In many real-world applications of optimization, the underlying descriptive system model is defined by computationally expensive functions: simulation modules, numerical models and other “black box” model components are ...

The expected profits from customers are important informations for the companies in giving acquisition/retention decisions and developing different strategies for different customer segments. Most of these decisions can ...

Fast and equitable distribution of the humanitarian relief supplies is key to the success of relief operations. Delayed and inequitable deliveries can result in suffering of affected people and loss of lives. In this study, ...

Because of historically high fuel prices, the trucking industry's operating expenses are higher than ever and thus profit margins are lower than ever. To cut costs, the trucking industry is searching for and exploring new ...

Most sport clubs offer season tickets first and they allow purchasing single tickets at a later date. There are several decision problems within this context; the determination of the optimal time at which the switch from ...

In this paper, we present a review and analysis of studies that focus on humanitarian inventory planning and management. Specifically, we focus on papers which develop policies and models to determine how much to stock, ...

One of the major challenges for humanitarian organizations in response planning is dealing with the inherent ambiguity and uncertainty in disaster situations. The available information that comes from different sources in ...

In this work we aim to predict quality levels of incoming batches of a selected product type to a white goods manufacturer from a third party supplier. We apply a Markov Model that captures the quality level of the incoming ...

Customers with prepaid lines possess higher attrition risk compared to postpaid customers, since prepaid customers do not sign long-term obligatory contracts and may churn anytime. For this reason, mobile operators have ...