Basi

cTool
sofDeci
sionSuppor
tSy
stem
DecisionSuppor tSy stem t ool
sar epr ogr amsorcodeswhi char et hef oundat i
ont o
createt heDSSgener atorsandi nt urnspeci f
icDSS.Pr oblem f ormulationt oolspr ov i
de
procedur algui dance t ot he manager st o st ructuret he col l
abor at
ive pr oblem.
Quantitat i
v emodel ingandf or
mulat i
ont ool simpr ov eper formance.Theset oolsal so
i
mpr ov e pr ocess gai ns by r educing risks ar i
sing f rom i ncompl etet ask anal ysis,
i
ncompl et euseofi nformat i
onandi nformat i
onov erload.
Toolsar et hebuildingbl ocksoft heDSS.e. g.E-spr eadsheet s,4GLS,RDBMS, etc.The
combi nat ionofDSS t oolsi nthecomput erhar dwar ei sknownasDSS gener ators.
Decisionsuppor ttoolsmayi nvolv
et hefol l
owi ng:
1.Mat er i
alr equi rement s planni ng ( MRP)i s a met hod f oror dering and
maintai ningmat er i
alsinst ock.Itisasy stemat i
cappr oacht oidentifycost -beneficial
way sofst ori
ngmat eri
als.Itisaproduct ionpl anningandi nvent or
ycont rolsy stem used
tomanagemanuf acturi
ngpr ocesses.MostMRPsy stemsar esof tware-based, whi l
ei tis
possiblet oconductMRPbyhandaswel l
.AMRPsy stem i sintendedt osimul taneousl y
meett hr eeobjectives:
 E nsur emat eri
alsar eav ail
ablef orpr oductionandpr oductsar eav ailabl
ef or
deliver
ytocust omer s.

 Maint
aint
helowestpossi
blemat
erialandproductlev
elsinstore
 Pl
anmanufactur
ingact
ivi
ti
es,
del
iveryschedulesandpurchasingact
ivi
ti
es.
Thebasi cf unct i
onsofan MRP sy stem i ncl
ude:i nventorycont r
ol,bil
lofmat er i
al
processing,and el ementaryschedul i
ng.MRP hel ps organizations to maint
ainl ow
i
nv entorylev els.I
tisusedt opl anmanuf act
uri
ng,pur chasinganddel iv
eri
ngact ivi
ties.
Manuf acturingor ganizati
ons,what evert heirpr oducts,facet hesamedai l
ypr actical
problem -thatcust omer swantpr oductst obeav ail
abl
ei nashor t
ertimethanittakest o
maket hem.Thi smeanst hatsomel ev elofplanni ngisr equired.Compani esneedt o
cont r
olthet y pesandquant i
ti
esofmat erial
stheypur chase,planwhi chproduct
sar eto
bepr oducedandi nwhatquant itiesandensur et hattheyar eablet omeetcur r
entand
futurecustomerdemand,al latt hel owestpossi blecost.Maki ngabaddeci si
oni nany
oft hesear easwi l
lmaket hecompanyl osemoney .MRPi sat oolt odealwit
ht hese
problems.I tpr ovi
desanswer sforsev eralquestions:

 Whati
temsar
er equi
red?
 Howmanyarerequir
ed?
 Whenaret
heyrequir
ed?
MRPcanbeappl i
edbothtoitemsthatar
epur
chasedfr
om outsi
desuppl
i
ersandtosub-
assembli
es,pr
oducedint
ernall
y,t
hatar
ecomponent
sofmor ecomplexi
tems.Thedata
thatmustbeconsi
deredi
nclude:

