Analysis and Modeling of Manufacturing Systems is a set of papers on some of the newest research and applications of mathematical and computational techniques to manufacturing systems and supply chains. These papers deal with fundamental questions (how to predict factory performance: how to...

In this paper, we consider two basic multi-class call center models, with and without reneging. Customer classes have different priorities. The content of different types of calls is assumed to be similar allowing their service times to be identical. We study the problem of announcing delays to...

Perturbation analysis is an efficient method to estimate the sensitivity of performance with respect to parameters for queuing networks. An operational approach to perturbation analysis is developed. Concepts such as realization ratios and their equations are derived in the operational...

Research on sustainability performance has considerably enriched operations management literature in recent years. However, work with quantitative models is still scarce. This paper contributes by revisiting classical inventory methods taking sustainability concerns into account. We believe that...

We investigate the benefits of migrating from a call center, where all agents are pooled and customers are treated indifferently by any agent, toward a call center where customers are grouped into clusters with dedicated teams of agents. Each cluster is referred to as a portfolio. Customers of...

In this paper, we consider a two-stage supply contract model for advanced reservation of capacity, with payback option at the beginning of the selling season. Between the two decision stages, external information is collected that serves to update the demand forecast and permits to adjust the...

We consider a call center with two classes of impatient customers: premium and regular classes. Modeling our call center as a multiclass GI/GI/s+M queue, we focus on developing scheduling policies that satisfy a target ratio constraint on the abandonment probabilities of premium customers to...

A proposed single-product, stochastic, two-period inventory control model combines demand forecast updating with the flexibility of two supply sources. Demand is modeled by two independent, random variables over a two-period selling season. At the beginning of the first period, two quantities...

We focus on architectures with limited flexibility for multi-skill call centers. The context is that of call centers with asymmetric parameters: unbalanced workload, different service requirements, a predominant customer type, unbalanced abandonments and high costs of cross-training. The most...