This review of 60 years of publishing by the Operational Research Society concentrates on the Journal, the problems faced by the editors and the evolution of its contents. This paper describes the growth in size of the Society external influences and the financial contribution to the Society generated by the Journal. Some funds were used to expand the range and scope of the publications, which currently consist of six different titles and are available in hard copy of electronic format. The future challenge of maintaining the financial income to support the continuing change in the subject is highlighted.
International Transactions in Operational ResearchVolume 1, Issue 1 p. 3-5 Free Access The Changing Face of IFORS K. Brian Haley, K. Brian Haley President IFORSSearch for more papers by this author K. Brian Haley, K. Brian Haley President IFORSSearch for more papers by this author First published: January 1994 https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-3995.d01-2 Prof. K. Brian Haley Manufacturing & Mechanical Engineering. The University of Birmingham, B15 2TT. UK AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume1, Issue1January 1994Pages 3-5 This article also appears in:ITOR - Special Virtual 30th Anniversary Issue RelatedInformation
The early Operational Research literature is devoted to explaining the applications nature of the subject and appeared in a variety of publications. March 1950 saw the appearance of Volume 1, No.1 of the Operational Research Quarterly1 — a magazine of 15 pages of which 9 were devoted to abstracts of other papers. One of these papers appeared in the UK journal Research Volume 2 in October 1949 and was by G Preuschen2 of (Institut fur Landwirtschaftleich Arbeitswissenschaft und Landtecknik, Imtshausen). The paper reviews the work at Institutes in Pommritz, Bonim and Breslau from 1918 and is fascinating in that it clearly represents some pioneering work covering the interaction of a number of factors aimed at production improvement. These include human and mechanical variables as well as the variability of the environment. The use of experimentation and analytical models were considered.
Examples are given to illustrate the importance of satisfying the particular needs of a company when proposing the optimum solutions to problems of the most economical use of materials.
Editors of professional journals are frequently criticised for delays in publication and for the lack of impact when material appears a significant time after its original creation. Many journals include certain special features which rely on the material appearing quickly if it is to be of any real use. The OR journals in particular publish book reviews which lose their impact if they are subject to excessive time delays. The present paper examines the authors' experience in identifying the causes of the delays and their efforts to reduce those caused by variables within their control. The sections consider the inherent objectives, provide a model of the traditional process, including identification of the controllable variables, and then present a new system together with a review of its effectiveness.
By describing the industrial assembly of a real product, methodologies and considerations are discussed for the re-alignment of discrete assembly systems in line with modern standards. Poor manufacturing procedures are highlighted, and a number of alternative strategies for system replacement are presented. A decision tree is used to categorize assembly into one of three types, and an integrated solution is proposed. The possible financial benefits, essential to maintain market position, are identified for each stage of an evolutionary cycle of continuous product design and changing manufacturing methods.