 Theendi
tem (
ori
tems)bei
ngcr
eat
ed.Thi
sissomet
imescal
l
edI
ndependent
Demand,
orLev
el"
0"onBOM (
Bil
lofmat
eri
als)
.
 Howmuchi
sr equir
edatati
me.
 Whent
hequantit
iesar
erequi
redt
omeetdemand.
  Shel
fli
feofst
oredmateri
als.
 I
nventor
ystat
usr ecor
ds.Recor
dsofnetmat
eri
alsav
ail
abl
eforuseal
readyi
n
stock( onhand)andmat erial
sonor derfr
om supplier
s.
 Bil
lsofmat erial
s.Det ailsoft hemat eri
als,componentsandsub- assembli
es
requir
edt omakeeachpr oduct.
 PlanningDat a.Thi sincludesalltherestr
aintsanddirect
ionstopr
oducet heend
i
tems.Thi si ncludessuchi temsas:Rout ing,LaborandMachi neStandards,
Qualit
yandTest ingSt andards,Pull
/WorkCel landPushcommands,Lotsi zi
ng
techni
ques( i.e.FixedLotSi ze,Lot-For
-Lot,EconomicOr derQuanti
ty)
,Scrap
Percent ages,andot herinputs.

2.Li
nearPr
ogr
ammi
ngassi
stsi
nsol
vi
ngpr
obl
emswhi
chi
nvol
veal
l
ocat
ionof
l
imi t
ed r esour ces and ev aluat i
on of al ternatives t o achieve objectives.Li near
programmi ng( LP,orl i
nearopt i
mi zati
on)i samet hodt oachi evet hebestout come
(suchasmaxi mum pr ofitorl owestcost )inamat hemat icalmodelwhoser equirement s
arer epr esent ed by l i
nearr elationships.Mor ef ormal l
y,l i
nearpr ogr
ammi ng isa
techniquef ort heopt i
mi zationofal i
nearobj ectivef unct ion,subjecttoli
nearequal it
y
andl i
neari nequal it
yconst raints.I tsfeasibler egioni saconv expolyhedr
on,whi chisa
setdef inedast heintersect ionoff i
nit
elymanyhal fspaces, eachofwhi chisdef inedby
al i
neari nequal ity.Itsobj ectivef unct i
oni sar eal-
v aluedaf fi
nef uncti
ondef i
nedont hi
s
polyhedr on.
Al i
nearpr ogr ammi ngal gor ithm f indsapoi ntint hepol y hedronwher ethi
sf unctionhas
thesmal l
est( orl argest)v aluei fsuchapoi ntexi sts.Li nearpr ogrammi ngcanbeappl i
ed
tov ar
iousf ieldsofst udy .Itisusedi nbusi nessandeconomi cs,butcanalsobeut il
ized
forsomeengi neer ingpr oblems.I ndustriest hatusel inearpr ogrammi ngmodel sinclude
transpor t
at ion,ener gy,telecommuni cati
ons,andmanuf acturi
ng.Ithasprov edusef ulin
model ingdi ver set ypesofpr oblemsi nplanni ng,r out ing,schedul i
ng,assignment ,and
design.

3.Queui
ngTheor
yisusedi
npl
anni
ngt
heact
ivi
ti
esoft
heor
gani
zat
iont
odet
ermi
ne
economi callybenef ici
alqueues.I nqueuei ngt heoryamodeli sconst ructedsot hat
queue l engt hs and wai ti
ng t i
mes can be pr edi
cted.Queuei ng t heoryis gener all
y
consi deredabr anchofoper ati
onsr esear chbecauset her esultsar eof tenusedwhen
maki ngbusi nessdeci si
onsaboutt her esour cesneededt opr ov ideaser vice.Single
queuei ngnodesar eusual l
ydescr ibedusi ngKendal l'
snot ationi nt hef orm A/ S/Cwher e
Adescr ibest het i
mebet weenar ri
v alstot hequeue, St hesi zeofj obsandCt henumber
ofser versatt henode.Var iousschedul ingpol i
ciescanbeusedatqueui ngnodes:
Firstinf ir
stout :Thisprincipl
est atest hatcust omer sar eser v edoneatat imeandt hat
thecust omert hathasbeenwai ti
ngt helongesti sserv edf irst
Lasti nf i
rstout :Thispr incipl
eal soser vescust omer soneatat i
me,howev erthe
cust omerwi t
ht heshortestwai t
ingt imewi llbeser vedf irst.Al soknownasast ack.
Processorshar i
ng:Servicecapaci tyisshar edequal lybet weencust omer s.
Priority:Cust omer swi thhi ghpr iorityar eser vedf irst.Pr iorityqueuescanbeoft wo
types,non- preempt i
v e(wher eaj obi nser vicecannotbei nterrupted)andpr eemptive
(wher eaj obi nser vi
cecanbei nt erruptedbyahi gherpr i
or i
tyj ob) .Nowor ki slostin
eithermodel .
Short
estjobfir
st:Thenextjobtobeservedi
stheonewiththesmal
lestsi
ze
Preemptiv
eshor testj
obf i
rst:Thenextjobtobeservedistheonewi ththeor
igi
nal
small
estsize
Short
estremainingprocessingti
me:Thenextjobtoserveist
heonewi t
hthesmall
est
remaini
ngprocessingrequi
rement.

