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: 2016959837
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-78630-107-9
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 1 of this series ended by looking at the software used for solving the different logistical problems that industrial, commercial and administrative structures face on a daily basis [REV 17a].
Since its inception, logistics has been omnipresent and has undergone significant development. Globalization, the explosion of the internet and the constant push to look to do everything better, quicker, more effectively and for less money, have greatly contributed to its expansion.
Although we are still only in the early stages, can we say that logistics has reached full maturity? Nothing could be less certain. The Internet of Things, still in its infancy, should profoundly change the normal rules relating to product management in the years to come.
The steps being taken by our cities towards becoming intelligent cities or “smart cities” will soon cause upheaval in our daily lives and our work habits, in public transport, in business and even in our own homes.
The centralization of many different kinds of data and the increase in central file storage has only just begun. We are currently living in a world of information systems and databases and that will continue to be the case in the future. However, aside from the impact this has on ourselves as individuals, our environment and the objects we use will be implicated in this massive warehouse of data that is currently being put together.
In 1997, the concept of “big data” first appeared. For many researchers this is one of the challenges that the information industry will have to deal with between 2020 and 2030: how to properly manage and analyze this enormous accumulation of content.
The optimization and the simulation of logistical flows plays an important role in this phenomenon. Data is collected and is then used to build models and structures in order to optimize constraints present in the field.
A variety of different types of software are used and can be divided into two categories: the specifics that deal with particular areas, such as flow simulations (extendSim, FlexSim, Arena, Witness), management and project planning (Microsoft project, Sciforma PS, GanttProject, MicroPlanner), calculating and optimizing routes (Gazoleen, Portatour, Mapotempo, Geoconcept, TourSolver), the management of warehousing1 (Speed, Reflex WMS, Mecalux Easy WMS) and general applications, such as spreadsheets (Microsoft Excel, Apple Numbers, OpenOffice Calc) or calculation managers (Mathematica, Mapple, Xcas, GeoGebra).
In Volumes 2 and 3 of this series, I wanted to introduce you to the optimization and the simulation of logistical flows across some of these types of software. The ones that I chose and focused on are those that I use in my everyday work, not just in my role as an IT engineering consultant but also when teaching students.
The majority of the cases dealt with here come from practical cases that have been bowdlerized several times in order to avoid overloading how they are presented and to thus facilitate access for a novice who can then look into it further should they wish.
In this second volume, we will work successively with Microsoft Excel, the project manager Microsoft Project and the road traffic simulators, Ring road, RoadTrafficSimulator, Intersection simulator, Green Light District (GLD) and AnyLogic2.
The studies carried out using spreadsheets will employ a number of the operational research techniques described in Volume 1 [REV 17a].
In turn, we will look at:
Figure I.1. Knapsack with Microsoft Excel
Figure I.2. A critical path calculation matrix
Figure I.3. Gantt chart with Microsoft Excel
Figure I.4. An example of a spreadsheet for maximal flows
Figure I.5. Calculating transport costs using the Microsoft Excel solver
Figure I.6. An example of linear programming, spreadsheet and solver
Secondly, the spreadsheet will also make it possible to create dashboards implementing complex pivot tables that will work with one or a number of databases.
Figure I.7. A pivot table mixing numbered and graphic data
Within project management, we will set up a design and manufacturing plan for a machine-tool by integrating the different tasks, the resources, the costs, the creation of dashboards, reports and monitoring. We will see in detail the Gantt chart type displays and the Méthode des potentiels Métra (MPM) network, plus the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) codification, margin calculation and the management of the over-use of resources. All of these different studies will employ the principles developed in Chapter 5 of the first volume of this series, which dealt specifically with scheduling.
Figure I.8. A design and manufacturing plan for a machine-tool within Microsoft Project
Chapter 4 will focus on a particular field that is highly complex, road traffic management. We will examine several problems linked to the circulation of vehicles in a range of situations and contexts, at different levels, while using various programs.
Several examples will be given for each of the five applications being studied:
Figure I.9. A simple road network with its intersection and traffic lights
For each of these, we will develop scenarios with various different constraints in order to get an overview of the functionalities and potentials available for processing and analyzing traffic flows in circulation conditions depending on the structure of the network, the topography of the terrain, the concentration of vehicles, the type of vehicle, the signals, the number of traffic routes, the behavior of drivers and so on.