Submitted by Izabel Franco (izabel-franco@ufscar.br) on 2016-10-10T13:16:27Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseFAM.pdf: 8157885 bytes, checksum: 8ac54b34fd878dc861557d4d145bc901 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marina Freitas (marinapf@ufscar.br) on 2016-10-20T19:40:22Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseFAM.pdf: 8157885 bytes, checksum: 8ac54b34fd878dc861557d4d145bc901 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marina Freitas (marinapf@ufscar.br) on 2016-10-20T19:40:28Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseFAM.pdf: 8157885 bytes, checksum: 8ac54b34fd878dc861557d4d145bc901 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-10-20T19:40:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseFAM.pdf: 8157885 bytes, checksum: 8ac54b34fd878dc861557d4d145bc901 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-04-02 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / In manufacturing, the search for new techniques to improve the production is always a challenge. These techniques must be adapted to the dynamic environment. A point very dealt in this area is the transportation system which has, as one of its sub problems, the assigning tasks to the AGVs. To solve this problem, it is common to use vehicle dispatching, and these techniques are usually multicriteria. Although they are multi-criteria, is not common contemplate criteria of different sectors of the factory, which could indicate conflicting strategies. Another point that influences the performance of the manufacturing is the control architecture. Traditionally, this architecture is centralized or decentralized, and have pros and cons. To achieve benefits from both traditional architectures, new architectures have been pursued; a widely used option is the holonic. This research presented a holonic architecture control for the dispatch of vehicles using multiple criteria rules, given optimization criteria from different sectors of the factory and providing a global optimization bias. Analyzes were performed to assess the adhesion of the proposed holonic architecture in the manufacturing environment, achieving the inclusion of new elements naturally, analyzing the behavior when an unpredicted event occurs and enabling compliance with different optimization variables belonging to different sectors of the factory. / Na manufatura, a busca por novas técnicas para melhorar a produção é sempre um desafio. Estas técnicas devem se adequar ao ambiente dinâmico da manufatura. Um ponto tratado neste âmbito é o sistema de transporte, que tem como um de seus subproblemas a atribuição de tarefas para os AGVs. Para a resolução deste problema, é comum utilizar técnicas de despacho de veículos, sendo que estas técnicas geralmente são multicritério. Apesar de serem multicritério, não é comum contemplarem critérios de diferentes setores da fábrica, o que poderia indicar estratégias conflitantes. Outro ponto que influencia no desempenho da manufatura é a arquitetura de controle. Tradicionalmente, a arquitetura é centralizada ou descentralizada, apresentando prós e contras. Existe uma busca sobre novas arquiteturas para atingir benefícios proveniente das duas tradicionais; uma opção muito usada é a holônica. Neste trabalho é apresentada uma arquitetura holônica de controle para o despacho de veículos usando regras multicritério, atendendo critérios de otimização de diferentes setores da fábrica e proporcionando um viés de otimização global. Foram realizadas análises para avaliar a aderência da arquitetura holônica proposta no ambiente de manufatura, atendendo à inclusão de novos elementos de maneira natural, analisando o comportamento diante de eventos não programados e possibilitar o atendimento de diferentes variáveis de otimização pertencentes à diferentes setores da fábrica.

The goal of this thesis was to analyze processes of the Emergency Medical Dispatch Center of the Emergency Medical Service of the Pilsen Region (ZOS ZZS Pk) when dealing with a mass casualty incident. The theoretical part of the thesis provides basic information relevant to the Pilsen Region, the Emergency Medical Service of the Pilsen Region, basic information on operations and general work processes of an emergency medical dispatch center during a normal work regime, and specific activities performed when dealing with a mass casualty incident. The research part of this thesis analyses activities and processes of an emergency medical dispatch center as described in the Mutual Mission Types Manual for Integrated Rescue System forces while at a mutual incident - Activities of Integrated Rescue System Forces at a Mass Casualty Incident (STČ 09/IZS). Further on the thesis evaluates activities of the ZOS ZZS Pk taken while dealing with two mass casualty incidents. These were a bus accident nearby Rokycany town in 2013 and a two trains collision nearby Horažďovice town in 2015. In order to make the analysis of readiness of the ZOS ZZS Pk to deal with mass casualty incidents more complex, SWOT analysis was added to the results. Based on the results of the STČ 09/IZS-manual analysis and of the SWOT analysis, suggestions for new manuals were made, that should make all the actions taken by employees of the ZOS ZZS Pk while dealing with a mass casualty incident more efficient and more effective. The goal of this thesis: to analyze activities of the ZOS ZZS Pk while dealing with a mass casualty incident, and to create suggestions of which inadequacies to remove and how to make operations of the ZOS ZZS Pk more efficient and more effective when dealing with mass casualty incidents; has therefore been fulfilled. The main outcome of the thesis are the final recommendations for making operations of the ZOS ZZS Pk more efficient and more effective when dealing with a mass casualty incident.