4.Descr
ipt
iveAnal
ysi
sar
eusedt
oest
imat
eapar
amet
ersandt
hedi
sper
sionof
valuesassoci atedwi tht hatpar amet er .Theseest i
mat esar emadef ort hev arious
criti
calenv ironment alf act orst opl ant hedayt odayoper ationsoft heor gani zat i
on.
Descr iptiv est at i
st i
csi st hedi sci plineofquant itat ivelydescr i
bi ngt hemai nf eat ur esofa
collect ionofi nf or mat i
onort hequant itat i
v edescr i
pt i
oni tself.Descr iptiv est atist icsar e
distingui shed f rom i nf erent i
alst ati
st ics( ori nduct i
vest atist ics) ,int hatdescr iptive
statist i
csai mt osummar izeasampl e,r at hert hanuset hedat at ol ear naboutt he
popul at iont hatt hesampl eofdat ai st houghtt or epresent .Somemeasur est hatar e
commonl yusedt odescr ibeadat asetar emeasur esofcent ralt endencyandmeasur es
ofv ar iabi l
ityordi sper sion.Measur esofcent r
alt endencyi ncludet hemean, medi anand
mode,whi l
emeasur esofv ar i
abi l
ityi ncl udet hest andar ddev iat i
on( orv ariance) ,the
mi nimum andmaxi mum v al uesoft hev ar i
abl es,kur tosi sandskewness.Descr iptive
statist i
cspr ov i
dessi mpl esummar iesaboutt hesampl eandaboutt heobser vat ionst hat
hav ebeenmade.Suchsummar iesmaybeei t
herquant it
at i
ve, i.e.summar yst atist ics, or
visual ,i.e.si mpl e- t
o-under standgr aphs.Thesesummar i
esmayei therf ormt hebasi sof
thei nitialdescr ipt i
onoft hedat aaspar tofamor eext ensi vest atisticalanal ysis, ort hey
maybesuf f i
cienti nandoft hemsel v esf orapar ticulari nvest igat ion.I nt hebusi ness
wor ld,descr iptivest atist i
cspr ov i
desausef ulsummar yofmanyt y pesofdat a.For
exampl e,i nv est or sandbr oker smayuseahi stor i
calaccountofr et urnbehav iorby
per f
or mi ngempi ri
calandanal y ti
calanal ysesont heirinv est ment si nor dert omake
bet t
eri nv estingdeci sionsi nt hef ut ure.
Uni var iateanal y sis:Uni var iateanal ysisi nv olv esdescr ibingt hedi str i
but ionofasi ngl e
variabl e,i ncl udi ngi t
scent ralt endency( incl udi ngt hemean,medi an,andmode)and
disper si on( includi ngt her angeandquant ilesoft hedat a-set,andmeasur esofspr ead
suchast hev arianceandst andar ddev iat i
on) .Theshapeoft hedi stribut i
onmayal sobe
descr ibedv i
ai ndi cessuchasskewnessandkur tosis.Char act er i
st icsofav ar i
abl e's
distribut ionmayal sobedepi ctedi ngr aphi calort abul arf ormat ,incl udi nghi st ogr ams
andst em- and- leafdi spl ay .
Bivar iat eanal ysi s:Whenasampl econsi st sofmor et hanonev ar i
abl e,descr iptive
statist i
csmaybeusedt odescr ibet her elat i
onshi pbet weenpai rsofv ariables.I nt his
case,descr ipt i
v est atisticsi ncl udeCr oss- t
abul at ionsandcont ingencyt abl es,Gr aphi cal
represent ationv iascat terpl ot s, Quant itat i
vemeasur esofdependence,Descr iptions
ofcondi tional dist r
ibut i
ons.

