Decision Support

Systems Design
A structured modeling based methodology
What’s a Decision Support System?
A decision support system (DSS) is an information system that supports
business or organizational decision-making activities.
Problem Definition

 Modeling processes are complex and ill-structured.

 Lack of a structured DSS design methodology.
 Design process is essentially ad-hoc.
 Modeling mathematical relationships and data and model integration,
not only the problem data and processes(TPS and MIS).
 Decision Maker’s decision making style(Risk-taking nature).
Objectives

 In short, a well designed DSS.

 Step by step procedures to design and integrate data and model
bases.
 Integration of research in database design, and mathematical model
formulation within the structured modeling framework.
 Easily taught and automation-friendly procedures.
Suggested Methodology?
A structured modeling based methodology
Drawbacks

 Preferences are known.

 Goals are quantifiable.
 All data are known with or without uncertainty.
 In short, applications of mathematical models.
DSS Design Methodology
Structured Modeling

 Attempts to model data and relationships among data.

 Includes all the elements of the ER modeling.
 Provides additional elements to model the modelbase and to facilitate the
integration of data and modelbases in a single system.
Basic Elements of ER Modeling

 Entity: represents identifiable things or concepts.

 Attribute: represents a characteristic or property of an entity.
 Relationship: represents an association between two or more
entities.
Additional Elements to ER Modeling

 Function: represents a calculable property.

 Constraint: represents a restriction on the value of an attribute or
function.
A Shipping Example

 XYZ manufacturing company operates several production plants.

 Each plant produces several items.
 An item is produced by many plants.
 The items are transported to warehouses near customer sites.
 The shipments to a warehouse can come from several plants.
 A plant can ship to several warehouses.
 Each plant has a production capacity to produce an item.
 Each warehouse has a specific demand for an item.
 The unit production cost for a product is the same in all plants.
A Shipping Example

 The unit shipping cost for a product varies depending on the plant and the warehouse.
 The manufacturer is interested in an appropriate shipping schedule that will minimize
the total shipping cost.
 The demand should be met.
 The entire production of an item is shipped out to warehouses.
 Capacity refers to the maximum amount of an item that can be produced.
 The manufacturer can not ship more than what is produced.
 The demand, production capacity, unit production cost, unit shipping cost are
assumed to be known.
 The shipping schedule includes the amount of each item that needs to be produced in
each of the plants, and the amount of each item that needs to be shipped to each
warehouse.
A Shipping Example: Structured Model
Relational Database Design

 Transform the ER model into a relational model.

 Method:
 Entity: Transforms into a relation with the same name.
 Attribute: Transforms into an attribute of a relation.
 Relationship: Dependent on its attributes and maximum cardinality
Relationship
Case 1: The relationship does not have any known attributes of its own.
 Case 1.1: The relationship is a binary relationship.
 Case 1.1.1: The maximum cardinality is 1 – 1.
Put the key of the relation corresponding to one of the entities as an attribute in
the relation corresponding to the second entity in the relationship.
 Case 1.1.2: The maximum cardinality is I - M (or M - I).
Put the key of the relation corresponding to the l-part of the relationship as an
attribute in the relation corresponding to the M-part of the relationship.
 Case 1.1.3: The maximum cardinality is M – N.
Create another relation that consists of the keys of the relations corresponding to
the entities in the relationship as its attributes.
Relationship
Case 1: The relationship does not have any known attributes of its own.
 Case 1.2: The relationship is a recursive relationship
 Case 1.2.1: The maximum cardinality is 1 - 1 or 1 - M.
Add the key of the relation corresponding to the entity as another attribute in the
relation. Since a relation cannot have two attributes with the same name, change
the name of the added attribute.
 Case 1.2.2: The maximum cardinality is M - N .
Create a relation that consists of the key, and the key with a different name as
done in the previous case.
Relationship
Case 1: The relationship does not have any known attributes of its own.
 Case 1.3: All other types of relationships
Create a relation that consists of the keys of relations corresponding to the
entities in the relationship.
Relationship
Case 2: The relationship has its own known attributes.

