From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Operations research

Operations research
Operations Research (OR) in the USA, expected to determine which techniques are
Canada, South Africa and Australia, and most appropriate given the nature of the sys-
Operational Research in Europe, is an in- tem, the goals for improvement, and con-
terdisciplinary branch of applied mathemat- straints on time and computing power. For
ics and formal science that uses methods this and other reasons, the human element of
such as mathematical modeling, statistics, OR is vital. Like any other tools, OR tech-
and algorithms to arrive at optimal or near niques cannot solve problems by themselves.
optimal solutions to complex problems. It is
typically concerned with optimizing the max-
ima (profit, assembly line performance, crop
History
yield, bandwidth, etc) or minima (loss, risk, Some say that Charles Babbage (1791-1871)
etc.) of some objective function. Operations is the "father of operations research" because
research helps management achieve its goals his research into the cost of transportation
using scientific methods. and sorting of mail led to England’s universal
"Penny Post" in 1840, and studies into the dy-
namical behaviour of railway vehicles in de-
fence of the GWR’s broad gauge.[2] The mod-
ern field of operations research arose during
World War II.
Modern operations research originated at
the Bawdsey Research Station in the UK in
Model of Operation research study, based on 1937 and was the result of an initiative of the
Stafford Beer (1959).[1] station’s superintendent, A. P. Rowe. Rowe
conceived the idea as a means to analyse and
Overview improve the working of the UK’s early warn-
ing radar system, Chain Home (CH). Initially,
The terms operations research and manage- he analyzed the operating of the radar equip-
ment science are often used synonymously. ment and its communication networks, ex-
When a distinction is drawn, management panding later to include the operating per-
science generally implies a closer relation- sonnel’s behaviour. This revealed unappreci-
ship to the problems of business manage- ated limitations of the CH network and al-
ment. The field of operations research is lowed remedial action to be taken. [3]
closely related to Industrial engineering. In- Scientists in the United Kingdom includ-
dustrial engineers typically consider Opera- ing Patrick Blackett, Cecil Gordon, C. H.
tions Research (OR) techniques to be a major Waddington, Owen Wansbrough-Jones and
part of their toolset. Frank Yates, and in the United States with
Some of the primary tools used by opera- George Dantzig looked for ways to make bet-
tions researchers are statistics, optimization, ter decisions in such areas as logistics and
probability theory, queuing theory, game the- training schedules. After the war it began to
ory, graph theory, decision analysis, and sim- be applied to similar problems in industry.
ulation. Because of the computational nature
of these fields, OR also has ties to computer World War II
science, and operations researchers use
Blackett’s team undertook a number of cru-
custom-written and off-the-shelf software.
cial analyses that aided the war effort. Bri-
Operations research is distinguished by its
tain introduced the convoy system to reduce
frequent use to examine an entire manage-
shipping losses, but while the principle of us-
ment information system, rather than con-
ing warships to accompany merchant ships
centrating only on specific elements (though
was generally accepted, it was unclear
this is often done as well). An operations re-
whether it was better for convoys to be small
searcher faced with a new problem is

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Operations research

recommendation that the armour be placed

in the areas which were completely un-
touched by damage in the bombers which re-
turned. They reasoned that the survey was
biased, since it only included aircraft that re-
turned to Britain. The untouched areas of re-
turning aircraft were probably vital areas,
which, if hit, would result in the loss of the
aircraft.

Patrick Blackett.

or large. Convoys travel at the speed of the

slowest member, so small convoys can travel
faster. It was also argued that small convoys
would be harder for German U-boats to de-
tect. On the other hand, large convoys could
deploy more warships against an attacker.
Blackett’s staff showed that the losses Map of Kammhuber Line
suffered by convoys depended largely on the
number of escort vessels present, rather than When Germany organised its air defences
on the overall size of the convoy. Their con- into the Kammhuber Line, it was realised
clusion, therefore, was that a few large con- that if the RAF bombers were to fly in a
voys are more defensible than many small bomber stream they could overwhelm the
ones.[3] night fighters who flew in individual cells dir-
In another piece of work, Blackett’s team ected to their targets by ground controllers.
analysed a report of a survey carried out by It was then a matter of calculating the statist-
RAF Bomber Command. For the survey, ical loss from collisions against the statistical
Bomber Command inspected all bombers re- loss from night fighters to calculate how
turning from bombing raids over Germany close the bombers should fly to minimise RAF
over a particular period. All damage inflicted losses.[4]
by German air defenses was noted and the The "exchange rate" ratio of output to in-
recommendation was given that armour be put was a characteristic feature of operations
added in the most heavily damaged areas. research. By comparing the number of flying
Their suggestion to remove some of the crew hours put in by Allied aircraft to the number
so that an aircraft loss would result in fewer of U-boat sightings in a given area, it was
personnel loss was rejected by RAF com- possible to redistribute aircraft to more pro-
mand. Blackett’s team instead made the sur- ductive patrol areas. Comparison of ex-
prising and counter-intuitive change rates established "effectiveness

