 | Collection of Articles - Book I [free]

Author:
J. Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira et al. May 2010
(167
pages). This
is the first compiled collection of my articles, some of them published
together with other authors. The work is also register under the
Portuguese Society of Authors, and most of the articles have been
previously published in conferences or in the Internet. Free download full text [pdf] + donate | | . |
|

|
Flexible
Supply Chain Simulation [for sale]

Author:
J. Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira
Type:
Doctoral thesis
Publisher:
Publindustria
ISBN:
972-8953-04-6
(271
pages). This Doctoral
thesis, based on some hypotheses of flexibility, intends to
expose
the ideas behind the development of a Flexible Supply Chain Simulator,
from the bibliographic review and the study of conceptual issues on
Supply
Chain systems and trends of simulation, to the final conception and
development
of a practical simulator written in C++ with which some results and
conclusions
have been obtained. Contact the publisher | Download free version + donate Table
of contents
| abstract
| Introduction
| Chapter1
| Chapter2
| Chapter3
| Chapter4
| Chapter5
| Chapter6 |
| . |
|

|
Proceedings
of the European Simulation and Modelling Conference (ESM2005) [for
sale]
Editors: J.Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira, A. E. Carvalho Brito
Publisher: EUROSIS
ISBN: 90-77381-22-8
(599 pages). ESM2005 was
the international conference on the state of the
art of modelling
and simulating, held at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of
Porto, Portugal. Invited personalities at the event were: the keynote
Michael
Pidd, and the invited speakers Eugene Kindler, from Czech Republic,
Piet
Kommers (not present), from the Netherlands, and Renate Sitte, from
Australia.
Publisher:
EUROSIS | inquireCosts |
| . |
|
 |
Proceeding
of the FUBUTEC'2008 - ECEC'2008 European Conference
April 9-11,
2008, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
Edited by: Antonio Carvalho Brito and J.Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira
Publisher: EUROSIS
ISBN: 978-90-77381-39-7
(Softbound,
141 pages).
Covers Data Management, Performance Estimation and Forecasting,
Scheduling Methodology, Emergency, Risk and Safety Critical Systems,
Structures, Architectures and Models, Workflow Simulation, Logistics
Applications and Case Studies.
Publisher:
EUROSIS | inquireCosts |
| . |
|

| Simulação
por Computador [for sale]
Author:
J. M. Feliz-Teixeira Co-author:
A. E. Carvalho
Brito Publisher:
Publindustria
ISBN:
972-98726-2-7
(273
pages) (only available
in portuguese, at the
moment). Didactic-technical
book on
discrete
simulation. It treats in detail the activity
approach, the
event
approach, the
process approach and the
three phase approach,
giving the reader a wider view on simulation perspectives. Examples on
how to create models and their implementation by means of a general
procedure
language and C and C++. This book may be an important instrument to
those
who expect to develop their own models. Contact the publisher Table
of contents
| Prologue
| Chapter1
| Chapter2
| Chapter4
| Chapter7
| Chapter9
| Chapter10
| Chapter11 | | . |
| 
| Simulação
Visual de Armazéns Automáticos [free]
Author:
J. M. Feliz-Teixeira Supervisor:
A. E. Carvalho Brito Type: Masters Thesis
(141
pages) (only available
in portuguese, at the
moment). O
trabalho aqui descrito representa uma parte de um projecto mais vasto
no âmbito da simulação de armazéns automáticos desenvolvida de raiz em
C++, parte esta que diz respeito à modelação dos vários elementos
envolvidos (estanteria, veículos, tapetes, etc.), assim como ao
desenvolvimento da respectiva interface do utilizador. Não se poderá,
por isso, considerar este trabalho um trabalho acabado, havendo ainda
que conceber e implementar vários conceitos aqui não descritos. No
entanto, como utilidade futura, pretende-se que este software possa vir
a ser usado na avaliação de performances, quer para apoio a acções de
‘marketing’ quer na ajuda ao planeamento de recursos e configuração de
instalações. De facto, algumas instalações industrias da EFACEC foram
analizadas com recurso a este simulador. Free download full text [pdf]
|
|
|

