Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 84). / Complicated business processes, like the airline departure process, that involve multiple job functions and even multiple companies need high levels of cross-functional coordination for successful completion. A study of the airline departure process at four stations of Icelandair showed that relationships and communication do impact performance. High levels of relationships and communication can have a positive impact on both efficiency and quality of the flight departure process at the same time. The design of systems of coordination and control and the approach to outsourcing of job functions or processes can impact levels of relationships and communication. Product offering and strategic importance of individual stations should decide how relationships with 3rd party service providers are constructed. / by Tómas Ingason. / M.Eng.in Logistics

Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 46). / Floating offshore wind farms are likely to become the next paradigm in electricity generation from wind energy mainly because of the near constant high wind speeds in an offshore environment as opposed to the erratic wind speeds in their onshore counterparts. By using floaters adapted from oilrigs, floating offshore wind farms can be operated with larger wind turbines for increased power generation. In the United States, floating offshore wind farms located off the coast of New England would be near large load centers and accessible to transmission load lines with low capacity utilization. Apart from the technological challenges of building floating offshore wind farms stemming from the developmental stage of the floater technology, there are three major logistical challenges prospective operators would likely encounter in harvesting electricity. The first challenge is to understand the interaction between distances from shore to locate a wind farm given increasing wind speeds. The second challenge is to understand the marginal impact of distance from shore on revenue generated from electricity sales from a floating offshore wind farm. And finally the third challenge is to determine inventory policy for wind turbine components in operating a floating offshore wind farm given its more complex operation and maintenance schedule. To address these challenges, this study examines a hypothetical 100 units of 5MW wind turbines to understand the economics of locating a floating offshore wind farm. / (cont.) It is important to know the intersection between the increase in revenue generated with distance from shore and increase in operation & maintenance costs of a floating offshore wind farm. Because there is currently no floating offshore wind farm at the time of this writing, estimated failure rate data was used to study demand patterns for offshore wind turbine components. Three of maintenance strategies were examined. The results obtained from this work will serve as a blue print for prospective operators of floating offshore wind farms in logistics planning and inventory management of wind turbine components for electricity generation. / by Christopher Dozie Nnadili. / M.Eng.in Logistics

Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2013. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 63-64). / We explore and compare the benefits of establishing and operating Foreign Trade Zones (FTZs) and Bonded Warehouses (BWs) for luxury goods in North America, using the case of the distribution network of Ralph Lauren Corporation (RLC). RLC is a luxury brand company with about $7 billion annual revenue. With over 3 million square feet of warehousing facilities in the USA, the company wants to explore potential savings from changing the legal titles of four of its existing inventory holding and transload facilities to either FTZs or BWs while considering the respective complexity and cost of setting up and managing the zones. To eliminate one of the FTZ and BW options, we measured both of their operational fits to the metrics of RLC's facilities. We found out that BWs are not a viable alternative for large-scale facilities such as RLC's because of the complicated Customs and Border Protection control they require. Furthermore, to determine which, if any, of the facilities should be transformed into FTZs, we conducted a cost-benefit analysis and evaluated the Net Present Value of the projects. As a result, we found out that it is financially beneficial to transform two of the four facilities under consideration, leave one in its current state, and explore the future strategic role of the fourth facility to determine the value of its FTZ transformation. We also suggest possible operational opportunities that may increase the FTZ benefits for the RLC North America network. / by Nadya Petrova and A. Todd Templeton / M.Eng.in Logistics

Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 51-53). / It has been estimated that on average, every patient admitted to a hospital is subject to at least one medication error per day (IOM, 2006). Errors may occur during various stages of the Medication Use System; a system composed of various tasks performed from the point of prescribing medication to the point in which a patient is monitored for adverse effects. Studies have shown that a majority of the errors that occur during the Medication Use System have little if any adverse effect on patients. However, there are classes of medication errors known as Adverse Drug Events (ADE's) which can cause significant harm to a patient. ADE's are not only dangerous but they have been estimated to cost the health care industry and the public in excess of $3.5 billion dollars per year (IOM, 2007). While extensive, current literature that exists on preventable ADE's varies greatly in regards how prevalent the issue is. The lack of a nationwide information system for identifying and defining ADE's only exacerbates the problem. In addition, when significant errors do occur, the repercussions for clinicians and hospitals are far from proportional. Several studies suggest that over one quarter of all medication related injuries are preventable (IOM, 2007). / (cont.) Many industry observers have long touted computerized information systems as the Holy Grail for reducing medication errors. While there is little question that computerized systems can reduce ADE's, hospitals and clinicians frequently ignore other solutions that can offer greater impact in improving the level of care that is being provided. The health care industry has long been touted as fostering a culture that supports at risk behavior and shuns the use of standardized processes. The lack of transparency into the health care industry coupled with an unwillingness to embrace cultural change continues to be one of the largest barriers in reducing the number of preventable ADE's. This paper recommends 4 different solutions that will change the culture of the health care industry, incent hospitals to focus on reducing preventable ADE's, improve the processes already in place for providing patient care and provide clinicians with the most up to date health care information available. / by Gregg Ramos. / M.Eng.in Logistics

