Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-97). / The cost of healthcare has been increasing over the past several years. From 1997 to 2002, the average cost for hospital stays increased 24 percent. The increase in healthcare cost can be explained by malpractice law suits and also by the increase in the cost of medical supplies (26 percent increase from 2000 to 2002). Though the Automated Point of Use (APU) technology and the Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) are helping hospitals reduce supply chain costs, this research seeks to understand whether the inventory policy exists with the APU-VMI model is optimal. To achieve an understanding of the behavior under the APU-VMI model, this research seeks to investigate the inventory cost as well as the average order quantity and the deviation of the order quantity, and the replenishment frequency for before and after the introduction of the APU-VMI model. Through this, this research seeks to recommend the optimal inventory policies that hospitals should couple with the APU-VMI model. This combination should enable hospitals to reduce supply costs, and increase the returns on the investment made in implementing the APU-VMI model. / by Paul Jenq-Haw Jan. / M.Eng.in Logistics

Thesis: Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2014. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references. / Infrastructure systems are large physical networks of interrelated components which produce and distribute resources to meet societal needs. Meeting future sustainability objectives may require more complex systems with stronger integration across sectors and improved collaboration among constituent organizations. This dissertation introduces and demonstrates a method of interoperable simulation gaining to combine elements from concurrent engineering, wargaming, and serious gaming to support strategic design activities. First, a controlled human subjects experiment quantifies the relative impacts of technical and social sources of complexity using a simple surrogate design task, finding collaboration with communication barriers greatly increases the time and cost of design. Next, a modeling framework identifies common graph-theoretic structures and formal behavior definitions believed to be generalizable to all infrastructure systems. An interoperability interface defines interactions between system models to eiable resource exchanges. Next, the High Level Architecture (HLA) standard is applied to the modeling framework to enable distributed, time-synchronized simulation with deceitralized authority over constituent system models. A federation object model and agreement define data structures and processes to participate in a federated simulation execution. A prototype application case implements the modeling framework and simulation architecture using the context of Saudi Arabia. Infrastructure system models are developed for agriculture, water, petroleum, and electricity sectors. A baseline scenario develops system and element instantiations using historical estimates of resource flows and fictional costs. A software implementation provides a graphical user interface to modify design scenarios and visualize outcomes. Finally, a game formulation uses the prototype model as the basis of a simulation game with individual and collective objectives among water, energy, and agriculture ministry roles. Players collaboratively propose new infrastructure projects over a planning horizon to maximize objectives within time and budgetary constraints. A second controlled human subjects experiment studies the effect of three tool variants of outcome design quality, finding the number of data exchanges is positively correlated with outcome quality and am integrated simulation variant using the HLA results in more data exchanges compared to am asynchronous file-based variant. / by Paul Thomas Grogan. / Ph. D.

Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 63-64). / This thesis investigates the application of Dynamic Pricing strategies at a manufacturer of continuous replenishment perishable goods. I begin with a discussion of Dynamic Pricing models, and select a mixed integer programming formulation as most applicable to the available systems and data of the target company. Cost formulations are built through a detailed analysis of current cost allocations within the company and actual costs when available. Revenue and price elasticity models are built from existing formulations. The continuous functions are then discretized through piece-wise approximations and input into a mixed integer program using production and pricing as the decision variables. The results were not entirely conclusive as sensitivity around the base values, particularly the price elasticity value, can create very different price path solutions. Greater stability is achieved through tightening the price ranges, but the suggested policy of always charging the maximum allowable price is not practical within the company's existing policies. For actual implementation, a much more thorough understanding of the price elasticity mechanism would be required. / by William M. Driegert. / M.Eng.in Logistics