|
Could Electricity be a Gravitational Effect? [free]
Author: J.
Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira
Date: March 2012
(9
pages). Although electricity and electrical forces have for a
long time been used by mankind as natural resources, it is interesting
to notice that in fact no one knows exactly what they are. Some
curious-minded people have asked themselves if electric forces could
result from gravitational interaction between subatomic particles. The
usual argument to avoid such an hypothesis is based on the computation
of the gravitational force by means of Newton's equation, to verify
that the force between a proton and an electron is nearly 10⁴⁰ times
weaker than the electrical force computed by Coulomb’s equation. In
this article we ponder on such an argument, since we have the
impression that Newton's gravitational force does not hold at very
small distances, and probably also not in highly eccentric orbits. By
analysing the cases of Halley's and Elenin's comets (Elenin is now very
close to Earth), and proposing the use of an orbital constant (G0)
alongside the universal constant (G), we will later question if the
gravitational force in Bohr's atom could perhaps turn out to be of the
same magnitude as that of the electrical force obtained by Coulomb's
equation. And this naturally leads us to wonder whether electricity
could result from some kind of gravitational effect propagating through
certain types of materials, like a pressure wave, for example. If in
fact gravitational forces would be much stronger at very small
distances than what is usually accepted, the need for a “dark matter”
concept to justify the overall cohesion of our universe would perhaps
be unnecessary too. |
|
|

|
The Perfect Time for the Perfect Democracy? [free]
Author: J.
Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira
Date: March 2012
(4
pages). Due to its exceptional characteristics of intelligence and
creativity, a modern human society should be an emergent system, not
the result of the wish or dictatorship of some. Such a society should
be for all those who may be interested in it. Not just for some.
Although this may sound slightly utopian, these are the main lines of
thought followed in the wiki-system of law and governance which draft
we propose in the present text. Such a system, based on the continuous
participation of free and well identified citizens in the proposal, the
drawing, discussion and referendum of all the laws of their State
(inspired by the excellent achievements reached from citizen's
collaboration in wikipedia.org project) would probably extend the
activity of “politician” to everyone of us. |
|
|

|
Authored & no-patent [free]
Author: J.
Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira
Date: January 2012
(2
pages). The aim of this text is basically to explain the meaning of the
“no-patent” and the “authored & no-patent” symbols that for some time we have been using
in our texts and ideas. It is based on the belief that the author of an
idea or system may want to offer that idea or system to the public
domain and thus to humanity in general, while obviously keeping the
moral rights as an author, frequently associated with copyright, for
example. We believe that such a system, which can at the same time be
used with industrial and intellectual works, contributes to a much
better dissemination of knowledge throughout society, since it
obviously forbids the possibility of anyone owning a certain idea or
work and obstructing it from others, as exclusive publishing and
patents commonly do. Anyone can freely use this symbol, since it is
itself “authored & no-patent”.
|
|
|

