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Operations Research

The following questions illustrate the type of problems amenable to operations research methodologies.

• It frequently happens that a telephone call does not take the shortest possible route from caller to receiver. How then is a long-distance call routed from its origin to its destination?

• In recent years many banks have changed the customer waiting line or queue from individual lines behind each teller to a single, snake line that feeds all tellers. Why is this?

• How are the cost and duration of warranties on automobiles, parts, and appliances determined? Why is the free warranty set for a limited time only, and why does an extended warranty increase in cost for each year of the guarantee?

• Why will most insurance companies not insure the life of an infant under a few months of age, but will insure infants over a minimum age at a very low premium?

• How does a network of computers operate? A program on one computer can be executed on another hundreds or thousands of miles away. How is the decision made as to which computer is to handle which job?

SOURCE: Career in Operations Research

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