5.Cor
rel
ati
onAnal
ysi
sismadet
ocal
cul
atet
her
elat
ionshi
pbet
weenv
aluesf
or
part
icular par
amet er
s,such as par ameter v al
ues descr
ibi
ng cur r
entcondit
ions.
Correlati
onisatermt hatreferstothest
rengthofar el
ati
onshipbetweentwovari
ables.
A strong,orhi gh,cor r
elation means thattwo ormor ev ar
iabl
es have a str
ong
rel
ationshipwi
theachot herwhileaweak,orl ow,corr
elat
ionmeanst hatthevar
iables
arehar dl
yrel
ated.Correl
ationcoeff
ici
entscanr angefr
om -1.
00to+1. 00.Thev
alueof-
1.00r epresentsaper fectnegat i
vecorrel
ati
onwhi leav alueof+1. 00r epresent sa
perfectposi ti
vecor r
elation.Av al
ueof0.00meanst hatthereisnor el
ati
onshipbet ween
thev ariablesbeingtested.
Themostwi delyusedt ypeofcor rel
ati
oncoef fi
cienti
st hePear sonr ,whichi sal so
referredt oaslinearorpr oduct-momentcorrel
ation.Thisanalysi
sassumest hatt hetwo
variablesbei nganal yzedar emeasur edonatl easti nt
ervalscales.Thecoef ficientis
calculat edbytakingthecov ar
ianceofthetwov ari
ablesanddi vi
dingitbythepr oductof
theirst andarddeviati
ons.

6.Var
ianceAnal
ysi
sisusedt
odescr
ibet
hev
ari
ancebet
weent
woormor
evar
iabl
es.
Av arianceisthedi ff
erencebet weenabudget ed,plannedorst andardcostandthe
actualamounti ncurred/ sol
d.Var iances can be comput ed for both cost
s and
revenues.Theconceptofv ar
ianceisi ntr
insi
cal
lyconnectedwi t
hpl annedandactual
result
sandef fectsoft hediffer
encebet weenthosetwoont heper for
manceofthe
entit
yorcompany .Var iancescanbedi vi
dedaccordi
ngt othei
reffectornatur
eofthe
underlyi
ngamount s.
Whenef f
ectofvariancei sconcerned,therearet
wot y
pesofv ar
iances:

 Whenact
ualr
esul
tsar
ebet
tert
hanexpect
edr
esul
tsgi
venv
ari
ancei
sdescr
ibed
asfavor
ablev ar i
ance.Incommonusef avorabl
ev ar
iancei
sdenotedbythelett
er
F-usual
lyinpar entheses(
F).
 Whenact ualresul tsareworsethanexpect edresult
sgivenvari
anceisdescr
ibed
asadversev ariance,orunfavourablevari
ance.Incommonuseadv ersevari
ance
i
sdenotedbyt hel ett
erUortheletterA-usual l
yinparent
heses(A).

Thesecondtypol
ogyisdet
ermi
nedbyt
heneedsofuser
soft
hev
ari
ancei
nfor
mat
ion
andmayincl
udee.g.
:

 Var
iabl
ecostvari
ances
o Di r
ectmateri
alvariances
o Di r
ectl
abourvariances
o Va ri
abl
eproductionov er
headvar
iances
 Fi
xedproduct
ionoverheadv ari
ances
 Sal
esvari
ances