|
Concept: Arc-in-tension Bridge [free]
Author: J.
Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira
Date: August 2011
(1
page). When an arc of a big bridge is being built, everyone is
impressed by the extraordinary amount of mass being elevated against
gravity in that process. There are several methods for achieving this
in practice, but most of them rely on a continuous process of measuring
and compensating the torque induced in the structure at each phase, in
order that the net result will always be null, at any instant of time.
Arc bridges can be loaded in basically two ways: into compression, or
into tension, as next figures suggest. This characterizes the way the
bridge's deck is to be suspended from the ground. In the first case the
weight of the deck (and its traffic) is transferred into the arc by
means of a compression process, while in the second case it is done by
means of a process of tension.
|
|
|
|
|
The Geometric Law of Motion [free]
Author: J.
Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira
Date: July 2011
(15
pages). In a previous article, related to the discussion on the
centrifugal force, we presented the Geometric Law of Motion1 which has
naturally emerged from expressing motion based on the fundamental
entities position, mass and velocity, and the proposal that the torque
equation be generalised to the inner product operation. This
automatically leads to a new equation describing the radial energy of
the system. Motion would therefore take place in a kind of continuous
exchange of energy between the angular and the radial dimensions of the
space, relative to an observer. This article is solely dedicated to
such a law, which we now present with more detail and with some extra
remarks, in a bid to also place it alongside previous proposals and, in
particular, the Quantum Mechanical description. We will also try to
travel from the infinitely large world into the infinitely small world,
while never abandoning the Geometric Law of Motion.
|
|
Apparently Deriving Fictitious Forces [free]
Author: J.
Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira
Date: June 2011
(8
pages). Since neither Galileo's Law of Inertia nor Newton's Second Law
hold true in an accelerating frame of reference (which here we call the
“accelerated world”), several challenges arise when trying to describe
the movement of bodies in such a type of referential. In simple cases,
mainly when the acceleration of the referential is a constant vector in
the “inertial world”, that is, when there is no acceleration on the
acceleration, things become simple because such a vector can be seen by
the accelerating observer as coming from a “fictitious” external force
in the opposite direction to the force he feels. Why fictitious? Simply
because he does not know where it is coming from or what causes it.
But, in cases where this referential is subject to an acceleration that
accelerates, when seen from the inertial space, things get much more
complex to interpret, and all sorts of “fictitious” forces are usually
evoked to explain the physics of the accelerating world. Perhaps the
case with most academic debate since olden times is the spinning world,
from which the concepts of centrifugal, Coriolis and Euler forces
result. These are usually considered “fictitious” forces, in order that
the laws of physics can be minimally understood from the point of view
of the two worlds. This article is not only a discussion on these
concepts but also an effort to explain them better, and reclassify them
as real and not fictitious. We also argue that the centripetal force
which spins the accelerated world is, in fact, a fictitious force.
|
|
|
|
In Defence of the Centrifugal Force and the Geometric Law of Motion [free]
Author: J.
Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira
Date: June 2011
(8
pages). After a brief introductio and some discussion on the academic
conflict that has forever surrounded the idea of a centrifugal force,
there will be presented in this text the mathematical concepts that may
lead us to believe in the
real existence of this force. Some of the probable implications arising
from this fact are then addressed, in particular the possibility of
describing the laws of motion as a single Geometric Law of Motion.
|
|
|
|
Home Noise and Electric Grid Induced Ultrasounds
[free]
Author: J.
Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira
Date: June 2011
(11
pages). For some years now we have been trying to identify and localise
the sources of several ultrasound signals that we have detected in the
building in which we live, and inside our individual rooms. These
signals were first detected while preparing a lesson for students about
sound mixing. We had chosen a very simple but reliable open source
application named “Audacity” to record, mix and analyse some sounds.
But when these signals were spectral analysed we were surprised by the
amount of ultrasonic energy we may often, silently, be living under. We
have detected them also in other places, even in our classrooms. After
nearly two years of investigation to determine their probable origins,
and an unfruitful session of contacts, both with the Electrical Company
(EDP) and the public institution responsible for tcommunication and
regulation of spectra (ANACOM), we decided to simply publish this
article in order to let the subject be exposed to the public domain and
conscience. Herein, we present several aspects of the issue, which we
think should be addressed by public health officers as a probable long
term threat to citizens health, noting that a significant amount of
these ultrasounds are probably due in part to the new low consumption
gas filled light bulbs along with ultrasonic repellents of animals and
people.
|
|
|
. |
Some Facts and Comments on the Strange Clouds
People Around the World Call “Chemtrails”, and Their
Probable Relation to the HAARP System
[free] 
Author: J.
Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira
Date: March 2011
(17
pages). Near 10 years have passed since my eyes could for the first
time observe one of those abnormal trails crossing the entire sky. It
was a clean day of a wonderful blue sky. And, over our heads, a first
line of a constant width hundreds of kilometres in length was splitting
such a blue ceiling into two parts. Only a single flight did it, in the
dozens of flights crossing our skies on that day. It seemed almost
absurd, and an abuse, at the time. It was around the beginning of the
Autumn of either 1998 or 1999, I don't recall exactly. Until then, our
eyes used to find the skies naturally either clean and of a transparent
blue or with clean normal clouds. It could rain or be a sunny day, no
matter the atmospheric conditions, the trails of the aircraft had
always been of the same kind: a little white tail of around 10 or 20
times the aircraft length, which in some seconds would dissipate into
the atmosphere, leaving the sky completely clean as before. Curiously,
since that day, the number of flights leaving abnormal trails have
slowly been increasing, and, along the last 10 years, we have also seen
many things degrading from the sea water which slowly started to
frequently exhibit a sort of bad smelling foam fluctuating along the
coast, to the falling of thousands of bees dead before our feet, the
sudden weakening and darkening of certain trees, which frequently died,
like the pine and the eucalyptus, for example, to the mass
deteriorating of citizens' health due to persistent respiratory
problems and “strange” illnesses. In 2007, near 30% of the population
of my country were already suffering chronic rhinitis1. In this article
we give a testimony of our own empirical observations and comment on
some aspects that may be related to the phenomenon. We hope this may be
seen as a contribution to those in the Sciences of Health and
Environment who probably might like to investigate the issue by means
of a truly scientific perspective. In that sense, we will also make
some references to the project known as High Frequency Active Auroral
Research Program (HAARP), which many people on the Internet
suspect of also being related to such abnormal aircraft trails.
|
|
|

