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Decision Support System
Submitted By:-
Shweta S Bhandari…...(005)
Gunjan Marwaha……..(048)
INDEX
I. Abstract 1
ii. Features……………………………………….……...3
iii. Types…………………………………………………4
iv. Benefits…………………………………………….…6
IV. Bibliography………………………………………….…..13
Abstract
Decision Support Systems (DSS) are a specific class of computerized information system
that supports business and organizational decision-making activities. A properly designed
DSS is an interactive software-based system intended to help decision makers compile
useful information from raw data, documents, personal knowledge, and/or business
models to identify and solve problems and make decisions.
Typical information that a decision support application might gather and present
would be:
Accessing all of your current information assets, including legacy and relational
data sources, cubes, data warehouses, and data marts.
Comparative sales figures between one week and the next
Projected revenue figures based on new product sales assumptions
The consequences of different decision alternatives, given past experience in a
context that is described
FEATURES:
• Assists managers in unstructured/semi- structured tasks
• Supports rather than replace the human Decision Making
• Improves the effectiveness rather than the efficiency
• Combines the use of models or analytical techniques with data access functions
• Emphasizes flexibility and adaptability to respect changes in the decision context
TYPES OF DSS:
A decision support system may present information graphically and may include an
expert system or artificial intelligence (AI). It may be aimed at business executives or
some other group of knowledge workers.
Typical information that a decision support application might gather and present would
be:-
(a) Accessing all information assets, including legacy and relational data sources;
There are a number of Decision Support Systems. These can be categorized into five
types:
Communication-driven DSS
Data-driven DSS
Most data-driven DSSs are targeted at managers, staff and also product/service
suppliers. It is used to query a database or data warehouse to seek specific
answers for specific purposes. It is deployed via a main frame system,
client/server link, or via the web. Examples: computer-based databases that have a
query system to check (including the incorporation of data to add value to existing
databases.
Document-driven DSS
Knowledge-driven DSS:
Model-driven DSS
Model-driven DSSs are complex systems that help analyse decisions or choose
between different options. These are used by managers and staff members of a
business, or people who interact with the organization, for a number of purposes
depending on how the model is set up - scheduling, decision analyses etc. These
DSSs can be deployed via software/hardware in stand-alone PCs, client/server
systems, or the web.
BENEFITS OF DSS:
Despite the growth in rail services and the successful introduction of modern container
operations, there had been a relative decline of rail output to road output over the last 15
years. This reflected the specialization of IR in carrying low-valued, long-haul bulk
cargoes, such as coal and the very low unit revenues from inter-city passenger operations.
Road competition for freight had also been very effective, although it had lessened in the
last two years due to congested road conditions. The planned construction of better
intercity roads and expressways increased the challenge for the Railway to become more
competitive.
Why DSS?
The new economic environment in India had given rise to a growth rate of GDP
averaging 5.6 % per year and growth of 7 to 9 % annually in surface transport demand.
Export growth was averaging 18-21%. This growth was creating pressures on both the
road and rail modes and it was anticipated that the railway will be called on to handle
125-150 million tons of additional freight (a 34-41 percent increase or average annual
growth of more than 6%) and an even faster increase in passenger flows by the year
2000. Therefore, identification and evaluation of the most cost-efficient means for
achieving capacity expansion was a top priority for IR.
With this heavy pressure for growth and a shortage of investment funds, effective
planning tools were needed by IR to provide a comprehensive basis for the screening and
evaluation of proposed improvement projects and to provide better forecasts of traffic for
each corridor, taking into account the competition from road haulage. Since the capacity
expansion alternatives for Indian Railways lay in a complicated combination of
investments, there was a need for relatively sophisticated but cost-effective methods to
determine the relative priorities of system-wide investments. The IR also identified a
need for access to more market information to help it compete for the most profitable
business in the future freight market.
The Long Range Decision-Support System
The primary objective of LRDSS Phase I was to develop a decision support system
(DSS) for the management of the Indian Railways that would allow it to evaluate
decisions that affect railway capacity in a comprehensive, system-wide, multi-modal
context and to evaluate potentially profitable markets for railway service. The system
must be capable of evaluating a complicated and inter-related set of investments (e.g.,
gauge changing, improved signaling systems, lengthened sidings, urban bypasses, high
horsepower locomotives, low tare weight high axle load freight wagons, and train
operations policies designed to maximize the capacity of the track).
To meet these objectives the decision-support system required a set of analytic tools and
models integrated into a user-friendly system with access to a wide range of data. The
most appropriate and cost-effective framework for the DSS was found to be a
combination of commercial simulation software, specially-designed system optimization
software, specially-designed database structure and a Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) which provided both customized dialog with the users and the ability to use a
mixture of map and table-based information to identify and evaluate the best alternatives.
Implementation of the DSS
The analytical tools for the DSS were structured around six key strategic modules, which
were capable of analysis of investments over a 20-year planning period with detailed
analysis for the first five years and for every fifth year thereafter. The six modules were:
a) Traffic Forecasting Module: This module forecasted goods and passenger traffic
demand between major origin-destination pairs for various commodities under
different assumed demand scenarios
b) Facility Performance Module: This module estimated capacity, cost and transit
time for existing and proposed, converted and new rail lines, yards, transhipment
points and other congested facilities. For rail line costs and delay functions, it
used the results of a detailed rail line simulation model (RAILS)
c) Traffic Assignment Module: This module assigned the forecasted traffic and
computed financial costs for the major railway network under different assumed
scenarios of investment and demand. It included a network-wide model based on
non-linear programming
d) Cost-Benefit Analysis Module: This module provided an economic and
financial cost-benefit analysis in summary form for each proposed investment
alternative over a 20-year period under a selected demand scenario
e) Financial Forecasting Module: This module translated the results of the above
modules into a summary of the costs and revenues of IR for each major
commodity group and for passengers.
f) Market Analysis Module: This module stored the results of the shipper survey
and analyzed information on cost and traffic relevant to shipper decisions on the
choice of road or rail for goods movements. It included a basic mode choice
model, calibrated from the shipper survey results.
These modules were all linked together with a GIS-based user interface, which provides
graphics, dialog boxes, spatial analysis tools and other decision-support features.
Initial Results of LRDSS
The anticipated outputs of Phase II will identify and evaluate even more cost-effective
options for IR management, and give access by managers to an even wider range of data
that they could not access before the LRDSS. With the LRDSS, the preliminary evidence
is that the Railway Board of the IR will have an improved ability to make better decisions
and get more productivity out of their railway system. Phase II will expand that capability
even more.
REFERENCES
1. The Journal of the Operational Research Society, Vol. 41, No. 11 (Nov., 1999), pp.
1077 -1080 Published by: Palgrave Macmillan Journals on behalf of the Operational
Research Society
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2582905
2. Cook, Peter, "The Use of GIS in Improving the Cost- Effectiveness in Transport
Investment Decisions: The China Railway Example," Pacific Rim TransTech
Conference Proceedings, Volume II, July 25-28, 1993.