Return of the sailing ship?

cnet news (news.com) 12/4/06:
Photos: A kite to pull a cargo ship

Traffic Safety

The Onion parodies "rubberneckers":
DOT: Dangerous Intersection Causing Some Pretty Cool Accidents

Facility Location via Atomic Physics

Atomic Physics Predicts Successful Store Location

(Note: The link is to a summary of a paper that appears the September 2006 Physical Review E)

Adventures in Material Handling

Oops: Baikonur crew drops weather satellite

Tire recycling

What happens to all those car and truck tires? Here's one answer...

Miami Herald:
Artificial reef made of tires becomes ecological disaster.

Supermarket logistics

Vintage supermarket photos.

Iraqi Army logistics

NPR's All Things Considered:
Iraqi Army Has Control, but No Logistics

A new northern passage?

Scientists shocked as Arctic polar route emerges

This is actually somewhat old news - for several years now folks have been anticipating new northern passages through the Arctic past Canada and past Russia.

Military photos

Many of these photos are logistics-related:
Current Year (in left navbar), Previous Years

Congress

Congressional Modeling & Simulation Caucus

The perils of "roll your own" WMSs

Beware the programming guru

Road hazard

Consider the perils of being a truck driver in Malyaysia: giant snakes on the road.

Split shipment fiasco

18 towels from amazon.com = 18 boxes
(via BoingBoing.net)

Wonder Warehouse 1962?

An interesting ad from the November 1956 issue of Modern Mechanix.

Disaster logistics

MIT professor and logistics expert Yossi Sheffi appeared on WBUR's "Here and Now" radio program: Fixing FEMA

Euclidean TSP in Excel VBA

TSP_draw.xls is a simple Excel VBA program that solves Euclidean traveling salesman problems and displays solutions graphically.

The program is "rough" - it was written such that beginning coders could modify and improve it.

Link: TSP_draw.xls
Capabilities: Euclidean TSP - solution algorithms and graphical display
Author: Michael H. Cole
License: GPL
Platform requirements: Microsoft Excel (VBA)
User-modifiable: Yes
Version: alpha

Over capacitated

Pics of overloaded vehicles.

Daskin's "states" software

This software solves a TSP problem and a facilities location problem that use the 48 state capitals (and D.C.) as the underlying data set.

Link: http://users.iems.northwestern.edu/~msdaskin/Software.htm
Capabilities: TSP, location
Author: Mark S. Daskin
License: ?
Platform requirements: Microsoft Excel
User-modifiable: ?
Version: ?

Daskin's "SITUATION" facility location software

Software to accompany Daskin's text: Network and Discrete Location: Models, Algorithms, and Applications.

Link: http://users.iems.northwestern.edu/~msdaskin/BookSoftware.htm
Capabilities: P-median, P-center, Set Covering, Maximal Covering, Uncapacitated Fixed Charge Problems
Author: Mark S. Daskin
License: ?
Platform requirements: Microsoft Windows
User-modifiable: ?
Version: 5.7.0.9

Floyd's shortest path algorithm

floyd.xls is a simple Excel VBA program that implements Floyd's algorithm for finding the shortest paths between all nodes in a network. The program was written such that beginning coders could modify and improve it.

Capabilities: find shortest paths between all pairs of nodes in a network
Author: Michael H. Cole
License: GPL
Platform requirements: Microsoft Excel (VBA)
User-modifiable: Yes
Version: alpha

1-center facility location problem

hakimi_5.xls is a simple Excel VBA program that demonstrates Hakimi's algorithm for solving the 1-center facility location problem. The program was written such that beginning coders could modify and improve it.

Capabilities: site a single facility on a network to minimax customer travel time
Author: Michael H. Cole
License: GPL
Platform requirements: Microsoft Excel (VBA)
User-modifiable: Yes
Version: alpha

Warehouse tour - Newegg

Newegg warehouse (via www.anandtech.com)

Article in NY TImes

Some Assembly Needed: China as Asia Factory (free registration required).

Houston road network

See www.houstonfreeways.com for an exhaustive pictorial history of Houston's extensive network of freeways.

Aggregating customers

Aggregate.xls is a simple Excel VBA program that demonstrates customer aggregation. The program was written such that beginning coders could modify and improve it.

Capabilities: graphically aggregate n customers into 100 customers
Author: Michael H. Cole
License: GPL
Platform requirements: Microsoft Excel (VBA)
User-modifiable: Yes
Version: alpha

City infrastructure

The Works: anatomy of a city (Kate Ascher) examines the infrastructure of a typical large city.

Logistics-related chapters include: Streets, Subway, Bridges & Tunnels, Rail Freight, Maritime Freight, Air Cargo, and Markets.

Vending machines on aircraft carriers

StrategyPage has an interesting inventory-related article: Why The World's Largest Vending Machine Matters. Typical soda machines on a carrier's hangar deck might need to be replenished several times a day. The new VIB machine is 3 times larger than a commerical machine, so might need replenishment only once per day.

I wonder what the cost-per-replenishment is on an aircraft carrier?

Material Handling Links

Michael Cole's Material Handing Page has sections on the Material Handling Industry of America trade association, Magazines & Journals, Societies & Associations, Research Groups, Equipment, Continuing Education, and Academic Courses.

InventoryOps Link Page

InventoryOps.com Links Page: Inventory Management, Manufacturing, Material Handling, and Warehousing.

Nestlé Supply Chain

Nestlé Cooks Up a Global Supply Chain

Slate article

One Word: Logistics --
The unheralded key to the New Economy

Microsoft Excel Solver

The following websites have useful information on the Excel Solver:


Introduction to optimization with the Excel Solver tool

Solving a Linear Program Using the Excel Solver

Solver tutorial for optimization users

Using Solver for LP Problems

Warehouse design software

Georgia Tech professors Bartholdi and Hackman have written a new book: Warehouse and Distribution Science.

The book's Supplement includes web-based Java software that addresses slotting, flow visualization, and pick-path design.

OR/MS Today software surveys

OR/MS Today Software Surveys includes Vehicle Routing, Supply Chain Management, Forecasting, etc.

INFORMS

INFORMS OR/MS Resource Collection: Computer Programs has an extensive list of commercial and non-commercial programs for Opereations Research.

List of logistics providers and consultants

The Supply Chain Space

logistics.about.com

Some links:

1. Logistics and Supply Chain Management Software

2. Starting a Logistics Software Company