The increasing importance of computer leads to develop new manufacturing methods. One of the most important example / &ldquo / unmanned shop floor&rdquo / model aims, the mankind can work in jobs that they can be more efficient and more comfortable. As the base of this model, in Middle East Technical University Computer Integrated Manufacturing Laboratory (METUCIM) &ldquo / Agent Version 1.1&rdquo / system is developed. Windows Distributed Internet Applications (DNA) modeling technique is used for the software development. In the developed system, by using web pages, one can give work orders to the flexible manufacturing cell in METUCIM. The manufacturing capabilities of the cell are limited by the capabilities of CNC Lathe and CNC Milling machine that exist in the system. By the developed agent based dynamic scheduling method, it is prevented to be only an experimental system for the manufacturing cell. The real manufacturing environment is adapted to the cell that it is possible to give unlimited number of work orders. The work orders can be queued and manufactured according to their &ldquo / priorities&rdquo / . By the &ldquo / web-cam&rdquo / application the given work orders can be watched from the web site so the system reliability is increased for the engineer. In the real manufacturing environment it is very frequent that the &ldquo / urgent part&rdquo / is needed to manufacture. In this system it is possible to give &ldquo / urgent orders&rdquo / for these situations.

本研究開發一個以區域最佳解為基礎的群體式 (population-based) 啟發式演算法(簡稱HLBS)，來求解流程式排程（flow shop）之最大流程時間的最小化問題。其中，HLBS會先建置一個跟隨模型來導引搜尋機制，然後，運用過濾策略來預防重複搜尋相同解空間而陷入區域最佳解的困境；但搜尋仍有可能會陷入區域最佳解，這時，HLBS則會啟動跳脫策略來協助跳出區域最佳解，以進入新的區域之搜尋；為驗證HLBS演算法的績效，本研究利用著名的Taillard 測試題庫來進行評估，除證明跟隨模型、過濾策略和跳脫策略的效用外，也提出實驗結果證明HLBS較其他知名群體式啟發式演算法(如基因演算法、蟻群演算法以及粒子群最佳化演算法)之效能為優。 / This research proposes population-based metaheuristic based on the local best solution (HLBS) for the permutation flow shop scheduling problem (PFSP-makespan). The proposed metaheuristic operates through three mechanisms: (i) it introduces a new method to produce a trace-model for guiding the search, (ii) it applies a new filter strategy to filter the solution regions that have been reviewed and guides the search to new solution regions in order to keep the search from trapping into local optima, and (iii) it initiates a new jump strategy to help the search escape if the search does become trapped at a local optimum. Computational experiments on the well-known Taillard's benchmark data sets will be performed to evaluate the effects of the trace-model generating rule, the filter strategy, and the jump strategy on the performance of HLBS, and to compare the performance of HLBS with all the promising population-based metaheuristics related to Genetic Algorithms (GA), Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) and Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO).

1 MOTIVATION Das Web erfreut sich weiterhin ungebrochener Beliebtheit. Im Laufe der Zeit hat sich das Netz jedoch sehr stark weiterentwickelt. Aus einem anfangs unidirektionalen Informationsmedium bestehend aus statischen Dokumenten wurde unter dem Schlagwort ,,Social Web” ein interaktives Kommunikationsmedium. Schon vor dem Social Web entwickelte sich das Web außerdem zu einem Medium zur Abwicklung geschäftlicher Transaktionen und bildet heute die wichtigste Plattform für den E-Commerce. Für den Online-Handel bietet das Social Web eine einfache Möglichkeit mit den Konsumenten direkt in Kontakt zu treten und eine bi-direktionale Beziehungsstruktur mit dem Kunden aufzubauen. Richter et al. [2007] sehen dies als eine logische Weiterentwicklung im E-Commerce. In der Praxis gibt es jedoch auch seitens der Unternehmen häufig Überlegungen, dass das Anbieten von öffentlich einsehbaren Kommunikationsmechanismen auch die Verbreitung negativer Meinungen fördert und so den Geschäftserfolg schmälert. Ein weiteres Hindernis sind auch häufig bestehende Unklarheiten über die Erfolgsmessung von Social Web-Projekten. Dementsprechend gibt es sowohl Web Shops, die viele interaktive Elemente bereitstellen, als auch solche, die darauf verzichten. Im Rahmen der hier vorgestellten Arbeit soll die Frage nach der aktuellen Verbreitung von interaktiven Elementen in deutschen Online-Shops beantwortet werden.