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 454-472). / During the past two decades, Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) have provided transportation organizations with increasingly advanced tools both to operate and manage systems in real-time. At the same time, federal legislation has been tightening the linkages between state and local transportation investments and metropolitan air quality goals. In this context, ITS seems to represent a case of the potential synergies - or so-called "win-win" outcomes - that could be realized for the dual policy goals of air quality and mobility. If the various public sector organizations responsible for air quality and transportation could cooperate in deploying, assessing and further adapting these new technologies to take advantage of these synergies, they could achieve a "sustainable use" of ITS. However, looking beyond ITS and air quality, these issues point to broader questions of how to appropriately manage technology and its impacts on society, specifically those technologies deployed by the public sector. In particular, how does the public sector innovate and deploy technologies in ways that maximize the benefits, and minimize or avoid the negative impacts? In order to examine this phenomenon, this thesis takes the example of ITS and air quality to develop and test a broader framework of Integrated Innovation, Deployment and Adaptation of Public Technologies (IIDAPT). / (cont.) In this thesis, we define and articulate a framework for IIDAPT, and identify testable conditions that make IIDAPT either more or less likely to occur. We identify seven conditions - based in the literature of political science, organizational theory, and public administration - that should, in theory, influence the ability of public agencies to achieve synergies for multiple policy goals through technology deployment. Having developed a theoretical framework for the conditions that influence IIDAPT, we then test those conditions using five U.S. cities - Los Angeles, Houston, Boston, Orlando, and Tulsa - as case studies in ITS and air quality. We then extend the framework to a non-US case, Mexico City, in order to further test the IIDAPT framework and to identify possible changes at the federal and local level to better align ITS deployments with both mobility and air quality goals in Mexico City. This research explains some interesting outcomes in terms of failures by public sector agencies to take advantage of new, lower cost ITS technologies that can provide multiple benefits for both mobility and air quality. We find that "cheap" solutions, such as ITS rather than conventional infrastructure, are not always in an agency's interests, as defined by the agency. / (cont.) Specifically, we found that lower-cost innovations may compete with an agency's or elected official's priorities for certain categories of investment, by undermining the ability to build up the case for that investment. The overarching conclusion, is that the possibilities for synergies (or "win-win" outcomes) must be defined, not according to the stated policy objectives or mission of the public sector agencies, but according to the underlying interests and agendas of agencies, which may, or may not align with the public interest. We also found that new information on the impacts of new ITS technologies on air quality does not generally lead to adaptation in the application of those technologies either to reduce negative impacts or to provide additional benefits for air quality. Even where evaluations of air quality impacts were required, those assessments were not well integrated into the process of technology deployment and later adaptation in the use of those technologies. Indeed, new information that can change the perception of possible mutual benefits is not always welcomed by agencies, and assessment methodologies will tend to reflect existing agency preferences. However, there were reasons for optimism. / (cont.) We found that in response to an increasingly "severe" air quality problem (as defined by federal regulations), local agencies are in fact experimenting with the use of ITS to achieve air quality benefits as well as mobility benefits. Furthermore, by creating the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) program, a dedicated federal funding source for non-traditional transportation investments (such as ITS) with air quality benefits, agencies were provided with the resources and additional motivation to seek out and deploy ITS technologies with air quality benefits. To conclude this work, we highlight possible areas of future theory development for IIDAPT, and point to additional technology and policy domains where the IIDAPT framework can be applied and tested. / by Rebecca Susanne Dodder. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2011. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 165-167). / Despite a rich legacy of impressive technological accomplishments (e.g., project Apollo, the Hubble Space Telescope) in recent years, the ability of government space agencies to deliver on their promises has increasingly been called into question. Although multiple acquisition systems and organizational structures have been tried, there remains a fundamental lack of understanding of how new technology development can, and should, be encouraged in this unique market structure and product context. This thesis seeks to address that gap by developing a more nuanced, and empirically grounded, explanation. R&D management practices typically conceptualize complex product innovation as a Stage-Gate process whereby novel concepts are matured through a succession of development stages and progressively winnowed down at each sequential gate. This view implicitly assumes that maturity is a monotonically increasing function of the technology, and that partially matured technologies can be restored from the "shelf' for future maturation, baring obsolescence. However, based on evidence from six detailed process histories of instances of innovation in NASA's science directorate - including more than 100 hours of interviews, 150 archival documents and 2 months of informal observations - this thesis demonstrates how, in practice, the pathways taken by new capabilities do not respect these assumptions, with important implications. For example: e Rather than being a monotonically increasing function in time, particular innovations draw simultaneously from funding mechanisms targeted at different Technology Readiness Level (TRL) ranges, and loop back to win "early stage" grants decades into their development when system level progress is stymied. As a result, increases to early stage R&D funding may not reach the targeted concepts. * Rather than being a purposeful management decision, getting shelved is something that happens to innovation teams due to the lack of co-timing of technical breakthroughs and mission opportunities. As a result, maintaining a shelved capability is as much a matter of keeping the team together as it is a question of technical obsolescence. The thesis argues that the observed dynamics can be better explained by four epochs of persistent, stable, and identifiable behavior, punctuated by transition inducing shocks. Acting individually, or in combination, these shocks can induce transitions from any one epoch to another. This new Epoch-Shock formulation enables a rethinking of the policy problem. Where the Stage-Gate model leads to an emphasis on centralized flow control, the Epoch-Shock model acknowledges the decentralized, probabilistic nature of key interactions and highlights which aspects may be influenced. These findings are considered both as NASA-specific recommendations, and more generally in terms of their implications for complex product innovation in a monopsony market. / by Zoe Szajnfarber. / Ph.D.

Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2013. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 63-65). / Since the year 2000, at least 300 disasters occurred annually, catching more than 100 million people unprepared and in need of international assistance every year. The United Nations operates five humanitarian response depots (UNHRDs), stocked with over 1,000 types of humanitarian relief items. In the event of an emergency, the UNHRDs deploy the pre-positioned stocks to meet the initial demand of those people affected. Our thesis evaluates the response capacity of the UNHRDs to a single potential disaster: what percentage of total affected people can be served and in what time period. Developed from a stochastic linear programming model, this two-part index assumes that the depots operate as a network, lead times are proportional to distances from depots, and stockpiles are optimized individually for each relief item. Given a specific level of initial inventory for each item, the model also provides insight into how to distribute relief items throughout the five depots to minimize the expected delivery time. Based on a marginal benefit analysis, each unit of inventory is allocated to a depot to minimize the total expected delivery times to disasters. We describe how the UNHRDs and other humanitarian relief organizations can strategically pre-position limited emergency relief resources to maximize their capacity to respond to disasters. / by Kathryn K. Nishimura and Jian Wang. / M.Eng.in Logistics

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Biological Engineering Division, June 2006. / "February 2006." / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 56-59). / Following exposure to DNA damage, cells initiate a stress response involving multiple protein kinase signaling cascades. The DNA damage response results in one of several possible cell-fate decisions, or cellular responses: induction of cell-cycle arrest, initiation of DNA repair, activation of transcriptional programs, and either apoptosis, necrosis or cell senescence. The mechanisms by which cells make these decisions, and how cell fate depends upon variables such as DNA damage type and dose, and other environmental factors, is unknown. The process by which cells select among alternate fates following such stimuli, or "cues" is likely to involve a dynamic, multi-variate integration of signals from each of the kinase signaling components. A major goal of signal transduction research is to understand how information flows through signal transduction pathways downstream of a given cue, such as DNA damage, and how signals are integrated, in order to mediate cellular responses. Mathematical modeling approaches are necessary to advance our understanding of these processes. / (cont.) Indeed, statistical mining and modeling of large datasets, consisting of quantitative, dynamic signaling and response measurements, is capable of yielding models that identify key signaling components in a given cue-response relationship, as well as models that are highly predictive of cellular response following novel cues that perturb the same network. We have validated a novel assay system that allows for the high throughput collection of quantitative and dynamic signaling data for 7 protein kinases or phospho-proteins known to be "hubs" in the DNA damage response and/or general stress response networks, including ATM, Chk2, H2AX, JNK, p38, ERK and p53. This novel high-throughput In-cell Western assay is based on immuno-fluorescent staining and detection of target proteins in a "whole cell" environment, performed and visualized in a 96-well plate format. This assay allows for the detection and measurement of up to 7 target proteins in triplicate, over up to 3 treatment regimes, or up to 21 signals for a single treatment, simultaneously. Pre-processing steps, and steps involved in the protocol itself are significantly fewer (and require smaller amount of most reagents and biological material), / (cont.) as compared to traditional signal measurement methods, such as quantitative Western analysis and kinase assays. We have used this novel high-throughput In-cell Western assay to investigate the DNA damage response after the specific induction of DNA double strand breaks (DSB). We have measured the dynamics of seven "hub" proteins modified with activating phosphorylations (as a surrogate measure of protein activity) that span major branches of the DNA damage, stress, and death signaling networks, following the specific induction of DNA double strand breaks. Signaling proteins measured include ATM, Chk2, H2AX, JNK, p38, ERK and p53. In parallel with these signaling measurements, we have quantitatively measured corresponding phenotypic responses, such as cell cycle profile and apoptosis. In future work, we will use a Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression analysis approach to construct a statistical model using this data, which is predictive of the cellular responses included in our measurements, following perturbation of this branch of the DNA damage response network. This analysis should reveal key signaling components involved in the decision-making process (possible molecular targets for the improvement of cancer therapy regimens that rely upon the induction of DSB, e.g. the topoisomerase inhibitor, cisplatin), and provide a basis for constructing new, and improving existing, physics-chemical models of this branch of the DNA damage response network. / by Andrea R. Tentner. / S.M.

