• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.294-300
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• 2004

This paper considers a trade-off effect between in-house storage space and leased storage space in generic warehouses operated under a randomized storage assignment policy. The amount of in-house storage space is determined based on the law of large numbers satisfying a given service level of protection against space shortages. Excess space requirement is assumed to be met via leased storage space. A new analytic model is formulated for determining the excess space such that the total cost of storage space is minimized. Finally, computational results are provided for the systems where the standard economic-order-quantity inventory model is used for all items.

• IE interfaces
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.219-229
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• 1996

Most studies on the operation policy for AS/RS concluded that the class-based storage policy has better performance than random storage policy does. However ASRS performances are examined only with the assumption of fixed production quantity in the studies. It is true that production quantity of each item changes frequently in practice. If an ASRS keeps the current storage policy regardless of production quantity variation, the performance of present storage policy will be worse. The effect of production quantity variation per product between 10 and 80% with random storage policy and class-based storage policy with reassignment and relocation are studied. The results are compared with both of the randomized and class-based storage policies without reassignment nor relocation cases. A typical ASRS system is developed using GPSS/PC for operation policy evaluation purposes.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.39-50
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• 1994

Most research results on the throughput of unit-load automated storage retrieval (AS/R) systems assume the randomized storage; that is, all slots In the entire rack are equally likely to be selected for the storage location. However, for the most existing AS/R systems which use Closest Open location storage policy, Park[6] mathematically showed that this assumption results in a significant difference from the actual performance of AS/R systems. In this study, we present more details about the performance of the unit-load AS/R systems by considering the rack utilization and rack density; and examine their impact on the throughput of AS/R systems by using computer simulation. A new storage policy named Shortest Cycle Location(SCL) is proposed. Simulation results indicate that the performance of SCL policy consistently outperforms the Closest Open location storage policy. We also define the "Extra-Cost Zone" compared to the "No-Cost Zone"[3] and explore its geometric and practical meaning.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.328-336
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• 2001

In this paper, an approach is presented for determining the required storage capacity of a warehouse with leased public space. Storage assignment policies considered are randomized and class-based storage assignment policies. An analytic model for each of the storage policies is formulated with the objective of minimizing the cost of owned storage space and leased space while satisfying a desired service level of protection against space shortages. Cost functions used in the models are piecewise liear with fixed costs. For the models, algorithms are developed to generate optimal solutions. The approach is applied to the systems where the standard economic-order-quantity inventory model is used for all items being stored in the warehouse.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.384-393
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• 2001

The performance of a double carousel system depends on its design and operation strategy. The two-class based assignment policy is expected to be an appropriate storage policy for its efficient operation, since it has two independently-moved carousels, lower and upper sub-carousels. This paper conducts a comparative analysis of the effects of the two-class based assignment policy and those of randomized assignment policy on the throughput of a double carousel system. We also show that, by allowing the sub-carousels not to be equal in size, a further improvement in the throughput can be obtained.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.258-276
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• 1998

This study was conducted to justify the "prescribed shelf life" currently used in Samsung Medical Center and give recommendations based on scientific data to adopt for safe and cost-effective storage times for sterile goods Since the early 1970's, predetermined expiration dating policy has been used in Korea on all in-house sterilized products like any other countries; six months for the supplies wrapped in polyethylene peel pouches and two weeks for the rest. Recently, however, the studies suggest that current standards for preserving the sterility can be changing. It looks like we unnecessarily have too-short expiration date of sterilized supplies, that is far from being cost effective. Certainly, this research is an exciting project, especially in Korea, and will be leading and contributing to the paradigm shift of the conservative concept of shelf life for sterile supplies in Korean healthcare facilities. The major goal of this study was placed on the measurement of the recontamination time in packs wrapped in all kinds of wrapping materials used in S.M.C and stored in various conditions for periods ranging from three months to six months, and then develop a practical standard of "shelf life" based on the analyzed data. Objectives: To measure and compare the recontamination time of sterile packs among wrapppers and storage conditions, and develop a practical standard for the shelf life and storage conditions of sterile products. Samples and Method: The sterile integrity was investigated of the total 1,440 sterile sample packs containing gauze strip($1.5cm{\times}0.5cm$) we prepared and wrapped in nine wrapping materials (randomized reprocessed linens, linens reprocessed 99 times, linens reprocessed 120 times, new kraft paper, used kraft paper, new nonwoven fabrics, 6-time reprocessed nonwoven fabrics, new polyethylene peel pouches, used polyethylene peel pouches), and stored in four locations(closed cabinet of one of the typical wards, open shelf of one of ICUs, open shelf of separate storage room in ER, open shelf in OR), for three to six months, respectively in 1998. Each type of packs were opened weekly and the gauze strips inoculated into Brewer's thioglycollate broth at $35^{\circ}C$ for seven days. Results: There was no growth found for any types of the pack and storage conditions studied. Discussion: This study was conducted in an attempt to identify the possibility of extending the current shelf life for sterile goods we use in a sense of cost effectiveness. The findings suggest that we could extend our expiration dates, that means we can save a lot of materials and personnel time meeded for resterilizing, outdating, recleaning, wrapping, and reshelving. Then it will initiate a great reform in the field of healthcare in Korea, and now we are looking forward to this valuable revolution. We are going to continue this study and take all steps need to apply this new concept to our practice, and then trying to extend to other hospitals.