Sixiao Gao, Yinsheng Liao and Zhiming Hu
With rapid market customized demand and short development cycles, mixed production with multiple classes and variable batches has been popular, and its buffer allocation problem…
Abstract
Purpose
With rapid market customized demand and short development cycles, mixed production with multiple classes and variable batches has been popular, and its buffer allocation problem has become a new challenge. The mixed production cannot be analyzed based on the assumption of a stationary demand process which was typically used in previous studies. Furthermore, mixed production is still in human–machine cooperation mode where dynamic working efficiency because of workers’ fatigue causes uncertain processes. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to solve the buffer allocation problem in mixed production systems with multiple classes, variable batch sizes and worker fatigue considerations.
Design/methodology/approach
A dynamic modeling method of mixed production with multiple classes and variable batches is improved, which uses nonstationary demand processes to model the dynamic nature of multiple classes and variable batches. Human working efficiency decreasing due to fatigue is modeled as the time-varying service rate to represent human–machine cooperation. Furthermore, a parallel evolutionary algorithm that combines global and local search strategies parallelly is developed to solve the buffer allocation problem in mixed production for the first time.
Findings
Numerical examples demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed algorithm. The proposed algorithm achieves better solution quality than the state of art algorithms.
Originality/value
This study improves the dynamic modeling of mixed production to consider human factors and develops a hybrid algorithm to effectively solve the buffer allocation problem in dynamic mixed production.
Details
Keywords
Lin fang Wang, Brian Yim, Doori Song and Yi Zhang
Adopting the context, input, process and product (CIPP) evaluation assessment model, this study aims to achieve three objectives: (1) to identify the characteristics of…
Abstract
Purpose
Adopting the context, input, process and product (CIPP) evaluation assessment model, this study aims to achieve three objectives: (1) to identify the characteristics of educational activities conducted by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) museum; (2) to explore the key factors that promote and optimize the educational objectives of the ITTF museum and (3) to develop a framework that attempts to unpack the complex and dynamic processes of activities conducted by the ITTF museum.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative research using in-depth interviews was conducted to explore the functions and activities of the ITTF museum.
Findings
The path of educational activities carried out is expressed in four aspects: (1) educational background including philosophy and purpose, advantages possessed and the learning needs and readiness of the audience; (2) the resource input includes resource allocation, venue structure, funding channels and the basis of activity program design; (3) the educational activity process includes external cooperation and exchange, the specific content of the activity programs, the teaching strategies and methods during the activities and the response to the challenges of the epidemic and (4) the results of the activities include the number of audience and population distribution, evaluation and feedback of the activities, ways and means of promoting the activities and difficulties and challenges faced.
Research limitations/implications
In the follow-up studies, quantitative research can be conducted by developing a questionnaire based on the current study’s findings. Evaluation scales can be set to continue to enrich and improve the uncovered research content, which is conducive to promoting the objectives of the ITTF museum and giving full play to the educational function, thus enriching the research of sports museums.
Originality/value
The contributions of this study are as follows. First, it enriches the application of the CIPP assessment model in the context of sports museums. It helps the ITTP museum better perform its educational function and provides a reference for future activities of sports museums.