 Create a relation that consists of the keys of relations corresponding

to the entities in the relationship, and the attributes of the
relationship.
A Shipping Example: Structured Model
A Shipping Example: Relational Model

PLANT (plant#, plantLocation)

ITEM (item#, unitProdCost)
WAREHOUSE (warehouse#, warehouseLocation)
PLANT_ITEM(plant#, item#, prodCapacity)
WAREHOUSE_ITEM(warehouse#, item#, demand)
PLANT_ITEM_WARE(plant#, item#, warehouse#, unitShipCost)
Modelbase Design

 Transform the ER Model into mathematical model.

 Key Advantage: Separate the model structure (template) from data.
 Method:
1. Assign an index to each entity in the structured model.
2. Assign a variable to each attribute and function in the structured model.
3. The variable indices are those assigned to its corresponding attribute or function which are the
indices assigned to all the entities that are part of their relationship.
4. Transform each function in the structured model into a mathematical representation by
substituting the corresponding variables for attributes and functions mentioned in the right hand
side of the function.
5. Transform each constraint using a procedure similar to that in step 4.
6. The collection of variables, their index sets, functions, and constraints is the mathematical
model for the structured model.
A Shipping Example: Structured Model
A Shipping Example: Mathematical
Model
INDICES
Index Index set
i PLANT
j ITEM
k WAREHOUSE
A Shipping Example: Structured Model
A Shipping Example: Mathematical
Model
VARIABLES
Variable Name Attribute / Function Index
C prodCapacity ij
Q prodQuantity ij
U unitProdCost j
S unitShipCost ijk
D demand jk
T amountShipped ijk
TPC totalProdCost
TSC totalShipCost
A Shipping Example: Structured Model
A Shipping Example: Mathematical
Model
FUNCTIONS
TPC = Σij Uj * Qij
TSC = Σijk Sijk * Tijk
TC = TPC + TSC

CONSTRAINTS
Qij <= Cij
Σk Tijk = Qij
Σi Tijk = Djk
A Shipping Example: Mathematical
Model
INDICES FUNCTIONS
Index Index set TPC = Σij Uj * Qij
i PLANT TSC = Σijk Sijk * Tijk
j ITEM TC = TPC + TSC
k WAREHOUSE

VARIABLES CONSTRAINTS

Variable Name Attribute / Function Index Qij <= Cij

C prodCapacity ij Σk Tijk = Qij

Q prodQuantity ij Σi Tijk = Djk

U unitProdCost j
S unitShipCost ijk
D demand jk
T amountShipped ijk
TPC totalProdCost
TSC totalShipCost
 Modelbase & Database Integration

VARIABLES

Variable Name Attribute / Function Index Table Column Selection Criteria

C prodCapacity ij PLANT_ITEM Prod_Capacity plant# = i & item# = j

U unitProdCost j ITEM Unit_Production_Cost item# = j

S unitShipCost ijk PLANT_ITEM_WARE Unit_Shipping_Cost plant# = i

& item# = j

& warehouse# = k

D demand jk WAREHOUSE_ITEM Demand item# = j & warehouse# = k

Decision Maker’s Characteristics

 Goal Oriented.
 Preference Ordering.
 Risk Taking Nature
 Seeker
 Neutral
 Averse
Scenarios & Examples

 Scenario 1: The decision maker is interested in minimizing the total

cost. All the data stored in the database are known accurately.

 Scenario 2: The decision maker is interested in evaluating a few

alternatives (shipping schedules) by calculating the total cost for
these alternatives.

 Scenario 3: The decision maker is interested in minimizing the total

cost with risk in place.
Conclusion

 The key benefits

 Limitations
 Drawbacks
 Course Application
Special Thanks To 

 Mourad Mohammed Sheriey

 Hosam Eldeen Reda
 Mohamed Samy ElShaar
 Abdelrahman Tarek
 Youssuf Amr
 Mohammed Obada Ayman Fadloun