Chapter 11 of the Property Agents and Motor Dealers Act 2000 (Qld) and the Retail Shop Leases Act 1994 (Qld) both introduce procedural requirements to the process for creation of land contracts and were both introduced to address a perceived lack of conscience in each of the industries affected. These represent a recent broadening of the ambit of consumer protection legislation in Queensland which deviates from more traditional methods of statutory intervention into land contracts. This paper focuses on the extent to which the Acts effectively introducing a conscience element into certain land contracts, and the extent to which this alters classical contract law. The effectiveness of the approach is then tested against the critiques of two alternative theories of law - law and economics and feminist contract theory - to see whether the legislative approach answers the deficiencies in contract identified within the terms of each theory.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universiẗat Giessen, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 283-307).

This study focused upon the manufacturing lead time management in California's electrical and electronic machinery, equipment, and supplies industry. Manufacturing firms with one hundred or more employees were invited to participate in the research. Six subproblems relating to manufacturing lead time were selected and six appropriate null hypotheses were tested. The subproblems identified (1) factors influencing manufacturing lead time, (2) production planning processes influencing manufacturing lead time accuracy, and (3) techniques reducing manufacturing lead time. These factors, production planning processes, and techniques were then IV investigated to determine the importance of each of them in two environments: (1) high-volume continuous-production (HVCP) and (2) job-shop production-to-order (JSPTO).

La première partie de ce travail concerne la production cyclique pour l'optimisation du taux de production dans les flowshops robotisés, où un robot est chargé du transport des pièces. Les cellules robotisées peuvent être disposées de façon linéaire ou circulaire. Les principaux résultats théoriques concernant la disposition linéaire ne peuvent être étendus à la configuration circulaire. En particulier, trouver le meilleur cycle de production de une pièce (1-cycle) est un problème polynomial dans le cas des cellules linéaires additives, mais NP-difficile pour la configuration correspondante circulaire.Nous nous concentrons principalement sur le cas des cellules circulaires équilibrées, où le temps d'usinage est identique sur toutes les machines. Après avoir présentés des outils pour l'analyse cyclique dans les cellules circulaires, nous établissons des propriétés nécessaires des 1-cycles performants, ce qui permet de conclure sur le problème du meilleur 1-cycle jusqu'à 8 machines. Toutefois, nous fournissons un contre-exemple pour 6 machines à la conjecture classique des 1-cycles, toujours ouverte dans cette configuration.Ensuite, nous étudions la structure des 1-cycles performants pour des cellules circulaires équilibrées arbitrairement grandes. Nous définissons et étudions les propriétés d'une nouvelle famille de cycles basée sur cette structure et formulons une conjecture sur sa dominance sur les 1-cycles qui conduirait à un algorithme polynomial pour le problème du meilleur 1-cycle dans ce cas. Cette structure permet de déterminer le meilleur 1-cycle jusqu'à 11 machines.Dans la deuxième partie, nous présentons le travail réalisé sur un problème industriel proposé par la SNCF dans le cadre du challenge ROADEF/EURO. Nous proposons un algorithme glouton pour ce problème combinant divers aspects de la gestion des trains au sein d'une gare. / The first part of this work deals with cyclic production for throughput optimization in robotic flow-shops, where a robot is in charge of the material handling of parts. Robotic cells may have a linear or a circular layout. Most theoretical results for the linear layout do not hold for the circular layout. In particular, the problem of finding the best one part production cycle (1-cycle), which is a polynomial problem for linear additive cells, has been proved NP-hard for the corresponding circular configuration.We mainly focus on a special case of circular balanced cells, where the processing times are identical for all machines. After presenting tools for cyclic analysis in circular cells, we study necessary properties of efficient 1-cycles. These results allow to conclude on the best one part production cycle for any parameters in circular balanced cells up to 8 machines. However, we provide a counter-example to the classical 1-cycle conjecture, still open for this configuration.Then, we study the structure of efficient one part production cycles in arbitrarily large circular balanced cells. We introduce and study a new family of cycles based on this structure, and formulate a conjecture on its dominance over one part-production cycles, which would lead to a polynomial algorithm for finding the best 1-cycle for circular balanced cells. This structure allows to settle the best one part production cycle for cells with up to 11 machines.In a second part, we present work on an industrial problem of railway stock scheduling proposed by the French railway company in the context of the ROADEF/EURO competition. We propose a greedy algorithm for this problem combining the various aspects of trains handling inside a station.

