STUDY GUIDE · GKU 1
Operations research study guide (Industrial Engineering)
Operations research is the mathematics of choosing well when resources are limited. A problem is written as an objective and constraints; if everything is linear, the simplex method finds the optimum and the dual gives the shadow prices that say what one more unit of a resource is worth. Special structures — transportation, assignment, shortest path and maximum flow — have their own algorithms, while integer and nonlinear problems need branch-and-bound or the KKT conditions. The last part treats uncertainty through simulation and queueing theory. Every section opens with a quick-revision card, and the worked examples run from easy to exam level.
Structured by the official ETEC subject standard for this topic: every listed topic and learning outcome, with formulas, figures and worked examples. The full sections are available to members in the app.
SKU 1.1 · Linear programming
Formulation, simplex and sensitivity
Turning a word problem into an LP, solving it graphically or by simplex, and reading the dual and shadow prices with their range of validity.
Transportation, assignment and networks
Transportation and assignment models, shortest path, spanning tree and maximum flow, and the balance equation that links them.
SKU 1.2 · Nonlinear and integer programming
Convexity, KKT and integer programming
When a local optimum is global, how the KKT conditions certify it, and how branch-and-bound handles whole-number decisions.
SKU 1.3 · Stochastic systems
Simulation and queueing systems
Discrete-event simulation, verification and validation, and the M/M/1 queue with its utilisation, length and waiting-time formulas.