Thesis: M. Eng. in Logistics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2014. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 76-78). / How an owner-operator chooses a specific load is a relatively unstudied field in transportation literature. Stakeholders in the decisions, such as freight brokers, stand to benefit from a better understanding of the selection process. Using load board data from a freight brokerage, we identified four parameters available to a carrier when a load is presented: length of haul, revenue per mile (RPM), the probability of finding an onward load from the destination, and the required mileage to reposition to the shipment origin. We also identified preferences of the owner-operators based on experience, literature, and the data, such as owner-operators' preference for long haul routes. We tested selection strategies that disintegrated the four load parameters and incorporated owner-operator preferences in a computerized simulation. We found that strategies combining two or more of the identified parameters provide better results in terms of revenue and utilization (% loaded) maximization. Furthermore, we found that including consideration of the empty repositioning distance was critical to success. Our simulated carriers outperformed peers in the dataset by up to 16%. Carriers can apply these insights to improve their operating strategies. Freight brokerages can apply the quantitative approach to advise their carrier clients and optimize the matching of freight with available carrier capacity. / by Paul Jeffrey R. Leopando and Kyle A.C. Rocca. / M. Eng. in Logistics

Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 121-122). / The analysis of transportation contracts using optimization software may yield higher actual freight expenditures due to unplanned events during execution. This thesis explores new methods for developing robust transportation plans leading to lower total cost by developing a transportation plan minimizing unplanned events and quantifying a cost of service for use in existing optimization models. Robust transportation planning methodology requires the analysis of a variety of transactional related data, the application of analytical tools and performance measurement techniques. This thesis explores analytical techniques utilizing shipment, accept-reject, bid, and planning data. This analysis is then used to augment optimization software capabilities, develop simulation models and provide performance management frameworks by making assessments of shipper- carrier interactions as they occur within the design of an optimized plan. The results of this thesis include analysis and methods focused on quantification of carrier performance considering various classes of transactional data, bid data, and market data. Methods to determine the amount of additional freight expenditures as a result of the frequency and severity of unplanned freight are provided and supported with simulation output. / by Matthew James Harding. / M.Eng.in Logistics

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2008. / This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 227-235). / With the growing demand for air transportation and the limited ability to increase capacity at some key points in the air transportation system, there are concerns that in the future the system will not scale to meet demand. This situation will result in the generation and the propagation of delays throughout the system, impacting passengers' quality of travel and more broadly the economy. This thesis proposes the investigation of the mechanisms by which the air transportation system has scaled to meet demand in the past and is expected to do so in the future using a multi-level engineering systems approach.The air transportation system was first analyzed at the U.S. national level using network abstractions. In order to investigate limits in scaling of the U.S. air transportation network, theories of scale-free and scalable networks were used. It was found that the U.S. air transportation network was not scale-free due to capacity constraints at major airports, also preventing it from being scalable. However, the construction and analysis of a new network for which sets of two or more significant airports that serve passenger traffic in a metropolitan region (i.e. multi-airport systems) were aggregated into single nodes showed that it was scale-free and scalable. These results were also supported by a time series analysis of airport and multi-airport system growth. These analyses demonstrated the importance of regional level scaling mechanisms (i.e. development of multi-airport systems) in the ability of the air transportation system to adapt and scale to meet demand. / (cont.) Given the importance of multi-airport systems, an in-depth multiple-case study analysis of 59 multi-airport systems worldwide was performed. This analysis was used to develop a feedback model that captures the fundamental processes that govern the evolution of multi-airport systems. Multi-airport systems were found to evolve according to two fundamental mechanisms: (1) the construction of new airports and (2) the emergence of secondary airports through the use of existing non-utilized airports. Several differences and similarities in the occurrence of these dynamics were identified across world regions. It was found that in the United States and Europe, the construction of new large airports occurred prior to or during World War II and to a minor extent during the 1960s and 1970s. More recently, significant limitations to the development of new airports (e.g. opposition from local communities) and changes in the airline industry (e.g. emergence and growth of low-cost carriers) led multi-airport systems in the United States and Europe to evolve through the emergence of secondary airports. In the Asia-Pacific region, multi-airport systems have predominantly evolved through the construction of new airports, due to fewer available airports, high projections of demand and weaker opposition to the construction of airports.The analyses and insights from this thesis were also used to analyze and better understand the evolution of future multi-airport systems and provide recommendations for infrastructure management policies and multi-airport system development strategies. / (cont.) In the United States and in Europe, there is the need to protect non-utilized exiting airport infrastructure (both civil and military airports) that can later be used to accommodate demand through the emergence of secondary airports. In parts of Asia where the existing under-utilized airport infrastructure is weak and where projections of high volume of demand -with high uncertainty- are high, there is the need to apply a dynamic approach to develop multi-airport systems. This approach includes actions such as reserving land area for future airport development and keeping original airports open since this option has proven to be useful and successful in the other regions of the world (i.e. United States and Europe). In some parts of Asia, such as India, where the military airport infrastructure is more developed than in other parts, there is also the need, as in the United States and Europe, to protect these airports since they may become future secondary airports following the airport status conversion dynamics that were observed in Europe. / by Philippe A. Bonnefoy. / Ph.D.

Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2010. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-76). / DTS is an oil and gas services company that delivers drilling tools to six major customer districts in the continental U.S. After the tools are used at a rig, they are transported to the closest repair and maintenance (MTC) facility in either Colorado (CO) or Oklahoma (OK) where they are disassembled and reconditioned for use on a future job. The tools are modular and require custom assembly and programming, depending on the requirements of the well. On occasion, DTS receives urgent orders for drilling tools to replace failed tools or to cater to unexpected demand. These urgent orders are expected to be delivered to customer sites in less than 24 hours from when an order is received. DTS wants to analyze the supply chain impact of consolidating MTC activities to a single facility for operational efficiencies. The rationalization of MTC activities to the CO facility affects DTS's ability to deliver tools within 24 hours due to the longer transportation times to customer districts. How can this longer transportation time be mitigated? Our research shows that using the OK facility as a postponement and distribution hub allows DTS to continue servicing expedited orders within 24 hours and results in a 28% logistics cost savings over a direct shipment method. The postponement strategy entails staging reconditioned inventory at both the OK and CO facility where they can be configured for use within 4 hours of receiving an order. By simulating the movement of inventory around the closed inventory loop, we determined that the total number of tools in the network and the MTC capacity are two important levers of control that affect the availability of reconditioned inventory to service demand. We found that we were able to fulfill a target item fill rate by calculating capital inventory required using an "order up to" inventory policy and setting facility capacity at one standard deviation above average demand. / by Ryan Rahim. / M.Eng.in Logistics

Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2008. / "June 2008." / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 68-71). / Sales and operational planning that incorporates unconstrained demand forecasts has been expected to improve long term corporate profitability. Companies are considering such unconstrained demand forecasts in their decisions on investment in supply chain resources. However, demand forecasts are often associated with uncertainty. This research applies Monte Carlo simulation, value at risk and gain curve analysis, and real option analysis to investigate how the uncertainty of demands affects supply chain planning in order to make better supply chain investment decisions. This analytical framework was used to analyze the ocean shipping plans and inland trucking arrangements for Chiquita. Demands for Product A and front haul over a six-year period were simulated based upon forecasted distributions. The net income, revenue and costs as affected by ocean shipping plans were obtained by inputting the simulated demands to ocean shipping models. The major decision for Chiquita is whether to charter one large ship or two ships which provide approximately equivalent capacity. A large ship would save fuel costs. The plans for two smaller ships have the flexibility of using one ship only if future demand or price reactions warrant it. Using the analytical framework, a plan for two smaller ships is superior to that for one large ship because of significant real option value, particularly in the event of increases in fuel costs in the future. Chiquita's current inland trucking model, a mixed arrangement with a dedicated fleet and common carriers, seems to offer a good solution for the future needs. A model provided in this research offers a simple method to optimize the size of the dedicated fleet. / by Yanfeng Anna Huang. / M.Eng.in Logistics

Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2007. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 74). / Serving customers in a nuclear medicine supply chain requires frequent and responsive replenishments. Nuclear medicine is a special category of perishable goods that is subject to rapid, but predictable radioactive decay. This study examines the viability of differentiating service through segmenting customers in Tyco Healthcare's (THC's) nuclear medicine supply chain. More specifically, the network of pharmacies that THC serves is divided into two groups-THC-affiliate pharmacies and independent pharmacies-and their demand characteristics are examined. This study rejects the hypothesis that THC should differentiate service by pharmacy affiliation after comparing the demand characteristics of the THC and independent pharmacies. Alternatively, the study tests the hypothesis that product segmentation is a viable option by comparing the demand characteristics of THC's products. This study does not reject the alternative hypothesis and presents proposed policy for coordinated replenishment. To facilitate the comparative analyses, THC's nuclear medicine supply chain is first described. Finally, recommendations on how to improve supply chain performance follow the hypothesis testing. / by Young-bai Michael Yea and Hui Zou. / M.Eng.in Logistics