Diploma thesis deals with analysis of the shopping atmosphere of selected retail unit depending on its main objective. In the first part of the thesis - literary research - the theoretical background of the issue is processed. The second part - own work - already deals with the analysis. Retail unit Tesco České Budějovice was chosen for the analysis and a description of its shopping atmosphere is included in the work. The main method of analysis was an on-line questionnaire survey which was carried out among the customers of selected retail unit. Results of this survey served to confirmation or refutation of established hypothesis. A description of shopping atmosphere of one more retail unit was made for completeness of analysis. This description served for the purpose of comparison. On the basis of the data obtained was found that the elements of the shopping atmosphere of selected retail unit are used quite abruptly, and to a limited extent, in accordance with the strategy of focusing on low-priced on the market. Customers (with some exceptions) did not express dissatisfaction with such performing of shopping atmosphere, which suggests that customers who are shopping in this retail unit are focused more on the practical aspects of the purchase, such as low price or breadth of assortment. Four improvements for problematic areas were proposed in the work to increase the efficiency and attractiveness of the store. Areas are following: entrance area, orientation and using of colors in the store, area of counter sale and increase of using of self service checkouts.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:51:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 4944.pdf: 2439121 bytes, checksum: 2f12176e338497454472f3aa726804be (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-03-04 / Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos / Companies have been considering the responsiveness as a competitive criterion, trying to meet current market that requires simultaneously quality, efficiency, punctuality and customization. So, the lead time reduction becomes a strategic issue for the manufacturing management, considering that improvement programs on lead time reduction have been widely approached by Lean Manufacturing and Quick Response Manufacturing. Studies on improvements on shop floor parameters in order to reduce the lead time were addressed in numerous studies, such as the work of Godinho Filho and Uzsoy (2008a). Due to resource constraints existing in practice, there is a need to investigate which variable can be prioritized in the development of improvement projects, due to their potential for reducing the lead time. Therefore, this study aims to address this gap in the literature and from the business, expanding Godinho Filho and Uzsoy (2008a) work and proposing a method for selecting improvement programs aimed at reducing the lead time. To achieve this goal, we conducted a literature review, a case study on a company of the aviation industry, as well as simulations using a model created from the System Dynamics approach and Factory Physics. In addition to outlining the research question of this work, the case study aims to present to the reader an application of the method proposed. Thus, for the environment studied, i.e. a bottleneck single machine of a machining process, the result of applying the seven steps of the method was the potential improvement of 84.63% on lead time, which can be obtained with a design 1373% improvement in mean time between failures, requiring an effort of 5880 h. As an alternative to the company, a 34.76% reduction in lead time would also be possible through the investment of 1960h working for an improvement of 72% in the coefficient of variation of the repair time. / A responsividade tem sido considerada pelas empresas um critério competitivo, na tentativa de atender ao mercado atual, que exige simultaneamente qualidade, agilidade, pontualidade e customização. Assim, a redução do lead time se torna um tema estratégico para a gerência da produção, sendo que, ações de melhorias para a redução do lead time têm sido abordadas destacadamente pelo Lean Manufacturing e pelo Quick Response Manufacturing. Estudos sobre melhorias em variáveis do chão de fábrica com o objetivo de reduzir o lead time foram abordados em inúmeros estudos, como por exemplo, no trabalho de Godinho Filho e Uzsoy (2008a). Devido às restrições de recursos existentes na prática, surge a necessidade de se investigar qual variável pode ser priorizada na elaboração de projetos de melhoria, devido ao seu potencial de redução do lead time. Para tanto, o presente trabalho visa atender a essa lacuna da literatura e do meio empresarial, ampliando o trabalho de Godinho Filho e Uzsoy (2008a) e propondo um método para a seleção de programas de melhoria que objetivem a redução do lead time. Para atingir esse objetivo, foi realizada uma análise da literatura, um estudo de caso em uma empresa do setor aeronáutico, assim como simulações utilizando um modelo criado a partir das abordagens System Dynamics e Factory Physics. Além de delinear a questão de pesquisa desse trabalho, o estudo de caso visa apresentar ao leitor uma aplicação do método aqui proposto. Assim, para o ambiente estudado, ou seja, uma máquina única gargalo de um processo de usinagem, o resultado da aplicação dos sete passos do método foi a potencial melhoria de 84,63% no lead time, que pode ser obtida com um projeto de melhoria de 1373% no tempo médio entre falhas, demandando um esforço de 5880 h. Como uma alternativa para a empresa, uma redução de 34,76% no lead time também seria possível por meio do investimento de 1960h de trabalho para uma melhoria de 72% no coeficiente de variação do tempo de reparo.