OR 6205: Deterministic Operations Research

CRN 16764 Section 05

Total Credit Hours: 4

Term: Fall 2018
Location: Shillman Hall 415
Instructor: Dr. Manish Ranjit
Class Meeting Times: Tuesdays and Fridays 1:35 pm - 3:15 pm
Office Hours: Mondays 10:30 - 11:30 am, Fridays 10:30 – 11:30 am or
by appointment at Richards Hall Room 422
Email: [email protected]

Grader: Apurva Kanyalkar

Email: [email protected]
Office hours: Fridays 12 to 1pm at Curry Student Center (Wooden Pit)

Course Description: Introduces the theory, computation, and application of deterministic models to
represent industrial operations. Includes linear programming formulation and solution using
spreadsheet and algebraic languages software; simplex, big-M, revised simplex, and dual simplex
algorithms for solving linear programs; introduction to the theory of simplex, fundamental insight,
duality, and sensitivity analysis; transportation, assignment, and transshipment problems; shortest
path, minimum spanning tree, maximum flow, minimum cost network flow problems and project
networks; and discrete-state and continuous-state dynamic programming models and applications.

Course Format & Methodology: This course runs for a total of 15 weeks and is delivered on-
ground. The course materials will be accessible via Blackboard (Bb) at:
northeastern.blackboard.com. Each week a module is covered. Each module contains one or more
lessons. Lessons are organized around specific course topics. Please note that all due dates and
times are specified according to the Eastern time zone (ET); plan to complete and submit all
assignments accordingly.

Textbook: Hillier F.S. and G.J. Lieberman, Introduction to Operations Research, 10th Edition,
McGraw Hill, 2010.

Course Outcomes: By the end of this course the students will be able to:
1. Formulate linear optimization models of operational and planning problems and solve them with
existing software
2. Solve two-variable linear programming problems with the graphical method
3. Understand the theory behind the simplex algorithm
4. Describe, compare, and use different algorithms based on the simplex method to manually solve
small-size linear programming problems

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5. Understand the concept of computational complexity and use it to classify algorithms for linear
programming problems
6. Convert a linear programming problem to its dual and describe the relationships between a linear
program and its dual
7. Understand the sensitivity of problem solutions to changes in input parameters and perform
sensitivity analyses of a linear program
8. Describe the various classes of network optimization models, their relationships, and their solution
algorithms
9. Formulate dynamic programming problems and manually solve small-size problems

Participation and Engagement: Your presence in the class, class participation, peer-to-peer
activities, and your performance on assignments, serve as indicators of your level of engagement and
effort throughout the course. Frequent opportunities to receive feedback, help, and/or clarification on
course material from the instructor are provided throughout the term. Those students who struggle
with the material, but take advantage of opportunities provided for instructor help and/or peer-to-peer
mentoring, can be successful in this course.

Communication/Submission of Work: Guidelines for completing and submitting each assignment

are posted along with the assignment in Blackboard. Please note that if you are unable to complete an
examination within the period it is assigned, a documented compelling excuse (such as
hospitalization) is required.

Course Activities and Assignments: This course includes the following required activities and
assignments:
• Weekly reading and Presentations Weekly readings and presentations in class provide the
background knowledge, terminology, and practical examples you need in order to understand
and correctly apply fundamental concepts in operations research. You are responsible for
completing the assigned textbook and other readings before you come to class.
• Homework Problems, from the textbook and other sources, are required every week, and the
specific details are found within each week in Blackboard. You must submit your homework
in class on the specified day (see below class schedule), and no late submissions are allowed.
You will receive your graded submission plus any comments from the professor within one
week of each due date. You may be awarded partial credit if you make a mistake but
correctly apply a concept, so show your work for all problems. The lowest homework grade
will be dropped from your overall grade for this portion of the course.
• Examinations Since the concepts in this course are interrelated and often build off each
other, at three points during the term, you will be assessed on your cumulative understanding
of course topics.

Special Accommodations: If you have specific physical, psychiatric or learning disabilities that may
require accommodations for this course, please meet with me after class or during office hours to

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discuss appropriate adaptations and modifications that might be helpful to you. The Disabilities
Resource Center (DRC), located at 20 Dodge Hall (x2675) can provide you with information and
other assistance to help manage any challenges that may affect your performance in your
coursework. The university requires that you provide documentation of your disabilities to DRC.
Grading/Evaluation Standards: Please refer to the graduate student handbook for guidelines on
grading. https://www.northeastern.edu/registrar/gradingsystem.html

Grading Criteria:
Weekly Assignments: 20%
Exams: 2 x 25 = 50%
Final Exam: 30%

Class Schedule / Topical Outline: Please note: for more information about specific assignments
and due dates, please see instructions within your course site.

Assignments
Week Module Dates Topic
(Textbook problems will be assigned)
Practice the Gauss-Jordan method to solve
a system of three simultaneous linear
Introduction to Operations equations in three unknowns.
9/7
1 1 Research & Linear
9/11 Textbook problems
Programming
HW 1 is due on 9/14 at 1:35 pm (all
homework are due at 1:35 pm)
Solve a product mix problem using
9/14 Generalized LP Model and LINGO’s modeling language
2 2
9/18 LINGO Software Textbook problems
HW 2 is due on 9/21
Case study
9/21
3 3 Introduction to Simplex Textbook problems
9/25
HW 3 is due on 9/28
Briefly describe why you break ties in the
simplex method, and how to recognize
certain problem characteristics from the
simplex tableau.
Simplex, continued:
9/28 Textbook problems
4 4 Breaking Ties and Dealing
10/2
with Non-Standard Forms The Kommet Machine Tool Company
question
The Ford Motor Company question
HW 4 is due on 10/5
5 5 10/5 Exam #1 in class Exam #1 on 10/5

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 Theory of the Simplex
6 10/9
Algorithm

Textbook problems
Theory of the Simplex
6 10/12 Case Study
6 Algorithm (Contd.)
HW 5 is due on 10/16
7 10/16 Duality Theory
Staffing and Scheduling Problem;
7 10/19 Duality Theory (Contd.) Textbook problems
7
HW 6 is due on 10/23
8 10/23 Sensitivity Analysis
Case Study: Portfolio Selection;
Textbook problems
8 10/26 Sensitivity Analysis (Contd.)
8 Product mix problem
HW 7 is due on 10/30
9 10/30 Exam #2 in class Exam #2 on 10/30
11/2 Transportation and Case Study: Redesigning a Warehouse
9 10
11/6 Transshipment Problems Network; Textbook problems
HW 8 is due on 11/9
Textbook problem
11/9
10 11 Assignment Problem A Job Shop Scheduling Problem
11/13
HW 9 is due on 11/16
11/16 Textbook problems
11 12 Network Optimization
11/20 HW 10 is due on 11/27
Project Networks and Textbook problems
11/27
12 13 Introduction to Dynamic
11/30 HW 11 is due on 12/4
Programming
Continuous State Dynamic Textbook problems
12/4
13 14 Programming and Additional Knapsack problem; Capacity expansion
12/7
Applications problem; Machine replacement problem;
Final Exam
14 15 12/TBA Final Exam, Date and Time TBA
Hall TBA

Honor Code: All students must adhere to the Northeastern University honor code available on the
Northeastern web site
(See http://www.northeastern.edu/osccr/code-of-student-conduct) and the graduate student handbook.

Northeastern University Copyright Statement

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This course material is copyrighted and all rights are reserved by Northeastern University. No part of
this course material may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or
translated into any language or computer language, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, magnetic, optical, chemical, manual, or otherwise, without the express prior written
permission of the University.

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