The temperature of refrigerated products along the cold chain must be kept within pre-defined limits to ensure adequate safety levels and high product quality. Because temperature largely influences microbial activities, the continuous monitoring of the time-temperature history over the distribution process usually allows for the adequate control of the product quality along both short-and medium-distance distribution routes. Time-Temperature Indicators (TTI) are composed of temperature measurements taken at various time intervals and are used to feed analytic models that monitor the impacts of temperature on product quality. Process Capability Indices (PCI), however, are calculated using TTI series to evaluate whether the thermal characteristics of the process are within the specified range. In this application, a refrigerated food delivery route is investigated using a simulated annealing algorithm that considers alternative delivery schemes. The objective of this investigation is to minimize the distance traveled while maintaining the vehicle temperature within the prescribed capability level.
<p class="Resumo">A realização das atividades de transporte comumente envolve diferentes atores e veículos dispersos numa rede, de forma que responder aos eventos dinâmicos presentes nas operações é uma tarefa complexa. Neste contexto, o uso de sistemas baseados em agentes (MAS) na tomada de decisões autônoma tem se mostrado potencialmente interessante e sido discutido na literatura recente. Neste artigo, é apresentado um sistema baseado em agentes para lidar com o problema de roteirização dinâmica de veículos, mais precisamente em um problema de coleta de peças e componentes, onde parte das tarefas previamente alocadas ao veículo pode ser eventualmente transferida para outros veículos, sempre que o MAS constatar que o tempo de ciclo pode exceder o limite diário da jornada de trabalho. A transferência das tarefas entre agentes é realizada através do método de negociação de Vickrey. O sistema proposto permite tomada de decisão de forma colaborativa entre os agentes envolvidos, permitindo a realização de ajustes durante a realização da rota inicial.</p>
This paper aims at presenting a new flexible benchmarking model in civil construction. It describes an explanatory case study whereby data are collected through an internet benchmarking system with multi-criteria performance. This case study was based on the Production Arrangements Monitoring and Benchmarking System (SIMAP), the authors describe a flexible benchmarking model considering 46 criteria classified into 7 subsystems. The proposed benchmarking system can be used by companies from other countries with proper adaptations.
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