Operations Research – An Introduction

Introduction

Operations Research (O.R.) refers to a field of study that relates to the application of modern techniques for making better decisions. Operations research is at times also known as management science. While dealing with difficult decision-making situations, in order to reach an optimal solution, or at least a solution near to that, various mathematical techniques are applied in operations research such as statistical analysis, mathematical optimization, mathematical modeling, etc. Operations research is partly covered under various other fields of study like operations management and industrial engineering. It is related to determining maximum (like performance, yield or profit) and minimum (like risk, loss or cost). Various kinds of problem solving techniques are used in operations research for improving the process of decision-making and increasing efficiency. The techniques applied include mathematical optimization, Markov decision processes, simulation, queuing theory, economic methods, statistics, data analysis, neural networks, decision analysis and expert systems. Almost all the above techniques encompass the creation of mathematical models which tries to explain the system. Due to the statistical and computational nature of maximum related disciplines, operations research is greatly connected to computer science. When a new problem is faced by the operations researchers they need to determine which method they should opt for depending upon the system’s nature, the aims for betterment, time constraints and power of computing.

Problems addressed with Operations Research

The following are the problems that are generally addressed using the Operations Research:

• Project Planning or Critical Path Analysis: Identification of processes involved in any complex project that affects the total time of the project
• Floor planning: Making the layout design of tools in a factory or of components of a computer’s chip in order to reduce time for manufacturing thereby reduce cost
• Network optimization: It means for example, setting up of telecom networks in order to maintain service quality at the time of outages
• Allocation problems: Allocation problems are also solved using the techniques of operations research
• Routing: A common example of this is fixing bus routes in such a way that the least number of buses are required
• Management of supply chain: Controlling raw materials and products flow depending upon unknown levels of demand for finished goods
• Customer response: Determining the proper ways for messaging and customer response for maximum result

Applications

Operations research finds a large number of applications in various industries like manufacturing companies, military branches, government institutions, service organizations, airlines, etc.

Conclusion

Due to the vast scope for application of operations research it is a crucial discipline of study among management science students. Due to its problem solving capacity over a wide sphere its demand is going to be always high in the job market.

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