Page 10 - DCOM303_DMGT504_OPERATION_RESEARCH

Unit 1: Introduction to Operations Research

Notes

Notes Many real life OR models require long and complex mathematical calculations.
Thus, computer software packages that are used to do these calculations rapidly and
effectively have become part of OR approach to problem solving.

Some of the well known computer software used for OR problems are QSB+(Quantitaive
system for Business Plus), QSOM (Quantitative system for operations Management), Value
STORM, TORA and LINDO (Linear Interactive Discrete Optimization).

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
4. OR techniques are also applied in cash flow analysis and ……………………….
5. The area of operations research that concentrates on real-world operational problems is
known as ……………………
6. The area of production systems presents special challenges for ……………………

1.4 History of Operations Research

A brief history of OR how it originated along with some of the problems faced and subsequently
solved by the experts on OR is presented below which has been adopted from the notes of J E
Beasley, Imperial College.

1936

Early in 1936 the British Air Ministry established Bawdsey Research Station, on the east coast,
near Felixstowe, Suffolk, as the centre where all pre-war radar experiments for both the Air
Force and the Army would be carried out. Experimental radar equipment was brought up to a
high state of reliability and ranges of over 100 miles on aircraft were obtained.
It was also in 1936 that Royal Air Force (RAF) Fighter Command, charged specifically with the
air defence of Britain, was first created. It lacked however any effective fighter aircraft and no
radar data was yet fed into its very elementary warning and control system.
It had become clear that radar would create a whole new series of problems in fighter direction
and control, so in late 1936 some experiments started at Biggin Hill in Kent into the effective use
of such data. This early work, attempting to integrate radar data with ground based observer
data for fighter interception, was the start of OR.

1939

In the summer of 1939, Britain held what was to be its last pre-war air defence exercise. It
involved some 33,000 men, 1,300 aircraft, 110 anti-aircraft guns, 700 search lights, and 100 barrage
balloons. This exercise showed a great improvement in the operation of the air defence warning
and control system. The contribution made by the OR teams was so apparent that the Air Officer
Commander-in-Chief RAF Fighter Command (Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding) requested
that, on the outbreak of war, they should be attached to his headquarters at Stanmore.

Initially, they were designated the “Stanmore Research Section”. In 1941 they were redesignated
the “Operational Research Section” when the term was formalised and officially accepted, and
similar sections set up at other RAF commands.

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