IT1601

Operations Research Definition and Origin

What is Operations Research? (http://www.pitt.edu/~jrclass/or/or-intro.html)
It is the application of quantitative scientific methods, techniques and tools to accomplish optimum solutions
to the problems involving the operations of a large, complex organizations or activities, usually under
conditions requiring the allocation of scarce resources

History of Operations Research (Hillier & Lieberman, 2015)

World War II led to the birth of OR
Teams of people with diverse specialties used operations research tools to deploy, manage, and
analyze military operations
George Dantzig invented the simplex method for solving linear programs (LPs) in 1947
Advances were made in computational technology, which allowed one to solve problems of ever-
increasing size via operations research tools

Applications of Operations Research (https://www.informs.org/About-INFORMS/What-is-Operations-

Research)
Transportation and Travel
Retailing
Health
Government

The Methodology of Operations Research

Figure 1 The Methodology of Operations Research (http://nb.vse.cz/~fabry/QMM-Lecture%201.ppt.)

Recognition and Definition of the Problem

(http://www.veltechuniv.edu.in/ppt%5Cmech%5C7sem%5COPC.ppt.)
What are the objectives?
Is the proposed problem too narrow or too broad?
What data should be collected and how it will be collected?
How do different components of the system interact with each other?

Formulation and Construction of the Model of the Problem

(http://www.veltechuniv.edu.in/ppt%5Cmech%5C7sem%5COPC.ppt.)
What kind of models should be used?

01 Handout 1 *Property of STI

Page 1 of 2
 IT1601

Is the model accurate or too complex?

Types of Model (Anderson, et al., 2012)

Iconic model
Analog model
Mathematical model

Solution of the Model (http://www.veltechuniv.edu.in/ppt%5Cmech%5C7sem%5COPC.ppt.)

Do outputs match current observations for current inputs?
Are outputs reasonable?
Could the model be erroneous?

Interpretation, Validation and Sensitivity Analysis of the Model

(http://www.veltechuniv.edu.in/ppt%5Cmech%5C7sem%5COPC.ppt.)
Are the results intuitively acceptable?
What if there are conflicting objectives?
What does make a difference in the decision?

Implementation of the Solution (http://www.veltechuniv.edu.in/ppt%5Cmech%5C7sem%5COPC.ppt.)

Users must be trained on the new system
System must be observed over time to ensure it works properly

Requirements of a Good Operations Research Solution (Levin, Rubin, Stinson, & Gardner, 1992)
It should be technically appropriate
It should be reliable
It should be economically viable
It should be behaviorally appropriate

References:

Anderson, D. R., Sweeney, D. J., Williams, T. A., Camm, J. D., Cochran, J. J., Fry, M. J., & Ohlmann, J. W.
(2012). Quantitative Methods for Business. Ohio, USA: South-Western, Cengage Learning.

Hillier, F. S., & Lieberman, G. J. (2015). Introduction to Operations Research. Penn Plaza, New York: McGraw-
Hill Education.

Levin, R. I., Rubin, D. S., Stinson, J. P., & Gardner, E. S. (1992). Quantitative approaches to management. New
York: McGraw-Hill.

Operation and Planning Control (n. d.) Retrieved from

http://www.veltechuniv.edu.in/ppt%5Cmech%5C7sem%5COPC.ppt.

Principles And Applications Of Operations Research. (n. d.) Retrieved from

http://www.pitt.edu/~jrclass/or/or-intro.html

Quantitative Methods of Management (n. d.) Retrieved from http://nb.vse.cz/~fabry/QMM-Lecture%201.ppt.

What is Operations Research?. (2016). Retrieved from https://www.informs.org/About-INFORMS/What-

is-Operations-Researchon 8 March 2016

01 Handout 1 *Property of STI

Page 2 of 2