Dr. Jaime Cantu joined the Department of Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington in 2016, and he is currently an assistant professor. He did his postdoctoral research at Texas Tech University assisting CNS Pantex with systems modeling, and economic analysis for high explosives. Jaime has a B.S. in Computer Engineering from TTU, an M.S. in Management Engineering from TTU, and a Ph.D. in Systems & Engineering Management from TTU. His research interests include economic decision analysis, high reliability organizations, logistics, and system modeling. At UTA, Dr. Cantu teaches courses in Production and Inventory Control, Project Management, and Introduction to Engineering. He has been a member of the Institute of Industrial, and Systems Engineers since 2012. He has also been a member of the American Society of Engineering Management since 2012.
The food distribution process is responsible for significant quality loss in perishable products.... more The food distribution process is responsible for significant quality loss in perishable products. However, preserving quality is costly and consumes a tremendous amount of energy. To tackle the challenge of minimizing transportation costs and CO2 emissions while also maximizing product freshness, a novel multi-objective model is proposed. The model integrates a vehicle routing problem with temperature, shelf life, and energy consumption prediction models, thereby enhancing its accuracy. Non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II is adapted to solve the proposed model for the set of Solomon test data. The conflicting nature of these objectives and the sensitivity of the model to shelf life and shipping container temperature settings are analyzed. The results show that optimizing freshness objective degrade the cost and the emission objectives, and the distribution of perishable foods are sensible to the shelf life of the perishable foods and temperature settings inside the container.
Proceedings of international annual conference of the IISE, 2018
A modern customer expects high quality of food products, and consequently, retailers must present... more 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,... more 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 ... more 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 ... more 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... more 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 ... more 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... more 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.
The food distribution process is responsible for significant quality loss in perishable products.... more The food distribution process is responsible for significant quality loss in perishable products. However, preserving quality is costly and consumes a tremendous amount of energy. To tackle the challenge of minimizing transportation costs and CO2 emissions while also maximizing product freshness, a novel multi-objective model is proposed. The model integrates a vehicle routing problem with temperature, shelf life, and energy consumption prediction models, thereby enhancing its accuracy. Non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II is adapted to solve the proposed model for the set of Solomon test data. The conflicting nature of these objectives and the sensitivity of the model to shelf life and shipping container temperature settings are analyzed. The results show that optimizing freshness objective degrade the cost and the emission objectives, and the distribution of perishable foods are sensible to the shelf life of the perishable foods and temperature settings inside the container.
Proceedings of international annual conference of the IISE, 2018
A modern customer expects high quality of food products, and consequently, retailers must present... more 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,... more 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 ... more 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 ... more 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... more 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 ... more 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... more 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.
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Papers by Jaime Cantu
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.
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.