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The Impact of Failures in Service Operations

Gliatis, V., Minis, I., Lavasa, K., M.

Proceedings from the 16th Annual International Conference for the European Operations Management Association, Sweden, June 14-17, no. 196, 2009.

Service failures represent an important source of variability in service operations and a major hallenge for service managers. Yet the effective management of failures is a prerequisite to achieve lean services. In this paper we attempt to quantify the impact of failures that lead to rework on various performance measures of service production systems. We use district event simulation for predicting the behavior of a typical twostage service system (front-office, back-office), and design of experiments to define the impact of failure parameters to key system performance attributes.

Post date: Wednesday, April 14, 2010 - 11:55
Supply Chain Optimization, Design and Management: Advances and Intelligent Methods

Minis, I., Zeimpekis, V., Dounias, G., Ampazis, N.

IGI Global Publishing, 320pages, 2011

This edited volume will focus on the contribution of Computational Intelligence to Supply Chain Management. Computational Intelligence (CI) is a term corresponding to a new generation of algorithmic methodologies in artificial intelligence, which combines elements of learning, adaptation, evolution and approximate (fuzzy) reasoning to create programs that -in a way- can be considered intelligent. The proposed edited volume will present CI methods addressing topics in the entire spectrum of the supply chain i.e. from forecasting, planning for production and distribution to actual implementation, including production and inventory control, warehouse management, management of distribution channels, and transportation. Emphasis will be given to those CI methods and techniques that provide effective solutions to complex supply chain problems, exhibiting superior performance with respect to other methods of operations research. The edited volume will also include integrated case studies that describe the solution to actual problems of high complexity.

Post date: Wednesday, April 14, 2010 - 11:54
Contribution to the Design of the Car Fleet System During the Athens 2004 Olympic Games

Minis, I., Angelopoulos, J., Kyrioglou, G.

Transport Planning and Technology, vol. 32, n. 2, 2009, 115-141.

Abstract

This paper discusses important design aspects of the "taxi-like" car fleet system used to transport VIPs during the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. This system included more than 600 vehicles, 2 large depots, a call center, 1300 drivers and more than 100 management staff, and provided 24 hour service to approximately 3,500 clients during the 15 day-period of the Games. Three aspects of the system design played a critical role in the system's success: The development of robust operating principles, the accurate planning of resources, and the design of an effective management structure. The methods used in these three areas are presented, and the system design is evaluated by actual measurements collected during operation. The issues presented in this paper are relevant to the design and management of car fleet transport systems for large events.

Post date: Wednesday, April 14, 2010 - 11:51
Stochastic Single Vehicle Routing with a Predefined Customer Sequence and Multiple Depot Returns

Tatarakis, A. and Minis, I.

European Journal of Operations Research, vol. 197, n. 2, 2008, 557-571.

Abstract

We study the routing of a single vehicle that delivers multiple products under stochastic demand. Speciﬁcally, we investigate two practical variations of this problem: (i) The case in which each product type is stored in its dedicated compartment in the vehicle, and (ii) the case in which all products are stored together in the vehicle's single compartment. Suitable dynamic programming algorithms are proposed to determine the minimum expected (routing) cost for each case. Furthermore, the optimal routing policy is derived by developing appropriate theorems. The efﬁciency of the algorithms is studied by solving large problem sets.

Post date: Wednesday, April 14, 2010 - 11:50
Mediterranean Intermodal Transit-TRANSit
Project Duration

24 months (05/09 - 04/11)

Projct Partners

South Aegean Region, Temi Zammit Foundation, I.S.I.S. "DUCA DEGLI ABRUZZI" of CATANIA-POLYCHIC OF THE SEA, Port Institute of Studies and Cooperation of the Valencia Community FEPORTS, Prefecture of Dodecanese, PROMETNI INSTITUT LJUBLJANA d.o.o.- Institute of the Traffic and Transport Ljubljana l.l.c.

Sponsor

INTERREG MED

1. Scope

The aim of the project is to set the foundations for the development, operation and promotion of a unified, integrated and innovative network for intermodal and multimodal logistic transport services in the greater MED area that will enhance quality, improve mobility, efficiency and savings in costs and lower negative environmental impacts of freight logistics transport services. The development of this network will strengthen coordinated transnational actions between local authorities, institutions and companies engaged with the development of the Mediterranean transport corridors, especially in sea, promote a coordinated strategy between ports to strengthen their capacity to face international competition, improve services to develop maritime highways and short sea shipping, accessibility of islands and encourage the implementation of multimodal regional platform. To this end, the TRANSit project aims at the design and development of an e-platform that will support shippers and freight forwarders in seeking near optimal combined transport solutions (in EU-level) taking into account trip costs, transportation durations, risk, and CO2 emissions. The platform intends to promote the use of intermodal/multimodal services in order to expand productivity, efficiency and transit capacity usage in the MED area.

2. Approach

The methodological approach of the TRANSit project can be summarized as follows:
- Identification of current status and inefficiencies in the MED area (in terms of transport planning operations)
- Design and development of an e-platform that incorporates a shortest path algorithm for the identification of optimal routes in terms of trip costs, transportation durations, risk, and CO2 emissions.
- Pilot testing (using real-life data) and evaluation of the results (AS-IS vs. TO-BE)
- Creation of a roadmap with proposals concerning the development of competitiveness of MED region (with emphasis on MED ports)
3. Results

The results of the TRANSit project are as follows:
- Building of a peer learning network among the selected MED regions that provides transnational & interregional cooperation on logistics transport services (intermodality/multimodality among sea and land freight operators) and enhance exchange of best practices.
- Development and pilot of a freight transport planning platform that supports combined transport operations
- Dissemination and capitalization of joint tools, practices and roadmaps arising via the implementation of the project to regional, national and EU policy makers and institutions concerned with intermodality.
- Enhancing the necessary accessibility features among all participants in order to promote regional/national as well as transnational sustainable development in the Mediterranean area by limiting the environmental effects of freight transport.
Post date: Monday, March 29, 2010 - 13:15

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