e-Participation: Comparing Trends in Practice and the Classroom

This article reports an assessment of the growing use of Internet-based public participation methods, e-participation, in planning practice and university-level planning education in the USA. After documenting results from case study reviews of practice and a web-based survey of planning faculty, a comparative analysis reveals that academic programs are incorporating a range of e-participation tools; however, there is a need to increase curricula content to mirror trends in planning practice. The article concludes with recommendations on how to build on the strengths and to address the weaknesses observed in this study to better prepare students for the demands of planning practice.     

Hierarchical production planning for multi-product lines in the beverage industry¶

Multi-commodity production and distribution scheduling is one of the most complex and crucial problems facing many manufacturing companies. For a major European manufacturer specialising in bottling juices and drinks, we have designed and developed a hierarchical decomposition approach to the solution of the multi-commodity production planning problem. In this paper we focus our attention on the coarsest decomposition level, called multi-commodity aggregate production planning (MCAP). It concerns the choice of the best feasible production plan for a set of products (commodities) over an extended time horizon so as to meet forecast aggregate demands throughout the horizon. At this level, the problem constraints include hard constraints (such as production lines having a maximum capacity and products having short life-times), and soft constraints (budgetary concerns.) The objective is to determine the production plan that covers each period's demands as best as possible, while minimizing all relevant costs. Our method for solving MCAP produces optimal plans in negligible times in commodity PC workstations.     

Setting corporate goals and measuring organizational effectiveness--a practical approach.

Shareholders, customers, suppliers, lenders, the community, government and regulatory agencies and employees--the stakeholders in an organization--are the ones entitled to anticipate the satisfaction of societal demands placed on the organization. Strategic planning has to take these into account in order to be able to plan how the demands can be met. Therefore, the stakeholders as such must be identified and placed in an order of priority. There are those without whom the organization could not exist and those who have a judicial position in relationships to the organization. It then becomes important to establish the criteria by which each will judge the organization's effectiveness. One way is to approach the stakeholder directly. Another is to use a deductive approach based on a literature survey or polling representatives. In practice a combination can be used. If this is done then the crucial effectiveness criteria for each stakeholder group can be identified. It is important, of course, to realize that not only can these criteria change, but also the determinants of stakeholder power can vary. They depend on what resources each group possesses, whether there are alternative stakeholders, what authority and influence is held. In turn the effectiveness will be influenced by the pressures brought to bear on the power of the stakeholder. These can progress from societal pressures to political issues to legislated requirement and, finally, to punitive action. Another way of regarding them is as moving from strategic to emerging to current. An appreciation of this will help environmental scanning.     

基于投产点库存的随机综合生产计划模型研究

以企业基于投产点法的生产与库存控制策略为研究起点,分析了随机需求条件下生产系统服务水平与库存水平的数量关系,并将产品在计划期间的平均库存量引入综合生产计划模型。模型中计划期产量是与产品需求具有相同分布的随机变量,模型的优化目标是通过确定最佳的投产库存量和生产系统服务水平,求得相应的计划期产量区间。提出了模型的计算机辅助求解算法,并采用案例分析验证了模型的有效性。     

基于Benders分解算法的跨区互联电力系统协调规划模型

研究跨区互联电力系统的协调规划,对于提高投资效率实现更大范围的资源配置具有较强现实意义。本文首先描述多区域电力系统扩张规划问题,并建立多区域扩张规划模型,旨在寻求最优的扩容方案,以最小投入来满足多区域电力系统负荷增长需求;其次,采用Benders分解算法将多区域扩张规划问题分解为一个规划主问题和一个运行子问题,通过主子问题之间的迭代求解,获得最终的最优解;最后,对某个典型的包含7个区域的多区域电力系统进行模拟仿真,验证了本文所构建模型及算法的有效性。     

Corporate planning in local government: Some measurement problems

A corporate planning system makes measurement demands on an organisation which it may not have met before. This paper describes these in the context of corporate planning in local government, and discusses some typical examples, especially as far as needs for services and the effects of providing them are concerned. It also deals with the extent to which choices can be measured, and with the constraints that a real-time decision system puts on the planner.     

MULTISTAGE SAFETY STOCK PLANNING WITH ITEM DEMANDS CORRELATED ACROSS PRODUCTS AND THROUGH TIME

Determining safety stocks in multistage manufacturing systems with serial or divergent structures, where end-item demands are allowed to be correlated both between products as well as in time, is my focus. I show that these types of correlation have contrary effects on the distribution of safety stocks over the manufacturing stages and that neglecting the correlation of demand can lead to significant deviation from the optimal buffer policy. Using base-stock control and assuming total reliability for internal supplies, I present a procedure for integrated multilevel safety stock optimization that can be applied to arbitrary serial and divergent systems even when demand is jointly cross-product and cross-time correlated. As I demonstrate in an example for autocorrelated demands of a moving average type, there are specific solution properties that drastically reduce the computational effort for safety stock planning. Safety stocks determined in that way can be used as an appropriate protection against demand uncertainties in material requirements planning systems.     