Introduction: During the past decade, companies have examined their core business, and anything that was not related to this, or did not add value to their product, was outsourced. One of the functions which fell into this category was the distribution operation, or more commonly known as transportation (in and out bound). In many instances, the distribution function was given up for tender, and specialised transport businesses, called third party logistic providers, whose core business was transport, were given the opportunity of taking over the distribution function. Some progressive companies went a little beyond the traditional approach and created opportunities for their own employees to be involved in the newly created, outsourced distribution network. This was largely an empowerment opportunity, with the aim of creating SME’s (Small-Medium-Enterprises), and providing people from a previously disadvantaged background (black people and other ethnic minorities) the opportunity to go into a business enterprise for themselves. The latter, although, politically the correct thing to do, simultaneously created opportunities and problems. Many of the companies that empowered their own employees, through Owner-Driver schemes, used the driving competency levels as the main criteria for the transition process. The other required skills were often overlooked or ignored. This empowerment process was driven to promote “Black Economic Empowerment”, an important national imperative. Although this process was an honorable gesture on the part of many companies, the process often took place without much foresight The viability and long-term continuity of the business were not taken into account. It is the researchers personal view, based on interviews with O-D’s and companies operating O-D schemes that the O-D’s which were empowered to operate their own business ventures, had limited or insufficient business skills and the very businesses that were given to them to improve their lifestyle were at risk of becoming unviable enterprises. This is clearly evident in some of the schemes being operated by companies such as Autonet and South African Breweries (hereinafter referred to as SAB). Other Eastern Cape companies that operate Owner-Driver schemes include Italtile, Shatterprufe and Ready Mix Materials (hereinafter referred to as RMM), and according to Management consultants spoken to, have obtained mixed levels of success with their schemes. The above schemes were confirmed with the various companies mentioned.

Disturbances in the railway network are frequent and to some extent, inevitable. When this happens, the traffic dispatchers need to re-schedule the train traffic and there is a need for decision support in this process. One purpose of such a decision support system would be to visualize the relevant, alternative re-scheduling solutions and benchmark them based on a set of relevant train traffic attributes which quantify the effects of each solution. Currently, there are two research projects financed by the Swedish Transport Administration (i.e. Trafikverket) which focus on developing decision support to assist the Swedish train traffic managers: The STEG project and the EOT project. Within the STEG project, researchers at Uppsala University in co-operation with Trafikverket are developing a graphical user interface (referred to as the STEG graph). Within the EOT project, researchers at Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH) are developing fast re-scheduling algorithms to propose to the Swedish train traffic dispatchers a set of relevant re-scheduling alternatives when disturbances occur. However, neither the STEG graph nor the EOT algorithms are at this point designed to evaluate, benchmark and visualize the alternative re-scheduling solutions. The main objective of this work is therefore to identify and analyze different train traffic attributes and how to use the selected relevant ones for benchmarking re-scheduling solutions. This involves enhancing an existing visual tool (EOT GUI) and using this extended version (referred to as the EOT GUI+) to demonstrate and evaluate the benchmarking of different re-scheduling solutions based on the selected train traffic attributes. The train traffic attributes found in the literature (foremost research publications and documents by Trafikverket) were collected and analyzed. A subset of the most commonly used attributes found were then selected and their applicability in benchmarking re-scheduling solutions for the Swedish train traffic system was further analyzed. The formulas for calculating each of the attribute values were either found in the literature and possibly modified, or defined within this thesis project. In order to assess the use of the attributes for benchmark solutions, experiments were conducted using the enhanced visual tool EOT GUI+ and a set of sample solutions for three different disturbance scenarios provided by the EOT project. The tool only performs a benchmark of two solutions at a time (i.e. a pair wise benchmark) and computes the attribute values for the chosen attributes. The literature review and attribute analysis resulted in a first set of ten different attributes to use including e.g. total final delay (with a delay threshold value of 1 and 5 minutes respectively), maximum delay, total accumulated delay, total delay cost, number of delayed trains and robustness. The formulas to compute these attribute values were implemented and applied to the sample solutions in the experiments. The first phase of the experiments showed that in one of the disturbance scenarios, some of the attribute values were in conflict and that none of re-scheduling solution was dominating the others. This observation led to that the set of attributes needed to be narrowed down and internally prioritized. Based on the experimental results and the analysis of what the research community and the main stakeholder (i.e. Trafikverket) consider are the most important attributes in this context, the final set of attributes to use includes average final delay, maximum delay of a single train, total number of delayed trains and robustness. The contribution of this thesis is primarily the review and analysis of what attributes to use when performing a benchmark of re-scheduling solutions in real-time train traffic disturbance management. Furthermore, this thesis also contributes by performing an experimental assessment of how the attributes and their formulas could work in a pair-wise, quantitative benchmark for a set of disturbance scenarios and which issues that may occur due to conflicting objectives and attribute values. Concerning the enhancement of the visual tool and the visualization of the re-scheduling solutions, the experimental evaluation and analysis shows that the tool would not fit directly to the needs of the train dispatchers. This work should therefore only be seen as a starting point for the researchers whom are working with the development of decision support systems in this context. Furthermore, several iterative experiments have been conducted to select the appropriate attributes for benchmarking solutions and suggesting the best re-scheduling solution. During the experiments, we have used a limited set of different problem instances (2+2+7) representing three different types of disturbances. The performance of the enhanced visual tool EOT GUI+ and its functionalities should ideally also be analyzed further and improved by experimenting with a larger number of instances, for other parts of the Swedish railway network and in co-operation with the real users, i.e. the dispatchers.

