Jaime Cantu

A modern customer expects high quality of food products, and consequently, retailers must present their products in a decent quality to improve their reputation and customer retention in the market. There are many factors which can influence the quality of food products; one of the vital factors is maintaining products in a predetermined temperature through their life cycle since it can slow the bacteria growth which deteriorates food quality. The necessity of implementing a proper temperature-controlled system creates various challenges in a supply chain. This research is focused on selecting a sustainable fleet of vehicles to minimize environmental effects and costs of delivering food products from a distribution center to retailers. A simulation model was developed to represent the relationship of supply chain actors, and it was followed by an optimization approach to determine the optimal number of vehicles. The results of this study show a comparative analysis of delivery costs and environmental effects to show that the sustainable selection of the fleet of vehicles is an efficient approach to preserve the quality of perishable products during transportation phase.

After the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear plant meltdown, a claim was made that "accidents happen," suggesting that such catastrophes were inevitable. That concept was eventually labeled normal accident theory (NAT). Soon after, however, research into so-called "high reliability organizations" (HROs) began which disputed that claim and evolved into what became known as high reliability theory (HRT). This paper surveyed the literature published since 1979 to determine the level of continuing interest in the subject, and determine how it has been applied. Since 2004, it has been found a strong uptick in the number of publications which address HRO, suggesting that, interest in HRO theory, application, and tools remains strong. Coincident with this increase has been the creation and evolution of Presidential Policy Directive 21 (PPD/21) "Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience," one action of which was to update the national infrastructure protection program (NIPP). The objectives of PPD/21 closely parallel the underpinnings of HRT, including a focus on integrated systems, understanding threats, and a focus on resilience. The literature has suggested that HROs are relevant for mainstream organizations since they "provide insights to a distinctive set of processes that foster effectiveness under trying conditions." The survey found recent literature addressing the intersection of NIPP and HRO leading this research to the hypothesis that HRT has evolved to the point where it can significantly inform and advance the objectives of the PPD/21 toward protecting national critical infrastructure (CI) using an approach which emphasizes a more reliable, more resilient, organization.

Managing a complex technical system, which incorporates extensive human-technology interface, is difficult due to its inherent systemic unpredictability. Management often wants to create a shift in an underperforming system, but is uncertain about how an intervention will affect it. A living systems simulator would be useful to engineers and technical managers in monitoring policy decisions for shifts in the trend of performance. The creation of a tool to monitor living systems will require the fields of system dynamics and statistical process control to converge. A State of the Art Matrix approach identifies the literature intersecting the fields of system dynamics and statistical process control. A review of the literature found an opportunity to implement linear profile monitoring within systems dynamic simulation, and room for improvement in the use of general systems tools. A scorecard approach evaluates the potential of existing capabilities of system dynamics software to simu...

Most organizations hope for perfection, but do not expect it. After all people make mistakes and machines break down. Yet there are large and highly complex organizations such as nuclear power plants, navy aircraft carriers and medical service providers, whose goal must be to operate near perfection. These organizations are known as high reliability organizations (HROs). Recently more organizations have shown an interest in procedures needed to become HROs. While research into HROs has been commonplace, not much is known about how non- HROs can develop into an HRO. The purpose of this article is to present a guideline for a theoretical HRO development framework using general systems theory. The process combines process flow analysis, opportunity cost issues, quality and safety check points. The resulting framework will assist managers in the pursuit of a robust systems model which is better suited for system dynamic analysis and helps to better determine system behavior over time. T...

Highly Reliable Organizations (HRO) prevent catastrophic results from occurring in processes with the potential for such accidents. The basis of the existing HRO research is qualitative not quantitative. This report will seek to establish a quantitative basis for HROs. This will create an accurate measure of whether or not a process is highly reliable or how to achieve a highly reliable organization or process. HRO processes with risks and barriers to those risks will be analyzed and modeled using VENSIM software. The effectivity of the barriers can then be determined allowing for a quantitative measure of the HRO process. Causal Loop Diagrams will be used in the analysis of the barriers. The quantitative determination of the basis of the process can then be used to determine the economic benefit of the introduction of the HRO process.

High reliability organizations (HROs) operate in
hazardous, fast-paced, and complex environments yet avoid
catastrophic accidents. Since the genesis of HRO theory in
1989, interest in HROs has grown beyond hazardous operations
to many industries, including health care. This article reviews
the literature to determine the extent to which changes made in health care organizations are aligned with HRO theory, and
more specifically, with Roberts’ Six Actions, which are based
on HRO theory. The results suggest that HRO theory remains of
interest to health care organizations. Implications for engineering managers and opportunities for future research are suggested.

Highly Reliable Organizations (HRO) prevent catastrophic results from occurring in processes with the potential for such accidents. The basis of the existing HRO research is qualitative not quantitative. This report will seek to establish a quantitative basis for HROs. This will create an accurate measure of whether or not a process is highly reliable or how to achieve a highly reliable organization or process. HRO processes with risks and barriers to those risks will be analyzed and modeled using VENSIM software. The effectivity of the barriers can then be determined allowing for a quantitative measure of the HRO process. Causal Loop Diagrams will be used in the analysis of the barriers. The quantitative determination of the basis of the process can then be used to determine the economic benefit of the introduction of the HRO process.

