This is an introductory course and forms the modeling basis for several other IE courses in both the undergraduate and the graduate curricula of the department. Operational Research is one of the basic tools Industrial Engineers use. This is the first of a series of three courses in our curriculum. This course is redesigned to equip students with the ability of conceptualization of real life systems in the form of mathematical models. Principles of model building and basic optimization concepts and approaches for problem solving are discussed in detail. The application of these principles and concepts are illustrated using simplified but practical problems from diverse fields of application in manufacturing/service/distribution systems. Scopes and limitations of suggested formulations are presented and their applications in real-life situations are focused with the help of mathematical programming software. The emphasis is on the formation and interpretation of models rather than solution procedures.

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