COURSEWORK ASSIGNMENT (SUMMATIVE)

UNIVERSITYOF HERTFORDSHIRE

School of Engineering and Computer Science

Page 1 of 4

COURSEWORK ASSIGNMENT (SUMMATIVE)

Module Title: Operations Research

Module Code: 7ENT1070

Assignment Title: 2.

Simulation Consultancy Task.

Group Assignment

Tutor: Dr Funlade T. Sunmola

Internal Moderator: Dr Amit N. Pujari

Student ID Number ONLY:

Year Code:

Marks Awarded %:

Marks Awarded after Lateness Penalty applied %:

Penalties for Late Submissions

• Late submission of any item of coursework for each day or part thereof (or for hard copy submission only, working day or part thereof) for up to five days after the published deadline, coursework relating to modules at Levels 0, 4, 5, 6 submitted late (including deferred coursework, but with the exception of referred coursework), will have the numeric grade reduced by 10 grade points until or unless the numeric grade reaches or is 40. Where the numeric grade awarded for the assessment is less than 40, no lateness penalty will be applied.

• Late submission of referred coursework will automatically be awarded a grade of zero (0).

• Coursework (including deferred coursework) submitted later than five days (five working days in the case of hard copy submission) after the published deadline will be awarded a grade of zero (0).

• Where genuine serious adverse circumstances apply, you may apply for an extension to the hand-in date, provided the extension is requested a reasonable period in advance of the deadline.

Please refer to your student handbook for details about the grading schemes used by the School when assessing your work. Guidance on assessment will also be given in the Module Guide.

Guidance on avoiding academic assessment offences such as plagiarism and collusion is given at this URL: http://www.studynet.herts.ac.uk/ptl/common/LIS.nsf/lis/citing_menu

UNIVERSITYOF HERTFORDSHIRE

School of Engineering and Computer Science

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ASSIGNMENT BRIEF

Students, you should delete this section before submitting your work.

This Assignment assesses the following module Learning Outcomes:

1. Select and apply quantitative modelling concepts for problem solving and decision making.

2. Use classical decision theory as aid to decision making.

3. Acquire a critical awareness of the logical process of modelling complex decision problems.

4. Apply techniques and practice to model real-world problems.

5. Derive solution(s) using a suitable software package when required.

6. Critically analyse and report results.

Assignment Brief:

Assume you have been given a consultancy task by Yuwen Chen’s factory which involves studying machine breakdown situation in their factory and the consequences of the breakdowns on their operations. The scenario in question has been adapted from Problem F.2 of Heizer et. al. (2016, p. 840).

The number of machine breakdowns per day at Yuwen Chen’s factory is 0, 1, or 2, with probabilities 0.5, 0.3, or 0.2, respectively.

1. Make a Monte-Carlo Hand Simulation to generate the number of breakdowns for 10 consecutive days. The following random numbers have been generated for you to use in the hand simulation 13, 14, 02, 18, 31, 19, 32, 85, 31, and 94. What proportion of these days had at least one breakdown?

Yuwen Chen’s factory has five (5) identical machines and the machines operate in parallel. Jobs arriving the factory are required to be processed only on any ONE of the machines. The jobs are loaded on machines on first come first served basis. Jobs inter-arrival times are exponentially distributed with rate parameter set to 8 minutes. The operation times follow a uniform distribution between 5 and 15 minutes.

2. Using Witness (https://www.lanner.com/en-us/technology/witness-simulation-software.html) OR Flexsim (https://www.flexsim.com/) Simulation Software, conduct a computer simulation of the factory to study the effect of machine breakdowns on operations.

a) Develop a brief for Yuwen Chen’s factory simulation task; describe the process involved in the factory operations and present a process map of the operations. State and discuss your assumptions.

b) Develop a Simulation model for the Yuwen Chen’s factory task.

c) Use the simulation model developed to estimate the average number of jobs completed per day i.e. 1,080 minutes.

d) Discuss your results.

Yuwen Chen’s factory is interested in using a virtual engineering platform to explore their simulation models.

