The paper reports a robust parameter design experiment, where we have used Taguchi's product array and a combined array simultaneously. This was done as part of a research project dealing with experimental design to optimise the process of sheet metal spinning. We found that the classical...

Purpose: This paper focuses on a classic optimization problem in operations research, the flexible job shop scheduling problem (FJSP), to discuss the method to deal with uncertainty in a manufacturing system. Design/methodology/approach: In this paper, condition based maintenance (CBM), a kind...

This article aims to resolve a particular production planning and workforce assignment problem. Many production lines may have different production capacities while producing the same product. Each production line is composed of three production stages, and each stage requires different periods...

In manual order picking systems, order pickers walk or drive through a distribution warehouse in order to collect items which are requested by (internal or external) customers. In order to perform these operations efficiently, it is usually required that customer orders are combined into (more...

In project scheduling, many problems can arise when resource fluctuations are beyond acceptable limits. To overcome this, mathematical techniques have been developed for leveling resources. However, these produce a hard and inflexible approach in scheduling projects. The authors propose a simple...

In this paper the relatively new technique of neural nets is integrated in a traditional model of portfolio choice. On the basis of Arrow’s State Preference Model the investment decision depends on the expectation building process which consists of two components. The individual information...

We explore convenient analytic properties of distributions constructed as mixtures of scaled and shifted t-distributions. A feature that makes this family particularly desirable for econometric applications is that it possesses closed-form expressions for its anti-derivatives (e.g., the...

The literature on electoral cycles has developed in two distinct phases. The first one considered the existence of non-rational (naive) voters whereas the second one considered fully rational voters. In our perspective, an intermediate approach is more interesting, i.e. one that considers...

In this paper we apply statistical inference techniques to build neural network models which are able to explain the prices of call options written on the German stock index DAX. By testing for the explanatory power of several input variables serving as network inputs, some insight into the...

In this article we examine how model selection in neural networks can be guided by statistical procedures such as hypotheses tests, information criteria and cross validation. The application of these methods in neural network models is discussed, paying attention especially to the identification...