We establish the computational complexity of the problem of minimizing makespan in a flowshop, where each jobs requires a pallet the entire time, from the start of its first operation until the completion of the last operation. We prove that the problem is NP-hard in the strong sense for m =2...

Part-orienting systems are employed in many manufacturing environments to feed work parts in correct orientation for proper operations. A part-orienting system is a serial arrangement of orienting devices; the selection and ordering of these devices is an important design aspect that is...

In many manufacturing systems, parts must be fed to automatic machines in a specific orientation. This is often accomplished by what are known as part-orienting systems (POSs). A POS consists of one or more separate devices that orient parts, usually with multiple orientations. A theoretical...

The organizational theory literature argues that the more uncertain the environment, the more likely the firm’s operational decision structure is decentralized. However, it remains unclear which uncertainty dimensions (i.e. complexity, rate of change and lack of information) impacts the...

What is Optimal Control Theory? -- The Maximum Principle: Continuous Time -- The Maximum Principle: Mixed Inequality Constraints -- The Maximum Principle: General Inequality Constraints -- Applications to Finance -- Applications to Production and Inventory -- Applications to Marketing -- The...

Ever since the publication of Pontryagin's Maximum Principle, the number of its applications to management science problems has been steadily growing. This paper is an up-to-date survey of the applications of the deterministic maximum principle to the three functional areas of management:...