Varianceanal y
sis,inbudget i
ng( ormanagementaccount i
ngi ngener al),isat oolof
budget ar
ycont rolbyev al
uation ofper formance bymeans ofv ari
ances bet ween
budget ed amount,pl anned amountorst andard amountand t he act ualamount
i
ncur red/
sold. Var i
ance anal y si
s can be car r
ied out f or bot h cost s and
revenues.Vari
anceanal ysisisusual lyassoci atedwi thexplaining thedi ffer
ence( or
vari
ance)bet weenact ualcostsandt hestandar dcostsall
owedf orthegoodout put.For
exampl e,t
hedi f
ferencei nmat erialscostscanbedi videdintoamat erial
spr icev ari
ance
andamat er
ial
susagev ari
ance.Thedi f
ferencebet weent heact ualdi r
ectl aborcost s
andt hestandarddi r
ectl aborcost scanbedi vi
dedi ntoaratev ari
anceandanef fici
ency
vari
ance.Thedi fferencei n manuf acturi
ng ov erhead can bedi v
ided i nto spendi ng,
eff
iciency, and v olume v ariances. Mi x and y i
eld v ari
ances can al so be
calcul
ated.
Vari
anceanaly
sishel
psmanagementt
ounder
standt
hepr
esentcost
sand
thentocontrol
futur
ecosts.

7.Net
wor
kAnal
ysi
sisapi
ctor
ialt
oolf
ori
dent
if
yingandsequenci
ngt
asks.These
analysishelpmanager sinpl anni
ngandcont roll
i
ngt asksnecessar
yf orsuccessful
operationoftheorgani
zation.Networkanaly
sisi sthegeneralnamegiventoparti
cular
techniqueswhichcanbeusedf ortheplanni
ng,managementandcont rolofproj
ects.It
i
st hebr eaki
ngdownacompl exdat aofaprojectintoit
scomponentpar t
sandplotti
ng
them toshowt hei
rint
erdependenciesandint
errelati
onshi
ps.

8.Tr
anspor
tat
ionPr
obl
emsar
eused f
orpl
anni
ng and di
str
ibut
ion ofv
ari
ous
facil
it
iesandr esources.Ther ei sat ypeofl i
nearprogr ammi ngproblem thatmaybe
solvedusi ngasi mpli
fiedv er
sionoft hesi mplextechni
quecal l
edtr
ansportationmet hod.
Becauseofi t
smaj orapplicati
oni nsol vingpr obl
emsi nv olvi
ngseveralproductsour ces
andsev eraldest i
nati
onsofpr oduct s,t hi
st ypeofpr oblem isfrequentlycal l
edt he
transportationpr oblem.I tget si t
snamef rom itsappl i
cati
ontopr oblemsi nvolving
transporti
ng pr oductsf rom sev eralsour ces to sev eraldesti
nations.Although t he
format i
oncanbeusedt orepresentmor egener alassignmentandschedul i
ngpr oblems
aswel last r
anspor t
at i
onanddi stributionpr obl
ems.Thet wocommonobj ectivesof
suchpr oblemsar eeit
her( 1)mi ni
mi zet hecostofshi ppi ngm unit
st ondest i
nationsor
(2)maxi mi zethepr ofi
tofshi ppingm uni tstondest i
nat i
ons.

9.Maxi
mum f
low ordi
stancei
sat
oolf
ori
dent
if
yingt
hemosteconomi
cal
l
y
benefi
cialf
low thr
ough,ordist
ancesbetweenpar
ti
cularobject
s.Thi
sfaci
li
tatesin
deter
miningthemostpref
err
edflowofgoodsorser
vicesthr
oughanareaorobjectf
or
whichtheorgani
zati
onmustconductbusi
ness.

