Operations Research Problems

This book, now in its second edition, provides a valuable compendium of problems as a reference for undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, researchers and practitioners of operations research and management science. These problems can serve as a basis for the development or study of assignments and exams. Also, they can be useful as a guide for the first stage of the model formulation, i.e. the definition of a problem. The book is divided into 11 chapters that address the following topics: linear programming, integer programming, nonlinear programming, network modeling, inventory theory, queue theory, tree decision, game theory, dynamic programming and Markov processes. Included are a considerable number of statements of operations research applications for management decision-making. The book provides concise solutions to these problems although all problems are examined in depth. All the problems are based on the research experience of the authors in real-world companies and the teaching experience of the authors. This second edition of the book has many new problems and solutions influenced by today’s evolving industrial engineering, management and decision-making practices. The book includes many new problems specifically designed to address today’s business challenges. The new edition offers readers the opportunity to tackle and analyse new problems inspired by real-life scenarios.

Prof. Raúl Poler is Professor in Operations Man  agement and Operations Research at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV). He received his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from UPV in 1998. He is Director of the Research Centre on Production Management and Engineering (CIGIP). He has been researcher in 30 R&D Projects of the European Economic Community, 23 Projects of the Spanish Government, 10 Projects of the Valencian Government and 45 contracts with companies.  He has published 484 research papers in a number of leading journals and in several international conferences. He has been Member of the Scientific Committee of 21 international conferences in 112 different editions. He has been Visiting Professor at the Toulouse Business School. His key research topics include Enterprise Modelling, Collaborative Networks, Supply Chain Management, Knowledge Management, Production Planning and Control, Decision Support Systems, Evolutionary Algorithms and Artificial Intelligence.

Prof. Josefa Mula is Professor of the Department of Business Management at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) in Spain where she teaches supply chain simulation, production management and operations research. She is Member of the scientific committee of the Research Centre on Production Management and Engineering (CIGIP) of UPV. She has participated in various European projects and has led several national and regional projects. She has written (in collaboration) more than 140 articles in international journals. She has written (in collaboration) the book Supply Chain Simulation: A system dynamics approach for improving performance. She is Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Production Management and Engineering and Associate Editor of the Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management and Dirección y Organización, among others. Her research interests are oriented to production management and engineering, supply chain management and uncertainty modelling.

Prof. Manuel Díaz-Madroñero is Professor of the Department of Business Management at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) in Spain. He teaches subjects related to Information Systems, Operational Research and Operations Management and Logistics. He is Member of the Research Centre on Production Management and Engineering (CIGIP) of the UPV. He has participated in different research projects funded by the European Commission, the Spanish Government, the Valencian Regional Government and the UPV. As a result, he has published (in collaboration) more than fifty articles in different indexed journals and international conferences. His research areas include production planning and transportation, fuzzy mathematical programming and robust optimization, multicriteria decision-making, sustainable operations management and enabling technologies for supply chain planning 4.0/5.0.

Dr. Raquel Sanchis is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Business Management at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) in Spain, where she teaches operations research, business organisation, demand and supply management, production systems and industrial economics. She is Member of the UPV's Research Centre on Production Management and Engineering (CIGIP). Her research activities mainly focus on enterprise and supply chain resilience, sustainability, and production management and engineering. Her commitment to the advancement of these fields is evidenced by her active participation in numerous European projects. She has published (in collaboration) more than forty articles in international journals and co-presented more than seventy papers in international conferences.