Reunite management and planning

In many companies the planning function has been removed from the mainstream of corporate life. Planning (and planners) have been isolated from the locus of decision- making power and insulated from information vital to the planning process. The outcome has been the generation of irrelevant plans and a proliferation of impotent planners. The author argues for a reintegration of technical expertise and managerial power, a reunion of planning and decision-making processes.     

Multi-objective allocation: A data-free approach

In urban planning and other fields a number of apparently different problems have two features in common. First, a fixed total of a resource is to be split among several claimants. Second, different interested parties have differing views as to what constitutes an optimum allocation. We present methods for the quantification of preferences and for the production of a compromise optimum. The methods have the merit of being problem independent and sparing in their demands for data and for specialised computer software.     

Business re-engineering—a strategy-driven approach

Organizations across a wide range of industries are recognizing the potential of re-engineering to deliver discontinuous leaps in performance. The competitive climate, and the pace of change within and outside the firm are also encouraging a more co-ordinated and fundamental approach to the planning and design of business activity. Two main approaches to re- engineering have emerged. The first—known as Process Re- engineering—offers the opportunity to rethink and streamline individual processes. The second—termed Business Re- engineering—provides an approach to rethinking and redesigning the entire business behind a more focused, competence based competitive strategy. The central challenge in re-engineering is to understand where and how we can create value for both customers and shareholders. This requires us to ask fundamental questions about what we do, how we do it, whether it is necessary and how it can be improved. Achieving the benefits of re-engineering demands active commitment and participation from the chief executive downwards. The re-engineering process itself needs careful planning around a clear vision of longer term goals. There are also risks inherent in undertaking these far reaching and fundamental changes. To address the risks, manage the fears, uncertainties and doubts and yet maintain motivation in the organization, demands a commitment to change management on a scale which few executives will have experienced.     

Distributed Computer System Capacity Planning and Capacity Loading

The availability of micro-, mini-, and super computers has complicated the laws governing the economies of scale in computers and has increased the tendency to decentralize and distribute computing power. The optimal design of such a system requires integration of computers of varying power and a strategy for capacity loading. This paper considers the problem of capacity planning and capacity loading of a distributed computer system as a hierarchy of decisions. A linear programming model is developed for the initial capacity planning problem. A loading model that accounts for variations in arrival and processing rates of the jobs in a dynamic environment is developed to support the operations.     

Evaluating Housing Needs and Preferences of Generation Y in Malaysia

In Malaysia, housing providers affect the planning system as housing industry constantly evolves to meet homebuyer needs. Generation Y has exhibited dissimilar housing needs compared to Generation X and Baby Boomer. Thus, housing developers seek to identify the current needs for young homebuyers to avoid experiencing unsold properties. This research aims to identify the fundamental housing needs and psychographic characteristics towards their housing preferences and future planning demands. A quantitative survey was used for collecting data and a statistical analysis was performed to evaluate research outcomes. This research will help local housing developers to understand Generation Y needs and preferences for the future housing demand.     

Stabilized‐Cycle Strategy for Capacitated Lot Sizing with Multiple Products: Fill‐Rate Constraints in Rolling Schedules

In practice, deterministic, multi‐period lot‐sizing models are implemented in rolling schedules since this allows the revision of decisions beyond the frozen horizon. Thus, rolling schedules are able to take realizations and updated forecasts of uncertain data (e.g., customer demands) into account. Furthermore, it is common to hold safety stocks to ensure given service levels (e.g., fill rate). As we will show, this approach, implemented in rolling schedules, often results in increased setup and holding costs while (over‐)accomplishing given fill rates. A well‐known alternative to deterministic planning models are stochastic, static, multi‐period planning models used in the static uncertainty strategy, which results in stable plans. However, these models have a lack of flexibility to react to the realization of uncertain data. As a result, actual costs may differ widely from planned costs, and downside deviations of actual fill rates from those given are very high. We propose a new strategy, namely the stabilized cycle. This combines and expands upon ideas from the literature for minimizing setup and holding costs in rolling schedules, while controlling actual product‐specific fill rates for a finite reporting period. A computational study with a multi‐item capacitated medium‐term production planning model has been executed in rolling schedules. On the one hand, it demonstrates that the stabilized‐cycle strategy yields a good compromise between costs and downside deviations. Furthermore, the stabilized‐cycle strategy weakly dominates the order‐based strategy for both constant and seasonal demands.     

Drivers of Corporate Social Responsibility: the Role of Formal Strategic Planning and Firm Culture

Scholars have paid considerable attention to studying the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and firm performance. Yet, little empirical research demonstrates what actually shapes or drives CSR. This paper builds a case that formal strategic planning is one such driver in that it creates awareness of and formulates responses to stakeholder demands for CSR. However, exploring single variable relationships is problematic, as other important endogenous factors need to be considered in explaining CSR. Specifically, firm culture is identified as influencing a firm's orientation towards the responsible treatment of stakeholders. One such cultural factor, humanistic culture, is argued to have a positive effect on CSR. By studying a sample of heterogeneous firms in Australia, results demonstrate that a formal strategic planning effort is positively linked to CSR. Further, a humanistic culture positively impacts CSR, after accounting for a firm's formal planning efforts.     

