MICROCOMPUTER SYSTEMS HAVE THE POTENTIAL OF AIDING THE OPERATIONS RESEARCH PROFESSIONALS ENGAGED IN LOGISTICS APPLICATION IN THE NAVY AND IN OTHER MILITARY, GOVERNMENT AND COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS.

MICROCOMPUTER SYSTEMS HAVE THE POTENTIAL OF AIDING THE OPERATIONS RESEARCH PROFESSIONALS ENGAGED IN LOGISTICS APPLICATION IN THE NAVY AND IN OTHER MILITARY, GOVERNMENT AND COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS. THE COMPLEXITY OF THE PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED AND THE LIMITATIONS OF MICROCOMPUTER HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE HAVE PREVENTED THEIR USE IN THE PAST. THE PROPOSED EXPLORATORY DEVELOPMENT WILL CONCENTRATE ON THE SOFTWARE IMPLEMENTATION PROBLEMS AND ON THE DECOMPOSITION OF THE LARGE-SCALE LOGISTICS PROBLEMS, PARTITIONING THEM INTO SUBPROBLEMS, TEARING OF THE INDIVIDUAL SUBPROBLEMS FOR COMPUTER CONTROLLED ITERATION, AND ON SPECIFYING THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE OPERATOR INTERFACE. EMPHASIS WILL BE PLACED ONSELECTING THOSE ALGORITHMS THAT ARE FAST, REQUIRE MINIMUM STORAGE AND ALLOW FOR AN EASY INTERFACE TO THE PROBLEM PROBLEM DATABASE. A SHIP LOADING PROBLEM WILL BE USED TO DEMONSTRATE THE APPLICATION OF THE DECOMPOSITION-BASED SOLUTION TECHNIQUES.