Felipe Baesler

This study presents a novel approach that integrates Discrete Event Simulation (DES) with Design of Experiments (DOE) techniques, framed within a stochastic optimization context and guided by a multi-objective goal programming methodology. The focus is on enhancing the operational efficiency of an emergency department (ED), illustrated through a real-world case study conducted in a Chilean hospital. The methodology employs Response Surface Methodology (RSM) to explore and optimize the impact of four critical resources: physicians, nurses, rooms, and radiologists. The response variable, formulated as a goal programming function, captures the aggregated patient flow time across four representative care tracks. The optimization process proceeded iteratively: early stages relied on linear approximations to identify promising improvement directions, while later phases applied a central composite design to model nonlinear interactions through a quadratic response surface. This progression revealed complex interdependencies among resources, ultimately leading to a local optimum. The proposed approach achieved a 50% reduction in the aggregated objective function and improved individual patient flow times by 7% to 26%. Compared to traditional metaheuristic methods, this simulation–optimization framework offers a computationally efficient alternative, particularly valuable when the simulation model is complex and resource-intensive. These findings underscore the value of combining simulation, RSM, and multi-objective optimization to support data-driven decision-making in complex healthcare settings. The methodology not only improves ED performance but also offers a flexible and scalable framework adaptable to other clinical environments seeking resource optimization and operational improvement.

This article addresses the problem of unequal representation in Chile, where the current districting does not effectively consider its socio-economic diversity. An innovative methodology is proposed that uses the socio-economic dissimilarity distance (SED) obtained using a cluster analysis to create more homogeneous electoral districts. This SED is incorporated into a mathematical programming model for (re)districting and seat allocation, taking into account criteria such as the demographic balance, contiguity and compactness. The application of this methodology in the Santiago Metropolitan Region shows a significant improvement in both the socio-economic homogeneity and demographic balance of the districts. This research has relevant implications for electoral justice in Chile, as it proposes a way to improve the representativeness and ensure that the needs of each social group are reflected in the decision-making process.

This research focuses on applying Game Theory to teach the PERT scheduling method to civil engineering students. The work was carried out with students from the Construction Planning and Scheduling course, who were given face-to-face classes on Game Theory applied to teaching the PERT method. This proposal considers that gamification plays a role in user engagement, while Game Theory contributes to data analysis and decision strategies. It began with an initial pre-test evaluation consisting of questions classified by items and evaluation criteria to teach the PERT method using Game Theory, followed by a post-test and a quantitative evaluation that allowed to know the perception and interests of the students. Using Game Theory principles in teaching the PERT method demonstrated improvements in students. In addition, the results presented statistically significant differences in favor of using Game Theory, which would allow it to be proposed as a viable option for teaching PERT and other scheduling methods.

This paper presents a mathematical programming model to simultaneously create districts and allocate seats in Chile’s Chamber of Deputies, improving representativeness. In addition, it explicitly incorporates constraints that ensure the contiguity of the communes that form the districts while respecting natural and administrative boundaries. Implementing specific strategies and methods has resulted in significant enhancements in particular metrics used to assess the degree of representativeness. These improvements have effectively addressed certain shortcomings and resulted in more accurate and reliable representation measurements in the given context. This study proposes a novel mathematical programming model that simultaneously tackles district creation and seat allocation for Chile’s Chamber of Deputies. This integrated approach aims to achieve a more representative body. The results demonstrate a substantial decrease in malapportionment, from 11.07 in the 2015 reform to 6.55 under the proposed model. Furthermore, the sum of deviations has diminished, and the number of overrepresented districts has decreased from 17 to 13 out of 28 districts. Consequently, the malapportionment has been significantly reduced and falls within the permissible range of deviations, as outlined by the European Commission for Democracy through Law.

Given the complex and dispersed nature of construction projects, which demand collaboration among varied experts, it is crucial to reevaluate project management and execution approaches to enhance their performance. Agile principles offer a path towards heightened responsiveness within tasks and processes, addressing the construction industry’s fast-paced nature and growing client demands for timely project completion. However, adopting new management methodologies, such as Agile, needs a significant cultural shift, enabling the cultivation of multi-skilled and self-managing teams. Projectification, a growing trend in contemporary society where more activities are managed as projects, has gained significant relevance in recent years. This study examines the application of Agile project management (specifically Agile Scrum methodology) during the pre-construction phase of a construction project through the lens of Projectification. As evidenced by the research results, applying the Agile methodology in the pre-construction phase may help enhance flexibility and collaboration, enabling teams to adapt quickly to evolving project requirements and unforeseen challenges. The findings demonstrate that Agile methodologies offer numerous benefits, including enhanced adaptability, flexibility, accountability, transparency, and teamwork. Additionally, there were significant reductions in time and costs, emphasizing the value of Agile practices in construction project management.

Summary form only given. This work shows an object oriented library that was designed to facilitate the development of simulation studies of sawmills. A group technology approach was used to minimize the number of objects in the library, which includes objects that have the functionality of the equipments found in these facilities, so that the analyst only needs to provide the layout, locate the transports and machines, and insert the parameters of the process. For large sawmills having state of the art production equipment, with optimization capacities in each machine, two applications of the library are shown. The study demonstrates the advantage of using an object orientation, and the usefulness of simulation is a tool for aiding in both the design and in the improvement of the operations of these facilities

The objective of this article is to present the results ob- tained after using a simulation optimization methodology applied to a production line from a secondary manufactur- ing wood processing plant of a well known Chilean mill. For this reason a simulation model constructed in ARENA, was integrated to a genetic algorithms heuristic. The results obtained show that using a different configuration of the plant resources, it is possible to reduce the total average cycle time in 18%. The resource configuration needed to reach this result was obtained evaluating just 1.6% of the total number of possible combinations.