International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering 

About: International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering is an academic journal published by Inderscience Publishers. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Computer science & Supply chain. It has an ISSN identifier of 1748-5037. Over the lifetime, 1006 publications have been published receiving 6801 citations. The journal is also known as: IJISE.

Mega-scale fabrication by Contour Crafting

Abstract: Contour Crafting is a mega scale layered fabrication process which builds large scale three-dimensional parts by depositing paste materials layer by layer at unprecedented speed and with superior surface quality. This paper presents an overview of related research activities and the progress aimed at extending the technology to construction of residential housing units and civil structures.

Integrated models in production planning and scheduling, maintenance and quality: a review

Abstract: The integration in production planning, scheduling, maintenance and quality has gained much attention from researchers in recent years. These areas are usually treated independently, which yielded independent models for each function. It is widely believed that these separate models will provide suboptimal solutions, due to the fact that they are interrelated. Proper understanding of this dependency will open a new avenue for more integrated models, and result in significant savings in operational cost and improved efficiency for any production system. This paper reviews the literature on models addressing different aspects of integration in these areas. This integration is treated in two different ways in the literature. The first way is to present models where a model is considered for one function taking into account the other. These models are referred to as interrelated models. The second way is to simultaneously model two or more elements of the production system. These models are referred to as integrated models. The objective of this paper is to review research in both interrelated and integrated modelling of production planning, scheduling, maintenance and quality to identify possible future directions.

System dynamics as a useful technique for complex systems

Abstract: System dynamics (SD) is a powerful methodology and computer simulation modelling technique for framing, understanding and discussing complex issues and problems. It is widely used to analyse a range of systems in, e.g. business, ecology, medical and social systems as well as engineering. The methodology focuses on the way one quantity can affect others through the flow of physical entities and information. Often such flows come back to the original quantity causing a feedback loop. The behaviour of the system is governed by these feedback loops. There are two important advantages of taking systems dynamics approach. The interrelationship of the different elements of the systems can be easily seen in terms of cause and effects. Thus the true cause of the behaviour can be identified. The other advantage is that it possible to investigate which parameters or structures need to be changed in order to improve behaviour. This paper deals with the design of a framework for SD models and gives an overview of the ...

A system maturity index for the systems engineering life cycle

Abstract: In the United States (USA) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the USA Department of Defense (DoD) the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) scale is a measure of maturity of an individual technology, with a view towards operational use in a system context. A comprehensive set of concerns becomes relevant when this metric is abstracted from an individual technology to a system context. This paper proposes the development of a system-focused approach for managing system development and making effective and efficient decisions during a systems engineering life cycle. This paper presents a System Readiness Level (SRL) index that incorporates both the current TRL scale and an Integration Readiness Level (IRL) and provides a method for determining readiness of a system in the systems engineering life cycle. This paper concludes with a general discuss of the implication of the proposed SRL and how this may be applied to four case

A multi-stage stochastic methodology for whole hospital bed planning under peak loading

Abstract: We propose a multi-stage stochastic methodology to balance inpatient bed unit utilisations in an entire hospital. It minimises blocking of beds from upstream units, within given constraints on bed reallocation, while considering multiple patient types. Queuing network analysis and optimisation are used to achieve balanced targets of bed unit utilisation while building hospital staff involvement. Discrete event simulation is then used to maximise flow through the system including nonhomogeneous effects of daily and hourly peak loading, nonexponential lengths of stay, and blocking behaviour. A 400 plus bed major hospital is analysed with the methodology and results are validated against field data.