10.Dy
nami
cPr
ogr
ammi
ngi
sat
ool
toensur
ethatappr
opr
iat
ecour
seofact
ionand
decisionsoft opl ev elmanagementar ebei ngf ollowedbymanager satoper ationallev el.
dynami cprogr ammi ngi samet hodf orsol v i
ngcompl expr oblemsbybr eaki ngt hem
downi ntosimpl ersubpr obl ems.I tisappl icablet opr oblemsexhi biti
ngt hepr opertiesof
overlappingsubpr oblemsandopt i
malsubst ructure( descri
bedbel ow).Whenappl icabl e,
themet hodt akesf arl esst imet hannai vemet hodst hatdon' tt akeadv ant ageoft he
subpr oblem ov erlap.The dy nami c pr ogr ammi ng appr oach seeks t o sol ve each
subpr oblem onl yonce, thusr educingt henumberofcomput ati
ons:oncet hesol utiont o
agi vensubpr oblem hasbeencomput ed,iti sstor edor" memo- i
zed" :thenextt imet he
samesol utioni sneeded, i
tissi mpl ylookedup.Thi sappr oachi sespeci al
l
yusef ulwhen
thenumberofr epeat i
ngsubpr obl
emsgr owsex ponent ial
lyasaf unct i
onoft hesi zeof
thei nput.Dy nami cpr ogr ammi ngal gor i
thmsar eusedf oropt imi zation(forexampl e,
fi
ndingt heshor testpat hbet weent wopoi nts,ort hefastestwayt omul ti
plymany
mat ri
ces) .Ady nami cpr ogr ammi ngal gor it
hm wi llexamineal lpossi bleway st osol ve
thepr oblem andwi l
lpickt hebestsol ut i
on.Ther efore,wecanr oughl yt hi
nkofdy nami c
programmi ngasani ntel l
igent ,brute-forcemet hodt hatenabl esust ogot hroughal l
possi bl
esol utionst opi ckt hebestone.I fthescopeoft hepr obl em issucht hatgoi ng
through al lpossi blesol utionsi spossi bleand f astenough,dy nami cpr ogrammi ng
guarant eesf i
ndingt heopt imal sol
ution.
11.Regr
essi
onAnal
ysi
scanbeusedt
oest
imat
epar
ti
cul
arv
aluesont
hebasi
sof
knownv aluesf ori nf l
uent ial var iables.Itmaybeusedt oest imat et hev aluesofunknown
vari
abl eswhi ch mayi nfluencespl ansf ori mpl ement ing t hedeci sionsoft op l ev el
manager s.regr essi onanal ysisi sast at i
st icalpr ocessf orest i
mat ingt her el ati
onshi ps
among v ar i
abl es.I ti ncludesmanyt echni quesf ormodel ing and anal yzing sev eral
vari
abl es,whent hef ocusi sont her elationshi pbet weenadependentv ar i
abl eandone
ormor ei ndependentv ar i
abl es.Mor e speci fi
cal l
y,r egr essi on anal ysis hel ps one
under standhow t het ypicalv alueoft hedependentv ar i
abl e( or' Cr iteri
onVar iable')
changes when any one oft he independentv ariables i sv ar ied,whi l
et he ot her
i
ndependentv ar i
abl esar ehel df i
xed.Mostcommonl y,r egr essi onanal y
sisest i
mat es
thecondi ti
onalexpect at i
onoft hedependentv ariabl egi vent hei ndependentv ariabl es–
thatis, t
heav er agev alueoft hedependentv ar i
abl ewhent hei ndependentv ar i
abl esar e
fi
xed.Lesscommonl y,thef ocusi sonaquant ile,orot herl ocat ionpar amet eroft he
condi ti
onaldi str i
but ionoft hedependentv ariablegi vent hei ndependentv ar i
abl es.I nal l
cases,t heest imat iont ar geti saf unct i
onoft hei ndependentv ariablescal led t he
regressionf unct ion.I nr egr essi onanal ysis,i ti sal soofi nt erestt ochar act erizet he
vari
at i
on oft he dependentv ariable ar ound t he r egr essi on f unct ion whi ch can be
descr i
bedbyapr obabi litydi str i
but i
on.
Regr essionanal ysisi swi del yusedf orpr edi ctionandf orecast ing,wher ei tsusehas
subst antialov erlapwi tht hef ieldofmachi nel ear ni ng.Regr essi onanal ysisi sal soused
tounder st andwhi chamongt hei ndependentv ariabl esar er elatedt ot hedependent
vari
abl e,andt oexpl or et hef or msoft heser elat i
onshi ps.I nr est rictedci r
cumst ances,
regressionanal ysiscanbeusedt oinfercausalr el ationshi psbet weent hei ndependent
anddependentv ariabl es.

12.Mul
ti
-l
evelScal
ingi
sat
oolf
ort
ransf
ormi
ngundi
mensi
onalexpr
essi
onsof
r
elat
ionshipsi
ntomul
ti
-di
mensionalexpressionsofthesesamerel
ati
onshi
ps.These
t
oolsmaybeusedt odetermi
net hesigni
ficantrel
ati
onshi
pwhi
chmustbedealtwith
i
mplanning.