INTRODUCTION TO OPERATIONS

RESEARCH

PRESENTED BY :
NEELIMA SINGH CHOUHAN
SABITA DIGARI
SARIN SONI
ANIKET VISHWAKARMA
VIPUL FARTADE
HIMANSHU SHRIVASTAV
 • Operation Research (OR) is an analytical
INTRODUCTION method of problem solving and decision
making that is useful in the management of
organisations.
• In operations research , the problems are
broken down into basic components and then
solved in defined steps by mathematical
analysis.
DEFINATION :
The application of scientific and especially
mathematical methods to the study and analysis of
problem involving complex systems.
ALSO CALLED AS OPERATIONAL
RESEARCH.
• The OR starts when mathematical and
quantitative techniques are used to substantiate
the decision being taken .
 • Operations Research tools are not from any
one discipline . Operations Research takes
INTRODUCTION tools from different discipline such as
mathematics , statistics , economics ,
psychology , engineering etc. and combines
these tools to make a new set of knowledge
for decision making .
• Today , OR has become a professional
discipline which deals with the application of
scientific methods for making decisions and
especially to the allocation of scarce
resources.
• The main purpose of OR is to provide a
rational basis for decision making in the
absence of complete information, because the
systems composed of human machine and
procedures may do not have complete
information.
 • In the 17th century, mathematicians Blaise
HISTORY OF OPERATION Pascal and Christiaan Huygens solved
RESEARCH problems involving complex decisions (
problem of points) by using game-theoretic
 ideas and expected values; others, such as 
Pierre de Fermat and Jacob Bernoulli, solved
these types of problems using 
combinatorial reasoning instead. 
Charles Babbage's research into the cost of
transportation and sorting of mail led to
England's universal "Penny Post" in 1840, and
to studies into the dynamical behaviour of
railway vehicles in defence of the GWR’ s
broad gauge.
• Beginning in the 20th century, study of
inventory management could be
considered the origin of modern operations
research with economic order quantity
 developed by Ford W. Harris in 1913. 
 CHARACTERISTICS OF OPERATIONS RESEARCH

• DECISION MAKING : operations research is a decision science which helps management to

make better decisions.
• USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: OR often requires a computer to solve the
complex mathematical model or to perform a large number of computations that are involved.
Use of digital computer has become an integral part of the operations research approach to
decision making.
• QUANTITATIVE SOLUTIONS : operations research provides the managers with a
quantitative basis for decision making . OR attempts to provide a systematic and rational
approach for quantitative solution to the various managerial problems.
• HUMAN FACTORS : In deriving quantitative solutions we do not consider human factors ,
which doubtlessly plays a great role in the problems . So the study of OR is incomplete
without the study of human factors.
 CHARACTERISTICS

• SYSTEM ORIENTATION : OR studies the situation or problem as a whole . This means that an activity by any
part of the organization has some effect on the activity of every other part . The optimum result of one part of a
system may not be optimum for some other part.
• SCIENTIFIC APPROACH : OR uses scientific methods to solve problems. Most of the scientific studies such
as chemistry, physics, biology , etc .Can be carried out in the laboratories , without much interference from the
outside world .
• INTER – DISCIPLINARY TEAM APPROACH : OR is performed by a team of scientists whose individual
members have been drawn from different scientific and engineering disciplines . For example , one may find a
mathematician , statistician , physicist , psychologist , economist and an engineer working together on an OR
problem .
• UNCOVERING NEW PROBLEMS : Solution of an OR problem may uncover a number of new problems. In
order to derive the maximum benefit each one of them must be solved . OR is not effectively used if it is
restricted to one shot problems only. In order to derive full benefits , continuity of research must be maintained.
 TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES OF OPERATIONS RESEARCH

• LINEAR PROGRAMMING
Linear Programming (LP) is a mathematical technique of assigning a fixed amount of resources to satisfy a number of
demands in such a way that some objective is optimized and other defined conditions are also satisfied.
• TRANSPORTATION PROBLEM
The transportation problem is a special type of linear programming problem, where the objective is to minimize the cost of
distributing a product from a number of sources to a number of destinations.
• ASSIGNMENT PROBLEM
 Succinctly, when the problem involves the allocation of n different facilities to n different tasks, it is often termed as an
assignment problem.
• QUEUING THEORY
The queuing problem is identified by the presence of a group of customers who arrive randomly to receive some service. This
theory helps in calculating the expected number of people in the queue, expected waiting time in the queue, expected idle time
for the server, etc. Thus, this theory can be applied in such situations where decisions have to be taken to minimize the extent
and duration of the queue with minimum investment cost.
 TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES OF OPERATIONS RESEARCH

• GAME THEORY
It is used for decision making under conflicting situations where there are one or more opponents (i.e., players). In the game
theory, we consider two or more persons with different objectives, each of whose actions influence the outcomes of the game.
The game theory provides solutions to such games, assuming that each of the players wants to maximize his profits and
minimize his losses.
• INVENTORY CONTROL MODELS
It is concerned with the acquisition, storage, handling of inventories so as to ensure the availability of inventory whenever
needed and minimize wastage and losses. It help managers to decide reordering time, reordering level and optimal ordering
quantity.
• GOAL PROGRAMMING
It is a powerful tool to tackle multiple and incompatible goals of an enterprise.
• SIMULATION
It is a technique that involves setting up a model of real situation and then performing experiments. Simulation is used where
it is very risky, cumbersome, or time consuming to conduct real study or experiment to know more about a situation.
 CONCLUSION

• Operations Research is relatively a new discipline , which

originated in World War II , and became very popular throughout
the world. India is one of the first few countries in the world who
started using operation research.
• Operations Research is used successfully not only in military/
army operations but also in businesses, government and industry.
• Now a days operations research is almost used in all the fields.
• Proposing a definition to the operations research is a difficult one ,
because its boundary and context are not fixed.