This diploma work analyses the private building company KOS Consult Ltd., in the concrete the up to now way of making business, especially the function of company’s management. The particular economic analyses are utilized and on their base the new project for management development is worked up. This should lead both to the advancement of competitive strength and obtaining and consolidation of company’s position in the marketplace.

Thesis analyzes problems related to the physical distribution of selected products in the manufacturing company. My work contains such a proposal, which allows to ensure customer requirements in a given quantity of a predetermined time and will help to increase customer satisfaction and increase competitive ability of the market.

The subject of this thesis is primarily design methodology for planning and traffic management. It is based on the real needs of company CAD Blansko and analyzing company processes and capture their support in the corporate ERP system. Next pat is detailed analysis focusing on dispatching of passenger transport. Based on the findings and conclusions of this section are outlined deficiencies, especially the need for a methodology for resource planning and specifications of that methology. To which is directly connected with the extensive design of the required design methodology and its software support, change is taken into account current business processes. It is also recommended procedure of the implementation methodology using appropriate project management tools. The final part is testing of methodology.

This dissertation consists of three essays in health economics concerned with measuring the determinants of health care resource utilization and health. In the first chapter, I study entry barriers in healthcare provider markets. In the U.S., proponents of regulatory entry barriers called CON programs claim that they reduce waste by limiting "unnecessary" entry. I examine CON programs in the dialysis industry, where their effects on market structure, access, health, costs, and welfare are poorly understood, and where patients are sensitive to access and quality. I combine quasi-experimental policy variation in low population areas with a structural model of patient preferences to find that marginal entrants improved access significantly, reduced hospitalization rates, and generated for patients the utility value of traveling 275-344 fewer miles per month; but there is evidence that they contributed even more to fixed costs. Using policy variation throughout North Carolina, I also find evidence that the NC dialysis CON program created a mechanism through which incumbents could block potential entrants by expanding in tandem with their local patient populations. Taken together, my findings suggest that stronger regulatory entry barriers in low population areas may raise total welfare at patients' expense---but they also amplify concerns that CON programs dampen competition statewide. In the second chapter, I study an empirical framework commonly used in health economics research to measure the impact of an event over time using observational data: the event study. Dating back to at least Snow (1855), event studies have been used in health economics research to study mortality, health care utilization, health insurance enrollment, provider competition, and much more. Under no anticipation and parallel trends assumptions, difference-in-differences are known to identify the event's average treatment effect on the treated when units experience one event at most. In this paper, I introduce a new event study framework to accommodate settings where units may experience multiple events. I introduce a matching estimator which consistently and transparently estimates the average treatment effect on the treated of a single event under generalizations of the conventional no anticipation and parallel trends assumptions. I show that the matching estimator is equivalent to a weighted least squares estimator for a particular set of weights. I also introduce a parallel pre-trends test which can be used to scrutinize these assumptions in the usual sense. Finally, I demonstrate in a series of Monte Carlo simulations that