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-01T19:18:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 113420.pdf: 624532 bytes, checksum: 845e7714cbd2ade0830911343550ae3a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-05-16 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The relationship between buyer and seller has excelled in a business environment increasingly competitive, in which only a quality product is no longer a guarantee of success. In this scenario, the role of the sales force has been magnified, whose focus is to build lasting relationships between the actors in this process. The relationship between client and salesman is also an important part in the pet shops market. In this study, the client is a veterinarian, a pet shop owner and responsible for the purchase of medicines and vaccines marketed locally. The sales force is formed by sales representatives hired by the distributors of medicines and vaccines. Aiming to analyze the business relationship between them, a qualitative research was conducted with 19 veterinarians from Florianopolis. Also, five supervisors of distributors located in the state of Santa Catarina were interviewed, in order to verify their knowledge in relation to perceptions of veterinarians on existing qualifications in their sales force. For a long-term relationship development with the sales representative, veterinarians consider it important to build a relationship of trust and partnership. The seller needs to be polite, not pushy and empathize. Features related to the sales process as knowing the products, appropriate frequency of visits, constantly available, adapting to the vet s schedules and solving problems were also identified as important. Furthermore, veterinarians expect that representatives have trading conditions and flexibility, receive technical support of the company, working with a trusted brand and quality products. Supervisors have demonstrated knowledge about what is important for the veterinarian to develop a good business relationship with the seller, however, there was the need to give more attention to the personal characteristics valued by veterinarians. From this study, it can be concluded, when there is a long-term relationship, sales representatives act as a positive differential to increase sales of the distributors of vaccines and medicines. / O relacionamento entre comprador e vendedor tem se destacado em um ambiente de negócios cada vez mais competitivo, no qual somente um produto de qualidade não é mais garantia de sucesso. Neste cenário, o papel da força de vendas tem sido ampliado, cujo enfoque é a construção de um relacionamento duradouro entre os atores desse processo. O relacionamento entre cliente e vendedor também é peça importante no mercado de pet shops. Neste estudo, o cliente é o médico veterinário, proprietário de um pet shop e responsável pela compra dos medicamentos e vacinas comercializados no local. A força de venda é formada pelos representantes comerciais, contratados pelas distribuidoras de medicamentos e vacinas. Com o objetivo de analisar o relacionamento de negócios entre eles, realizou-se uma pesquisa qualitativa com 19 veterinários de Florianópolis. Também foram entrevistados cinco supervisores de distribuidoras do estado de Santa Catarina, com o intuito de verificar seu conhecimento em relação às percepções dos médicos veterinários sobre as qualificações existentes em sua força de vendas. Para desenvolver um relacionamento de longo prazo com o representante de vendas, os médicos veterinários consideram importante a construção de uma relação de confiança e parceria. O vendedor precisa ser educado, não insistente e ter empatia.Características relacionadas à venda como conhecer os produtos, ter uma frequência adequada de visitas, estar disponível, adequar-se aos horários do veterinário e resolver problemas também foram apontadas como importantes. Além disso, os veterinários esperam que os representantes tenham condições de negociação e flexibilidade, possuam respaldo técnico da empresa, trabalhem com uma marca de confiança e com produtos de qualidade. Os supervisores demonstraram ter conhecimento sobre o que é importante para o médico veterinário desenvolver um bom relacionamento de negócios com o vendedor, porém, verificou se a necessidade de dar mais atenção às características interpessoais valorizadas pelos veterinários. A partir deste estudo, pode-se concluir que, à medida que se constitui um relacionamento de longo prazo, os representantes de vendas atuam como um diferencial positivo para aumentar as vendas das distribuidoras de vacinas e medicamentos.