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Operations research

ratios" useful in planning. The ratio of 60 The influence of systems analysis on the
mines laid per ship sunk was common to sev- Vietnam war is debated by scholars. Van
eral campaigns: German mines in British Creveld, in ’Command at War’ argues that
ports, British mines on German routes, and the influence has been exaggerated, but on
United States mines in Japanese routes.[5] the other hand, it ’did help create the inform-
Operations research doubled the success ation pathologies’ in the war and ’made no
rate of aerial attacks on submarines by re- small contribution to its outcome’[6]
commending a shallower detonation setting
on the depth charges being dropped by air-
craft. The depth charges had previously been
Scope of operations
set to detonate at the depth where the shock research
of the explosion would be most efficiently
Examples of applications in which operations
transferred through the water, but submar-
research is currently used include:
ines were unable to reach that depth in the
• critical path analysis or project planning:
limited time available after being spotted by
identifying those processes in a complex
the aircraft. Shallower detonation depth set-
project which affect the overall duration of
tings reduced the distance of the detonation
the project
from the submarine: a close detonation with
• designing the layout of a factory for
lower shock transmission efficiency was more
efficient flow of materials
destructive than a more distant detonation
• constructing a telecommunications
with better transmission.[5]
network at low cost while still
Operations research doubled the on-target
guaranteeing QoS (quality of service) or
bomb rate of B-29s bombing Japan from the
QoE (Quality of Experience) if particular
Marianas Islands by increasing the training
connections become very busy or get
ratio from 4 to 10 percent of flying hours; re-
damaged
vealed that wolf-packs of three United States
• road traffic management and ’one way’
submarines were the most effective number
street allocations i.e. allocation problems.
to enable all members of the pack to engage
• determining the routes of school buses (or
targets discovered on their individual patrol
city buses) so that as few buses are
stations; revealed that glossy enamel paint
needed as possible
was more effective camouflage for night
• designing the layout of a computer chip to
fighters than traditional dull camouflage
reduce manufacturing time (therefore
paint finish, and the smooth paint finish in-
reducing cost)
creased airspeed by reducing skin friction.[5]
• managing the flow of raw materials and
On land, the operational research sections
products in a supply chain based on
of the Army Operational Research Group
uncertain demand for the finished
(AORG) of the Ministry of Supply were
products
landed in Normandy in 1944, and they fol-
• efficient messaging and customer
lowed British forces in the advance across
response tactics
Europe. They analysed, among other topics,
• robotizing or automating human-driven
the effectiveness of artillery, aerial bombing,
operations processes
and anti-tank shooting.
• globalizing operations processes in order
to take advantage of cheaper materials,
After World War II
labor, land or other productivity inputs
After World War II, military operational re- • managing freight transportation and
search in the United Kingdom became known delivery systems (Examples: LTL
as "operational analysis" (OA) within the UK Shipping, intermodal freight transport)
Ministry of Defence, where OR stands for • scheduling:
"Operational Requirement". With expanded • personnel staffing
techniques and growing awareness, military • manufacturing steps
OR or OA was no longer limited to only oper- • project tasks
ations, but was extended to encompass • network data traffic: these are known
equipment procurement, training, logistics as queueing models or queueing
and infrastructure. systems.
Vietnam

