Computers & Industrial Engineering, Volume II

Introduction and Welcome

On behalf of the Organizing Committee it is a great pleasure to welcome you to the Thirtieth International Computers and Industrial Engineering Conference to be held on Tinos Island, Greece, June 29th – July 1st 2002.
It is a particular honor for the University of the Aegean to host this Conference, one of a series organized annually by Computers & Industrial Engineering, an International journal outside the United States. This is in addition to conferences held within the United States.
The discipline of Industrial Engineering has evolved significantly since its roots were laid in the work of Fredrick W. Taylor in his seminal text titled ‘Scientific Management’: The availability of computer power and the development of probabilistic analysis have been the two most important prerequisites for the advancement of Industrial Engineering. As with the other branches of Engineering, the real essence of Industrial Engineering is design, in particular, the design of socio-technical systems.
We are fortunate to have a remarkable set of papers at this Conference covering the broad area of Industrial Engineering. In almost all cases, computers have played a pivotal role in these papers either as a computing tool, a method for simulation or imbedded in the technical processes being analyzed. I would like to congratulate the Scientific Committee on the selection of such an interesting set of papers.
The success of a conference depends mostly on the participants, one of the three main factors influencing the success of a conference (the other two are papers and location) and the discussions about the papers presented. I know from the list of delegates that you will do your best so as to contribute to the discussions and will use the opportunity presented for networking and exchanging your views beyond the technical sessions.
On behalf of the Conference Organizing Committee, I fully appreciate the help of the Keynote speaker, Professor M.E.J. O’Kelly, Head of the Department of Industrial Engineering, National University of Ireland, Galway.
I would also like to express my gratitude to Professor Evangelos Triantaphyllou, the Conference Program Chair and the session chairs for the organization and fulfillment of the technical sessions.
Tinos is well known for its central role in the evolution of the Cycladic civilization. It is the island of miracles and pilgrimages. Over five thousand years ago, the exquisite translucent white marble, which is a characteristic of Greek sculpture, was quarried and worked on the island. As you know, two thousand and five hundred years ago, Greece was the centre of the Western World. Pythagoras was born on Samos, another one of the Aegean Islands, around 572 BC and as a mathematician and philosopher had a major influence on the intellectual development of the world. I am sure that everybody here would agree with the first principle of Pythagoreanism, which is “at its deepest level, reality is mathematical in nature”. I do hope you will have some time, while in Greece, to discuss the more philosophical and religious aspects of Pythagoreanism, experience under Greek hospitality and be able to see and appreciate some of our ancient heritage.
I would sincerely like to thank our generous sponsors and promoters of this Conference: The Greek Ministry of Education, the Panhellenic Religious Foundation “Evangelistria of Tinos” and the University of the Aegean. Planning and organizing such a conference is a major undertaking and therefore, I’d like to express my gratitude to Professor Dessouky, the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal “Computers & Industrial Engineering” and the members of the Local Organizing Committee: Dr. Thomas Spyrou, Professor John Darzentas, Miss. Ariadne Filippopoulou and Mr. Christos Tsagaris, knowing that without their assistance, this event would have never taken place.

Chrissoleon Papadopoulos, Conference co-Chair
Professor and Director of MBA Program
Dept. of Business Administration
University of the Aegean
Chios Island, Greece
Tel: +30-2710-35150, Fax: +30-2710-35099
E-mail: [email protected]

A Message from the Editor-in-Chief

I welcome you to explore the diversity of the topics covered in the attached proceedings, which is a collection of the articles accepted for presentation at the 30th International Conference on Computers and Industrial Engineering (ICC&IE) in Tinos Island, Greece, June 29 to July 1, 2002. The papers included are representative of the broad range of topics under industrial engineering and associated fields. Such topics brought together researchers and practitioners with backgrounds in engineering, business, mathematics, computer science, economics, and the social sciences. The common factor binding such an illustrious group is their search for solutions to practical world problems, using modern computer and information technology based on mathematical, statistical, logical, organizational and empirical models.
The international journal, Computers & Industrial Engineering, established in 1976 by its founding editor, the Late Dr. Hamed Kamal Eldin, has been instrumental in bringing together the works of scholars and professionals, not only with diverse professional interests, but also from different geographical locations, spanning six continents. Dr. Eldin established a tradition of holding a series of annual conferences in the United States, which ultimately found venues in other countries in Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe, in addition to a number of locations in North America. The participants of these conferences, including this one, represent these locations. The conferences served two purposes, one is to bring together industrial engineers and allied professionals to share their knowledge, and the other is to provide a forum for discussing brief presentations of their most recent work without having to wait for the lengthy refereeing and publication cycle typical of journal articles. The proceedings serve to document the results of this latter function. We encourage the authors of the original papers included in the proceedings to extend the preliminary results reported here into full research papers and submit them for publication in Computers & Industrial Engineering, subject to the journal’s rigorous refereeing process.
The venue of this conference, Tinos Island, is a place of pristine beauty and rich history. It is surrounded by a number of islands of varying characters, from the colorful to the scenic to the serene. It provides a unique environment for both professional interchange and personal enjoyment. On behalf of the organizers of the conference, I offer my thanks to the Greek Ministry of Education, the Panhellenic Religious Foundation “Evangelistria of Tinos” and the University of the Aegean for hosting the conference, which for them is a major undertaking.
We were fortunate that Professor M.E.J. O’Kelly, Head of the Department of Industrial Engineering, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland accepted our invitation to be the keynote speaker. He is a scholar of international stature and his presence is an honor to the conference.
The primary credit for the organization of the conference and the preparation of the proceedings goes to Dr. Crissoleon Papadopoulos, the conference co-chair, and Dr. Evangelos Triantaphyllou, the program chair, who gave generously of their valuable time to guarantee the success of the conference and the quality of the proceedings. Thanks are also due to Dr. M. Sadek Eid, the program co-chair, who has consistently played an important role in coordinating this series of conferences. Last but not least, I would like to recognize the invaluable efforts of the members of the Local Organizing Committee: Dr. Thomas Spyrou, Professor John Darzentas, Miss. Ariadne Filippopoulou and Mr. Christos Tsagaris.
Best wishes to all organizers and participants.

Sincerely,
Mohamed I. Dessouky, Ph.D., P.E.
Research Professor and Editor
Computers & Industrial Engineering
Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering
University of Southern California
University Park,
3715 McClintock Avenue, GER 240
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0193, USA
E-mail: [email protected]