the estimator and parallel pre-trends test work well for a wide range of treatment effects, including dynamic, non-stationary, and history-dependent treatment effects. In the third chapter, I study when and why emergency departments initiate ambulance diversions, and what happens to diverted patients. Efficiently distributing scarce healthcare resources among patients with time sensitive healthcare needs and uncertain arrival rates is a hard problem. When an emergency department gets too full, ED managers sometimes request that incoming ambulances reroute their patients to alternative destinations. While such ambulance diversions can sometimes help an overcrowded ED manage its caseload, it can also harm incoming patients and reduce systemwide EMS responsiveness. In detailed administrative records cataloging when, where, and why diversions occur, as well as who got diverted, I document that diversions commonly last exactly 1 hour, approximately 4 hours, and exactly 8 hours (indicating that managerial frictions may directly affect ED availability); that diverted patients have different characteristics than non-diverted patients (including potentially more severe symptoms); and that diverted patients spend 65% longer on the road to the hospital than non-diverted patients. I also find that diversions often occur not only because of crowdedness, but also because of hospital systems failures. I identify directions for future research.

這篇論文主要是要建構一個在考慮經濟面及效率面下，評估公有路邊停車場經營管理績效的機制。當考慮經濟面及效率面時，包含權利金委外、開單勞務委外及人力派遣與政府自辦的比較，何者較具有經營管理優勢。本文選擇以這四個制度為分析對象的理由，主要是源自於公共選擇理論。另外，評估方法則應用層級分析法來評估這四個經營管理機制。而在考慮經濟與效率為目標下，評估指標分別從投入與產出這二個面向著手，其中投入面向之評估指標有人力、設備及費用，產出面向之評估指標則有每格位開單率及每人每日營收金額等。以臺北市西門地區做為實證分析對象，透過問卷調查24名專家學者對評估指標的權重，再以簡單加權法求算各個替選方案評點，研究結果發現，開單勞務委外為最優方案，其次為權利金委外，而政府自辦在經濟及效率面向，與其他三個方案比較結果，顯示最不具有經營管理優勢。 / This thesis is aimed at construct the scheme of evaluating the management economy and efficiency for public curb parking lot. Those which draw up the parking charge list including of royalty, labor-outsourcing and leased work, are compared with the government manages oneself, when consideration economy and efficiency which alternative has the superiority of operation and management. The rationale to choice these four alternatives as evaluative object is the public choice theory. Moreover, the consideration of performance evaluation has three indicators such as manpower, facility and expenditure under the schema of input, and two indicators such as the rate of draw up the parking charge list for a parking space and each person of daily earning under the schema of output. Further, analysis hierarchy process and SAW are applied for the appraisal method. In empirical study, 24 experts replied our questionnaire survey. The result suggest that the priority alternative is labor outsourcing and the government manages oneself is inferior to other three alternatives. We develop a framework to promote a better understanding of the important of public curb parking lot performance management. Using the review literature and the results an empirical study of Taipei’s curb parking lots, we developed the framework presented herein, in hope that if would stimulate more interest in this area.

Transit agencies include buffer time in their schedules to maintain stable headways and avoid bus bunching. In this work, a real-time holding mechanism is proposed to dispatch buses on a loop-shaped route, solely based on operating conditions in real-time. Holds are applied at the terminal station to minimize the expected variance of bus headways at departure. The bus-dispatching problem is formulated as a stochastic decision process. The optimality equations are derived and structural properties of the optimal policy are inferred by backward induction. The exact optimal holding policy is then found in closed form, as a function of the expected travel time of buses currently running. A simulation assuming stochastic operating conditions and unstable headway dynamics is performed to assess the expected average waiting time of passengers at stations. The proposed control strategy is found to provide lower passenger waiting time and better resiliency than methods recommended in the literature and used in practice.