A Comparison of Reorder Point and Material Requirements Planning Inventory Control Logic*

This paper reports the results of simulation experiments that compared the inventory efficiency (i.e., the customer service level provided by a given level of inventory) for two different inventory policies. One of these policies uses time-phased information on future demands like that found in material requirements planning (MRP) systems, while the other (the reorder point or ROP policy) relies on forecasts implicitly based on average past demands. After establishing that the MRP policies dominate for reasonable conditions, the uncertainty of the forecasts was manipulated until the policy preference was reversed. It requires a very perverse relationship between the forecast and actual demand before ROP beats MRP on inventory efficiency.     

A column generation heuristic for dynamic capacitated lot sizing with random demand under a fill rate constraint

This paper deals with the dynamic multi-item capacitated lot-sizing problem under random period demands (SCLSP). Unfilled demands are backordered and a fill rate constraint is in effect. It is assumed that, according to the static-uncertainty strategy of Bookbinder and Tan [1], all decisions concerning the time and the production quantities are made in advance for the entire planning horizon regardless of the realization of the demands. The problem is approximated with the set partitioning model and a heuristic solution procedure that combines column generation and the recently developed _ABCβ${\mathit{ABC}}_{\beta }$ heuristic is proposed.     

An optimization model for line planning and timetabling in automated urban metro subway networks. A case study

In this paper we present a Mixed Integer Linear Programming model that we developed as part of a pilot study requested by the R&D company Metrolab® in order to design tools for finding solutions for line planning and timetable situations in automated urban metro subway networks. Our model incorporates important factors in public transportation systems from both, a cost-oriented and a passenger-oriented perspective, as time-dependent demands, interchange stations, short-turns and technical features of the trains in use. The incoming flows of passengers are modeled by means of piecewise linear demand functions which are parameterized in terms of arrival rates and bulk arrivals. Decisions about frequencies, train capacities, short-turning and timetables for a given planning horizon are jointly integrated to be optimized in our model. Finally, a novel matheuristic approach is proposed to solve the problem. The results of extensive computational experiments are reported to show its applicability and effectiveness to handle real-world subway networks.     

With or Without You?1 Strategic Spatial Planning and Territorial Re-Scaling in Grenoble Urban Region

Spatial planning across European city regions is undergoing substantial changes. The paper draws on the framework of territorial re-scaling, strategic spatial planning and the emergence of new governance modes in order to analyse strategic planning episodes in Grenoble urban region (France). The paper aims at showing how strategic planning processes by means of new governance arenas call into question local planning cultures, especially by reshaping planning perimeters, territorial identities and actors' roles. In particular, it shows the importance of path dependency for strategic planning, the effects of power imbalances between local actors and the crucial role planners play in spatial policy-making.     

The social organization of terminal care in two pediatric hospitals

Some of the characteristics which distinguish social planning from planning in the private sector, or in publicly owned industry, are identified. A survey of OR investigations (both tactical and strategic) in the area of urban planning supports the case that the mainstream OR contribution does violence to the nature of the system under study. In particular, problems are formulated in terms of (or transformed into) single objectives, to be optimized; aspects of the social world are subject to wholesale quantification, with resulting distortion; models make implausible data demands; project definition and execution reinforce the ‘scientisation’ of political debate; problems are formulated on the assumption of a single hierarchically powerful decision-maker; and problems are formulated as if they must be solved in toto at one point in time. It is suggested that we should look to the converse of these qualities for new directions in the application of operational research in urban planning. Some examples are given of techniques and approaches which exhibit these alternative characteristics.     

A survey of simulation modeling techniques in production planning and control (PPC)

The manufacturing sector as a whole has undergone remarkable changes in terms of scale, complexity and technology over the past decades and this applies across most modern high-technology manufacturing such as electronics, semiconductor, aerospace and automotive industries. In order to remain competitive, manufacturers have to produce high-quality products at low cost, and at the same time retain sufficient flexibility and to meet rapidly changing customer demands. Production planning and control (PPC) is a key role which enables the manufacturer to gain visibility and control over all aspects of manufacturing activities. PPC in itself forms a subject of study, within which simulation techniques have proven themselves to be one of the most practical methodologies available to investigate and evaluate manufacturing issues. In this review paper, we focus on state-of-the art applications of simulation techniques in PPC to demonstrate their applicability to modern manufacturing issues. The review reports on academic publications on simulation applications in manufacturing from 2002 to 2014, incorporating surveys of peer-reviewed literature. The review covers three types of simulation techniques (system dynamic, discrete event simulation and agent-based simulation) and eight PPC issues (facility resource planning, capacity planning, job planning, process planning, scheduling, inventory management, production and process design, purchase and supply management). Literature survey is analysed on the basis of simulation application to PPC problems which can give a guideline for simulation technique selection and also can help for simulation modelling in PPC problemsWould you consider changing the term “modeling” to “modelling” in the title. Please check, and correct if necessary.