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Operations research

• sports events and their television • Decision Analysis

coverage • Information Systems Research
• blending of raw materials in oil refineries • INFORMS Journal on Computing
• determining optimal prices, in many retail • INFORMS Transactions on Education (an
and B2B settings, within the disciplines of open access journal)
pricing science • Interfaces: An International Journal of the
Operations research is also used extensively Institute for Operations Research and the
in government where evidence-based policy Management Sciences
is used. • Management Science: A Journal of the
Institute for Operations Research and the
Societies and journals Management Sciences
• Manufacturing & Service Operations
The International Federation of Operational Management
Research Societies[7] is an umbrella organiz- • Marketing Science
ation for operations research societies world- • Mathematics of Operations Research
wide. Significant among these are: • Operations Research: A Journal of the
• Institute for Operations Research and the Institute for Operations Research and the
Management Sciences (INFORMS)[8] Management Sciences
• The Operational Research Society.[9] • Organization Science
• EURO is the association of European • Transportation Science.
Operational Research Societies.[10] Other journals
• CORS is the Canadian Operational • European Journal of Operational Research
Research Society.[11] (EJOR): Founded in 1975 and is presently
• ASOR is the Australian Society for by far the largest operational research
Operations Research.[12] journal in the world, with its around 9,000
• MORS is the Military Operations Research pages of published papers per year. In
Society[13]: based in the United States 2004, its total number of citations was the
since 1966 with the objective of enhancing second largest amongst Operational
the quality and usefulness of military Research and Management Science
operations research analysis in support of journals;
defense decisions. (MORS)[14] • INFOR Journal: published and sponsored
• ORSNZ is the Operations Research by the Canadian Operational Research
Society of New Zealand.[15] Society;
• ORSP is the Operations Research Society • Journal of Defense Modeling and
of the Philippines[16] Simulation (JDMS): Applications,
• ORSI the Operational Research Society of Methodology, Technology: a quarterly
India,[17] and journal devoted to advancing the science
• ORSSA the Operations Research Society of modeling and simulation as it relates to
of South Africa.[18] the military and defense.[23]
Other important Operations Research organ- • Journal of the Operational Research
izations are: Society (JORS): an official journal of The
• Simulation Interoperability Standards OR Society;[24]
Organization (SISO) [19] • Journal of Simulation (JOS): an official
• Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation journal of The OR Society;[25]
and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) [20] • Military Operations Research (MOR):
In 2004 INFORMS began an initiative to mar- published by the Military Operations
ket the OR profession better, including a Research Society;
website entitled The Science of Better[21] • Opsearch: official journal of the
which provides an introduction to OR and ex- Operational Research Society of India;
amples of successful applications of OR to in- • OR Insight: a quarterly journal of The OR
dustrial problems. Society;[26]
Journals • TOP: the official journal of the Spanish
INFORMS publishes twelve scholarly journ- Society of Statistics and Operations
als about operations research, including the Research.[27]
top two journals in their class, according to
2005 Journal Citation Reports.[22] They are:

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Operations research

See also • Wayne Winston, Operations Research:

Applications and Algorithms, Duxbury
Operation Operation Related fields Press; 4th. Edition, 2003
research researchers • Database
topics
• Assignment
• Operations normalization
researcher • Industrial
References
problem category Engineering[1] Stafford Beer (1959). Cybernetic and
• Decision • Russell L. • Industrial Management. English Universities Press.
Analysis Ackoff organization[2] M.S. Sodhi, "What about the ’O’ in O.R.?"
• Dynamic • Anthony • Management OR/MS Today, December, 2007, p. 12,
programming Stafford science http://www.lionhrtpub.com/orms/
• Linear Beer • Managerial orms-12-07/frqed.html
programming • Alfred economics [3] "Numbers are Essential": Victory in the
• Inventory Blumstein • Military North Atlantic Reconsidered, March-May
theory • C. West simulation 1943
• Optimal Churchman • Modeling &[4] [1]
Maintenance • George Simulation [5] ^ Milkman, Raymond H. (May 1968).
• Optimization Dantzig • Search Based Operations Research in World War II.
• Real options • Richard Software United States Naval Institute
analysis Karp Engineering Proceedings.
• Scheduling • Frederick • Simulation [6] Van Creveld, Command at War, p 241
• Stochastic W. • System [7] IFORS
processes Lanchester Dynamics [8] INFORMS
• Systems • Thomas L. • System [9] The OR Society
analysis Magnanti Safety [10] EURO
• Systems • Alvin E. • Systems [11] CORS
thinking Roth theory [12] ASOR
• Wargaming [13] MORS
[14] [2]
[15] ORSNZ
Further reading [16] ORSP
• C. West Churchman, Russell L. Ackoff & [17] ORSI
E. L. Arnoff, Introduction to Operations [18] ORSSA
Research, New York: J. Wiley and Sons, [19] SISO
1957 [20] I/ITSEC
• Joseph G. Ecker & Michael Kupferschmid, [21] The Science of Better
Introduction to Operations Research, [22] INFORMS Journals
Krieger Publishing Co. [23] JDMS
• Frederick S. Hillier & Gerald J. [24] The OR Society;
Lieberman, Introduction to Operations [25] The OR Society;
Research, McGraw-Hill: Boston MA; 8th. [26] The OR Society;
(International) Edition, 2005 [27] TOP
• Maurice W. Kirby, Operational Research
in War and Peace, Imperial College Press,
London, 2003
External links
• Michael Pidd, Tools for Thinking: • INFORMS OR/MS Resource Collection: a
Modelling in Management Science, J. comprehensive set of OR links.
Wiley & Sons Ltd., Chichester; 2nd. • International Federation of Operational
Edition, 2003 Research Societies
• Hamdy A. Taha, Operations Research: An
Introduction, Prentice Hall; 8th. Edition,
2006

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Operations research

Categories: Applied mathematics, Formal sciences, Operations research, Mathematical optim-

ization, Management, Mathematical science occupations, Fields of application of statistics

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