PED 151 Operations Research (OR)
Introduction to Operations Research
Dr. Dalia Rashed
Fall 2024-2025
Course Outline
References:
• Elwany, M. H.,“Operations Research”. 3rd Edition, 2011.
• El-Habash,A. E., Lecture notes, Fall 2021.
• Hiller, F. S. and Liberman, G. J., “Introduction to Operations Research”, 8th
Edition, McGraw-Hill, International Edition 2005.
• Taha, H. A., “Operations Research: An Introduction”, 6th Edition, Prentice-
Hall, International Edition 1997.
Course Workload and Grading:
• Final Exam: 60 points (60%)
• Class Work: 40 points (40%)
2 OR – Introduction to Operations Research
Introduction
3 OR – Introduction to Operations Research
Operations (Operational) Research
Often shortened to OR.
A discipline that deals with the development and application
of analytical methods.
A decision-making tool.
The term operations research quite often is associated with
the use of mathematical techniques to model and analyze
decision problems.
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What is Operations Research?
Operations Research (OR)
seeks the determination of the
best (optimum) course of action
of a decision problem under the
restriction of limited resources.
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Brief Historical Overview of OR
The beginning of the activity called Operations Research has generally
been attributed to the military services early in the World War II.
There was an urgent need to allocate scarce resources to the various military
operations and to the activities within each operation in an effective manner.
They were essentially doing research on military operations.
Two important factors played an important role in rapid growth
of OR:
1. The substantial progress that was made early in improving the techniques to
OR (One famous example is the knapsack problem, Many of the standard tools were well
established by 1950s)
2. Computer revolution (Computers helps with the significant amount of computation
required)
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OR as A Problem-Solving Technique
OR can be viewed as both:
A science:
Providing mathematical techniques and algorithms for solving
appropriate decision problems.
An art:
As success in all the phases that precede and succeed the solution of
a mathematical model depends largely on the creativity and
personal abilities of the decision-making analyst.
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Linear Programming
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Linear Programming (LP)
A mathematical technique to help plan and make decisions relative to the
trade-offs necessary to allocate resources:
LP problems seek to maximize or minimize some quantity (usually profit or cost)
expressed as an objective function.
The presence of restrictions, or constraints, limits the degree to which we can
pursue our objective.
The objective and constraints in linear programming problems must be
expressed in terms of linear equations or inequalities.
Guarantees the optimal solution to the model formulated (if one exists).
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Characteristics of Linear Programming Problems
A decision amongst alternative courses of action is required.
The decision is represented in the model by decision variables.
The problem encompasses a goal, expressed as an objective function,
that the decision maker wants to achieve.
Restrictions (represented by constraints) exist that limit the extent of
achievement of the objective.
The objective and constraints must be definable by linear mathematical
functional relationships.
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Thank You
Questions?
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