Dominos if they did not have what you wanted? 

4. How about service time? What if your pizze was late? 

 

II. Fast Food, Two-Tier Supply Chain 

 

 

III. Outbound Logistics: Minimize Cost 

 

1. Multi-stop delivery routes (milkruns).

2. Delivering necessary inventory to each store on each visit.

Determine: The best routes to use. (1 route = 1 truck with one or two drivers).

Note: 1. Domino’s owns the inventory only at the DC.

2. Inventory at each outlet is owned by the franchisee.

Ex) Each truck starts at the DC, visits the stores on its route, and returns to the DC. Pack each delivery into one of the trucks.

(1) ​​GOAL: Minimize the number of trucks. ( ignore the store location and distances) 

(2) DATA: 13 stores; each store receives 1 delivery.

(3) Truck capacity  = 𝟏𝟎𝟎 units.

(4) Here are the 𝟏𝟑 deliveries we need to make:

How many trucks do we need and which delivery goes into which truck? => 5  trucks

 

 

IV. Vehicle routing problem (VRP) 

 Consider the route, the time, and finite capacity. 

 

Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) 

I. Drilling Process 

1. Drilling is the most expensive and time-consuming process in PCB manufacturing. 

2. The drilling process is considered the most critical and bottleneck of PCB manufacturing. 

3. It’s the foundation for vias and the connectivity between different layers. 

4. The downsizing of electronic devices such as TVs and phones has led to the transformation from stationary to portable. 

5. High-quality micromachining is required to bring down the size. 

 

=> Holes to be drilled in the board. Minimize hole-to-hole travel. 

=> Length of above solution  = 2790 units. Is it the best? 

=> Length of above solution = 2672 units. A better solution. 

=> Which sequence drills the holes? => the number of methods: n! (factorial) 

The above problem (Traveling Salesperson Problem) is one of the earliest and widely-studied problems in Operations Research. 

 

Container Terminals 

 

1. Quay crane: also known as container crane / container handling crane / ship-to-shore crane / dockside crane. 

2. Cranes normally handle a single container at a time; however, some newer cranes can handle up to four 20-foot containers at a time. 

3. Two biggest ports in U.S.: LA, long beach 

4. Key concerns: Turnaround time (How fast can you load and unload containers), longer the vessels -> longer deliver goods 

 

Airlines 

In December 2022, Southwest Airlines, a major U.S. airline, and the second largest by domestic passenger volume, canceled more than 60% of its flights. The disruption to operations was described by seeking Alpha as the most costly and largest in the history of U.S. airlines. More than 15,000 flights were cancelled throughout the crisis. (Wikipedia)

 

=> After its meltdown that had left thousands of passengers and their luggage stranded at airports nationwide last week, Southwest continues to cancel more flights into the new year.

On Monday, a total of 204 Southwest flights, or 4%, were canceled, making it the American carrier with the most cancellations that day. Almost 43% of its flights were delayed. As of Tuesday afternoon, the airline had 59 flights canceled, which accounted for 1% of its scheduled flights. USA Today.

 

=> Canceling more than 16,700 flights between December 21 and 29 will cost the airline somewhere between $725 million and $825 million. It will cause the company to report a loss rather than a profit in the fourth quarter. 

 

1. Trigger: Winter storm. The next day: other flights almost recovered. 

2. Domino effect: one aircraft -> impact the subsequence 

3. Overall, pilots and crews commented on its aging operational system. Flight, aircraft, crew (mathematical matching system) all have to work together. Pilots and crews blame and constantly say that the system is obsolete and outdated. But the manager just puts it off for later. 

4. Not only do they lose their money, they have to update the system with a great amount of cost. 

Entire system is locked out now.

I. Airlines: Two Operational Models 

 

Should we run point-to-point or hub-and-spoke?

 

여기서 내가 경유할 때 다른 항공사인데도 불구하고 가격이 더 싸지는 이유가 무엇인지를 질문했는데 revenue 에 관해서는 complicated 하기도 하고 회사 기밀 (영업 기밀) 이기 때문에 (실제로 항공사 system 관련해서 미팅도 많이 했다고 하셨다) 회사에서 교수님한테도 안 알려주신게 많다고 했다. 

Human Systems Integration 

 

Misperception: 테슬라의 자율주행은 별점 2 out of 5 점임!

 

E-commerce Logistics 

 

1. Click -> Click -> Click… -> Decide -> Wait to deliver. 

2. Money: is this a big business 

3. Walk and Pick: 6 miles per shift 

Amazon fulfillment center (FC), Tracy, CA. Over 3000 Kiva robots 

=> pay $800 million to take over and change to Amazon Robotics

 

Over 3000 robots

Wall and pick replaced with goods to person picking

320 lb robot, lifts up to 750 lbs

Travels at about 3 to 4 mph

Warehouse can store up to 50% more inventory (59 football fields)

Pick some orders in 15 mins instead of 19 mins

Customers ordered 426 items per second

Manual picking, manual putaway

More space capacity to put items

 

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How many pickers? How many robots? How to dispatch and control the robots? Which order is picked by which picker? How to store & retrieve the pods?

 

=> 아마존은 재투자를 많이 하는 기업 중에 하나이고 성장을 계속하려는 회사이다. 이런 부분을 공략해서 커스터마이즈한 프로덕트를 생각해서 팔아도 좋을 것 같다. 로봇 회사에서 성공하는 것이 힘들다고 했는데 재투자 비율 높은 대기업이 필요한, 문제가 존재하는 것을 해결할 수 있는 자동화된 시스템이나 로봇을 개발하게 된다면 좋을 듯. 물론 투자가 많이 들어가서 스타트 하기에 힘들 수도 있지만. 

 

Industrial and Operations Engineering

Analyze, design, optimize - All types of systems 

1. Operations research and optimization

2. Business Operations engineering (Manufacturing, service, logistics) 

3. Human systems Integration (human factors, ergonomics) 

4. Mobility and Transportation networks

5. Data analytics and statistics for analysis and decision-making

6. Healthcare systems engineering and human safety

7. Energy systems and sustainability