Sharif Digital Repository

There are numerous measurement methods for process performance control. One of which, widely used in quality control programs, is process capability (Cp) index. The advantage of this index is due to the high amount of information extracted from it. Since Cpis independent from a particular measurement unit it can be used to compare several quite different processes. While the relative efficiency of the process performance based on the Cpfor a period is satisfying, the process may lose efficiency in the next period for variety of reasons and could not keep up with the standard limits. The objective of this paper is to develop a new approach for measuring the relative efficiency of peer... 

In the past, decision making within the energy sector, especially in Iran, was limited to economic analysis. Lately, multiple criteria decision making has gained great popularity. However, this is not enough to make a right decision by considering sustainability. This paper deals with designing an appropriate multiple criteria decision making method to address the multifaceted nature of such problems. This task is the second precondition to make a decision which meets the sustainability criterion. This is done by revealing new facts about quantitative and qualitative data and the degree of compensation between the criteria. Moreover, this paper illustrates the capability of different methods... 

This paper proposes a decentralized market-based model for long-term capacity investment decisions in a liberalized electricity market. Investment decisions are fundamentally based on total revenues gained by investors. In most electricity markets, the complementary mechanisms are designed to ensure a desired level of reliability while covering investment costs of the suppliers. In such an environment, investment decisions are highly sensitive to expectation of price signals in both of energy market and capacity mechanisms. In this work, the system dynamics concepts are used to model the structural characteristics of electricity market such as, long-term firms' behavior and relationships... 

Commute mode choice and number of non-work stops during the commute are joint decisions interacting with each other. If an individual chooses a vehicle for the commute, regarding vehicle's restrictions, there could be some stops. On the other hand, if an individual needs to have some stops, a vehicle can be selected for the commute regarding the number of stops. In this study, to consider the interaction between these decisions, we employed a copula-based joint modeling framework. The data used in this study are drawn from origin-destination travels data of Shiraz-Iran conducted in 1997. The commuting mode choice modeling is undertaken using a multinomial logit model, and the number of... 

This paper attempts to present a method for differentiating between multi-attribute decision procedures and to identify some competent procedures for major decision problems, where a matrix of alternative-measure of effectiveness and a vector of weights for the latter are available. In this respect, several known multi-attribute analysis procedures are chosen, and the same procedures are exploited to evaluate themselves, based on some evaluation criteria. This is done from an engineering viewpoint and in the context of a transportation problem, using a real case light rail transit network choice problem for the City of Mashhad, and the results are presented. Two concepts have been proposed... 

The current paper is an attempt to find a sustainable fuel strategy for passenger cars in Iran. Currently, most of Iran's passenger cars consume gasoline, a non-renewable fossil fuel. This fuel has well-known environmental impacts, including various kinds of pollutions, as well as the threat of quick running out. These general negative characteristics of gasoline are amplified by the high consumption rate of Iran's transportation sector, (e.g. about three times more than that of UK). The objective of this paper is firstly selecting possible alternative fuels for Iran's transportation sector, and then proposing the percent of cars consuming these alternative fuels (along with gasoline). The... 

Make-to-order firms use different strategies, such as dynamic pricing and due date management, to influence their performance. In these strategies, orders are segmented into classes based on their sensitivity to lead time and price. Quoting different prices and lead times to different classes of customer can increase a firm's profit and its capacity utilization. Most research in this area does not consider the effects of production constraints on price and lead time decisions. In this paper, we consider the role of flexibility in dynamically choosing the price, lead time and segmentation of customers in make-to-order environments with limited production capacity and multi-period horizon... 

The purpose of this study is to apply managerial economics and methods of decision analysis to study the optimal pattern of innovation activities for development of new energy technologies in developing countries. For this purpose, a model of energy research and development (R&D) planning is developed and it is then linked to a bottom-up energy-systems model. The set of interlinked models provide a comprehensive analytical tool for assessment of energy technologies and innovation planning taking into account the specific conditions of developing countries. An energy-system model is used as a tool for the assessment and prioritization of new energy technologies. Based on the results of the...