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"Taylor, G. Don"
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Reorganize Your Blogs: Supporting Blog Re-visitation with Natural Language Processing and Visualization
Temporally-connected personal blogs contain voluminous textual content, presenting challenges in re-visiting and reflecting on experiences. Other data repositories have benefited from natural language processing (NLP) and interactive visualizations (VIS) to support exploration, but little is known about how these techniques could be used with blogs to present experiences and support multimodal interaction with blogs, particularly for authors. This paper presents the effect of reorganization—reorganizing the large blog set with NLP and presenting abstract topics with VIS—to support novel re-visitation experiences to blogs. The BlogCloud tool, a blog re-visitation tool that reorganizes blog paragraphs around user-searched keywords, implements reorganization and similarity-based content grouping. Through a public use session with bloggers who wrote about extended hikes, we observed the effect of NLP-based reorganization in delivering novel re-visitation experiences. Findings suggest that the re-presented topics provide new reflection materials and re-visitation paths, enabling interaction with symbolic items in memory.
Journal Article
Extended regional dispatch for truckload carriers
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine whether or not driver job satisfaction, carrier performance, and customer service can be improved as a result of the use of uniquely constructed, extended regional dispatching systems.Design methodology approach - Simulation is used to examine regional dispatching systems that are extended in scope of dispatch by using integrated freight lanes. The results of extended regional dispatching systems are compared to traditional dispatching methods and previous experimentation with stand-alone regional and lane dispatching.Findings - It is shown that a carrier's adoption of extended regional dispatching can be beneficial to both trucking companies and drivers, while remaining relatively neutral to customers. Additionally, it is shown that this improvement can be obtained without significant degradation of the driving jobs that remain outside the regional dispatching network.Research limitations implications - A new method of dispatching has been developed in such a way that very attractive regional driving jobs can be extended to a much larger percentage of drivers than in more established regional alternatives. This reduces reliance on the less effective random, over-the-road dispatching systems that are typically utilized in the truckload trucking industry.Practical implications - Carriers may be able to utilize extended regional dispatching systems as a means of improving driver satisfaction and retention.Originality value - This research extends knowledge in the area of alternative dispatching methods for truckload carriers in a way that drastically improves the quality of life for professional drivers.
Journal Article
Forecasting freight demand using economic indices
This paper describes the results of an effort to predict future freight volume in the truckload (TL) trucking industry. The approach involves the use of stepwise multiple linear regression models that relate freight volume to a variety of economic indicators. The models are built using a large set of actual freight data provided by J.B. Hunt Transport (JBHT), one of the world's largest TL carriers. The data was first analyzed using the overall set of national data, and then for specific industrial and regional segments. The overall results of these analyses should prove useful to a wide variety of transportation and logistics operations.
Journal Article
Evaluating the efficiency of trucking operations with weekend freight leveling
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine whether or not driver life, carrier performance, and customer service can be improved as a result of the use of a technique called yard-stacking in the truckload trucking industry. The technique seeks to find ways to provide level freight availability during normal weekly cycles in an effort to seek improvement relative to all constituencies.Design methodology approach - Simulation is used to examine the use of yard-stacking on Fridays to provide additional freight on weekends, which is generally much less available than on weekdays. In this technique, before being dispatched on Friday for a long-haul, a driver initially picks up a load to make a short \"dray\" move from the customer site to the carrier's closest terminal yard. During the weekend, another driver picks up the drayed load. In this research, we evaluate the potential of weekend yard-stacking under a variety of scenarios.Findings - The paper shows that a carrier's adaptation of weekend freight leveling can be beneficial to both trucking companies and their customers, while remaining relatively neutral to drivers.Research limitations implications - Carriers may be able to utilize Friday yard-stacking to improve their cost efficiency, driver satisfaction and customer performance.Originality value - This research extends the knowledge base of truckload freight imbalance problems. It was industrially motivated by J.B. Hunt Transport, Inc., one of the world's largest truckload carriers, who provided freight data and conceptual guidance.
