Ciência sem Fronteiras (Science Without Borders)
DCU PhD Project Template:
**Please use one form per project**
Please complete & submit to your Head of School by Monday 16th July
PI name & contact details:
School:
Research Centre / group affiliation:
Dr. John Geraghty
john.geraghty@dcu.ie +353-1-700-7739
School of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering, Dublin
City University
Enterprise Process Research Centre
Research group / centre website:
PI website / link to CV:
http://ie.linkedin.com/in/johngeraghty
http://www.dcu.ie/info/staff_member.php?id_no=714
Brief summary of PI research / research group / centre activity (2 or 3 lines max):
The Enterprise Process Research Centre is focused on the modelling and analysis of manufacturing
and supply chain systems, business informatics, and developing decision support tools for
engineers and managers for systems decisions.
Title & brief description of PhD project (suitable for publication on web):
Development of a Hybrid Production Control Strategy for Multi-Product Environments
The partitioning of manufacturing systems into segments controlled by different inventory
management strategies (e.g. push to customisation point and pull to the customer order) is not in
itself new. However, research in this area has focused on single product lines. This leads to the
research question of how the approach of partitioning a single product manufacturing system,
finding the suitable strategy for each partition and mapping the strategies to the different partitions
of the system can be developed for multiproduct systems. Providing answers to these questions is
even more complex in multiproduct scenario, when card allocation policies between the various
product types have to be taken into account. Two Kanban card allocation policies dominate the
literature; namely Dedicated and Shared card policies. In the latter production authorization cards
are shared among all the product types while in the former, authorization cards are strictly devoted
for use in authorising the processing of particular product type.
In addition, the proposed research will put into consideration the desire of industry practitioners, as
opposed to academics, to have robust production control strategies that will remain efficient under
conditions of instabilities to the manufacturing system. Fluctuations to real life manufacturing
systems originate from both internal and external sources as well as in form of shift in the original
assumptions made during the modelling and optimisation of the system (e.g. demand distribution
parameters such as mean and standard deviation). Therefore, it is beneficial for Line managers to
have PCS that can continue to deliver in the face of these minor fluctuations without the need for
them to always have to re-optimize.
Unique selling points of PhD project in DCU:
DCU projects should offer something that’s not available in Brazil – specific equipment, multi-disciplinarity,
aspects of structured programme, links with industry, placements, links with other research groups etc.
The EPRC works closely with industry partners, including INTEL, Seagate, Pfizer and Boston
Scientific to deliver solutions. The EPRC is currently working in collaboration with the Irish Centre
for Manufacturing Research (www.icmr.ie) to deliver a solution to ensure organisations can
access, deploy and maintain complex simulation based analysis. The ICMR is a research centre
funded by Enterprise Ireland and the Industrial Development Authority to conduct industry led
research and comprises members from more than 14 multi-national organisations and several
Small to Medium Sized Irish companies. A PhD candidate within the EPRC will have several
opportunities to meet representatives from these companies and develop contacts that will be
invaluable to them in their future career. Additionally, the EPRC’s focus on industrial relevant
research will enhance the value of the candidates experience when seeking employment.
Name & contact details for project queries, if different from PI named above:
Please indicate the graduates of which disciplines that should apply:
Industrial Engineering, Production Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering
Ciência sem Fronteiras / Science Without Borders Priority Area:
Please indicate the specific programme priority area under which the proposed PhD project fits- choose only
one (tick box):

Engineering and other technological areas
Pure and Natural Sciences (e.g. mathematics, physics, chemistry)
Health and Biomedical Sciences
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)
Aerospace
Pharmaceuticals
Oil, Gas and Coal
Renewable Energy
Minerals
Biotechnology
Nanotechnology and New Materials
Technology of prevention and remediation of natural disasters
Biodiversity and Bioprospection
Marine Sciences
Creative Industry
New technologies in constructive engineering
Please complete