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Biological Engineering Division, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 39). / Dynamic material properties of the isolated mouse tectorial membrane (TM) were quantified by applying sinusoidal shearing forces to the TM with a microfabricated probe (contact area 30 x 30 [micro]m²). Forces in the range 30-300 nN with frequency in the range 10-9000 Hz were applied tangentially to the surfaces of four TM specimens. We found that TM displacement was linear with respect to force. The TM exhibited both elastic and viscous characteristics, with the elastic behavior being more prominent. The elastic and viscous components of TM impedance remained proportional through two decades of frequency. The radial impedance was approximately three times larger than the longitudinal impedance. The point stiffness of the TM increased with frequency when radial forces were applied but showed no trend with frequency for longitudinal forces. Displacement of surrounding tissue decreased as distance from the probe increased. Space constants were on the order of tens of micrometers. These results represent the most detailed shear measurements to date of the isolated TM and are consistent with those obtained using the magnetic bead method [AF00]. / by Jianwen Wendy Gu. / M.Eng.

Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 78-91). / New or innovative products are growing in importance both in numbers and revenues, putting an extra stress on most current supply chains - defined conceptually as a buyer with a network of suppliers - as those were originally designed for efficiency purposes and existing products. While new products due to their characteristics, such as short life cycle, demand variability, and high investment risk, require responsive, flexible, adaptable supply chains and relevant practices. Those practices need to be properly tailored for specific different types of new products, perceived as a continuum of newness and change. This thesis examines supply chain management and supplier management practices for new products across different industries. This study has been conducted within the MIT Supply Chain 2020 Initiative using the academic and business literature research and an online survey as the methodology, and new product analytical framework as the study deliverable. / (cont.) The results of this study demonstrate that though there is a pronounced tendency to use suppliers more extensively to improve new product performance and general competitiveness, companies approach the supplier new product involvement very differently - depending on the type of new product in question and the specific mix of its key activity categories, which were identified in this study and corresponding framework as Flexibility, Control, Technology and Cost Focus. / by Herman Alex Kurapov. / M.Eng.in Logistics

Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2007. / "June 2007." / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 63). / This thesis examines the feasibility of commodity-like forward and futures markets in non-commodity consumer goods. Benefits of information gleaned from the sale of products for future delivery are examined, as well as the market for wine futures, which serves as an example of a non-commodity futures market. Analysis is conducted by controlled experiments in a system dynamics model that simulates the bullwhip effect. / by Jeffrey Wayne Kight. / M.Eng.in Logistics