Jonathan Eckstein's Operations Management Classes 33:623:386:01

This page is for my Fall 2009 class.

For limited-distribution materials such as homework solutions, I am also using the Sakai website for this class.

Announcements (As of November 20, 2009 04:29 PM)

The second midterm has been graded, and was returned in class November 18
Office hours are canceled for Tuesday, November 24
There is no class on Wednesday, November 25, due to the Thanksgiving holiday

Usual Office Hour Schedule

My office is in the J. H. Levin building, room 255. My usual office hour schedule is as follows:

Tuesday 2:30 - 4:30 PM
Friday 2:30 - 4:00 PM
Or other times by appointment.

I will depart from this schedule in special circumstances, as noted in the announcements section above.

Handouts and Class Materials

Note: (CP xxx) means page xxx of the course pack.

Wednesday, September 2: Overview, introduction, and first example
- Syllabus
- Class schedule
- BAGS word problem (CP 1)
- Notes for class 1 available on Sakai
- Homework 1, due September 9
Tuesday, September 8: Learning to sse Solver [in lab]
Students with last names starting with A-L attend lab 3:20-4:00, last names starting with M-Z attend lab 4:00-4:40
- Excel Refresher material (CP 4-10)
- Completed BAGS spreadsheet (CP 2-3)
- Instructions for Standard Printouts (Similar to CP 11-12, but clarified/expanded)
- Notes for class 2 available on Sakai
Wednesday, September 9: The geometry of linear programs and "graphical solution"
- Slides used to explain the graphical solution procedure (Excel format; since my laptop blue-screened in class, I had to draw on the board instead of using these -- ouch.)
- Notes for class 3 available on Sakai
- Homework 2, due September 16
Monday, September 14: Linearity, the diet Problem, and SUMPRODUCT
- DIET word problem (CP 13)
- DIET spreadsheet model (CP 14-15)
- Notes for class 4 available on Sakai
Wednesday, September 15: Input-output process modeling
- BIKEWHEELS word problem (CP 27)
- BIKEWHEELS spreadsheet model (CP 28-29)
- PERFUME word problem (CP 30)
- PERFUME spreadsheet model (CP 31-32)
- Notes for class 5 available on Sakai
- Homework 3, due September 23
Monday, September 21: Simple network-structured models -- multiple periods and transportation
- PIGSKIN problem (CP 37)
- PIGSKIN spreadsheet (CP 38-39)
- GASES problem (CP 40)
- GASES spreadsheet (CP 41-42)
- Sorry, no notes for class 6
Wednesday, September 23: Blending constraints
- JUICE problem (CP 43)
- JUICE spreadsheet (CP 44-45)
- CHANDLER problem is on CP 46
- CHANDLER spreadsheet (CP 47)
- Sorry, no notes for class 7
- Homework 4, due September 30
Monday, September 28: Blending constraints combined with other things both old and new
- PICKLES problem (CP 57)
- PICKLES spreadsheet (CP 58-59)
- INVEST problem (CP 60)
- INVEST spreadsheet (CP 61-62)
- Notes for class 8 available on Sakai (students observing Yom Kippur: please review these notes before or after the holiday)
Wednesday, September 30: Combining "blocks" of familiar models into larger ones
- CONMINE problem (CP 69)
- CONMINE spreadsheet (CP 70-71)
- CARSEATS problem (CP 72)
- CARSEATS spreadsheet (CP 73-74)
- Sorry, no notes for class 9
- Homework 5, due October 7
Monday, October 5: Project scheduling
- PROJECT and CRASH problems (CP 98)
- PROJECT spreadsheet (CP 99-100)
- CRASH spreadsheet (CP 101-102)
- Sorry, no notes for class 10
Wednesday, October 7: Introduction to integer variables, review for midterm
- STOCKCO problem (CP 106)
- STOCKCO spreadsheet (CP 107-108)
- PLANE problem (CP 109)
- PLANE spreadsheet (CP 110-111)
- Sorry, no notes for class 11
Monday, October 12: First midterm exam (proctored by Olga Myndyuk)
Wednesday, October 14: "Grids" of binary variables [substitute instructor: Prof. Alizadeh]
- MACHINCO problem (CP 112)
- MACHINCO spreadsheet (CP 113-114)
- MILKEM problem (CP 125)
- MILKEM spreadsheet (CP 126-127)
- Homework 6, due October 21
- Notes for class 13 available on Sakai
Monday, October 19: Set covering, set partitioning, and logic constraints
- The AIRHUBS problem is on CP 128
- AIRHUBS spreadsheet (CP 129-130)
- SMALLTIME problem (CP 131)
- SMALLTIME spreadsheet (CP 132-133)
- Optional reading: "Repaired for Takeoff" on CP 134-139
- The PITCHERS problem is question 5 on the bottom of CP 118
- PITCHERS spreadsheet (CP 140-141)
- Sorry, no notes for class 14
Wednesday, October 21: Results of first midterm, fixed charge and disjunctive models
- Results write-up for first midterm on Sakai
- GANDY problem (CP 142)
- GANDY spreadsheet (CP 143-144)
- BOILERS problem is question 17 on CP 122-123
- BOILERS spreadsheet (CP 145-146)
