Introduction
Operations research is understood to be the application of a scientific method to solve problems within an organization that allows it to make the correct or correct decisions to have the solutions that best suit or favor the organization, in addition to improving the Coordination between the multiple areas of the organization and improve systems control, today it is essential that an organization has this area.
The first formal activities in the history of operations research occurred in England in World War II, when a group of English scientists was commissioned to design quantitative tools to support decision-making about the best use of war materials. The name Operations Investigation is presumed to have been given apparently because the team of scientists was conducting the Investigate Operations (military) activity.
Once the war was over, the ideas used for war purposes were adapted to improve the efficiency and productivity of the civil sector.
Abstract
Operations research is understood to be the application of a scientific method to solve problems within an organization to enable it, make the right decisions or wise to have solutions that suit or favor to the organization, in addition to improving coordination among multiple areas of the organization and improve control systems, today it is essential that an organization holds this area.
The first formal activities in the history of operations research took place in England in World War II, when it is entrusted to a group of British scientists to design quantitative tools to support decisions about the best use of war materials. It is assumed that the name of Operations Research was given apparently because the team of scientists was conducting Operations Research activity (military).
Once the war was over the ideas used for military purposes were adapted to improve efficiency and productivity in the civilian sector.
Operations Research History
The search for the best solution (maximum, minimum, or also the optimal) for a variety of problems has amused and intrigued man through the ages. Euclid in his book III, described ways to find the longest and shortest straight lines, from a point to the circumference of a circle; and in book IV, the parallelogram with the largest area for a given perimeter. The great mathematicians of the 16th to 18th centuries developed the optimization theory and process that solves difficult geometric, dynamic, and physical problems, such as the minimum revolution curves or the fastest descent curve.
In general, history is not written exactly, but it is possible to compile facts that describe in some way the known evolution according to writings, studies and research found. The techniques used in the application of IO lead to the past 20th century, but also to the remote past of centuries as antecedents. For this, it is convenient to look at the fundamental idea of IO, which is the scientific method whose exact origin is unknown. In writings made millennia ago, such as the Old Testament, Jethro, father-in-law of Moses, is mentioned as the author of a treatise on organizational principles and more recently, in the 19th century ancestor, Charles Babbage is the author of the work On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures. To engineer Frederick Winslow Taylor, an American of origin,He is recognized as the paternity of the Scientific Administration due to his research on the duties and tasks of workshop managers, as well as the individual daily production according to the worker's capacity for specific tasks, thus defining the division of labor through training, selection and training of workers. In addition, Taylor applied scientific analysis to manufacturing problems, setting work standards and specialization. For his part, Henry L. Gant planned the tasks of the machines to avoid production delays. Thus it is possible to set delivery dates with more security. He also contributed to the scientific approach including the human aspect as a member.as well as individual daily production according to the capacity of the worker for specific tasks, thus defining the division of labor through training, selection and training of workers. In addition, Taylor applied scientific analysis to manufacturing problems, setting work standards and specialization. For his part, Henry L. Gant planned the tasks of the machines to avoid production delays. Thus it is possible to set delivery dates with more security. He also contributed to the scientific approach including the human aspect as a member.as well as individual daily production according to the capacity of the worker for specific tasks, thus defining the division of labor through training, selection and training of workers. In addition, Taylor applied scientific analysis to manufacturing problems, setting work standards and specialization. For his part, Henry L. Gant planned the tasks of the machines to avoid production delays. Thus it is possible to set delivery dates with more security. He also contributed to the scientific approach including the human aspect as a member.Taylor applied scientific analysis to manufacturing problems, setting work standards and specialization. For his part, Henry L. Gant planned the tasks of the machines to avoid production delays. Thus it is possible to set delivery dates with more security. He also contributed to the scientific approach including the human aspect as a member.Taylor applied scientific analysis to manufacturing problems, setting work standards and specialization. For his part, Henry L. Gant planned the tasks of the machines to avoid production delays. Thus it is possible to set delivery dates with more security. He also contributed to the scientific approach including the human aspect as a member.