| “Solar-dam”: for Retrieving Energy from the Sun
[free] 
Author: J.
Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira
Date: May 2010
(5
pages). A very simple solar engine is described herein. Since it is a
mechanical device, with moving parts, its practical usefulness may
perhaps be low, at least compared with the modern systems based on
semiconductor solar cells. Nevertheless, due to its extreme simplicity,
and as it is easy to build in several formats and dimensions, it
deserves to be mentioned and described. It should be considered more as
a concept than a completely tested device. At least as a curiosity and
as a didactic model we hope it will interest someone. Some home-made
versions of the solar-dam concept have been built using
day-to-day materials, and then minimally tested in order to
verify their correct operation. Most of the times those models were
behaving as self-oscillating devices, which were automatically starting
to operate in the morning, with sunrise, and stopping only at
sunset, in the evening. We believe, nevertheless, they may also enter
into a complete cycle if properly adjusted. Such a machine may also be
used as a dynamic element of architecture, for instance, and surely as
a good example of the conversion of sunlight into mechanical energy at
ambient temperatures.
| | . |
|  | Deducing Kepler and Newton from Avicenna ( ,(ابن سیناHuygens and Descartes [free] 
Author: J.
Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira
Date: April
2010
(9 pages) With the advent of Einstein's Theory of
Relativity and Quantum Mechanics, the interest in Classical
Mechanics, as a field of research and philosophy, has naturally
declined and almost vanished, being now practically reduced to its
didactic relevance and a powerful tool for engineering. However, a
fascination for the primordial questions of Physics has compelled me as
a justification for once again looking at those principles regulating
the movement of bodies, and to deduce from them the laws of gravitation
and celestial dynamics. This time, however, this was done without the
help from either Kepler or Newton. In effect, one may even say that
Newton and Kepler are derived from the conceptual and mathematical
manipulations presented herein, based on very simple and universal
truths, some of them which have been perceived since at least the time
of Avicenna. Then, both the deduced gravitational force and the laws
governing the planets will be compared with Newton's gravity and
Kepler's laws. Finally, some considerations are drawn about Newton's
gravitational constant G and proposed an orbital constant G0 and a
gravitation force dependent on 1/r3.
. | | . |
|
 |
Almost
a Flying Saucer
[free] 
Author: J.
Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira
Date: September 2009
(6 pages).
One of the most fascinating subjects on our way to the understanding of
the laws of the Universe is the almost delirious search for the ability
to levitate (ourselves and objects), which in modern times also became
associated with some anti-gravity purported effects, fantastic space
ships, as well as with what is commonly known as flying saucers. A
significant number of proposals for achieving such abilities claimed as
anti-gravity are focused on the gyroscopic effect observed when a fly
wheel is suddenly forced to move out of its initial plane of rotation
[1]. The law of Physics for the conservation of angular momentum
results here in the appearance of what some explain as 'apparent'
forces, which give the observer the illusion that it is close to
achieving the goal of building an anti-gravity device. This article
deals with some of the thoughts usually behind such claims, proposals
and experiments, and has the intention of contributing to a better
understanding of the mechanical effects involved in these gyroscope
based devicess.
|
| . |
|
 |
Wind-Splash-Turbine
[free]
Author: J.
Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira
Date: July
2009
(7 pages).
Designing
a
turbine usually implies the assumption that the turbine aerodynamics
somehow have to blend well into the fluid flow, in order to obtain
good efficiency and a low pressure operation of the overall system.
The solution presented in this article points to the opposite, since
it is based on the splash effect observed when a
drop of
liquid falls down on a perfectly elastic surface. Although only a
small model of a wind turbine has been constructed to validate the
concept, here we present and discuss such a proposal by means of
mixing some Physics with some exercises of intuition. .
|
| . |
|
 |
HyperTurbine:
a Wind Machine From Another World
[free] 
Author: J.
Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira
Date: June 2009
(9
pages). The wind
power mindset has lately been substantially affected by the
confrontation between expectations and reality. It has been
systematically shown that in practice the amounts of energy produced
are much smaller than what seemed to be calculated by technicians who
strongly promoted such an idea. We
have to say we
feel deluded too. The problem has to do with the lack of a clear
interpretation of what wind speed means, in practice, in terms of
available energy, and also the lack of analysis of the transference
of energy along all the parts of the wind system, including its
electrical components. A final observation that inverters operate on
a basis of 50% efficiency when transferring power, in effect reduces
the performance of a wind system claimed to be 30% efficient as half
of this. This led us to estimate that most wind systems would be
operating with no more than around 15% efficiency, which is a poor
figure, specially for small wind turbines. The other aspect is to
realize that systems in the market are rated at wind speeds around
10m/s, which in effect means “strong wind”, therefore for
situations occurring infrequently, in most places. Nevertheless, here
we
present our
latest conception of a wind turbine, which we
decided to name hyperturbine due to the fact that
it is based
on a completely new strategy for collecting the wind energy, and
on a design we consider even more interesting that the superturbine
proposed
in a previous article. .
|
| . |
|
 |
SuperbWind:
An Artistic Wind System Praising the Wind Energy Mindset
[free]
Author:
J. Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira
Date:
Sep 2008
(7
pages). Herein we present
a wind system for lowmedium power, developed with the intent of joining
arts and lowcost technology. Since both aspects are nowadays easily
accessible
to the common person, and since the production of energy has already
been
opened to the private generation of electric power by means of
renewable
energies, we think that the time has come to motivate people to develop
and use their own systems, which sometimes may start with an innocent
artistic
project. In a certain sense, technology is still being presented to the
public as a kind of myth, so, this article may also be seen as a
contribution
to the popularization of knowledge, against such a myth. We believe
that
societies would be much more prolific if not trapped in such
obstructive
practices. Here we present a real artistic technological system which
is
now being tested in a real house of a real family. One of the
innovative
aspects of it is the fact that the generator is located on the roof of
the house, instead of on the top of the mast. We expected to be capable
of generating electricity for direct injection into the public network
and, since the system is located near the seaside, where winds are
usually
very generous to achieve between 1 and 1,5 KWatt of wind power, in
special
circumstances. . |
| . |
|
 |
Circles
Model for Metro Light Rail Analysis
[free]

