Gerald Reiner - Böcker

Rapid Modelling and Quick Response presents new research developments in the fields of rapid modelling and quick response linked with performance improvements (based on lead time reduction, etc., as well as financial performance measures).The papers and teaching cases in this book were presented at the second Rapid Modelling Conference: "Quick Response – Intersection of Theory and Practice". The main focus of this collection is the transfer of knowledge from theory to practice, providing the theoretical foundations for successful performance improvement.This conference volume challenges the traditional notions of rapid modelling, and offers valuable contributions to the scientific communities of operations management, production management, supply chain management, industrial engineering and operations research.Rapid Modelling and Quick Response will give the interested reader (researcher, as well as practitioner) a good overview of new developments in this field.

A Perspective on Two Decades of Rapid Modeling It is an honor for me to be asked to write a foreword to the Proceedings of the 1st Rapid Modeling Conference. In 1987, when I coined the term “Rapid Modeling” to denote queuing modeling of manufacturing systems, I never imagined that two decades later there would be an international conference devoted to this topic! I am delighted to see that there will be around 40 presentations at the conference by leading researchers from aroundthe world, and about half of these presentationsare represented by written papers published in this book. I congratulate the conference organizers and program committee on the success of their efforts to hold the ?rst ever conference on Rapid Modeling. Attendees at this conferencemight?nd it interesting to learn about the history of the term Rapid Modeling in the context it is used here. During the fall of 1986 I was invited to a meeting at the Headquarters of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) in Dearborn, Michigan. By that time I had successfully demonstrated s- eral industry applications of queuing network models at leading manufacturers in the USA. Although in principle the use of queuing networks to model manufact- ing systems was well known in the OR/MS community and many papers had been published,the actual use of suchmodelsby manufacturingprofessionalswas almost nonexistent.

Rapid Modelling and Quick Response presents new research developments in the fields of rapid modelling and quick response linked with performance improvements (based on lead time reduction, etc., as well as financial performance measures). The papers and teaching cases in this book were presented at the second Rapid Modelling Conference: "Quick Response -- Intersection of Theory and Practice". The main focus of this collection is the transfer of knowledge from theory to practice, providing the theoretical foundations for successful performance improvement. This conference volume challenges the traditional notions of rapid modelling, and offers valuable contributions to the scientific communities of operations management, production management, supply chain management, industrial engineering and operations research. Rapid Modelling and Quick Response will give the interested reader (researcher, as well as practitioner) a good overview of new developments in this field.

A Perspective on Two Decades of Rapid Modeling It is an honor for me to be asked to write a foreword to the Proceedings of the 1st Rapid Modeling Conference. In 1987, when I coined the term “Rapid Modeling” to denote queuing modeling of manufacturing systems, I never imagined that two decades later there would be an international conference devoted to this topic! I am delighted to see that there will be around 40 presentations at the conference by leading researchers from aroundthe world, and about half of these presentationsare represented by written papers published in this book. I congratulate the conference organizers and program committee on the success of their efforts to hold the ?rst ever conference on Rapid Modeling. Attendees at this conferencemight?nd it interesting to learn about the history of the term Rapid Modeling in the context it is used here. During the fall of 1986 I was invited to a meeting at the Headquarters of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) in Dearborn, Michigan. By that time I had successfully demonstrated s- eral industry applications of queuing network models at leading manufacturers in the USA. Although in principle the use of queuing networks to model manufact- ing systems was well known in the OR/MS community and many papers had been published,the actual use of suchmodelsby manufacturingprofessionalswas almost nonexistent.

While supply chain management has risen to great prominence in recent year, there are hardly related developments in research methodologies. Yet, as supply chains cover more than one company, one central issue is how to collect and analyse data along the whole or relevant part of the supply chain. Within the 36 chapters 70 authors bring together a rich selection of theoretical and practical examples of how research methodologies are applied in supply chain management. The book contains papers on theoretical implications as well as papers on a range of key methods, such as modelling, surveys, case studies or action research. It will be of great interest to researchers in the area of supply chain management and logistics, but also to neighbouring fields, such as network management or global operations.