19th century a systems approach was introduced into the hard sciences of energy transformation and thermodynamics. Current General Systems Theory was developed from the work of Ludwig von Bertalanffy and others. Due to the existence of general system properties the appearance of structural similarities or isomorphism’s in different fields occur. In many cases, isomorphic laws hold for certain classes or subclasses of 'systems', irrespective of the nature of the entities involved. There appear to be general system laws which apply to any system of a certain type, irrespective if the particular properties of the system and of the elements involved. The reality of today’s environment is one of complexity, self-organizations, connectionism and adaptive systems in all fields of research in General Systems Theory. Bertalanffy understood that identifying isomorphologies between complex systems improved the probabilities of better understanding systems complexities in any one system. The purpose of this paper is to identify and present a methodological structure for systemic isomorphological analysis to assist systems theory and engineering management researchers, students and practitioners, to address the identification, application and analysis of complex systems isomorphologies.

Most organizations hope for perfection, but do not expect it. After all people make mistakes and machines break down. Yet there are large and highly complex organizations such as nuclear power plants, navy aircraft carriers and medical service providers, whose goal must be to operate near perfection. These organizations are known as high reliability organizations (HROs). Recently more organizations have shown an interest in procedures needed to become HROs. While research into HROs has been commonplace, not much is known about how non- HROs can develop into an HRO. The purpose of this article is to present a guideline for a theoretical HRO development framework using general systems theory. The process combines process flow analysis, opportunity cost issues, quality and safety check points. The resulting framework will assist managers in the pursuit of a robust systems model which is better suited for system dynamic analysis and helps to better determine system behavior over time. T...

Commonly used risk models tend to be static and do not incorporate the feedback of an operating environment. Engineers/Stakeholders are left in the position of being caught between the ideal of reducing risk to the lowest possible level and the reality of having to pay for the barriers and controls that reduce risks. High hazard industries such as high explosives manufacturing operations need a methodology for integrating feedback, economics and risk. The systems analysis being proposed uses causal loops to represent feedback, 20-year life cycle analysis to estimate economic costs and an existing hazard analysis with published risk factors. The model implies that a strong response to weak signals is cost effective and valuable for preventing catastrophic events. The resulting methodology successfully demonstrates that risk and cost models can be linked using systems tools to yield improved decision making.

Managing a complex technical system, which incorporates extensive human-technology interface, is difficult due to its inherent systemic unpredictability. Management often wants to create a shift in an underperforming system, but is uncertain about how an intervention will affect it. A living systems simulator would be useful to engineers and technical managers in monitoring policy decisions for shifts in the trend of performance. The creation of a tool to monitor living systems will require the fields of system dynamics and statistical process control to converge. A State of the Art Matrix approach identifies the literature intersecting the fields of system dynamics and statistical process control. A review of the literature found an opportunity to implement linear profile monitoring within systems dynamic simulation, and room for improvement in the use of general systems tools. A scorecard approach evaluates the potential of existing capabilities of system dynamics software to simulate and monitor living system. These exploratory reviews find that there is an untapped potential to research and build living system simulators with the current technological capability.

19th century a systems approach was introduced into the hard sciences of energy transformation and thermodynamics. Current General Systems Theory was developed from the work of Ludwig von Bertalanffy and others. Due to the existence of general system properties the appearance of structural similarities or isomorphism’s in different fields occur. In many cases, isomorphic laws hold for certain classes or subclasses of 'systems', irrespective of the nature of the entities involved. There appear to be general system laws which apply to any system of a certain type, irrespective if the particular properties of the system and of the elements involved. The reality of today’s environment is one of complexity, self-organizations, connectionism and adaptive systems in all fields of research in General Systems Theory. Bertalanffy understood that identifying isomorphologies between complex systems improved the probabilities of better understanding systems complexities in any one system. The purpose of this paper is to identify and present a methodological structure for systemic isomorphological analysis to assist systems theory and engineering management researchers, students and practitioners, to address the identification, application and analysis of complex systems isomorphologies.

Isomorphisms are difficult to detect and analyze, yet researchers have attempted to create a methodology for Isomorphological Analysis. The following research is a case study using the commodities of grain, cotton and lumber. Grain and cotton commodities have traditionally been associated along with their economic modeling tools. Yet, cotton may be isomorphic with respect to its agricultural processing and economic behavior with other commodities such as lumber. The purpose of this research is to identify and test for structural similarities (isomorphisms) in different commodities and determine if those financial tools may have crossover applications. Isomorphisms between lumber and cotton systems are observed and compared using non-parametric statistics. Results suggest that over a six year period, cotton is moving away from acting as seasonally produced commodity due to international market demand for cotton futures. If cotton is not acting as a seasonally produced and stored commodity such as grain, what assumptions and financial tools should be changed and used to reflect its current market reality. This is important to technical management because the proper use of economic modeling and assumptions with similar characteristics can lead to better handling of complex technical systems and improved predictive methods of system performance.

Ludwig Von Bertalanffy in his book, “General
System Theory,” mentions that a consequence of the existence of general system properties is the appearance of structural similarities or isomorphisms in different fields. For example, the similarities between lumber and cotton systems are many. Traditionally, grain systems economic modeling tools have been used within the cotton system. Factors such as weather, time left to maturity of the contract, acreage allocation, and government policy are factors that have an impact on grain futures but may not have the same impact upon cotton futures. Cotton production is much more dispersed geographically within the U.S. versus grains being centralized to the Midwest region. This would affect the impact of weather and time left to maturity since harvesting times of cotton vary across the U.S. The factors affecting cotton futures may have more
in common with lumber than grain. Lumber production is dispersed geographically and warehousing is similar to cotton. This paper is to explore the isomorphisms within the lumber and cotton industry so the tools used for predicting lumber futures may be applied to cotton. This is important to technical management because the improper use of economic modeling is a problem in any industry and finding industries with similar characteristics can lead to new tools, processes and serves to illustrate the systems modeling techniques so prevalent and useful to engineering management.