Series Editor
Jean-Paul Bourrières
First published 2017 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licenses issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned address:
ISTE Ltd
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John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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© ISTE Ltd 2017
The rights of Jean-Michel Réveillac to be identified as the author of this work have been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016956897
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-78630-108-6
There are already several works about logistics, operational research, decision support, the theory of graphs, dynamic programming, etc., but few of them gather all of these domains together by proposing an overall vision that focuses less on pure and hard mathematical aspects, without totally ignoring them, while offering numerous practical exercises.
This book is one of three volumes. This first volume tackles theoretical aspects with corrected exercises for each chapter, finishing with a presentation of the principal software systems dedicated to operational research (OR) and logistical simulation. The second and third volumes are dedicated to practice and specialized applications of software programs.
Most of the studies proposed here are able to be completed using a simple calculator, a sheet of paper and a pen or even with the help of a spreadsheet on Microsoft Excel, Apache OpenCalc, Apple Numbers, etc.
The presented techniques and their uses are multiple, yet I am sure that a student, a software programmer, a developer, a technician, an engineer, an IT specialist, a decision-maker and you, the reader, will find practical applications that were unexpected in your professional or even personal life.
This work is designed for all those who encounter logistical problems linked to flux management, decision support, optimization of journeys or rounds, research for an aim when confronted with multiple constraints, creation of dashboards, relevant simulations, etc.
The works presented require a minimum level of mathematical knowledge, and a post A level student in science or economics will not encounter major difficulties. I tried to maintain simplicity and go straight toward the objective in the theoretical approach without going into great demonstrations, which to me do not seem necessary.
In terms of the practical exercises, on a laptop, tackled in Volumes 2 and 3, a good knowledge of the exploitation system (track, records and lists, files, names, extensions, sheet, movement, etc.) will prove essential.
Since a few works use a spreadsheet, it is thus necessary to master the basic functionalities of this type of software program. It will also be convenient to know the primary use of pivot table data manipulation tools.
If we know about visual basic application (VBA) language or its equivalent, we can easily understand, improve, enrich and create new solutions to certain problems.
Lastly, if we understand the basic systems for managing data and relational algebra, then we will be at ease in every domain explored.
This work is composed of three volumes:
Volume 1 presents an introduction followed by 10 chapters and a conclusion:
Here, we will find the fundamental concepts needed in order to understand the second volume. Numerous examples accompany the theory and each chapter ends with a series of exercises with their solutions.
The conclusion, as indicated by the name, tries to establish a picture of the current state of theoretical logistics and its future development.
Appendices 1 and 2 bring a few other elements. We will find them in the following order:
Volume 2 starts with an introduction completed with four chapters that put into practice the software tools in cases of practical application in order to finish with a conclusion:
The conclusion presents new functionalities that should appear on spreadsheets and project management systems as well as the evolutions and points of similarity between traffic simulators and new infrastructures that emerge in traffic networks.
Appendix 1 is dedicated to the installation of a solving tool in Microsoft Excel. Appendix 2 is consecrated to the installation of Java development kit.
Volume 3 starts with an introduction followed by four chapters dedicated to the modelization and simulation of flux in a 2D or 3D environment. Each case is different and taken from situations encountered in reality. A conclusion concludes this Volume 3:
The conclusion conveys the future evolutions of software programs and their integration into society. At the end of each volume, we will find a bibliography and a list of Internet links. A glossary is also available that will elaborate on certain acronyms and some very specific terminology surrounding logistics and operational research.
This book uses the following typographic conventions:
courier
: this font is used for VBA code lines. These lines can end with the symbol ↵, which implies a return to the obligatory line when inputting.Any comments are signaled by the presence of a keyword: COMMENT. They will complete the explications already provided. Theorems are signaled by the keyword: THEOREM. The figures and tables have captions to further their understanding.
Like for all techniques, logistical optimization tools have their own vocabulary. Words, acronyms, abbreviations and specific names that are not always familiar; this is the role of the Glossary found at the end of the book.
It is my particular duty to thank the team at ISTE, and my editor Chantal Ménascé who had confidence in me, Jacqueline Gélinier from the company 1point2, distributor of ExtendSim and PathFinder software programs, Clair Augsburger of FlexSim France, not forgetting my dear friend, Pascal Mauny, director of IUT of Chalon-en-Saône and lecturer at the University of Bourgogne, for the time and attention granted to me for writing the preface.
Finally, I would like to thank my wife, Vanna, who has supported me throughout writing this book.
Jean-Michel RÉVEILLAC
November 2016
The last chapter of Volume 2 of this book concluded with a presentation of different road traffic-based examples, which were modeled and simulated using several pieces of software.
In this third volume, we will encounter simulation problems dealing with a variety of different flows (for example of skiers, pedestrians, crates, boxes, pallets, liquids, bottles, etc.) in discrete, continuous or mixed formats.
In relation to what was presented previously, new ideas and concepts will be developed while making use of some of the theories present in Volume 1.
We will continue to deal mostly with problems arising from real situations encountered in the field, in some cases with a simplified design to facilitate their modeling and make them more accessible to the user. The goal is to provide the basics and tools that will allow, in time, for more complex problems to be tackled.
We will work with the flow simulators ExtendSim, PathFinder and FlexSim, in turn.
In the first chapter, we will start by creating a model simulating the ski slopes of a French winter sports resort with its ski lifts, pistes and skiers. This example will demonstrate the feasibility of creating a model associated with discrete flows in a non-industrial environment, where simulation can, for example, contribute to characterizing the installation of a future ski lift. Given the considerable construction costs of such an installation, mistakes in decision-making must be avoided – a virtual model allows comparison of multiple options with the design brief in order to decide upon the best solution(s).
Within industry, logistics flows are often mixed, which in the second chapter leads us to deal with an example of a production and packaging line for fizzy drinks using multiple throughput control, mixing, transport, bottling, warehousing and storage sub-systems. The model will combine liquids, which are continuous, with bottles, pallets and crates, which are discrete.
In the third chapter, which covers simulation, we approach the problem of simulating flows in 3D by developing a model simulating the evacuation of people from a building. We will see how to import and integrate a building blueprint into a model, and then how to put the different actors (pedestrians) in place, as well as how to manage their behavior.
We will incorporate furniture, stairs and a lift to obtain an even more realistic simulation.
Finally, we will generate different graphics from the text-based result tables summarizing all of the parameters of the simulated scenario.
A very active domain in the simulation of logistic flows is the shipping and storage of goods. We will deal with these aspects in the last chapter with an example of a semi-automated platform covering the unloading, unpacking, relabeling, transport, distribution and warehousing of goods.
To carry out these tasks, we will use classic resources such as forklift truck drivers and operators in terms of human resources and automated components with roller conveyors and ASRS (Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems) connected to rows of multi-storey storage racks.
The construction and simulation will be conducted in 3D under externally imposed, precise conceptual and organizational constraints, which could be varied to improve the efficiency of the platform.
To measure and visualize the fundamental variables linked to the running of our model, we will design dashboards and reports allowing visualization of the results produced by the different simulations.
To conclude, we will mention some specific situations and see the relevant solutions that we can put in place to meet their requirements.