Journal Article
A statistical process control approach to process diagnosis in discrete manufacturing environments
Suggests that there is justification for the use of a new methodology for process diagnosis which is simple to understand and realistic to implement. The control of quality of a process typically requires that multiple process variables be monitored simultaneously. Due to the multi-dimensionality of the data collected, process diagnosis is complex and the data often are not efficiently integrated to capitalize on the wealth of available information. A two-phased diagnostic approach for process diagnosis and identification of suspect causes for this multi-dimensional problem is introduced in Krishnamurthi et al. (1993). Provides an in-depth analysis of phase two of the statistical process control (SPC) diagnostic approach. Specifically, simulation is used to generate different cause and effect scenarios to determine the effectiveness of the SPC approach in correctly diagnosing a process disorder. The analysis utilizes analysis of variance to estimate the effect of various process variables, process steps, and associated out-of-control conditions on the performance of the SPC approach and its ability to diagnose correctly an out-of-control condition. As a result of these findings, the critical means are plotted and the findings are presented. Additionally, a comparison between the SPC approach and parsimonious covering theory (PCT) is made. Concludes that for the process scenarios considered, which are of practical size, the more simple approach of the SPC diagnostic approach is recommended.
Journal Article
Using an Integrated Learning Approach to Develop the Next Generation of Engineers
Bringing STEM and non-STEM students together for curricular experiences is imperative as institutions look to produce graduates with competencies that allow them to respond to complex problems with an understanding of technical and human implications. Creating the next generation of engineering professionals requires innovative approaches to facilitate integrative learning. Our paper provides an overview of an institutional effort underway at Virginia Tech to create opportunities for students that are transdisciplinary in nature and are pedagogically designed for integrative learning and hands-on problem solving to encourage cross-disciplinary collaboration. Transdisciplinary communities of faculty are charged with creating these experiences by developing undergraduate minors, graduatelevel certificates, and courses that are targeted at broadening the complex problem-solving abilities of students. Each community has a faculty led stakeholder committee that is provided with institutional support and has faculty from engineering and science disciplines as well as arts, humanities, and social sciences. Our paper highlights to date the outgrowths of this collaboration and how there are new opportunities for engineers to gain experiences that move them beyond a technical focus, concentrating primarily on the Innovation Minor and the Integrated Security Minor that were developed. Results indicate that the integrative learning opportunities are providing future engineering professionals with holistic complex problem-solving skills. This innovative approach to create integrative learning opportunities for students presents an opportunity for institutions to consider how to build necessary skills without slowing time to degree. Industrial and Systems Engineers in particular can benefit from this unique opportunity to broaden their skills.
Journal Article
A decision support system for container design in production systems
Describes a user-friendly decision support tool to select near optimal containers for specific manufacturing scenarios relative to all the constraints associated with the use of the container. Guides the user through a dialogue to input constraints and scenario-specific information. Shows how the decision support tool iterates between an expert system and a simulation model, to produce a near optimal container with respect to internal and external dimensional requirements. Explains the methods by which the system is tested and validated in a realistic environment. Discusses future research directions.
Journal Article
Highly constrained multi-facility warehouse management system using a GIS platform
In this paper, the authors describe a geographical information system (GIS)-based software system for managing and integrating multi-facility warehousing and production systems that are distributed within a relatively large geographical area. The development of the software system is motivated by a unique warehousing environment at the Pine Bluff Arsenal in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The arsenal scenario is characterized by a novel set of highly limiting warehouse constraints. Although motivated by this unique problem, the software system has been designed to maximize technology transfer capability into diverse general warehouse settings. The paper presents motivation, describes features, and demonstrates the efficacy of operations using the software system. The system is verified and validated in a case study setting. It is demonstrated that the GIS platform offers unique capabilities that enhance problem solutions. In conclusion, the paper offers a contribution to the literature by presenting the use of GIS as an integration strategy in an exciting new area of application.
Journal Article
Hub and spoke networks in truckload trucking: configuration, testing and operational concerns
The major configuration issues and operational concerns associated with the use of hub-and-spoke transportation networks in truckload trucking in North America are discussed. A brief discussion of the feasibility of such systems is presented, followed by an experimental plan to evaluate alternative design and implementation strategies. Results of this experimentation are analyzed using standard measures of performance and sensitivity analysis. The efficacy of alternative operational configurations is discussed with a focus on limited hub-and-spoke designs, associated marketing strategies, intermodal constraints and opportunities, and the possibility of fundamentally changing operational tactics in truckload trucking. An agenda for future research and development also is presented.
Journal Article