Author:
J. Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira
Date:
Sep 2007
(6
pages). The present article
shows a way of transforming a Metro Light Rail simulation model into a
more abstract model, based on circles. This sort of representation,
which
goes into the abstract domain, is made to run in parallel with the
common
dynamic representation of the rail network during the simulation
process,
and gives the user precious information concerning the harmony with
which
the overall system is performing. Frequently, a simple look into this
running
circles model is enough to let the user identify or understand certain
traffic effects associated with the accuracy of the vehicle scheduling,
for example. Although abstract, this is an interesting representation
to
help study the dynamics of Metro Light Rail networks, together with
other
methods like sensitive analysis or the common train schedule or
time-space
diagrams. We also present some results obtained by simulating a
didactic
representation of the Metro Light Rail of Brussels, since it is a
well-known
and modern European Union (EU) light rail facility.
|
| . |
|
 |
scMod/Sim.exe,
For Supply Chain Modelling and Simulation
[free]
Author:
J. Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira
Date:
Mar 2007
(7
pages). In this paper
we present an application dedicated to modelling and simulating Supply
Chain systems (scMod/Sim.exe), developed with C++, with which a wide
number
of structures and policies can be analysed. The model construction is
based
on primitives resembling the real objects involved in these systems,
like
trucks, transport paths, retailers, factories, warehouses, stocks, etc.
The result is a very simple environment for representing the Supply
Chain
in a wide range of situations. The simulator application, with its
various
tools for automatically representing the relevant metrics, gives the
analyst
an excellent opportunity for studying the behaviour of his/her Supply
Chain,
from the operational basis to the level of strategic decisions. In
addition,
the simulator includes a tool for helping to create the rigidity matrix
of the Supply Chain (Feliz-Teixeira & Brito, 2004), with which
the
analyst can get an idea about how much his/her system will be flexible
to demand variations.
|
| . |
|
 |
Bicycle
Wheel: A Surprising Wind Turbine
[free]
Author:
J. Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira
Date:
December 2006
(7
pages). This is the third
of a group of articles about the concept of convergence in turbines, in
particular in those used for wind power capture. Herein we present a
discussion
and some conclusions about the design of the bicycle wheel converted
into
an easy to build convergent wind turbine. The results observed in
practice
have been so promising that we suggest that this is perhaps an
excellent
design for a wind turbine. We also expect once more to promote
renewable
energies for that they definitely become a strong alternative for
electrical
power generation. A short video of a small bicycle wheel running with
the
wind can be seen: video.
|
| . |
|
 |
Double
Convergent Wind Turbine:To Follow the Wind Direction
[free]
Author:
J. Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira
Date:
November 2006
(6
pages). Here we present
a double turbine for wind power capture which uses the concept of
convergency
and naturally has the ability of aligning itself with the direction of
the wind flow. Although the model presented here is an experimental
prototype,
it has been observed that it operates with very promising performances.
In this article we show the turbines’ structure and present a first
model
of a rotor a metre in diameter. One may get a better idea of how this
system
performs by watching the two short videos: video1,
video2.
|
| . |
|
 |
Low-cost
Convergent Turbine for Wind Power Usage
[free]
Author:
J. Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira
Date:
November 2006
(9
pages). Here we expose
the concepts of “divergent” and “convergent” turbines, and use them to
support the introduction of a new turbine for wind power capture. This
is a low-cost turbine which can easily be built with ordinary
materials.
Mainly due to the simple construction, the low-cost of its materials
and
the surprising performance observed in practice, this system may be
seen
as an interesting alternative to the expensive wind turbines presently
offered in the market. This is, however, a proposal which has not yet
been
characterized by accurate scientific measures in order to be compared
with
the performances achieved by the usual turbine design.
|
| . |
|
 |
Roda-de-Vento,
a Proposal for an Ex-libris
[free]
Author:
J. Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira
Date:
May 2006 (5
pages). The idea described
herein is a proposal for an artistic-technological installation on the
coastline of Porto, Portugal. The aim is to install in a seaside
esplanade
a giant bicycle wheel (Roda-de-Vento) which will turn with the wind.
This
element will be both an architectural construction praising those who
often
use the esplanade for riding bicycles, roller-skating, wind-cars, etc.,
as well as a wind electrical generator, aimed to directly promote to
citizens
the potential hidden in renewable energies.
|
| . |
|
 |
HiperJanela,
an Upper Dimension for the Society of Information
[free] 
Author:
J. Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira
Date:
May 2006
(6
pages). This article
describes an idea for achieving a higher level of global visibility of
certain events and for improving and stimulating citizens (in this
first
approach, European citizens) for a higher level of consciousness of the
diversity of European reality. The proposal presented in this article,
named “HiperJanela”, aims to bring citizens to an upper level of
on-time-real-information
across the entire European space, by means of a global network of
public
video-interfaces which we call the HiperJanelas (notice that “Janela”
is
the Portuguese word for window).
|
| . |
|
 |
Holistic
Metrics, a Trial on Interpreting Complex Systems
[free]

