Advanced Operational Research Methods

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the concepts and applications of queueing models including the calculation of key performance indicators for a variety of different systems.
• Understand the basic principles of scheduling problems and corresponding solution methods.
• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of inventory control problems and methods for finding optimal ordering strategies.

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Formulate various heuristics for hard combinatorial optimisation problems.
• Demonstrate practical skills in modelling queueing and inventory.

• Queuing Models: theory and applications of queuing models including calculation of key performance indicators.
• Inventory Control: EOQ models, newsboy models, inventory model with stochastic demand.
• Machine Scheduling: job constraints, precedence constraints, Moore’s algorithm.
• Heuristics: design, construction, relaxation, restriction, hierarchical decomposition, improvement.
• Local search algorithms.

Twenty four 2-hour lectures

Twelve 1-hour tutorial sessions

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.