- Homework 7, due October 28
- Sorry no notes for class 15
Monday, October 26: More complicated integer programming models
- HIRING problem (CP 154)
- HIRING spreadsheet (CP 155-156)
- The HUNTCO problem is on CP 157-158
- HUNTCO spreadsheet (CP 159-160)
- Sorry, no notes for class 16
Wednesday, October 28: Introducing probability and simulation
- NEWSPAPER word problem (CP 168)
- NEWSPAPER spreadsheet template for in-class demonstration
- Completed NEWSPAPER spreadsheet and simulation report (CP 169-171)
- "Flaw of Averages" cartoon
- Homework 8, due November 4
- Notes for class 17 available on Sakai (also containing the "flaw of averages" cartoon)
Monday, November 2: Binomial distributions, in-class YASAI exercise [in lab]
Students with last names starting with A-L attend lab 3:20-4:00, last names starting with M-Z attend lab 4:00-4:40
- Binomial distribution example graphs
- TRANSLATORS word problem (CP 176-177)
- Template for in-class exercise with TRANSLATORS
- TRANSLATORS spreadsheet and simulation report (CP 178-180)
- Pointer to YASAI main website and downloads
- YASAI user guide (Similar to CP 183-195, but updated for YASAI 2.0 and the possibility of Excel 2007)
- Partial notes for class 18 available on Sakai (these do not cover every detail of the example, but do include the key new concepts)
Wednesday, November 4: More probability, Poisson distributions, testing combinations of YASAI parameters
- Slides showing Poisson distribution as a limit of binomials
- OVERBOOK word problem (CP 172)
- OVERBOOK spreadsheet and simulation report (CP 173-175)
- Instructions for standard printouts on simulation homework problems (CP 181-182)
- Homework 9, due November 11
- Notes for class 19 available on Sakai
Monday, November 9: More probability, continuous random variables, and the 3-door example problem
- POWERSUPPLY word problem (CP 196)
- POWERSUPPLY spreadsheet and simulation results (CP 197-199)
- 3DOOR word problem (CP 200)
- 3DOOR spreadsheet and simulation results (CP 201-203)
- Midterm 2 study guide
- Sorry, no notes for class 20
Wednesday, November 11: Sums and averages of random variables, and using the central limit theorem in simulation
- Slides illustrating the central limit theorem (actually just a different part of the same Excel workbook as for "Poisson" above)
- INSURANCE word problem (CP 204)
- INSURANCE spreadsheet and simulation report (CP 205-207)
- Midterm 2 study guide (the same document as posted on November 9)
- Notes for class 21 available on Sakai
Monday, November 16: Second midterm exam
Wednesday, November 18: Introducing multi-period simulation, go over results of second midterm
- A results write-up will be posted on Sakai
- INVENTORY word problem (CP 208)
- INVENTORY spreadsheet and simulation results (CP 209-211)
- Homework 10, due December 2
- Sorry, no notes for class 23
Monday, November 23: Waiting in line
- REPAIRSHOP word problem (CP 212)
- REPAIRSHOP spreadsheet and simulation results (CP 213-215)
- HORSES word problem (CP 216-217)
- HORSES spreadsheet and simulation results (CP 218-220)
- Sorry, no notes for class 24
No class Wednesday, November 25
Monday, November 30: More multi-period simulation -- sizing a service facility
- TRUCKBAYS word problem (CP 221)
- TRUCKBAYS spreadsheet and simulation results (CP 222-224)
- Sorry, no notes for class 24
Wednesday, December 2: Dynamic simulation with age tracking [Substitute Instructor]
- BELTS word problem (CP 225)
- BELTS spreadsheet and simulation results (CP 226-228)
- Homework 11, due December 9
- Notes for class 26 available on Sakai
Monday, December 7: Discrete-event simulation, exponential/geometric distributions
- QUEUE word problem (CP 229)
- QUEUE spreadsheet and simulation results (CP 230-232) [Substitute Instructor]
- Demo of ARENA simulation software
- Notes for class 27 available on Sakai
Wednesday, December 9: Review for final exam [Substitute Instructor]
- Study guide for the final exam
- This class is a review session, so no notes will be posted
Tuesday, December 22: Final exam, 12PM-3PM (place to be announced)

Homework Solutions

Unless otherwise noted, solutions are in Adobe PDF format, and can be viewed with Adobe Reader. This semester, all homework solutions will be stored on Sakai, requiring a login. The links below direct you to resources within Sakai.

Solution to homework 1
Solution to homework 2
Solution to homework 3
Solution to homework 4 (corrections posted October 6, 2009, about 8PM)
Solution to homework 5
Solution to homework 6 (correction to Q3 spreadsheet posted 10:30PM, October 24)
Solution to homework 7
Solution to homework 8
Solution to homework 9