Author:
J. Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira, António E. S. Carvalho Brito
Date:
April 2006
(5
pages). In this article
is proposed a simple method for estimating or characterize the
behaviour
of complex systems. Usual ways of treating the complex output data
obtained
from the activity (real or simulated) of such a kind of systems, in
many
cases analysed in the time domain, is herein substituted by the idea of
representing such data in the frequency domain, somehow like what is
commonly
done in Fourier Analysis and in Quantum Mechanics. This is expected to
give the analyst a more holistic perspective on the system’s behaviour,
as well as letting him/her choose almost freely the complex states in
which
such behaviour is to be projected. We hope this will lead to simpler
processes
in characterizing complex systems.
|
| . |
|
 |
Comparing
a Standard and a Naïve Stock Refill Policies by Means of Simulation[free]
Authors:
J. Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira, António E. S. Carvalho Brito
Date:
October 2004
(6
pages). This article
compares by simulation two different stock refill
policies applied
to
the same in-lined one-product Supply Chain. The first method is the
Japanese
KANBAN, and the second is a naïve method named by the authors the
“BanKan”. The surprising results obtained show an obvious operational
advantage
of the naïve method, at least under the conditions of the present
Supply Chain configuration. This method does not make use of any
criteria
dependent on the actual stock level at the facility, and it was also
observed
that the materials flow through the Supply Chain as in a “river without
dams”, with extremely low local inventory, as defended by Taiichi Ohno,
the father of just-in-time (JIT) systems, in the 1980s.
|
| . |
|
 |
Using
Simulation to Analyse the Procurement of Additives for Lubricants in
the
Oil Refinery of Porto, Portugal [free]
Authors:
J. Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira, António E. S. Carvalho Brito
Date:
September 2004
(7
pages). Data in this
article results from a study of simulation about the
procurement
of additives for lubricants in the Oil Refinery of Porto
(Portugal).
Here we describe the real case under study as well as the method we
have
chosen to board it by means of simulation. Costs including
transportation,
holding and stockouts have been considered during the simulation as
well
as in the final conclusions, which led us recommend a more frequent
reordering
of materials at the lubricants plant. This we expect to result in the
saving
of around 0.3M€/year in global costs.
|
| . |
|
 |
On Measuring
the Supply Chain Flexibility [free]