With the beginning of the 20th century, researchers also used scientific procedures to analyze localized problems outside the pure sciences such as Physics, Chemistry, Biology, among others, but in the decade that began in 1910, Taylor dedicated himself to seek efficiency for tasks, making use of the time and movement studies of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, eliminating unnecessary movements and waste in each task. In the same decade during the 1st. World War I, Thomas A. Edison was entrusted with figuring out the most effective maneuvers of merchant ships to decrease shipments lost to attacks by enemy submarines. Edison used a "tactical board" as a model to simulate actual operations.
A Danish engineer AK Erlang carried out experiments related to the fluctuations of telephone demand in automatic equipment, leaving these works as the basis of many mathematical models that are currently used in the studies of Queuing Theory or Waiting Lines. In 1937, as World War II was about to begin, a team of mathematicians, engineers, and scientists in basic areas gathered in the United Kingdom to study the strategic and tactical problems associated with defending the country. A team was formed whose objective was to determine the most effective use of limited military resources. Consequently, the activities of this group were called Operational Research, which is common terminology in the military environment.They were first asked for help to the military in using radar efficiently to locate enemy aircraft; then in 1940 another group met, the Blackett Circus led by the distinguished English physicist P. Blackett to study the performance of the gun control team in the field; there were three physiologists, four mathematicians, one physicist, one astrophysicist, one military officer, and one surveyor.
In the United States of America they were motivated by the successes achieved by the British groups, in April 1942 it was decided to introduce the IO at a higher level, also undertaking studies such as: complex logistical problems, the development of flight patterns for airplanes and the planning of naval maneuvers. In the Air Force it was given the name of Operations Analysis and in the Army and the Navy, Operations Research and Operations Evaluation, respectively. When the war ended, the need to rebuild in Great Britain, gave rise to other problems of administration in sectors of government and industry which demanded the action of the same scientists specialized in IO.
Also in the United States of America, in the 1950s with the development and commercialization of computers, operations researchers, and people associated with the operations of the last war, they found that the studies conducted in it were of great utility, applied to industrial problems. The computer and the development of the IO motivated the industrial executives and the specialists of this discipline to come together and provoke its rapid growth.
Linear Programming (PL) had a great impetus for industrial research, with companies entering many specialists; Pert techniques, inventory control, and simulation began to be used successfully; Instead of simple averages, probability and statistics so useful in any modern study were included.
Currently the use of IO is extensive in areas of: accounting, purchasing, financial planning, marketing, production planning, transportation and many others, becoming an important instrument of competition for budgets and contracts.
The following table outlines part of the studies and techniques that IO groups relied on in the development of this discipline.
Historical Background of Operations Research.- Since the 16th century:
Historical Background of Operations Research
Figure 1. Techniques used in IO
It can be seen that IO was developed in the 20th century with the support, centuries ago, of important contributions from scientists who, with their talent and dedication, left a solid foundation for solution studies in current systems.
conclusion
The IO is the scientific procedure that is assisted by mathematical models and techniques, useful to design and operate to the complex problems of the direction and administration of big systems that form a complex organization in which the decisions are very important and difficult to choose, since the effectiveness of a decision on will save its survival and development, on the contrary it would be on the way to failure.
Since the First World War, Édison had been tasked with finding out more effective merchant ship maneuvers to lessen shipping losses caused by enemy submarines. Instead of risking ships in real war conditions, a tactical dashboard was used to find the solution.In the late 1910s, Erlang, a Danish engineer, conducted experiments related to fluctuations in demand for telephone facilities relative to With automatic equipment, his works form the basis of many of the mathematical models currently used in waiting lines. Throughout time, man has always sought the best solution to the great variety of problems in operations research techniques.
Operations research represents a support for decision-making, it is a support for the optimal allocation of resources for an activity, it evaluates the performance of a system in order to improve it, obtains quantitative information and helps improve traditional processes as well as knowing some of the limitations in the models.
Bibliography
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