3. Critically discuss the benefits the factory could derive from conducting their simulation studies on a virtual engineering platform.

Reference

Heizer, J., Render, B. & Munson, C. 2016, Operations management: Sustainability and Supply Chain Management, 12th edition, Pearson, Upper Saddle River.

UNIVERSITYOF HERTFORDSHIRE

School of Engineering and Computer Science

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The textbook is available as e-book via the online library.

This is a group assignment. Your will remain in the same group as in Assignment 1 of this module (2019/2020).

Presentation

Your technical report must be written in an appropriate format and must contain no more than 3000±10% words including any diagrams, calculations, figures and/or tables where appropriate. Reports shorter than the word count will not lose marks but will lead to the omission of material which can gain them. Any words over the suggested word count will not be marked. Do not use any mechanism, such as embedded jpeg images containing significant text, to circumvent the word count.

You are expected to provide a significant range of secondary sources to underpin your work. These must be cited and referenced according to the Harvard Referencing System. Include the word count in the header of your report.

Ensure that your technical report is well-structured and choose appropriate number and titles for the sections of the report please. There is no need to number the references section.

Your technical report must follow the content and guidance above and must include the specific instructions outlined below.

1. Word-process the report on A4 paper size.

2. Use 1.15 line spacing.

3. Font type must be Arial, font size 11.

4. Ensure that all diagrams (figures) / tables are labelled and numbered.

5. Include a Title Page and a Table of Contents page.

6. Number all pages.

7. Grammar, spelling and style, as well as clarity, contribute towards the assessment of the report.

8. Use British Spelling i.e. ‘English (UK) Language’.

9. Justify paragraphs – Align text to both left and right margins, using your word processor to add extra space between words as necessary.

10. Ensure that you focus on the requirements of the assignment brief. Be clear about the marking scheme stated in the ‘Marks out of 100% awarded for’ section below.

Additional Note on Referencing

Mark is allocated for referencing in this assignment, and the mark is influenced by the thoroughness and integrity of the work as evidenced by your referencing. Marks are awarded not only for correct referencing practice, but also the extent to which the arguments have been supported by cited sources. Related work should be cited and referenced according to the Harvard Referencing System.

Submission Requirements:

The technical report must be submitted as a PDF file via the assignment platform on the Canvas module site. ONLY ONE report must be submitted per group, handed-in by your nominated group member; marks will then be allocated to the members of the group accordingly. It is your individual responsibility to ensure that your group’s submission is made by the stipulated deadline.

UNIVERSITYOF HERTFORDSHIRE

School of Engineering and Computer Science

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This assignment is worth 25% of the overall assessment for this module.

Marks out of 100% awarded for: Main Tasks/Allocations Marks Available %

Knowledge and understanding of Simulation.

10

1. Monte-Carlo Hand Simulation to generate the number of breakdowns for 10 consecutive days.

15

2. Computer simulation of the factory to study the effect of machine breakdowns on operations.

45

a) Description of the process. presentation of a process map for the factory and the assumptions. 10

b) Quality of the Simulation Developed. 15

c) Estimate of the average number of jobs completed per day i.e. 1,080 minutes. 10

d) Discussion of Results. 10

3. Critical discussion of the benefits the factory could derive from conducting their simulation studies on a virtual engineering platform

20

Overall Presentation, report title and structure, effective communication, keeps to word limit, and use of Harvard Reference System.

10 Total 100

A note to the Students:

1. For undergraduate modules, a score above 40% represent a pass performance at honours level.

2. For postgraduate modules, a score of 50% or above represents a pass mark.

3. Modules may have several components of assessment and may require a pass in all elements. For further details, please consult the relevant Module Guide or ask the Module Leader.

Typical (hours) required by the student(s) to complete the assignment: 20 hours

Date Work handed out:

Week 32:

Friday 06 March 2020

Date Work to be handed in:

Week 40:

Friday 01 May 2020

Target Date for the return of the marked assignment:

Week 43: Friday 22 May 2020

Type of Feedback to be given for this assignment:

The report will have a percentage mark and general feedback.