Authors:
J. Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira, António E. S. Carvalho Brito
Date:
February 2004
(6
pages). This paper presents
some lines of thinking related with the establishment of a concrete
mathematical
basis to measure the flexibility
of a Supply Chain. A theory
of flexibility directed to demand variations is
presented and commented,
as well as some results achieved by dynamic simulation.
|
| . |
|
 |
Distributed
Application for Supply Chain Management Training [free]
Authors:
J. Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira, António E. S. Carvalho Brito
Date:
June 2004
(5
pages). Here we present
a computer application to be used as an interactive tool
for Supply
Chain Management Training. Implemented with Visual
C++, this application
embeds the “Cranfield Blocks Game” (Richard Saw , 2002) network
structure,
and uses precisely the same demand patterns as the manual version of
the
game. The present application substitutes the classroom table by the
computer
screen, and can run in AUTOPLAY mode, meaning the game can also be
played
with only one player or even automatically, with no players at all.
|
| . |
|
 |
An
Approach for Dynamic Supply Chain Modelling [free]
Authors:
J. Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira, António E. S. Carvalho Brito
Date:
October 2003
(8
pages). This paper presents
some concepts related to the development of a “model
generator” for
simulating supply chain systems. Such concepts
arise not only from
the object point of view taken over this system, but also from our
intention
to synthesise the behaviour of these kinds of systems based in a Costumer
Supplier Unit (CSU), whith wich events and activities
related to suppliers,
factories, warehouses, retailers, and even the last customers, can be
modelled.
|
| . |
|
 |
Visual
C++ software for warehouse simulation (an overview) [free]
Authors:
J. Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira, António E. S. Carvalho Brito
Date:
February 1999
(6
pages). This article
presents an overview of a visual and interactive warehouse
simulator
developed with Visual C++. This simulator have been designed under an
object
oriented programming approach and looks to the warehouse in an
hierarchic
point of view, which allows an interesting separation of the
responsibilities
on the system.
|
| . |
|
 |
Introduction
to a warehouse visual simulator [free]
Authors:
J. Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira, António E. S. Carvalho Brito
Date:
September 1999
(8
pages). Here we present
an introduction to the work we have developed about a Visual
and
Interactive Simulator Modeller for warehouse simulation.
In the
approach presented here, the different elements in a warehouse, as well
as the processes they are related to, were based on the warehouse and
control
systems used by the Portuguese company EFACEC S.A.
|
| . |
|
 |
Warehouse
visual simulation applied to a practical layout (Iran) [free]
Authors:
J. Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira, António E. S. Carvalho Brito
Date:
July 1998
(6
pages). In this article
we present the results of a case study made on
warehouse characterisation
by means of computer simulation techniques. In this study three
different
layout solutions are considered, one proposed by the ultimate Iranian
client,
and the other two designed and proposed by the Portuguese company
EFACEC
with the intention of achieving better performance and price than those
on the client's proposal.
|
| . |
|
 |
Warehouse
visual simulation applied to a practical layout (Brasil) [free]
Authors:
J. Manuel
Feliz-Teixeira, António E. S. Carvalho Brito
Date:
July 1998
(6
pages). This article
presents a
simulation study made for the project of
a warehouse
layout designed by the Portuguese company EFACEC with the purpose of
installing
it in Brasil. The case have been analysed using Visual and Interactive
Modelling, conceiving the elements and processes in the warehouse with
the same base philosophy of management and control that this Portuguese
enterprise uses for building automated warehouses.
|
|
|
|
|
|