Applied Logistics series

I have some material to start a new series on logistics applied to daily life (commuter trains, traffic jam, airport queue) with the real life examples I recently experienced on bad flow management, not to say lack of common sense...

The basic law in workflow management is

I = R.T
Inventory in the system = Throughput rate x Flow Time

An inventory can be a products in a warehouse but also a queue, a pile of documents waiting to be processed, etc. If I take the example of a individuals queuing in front of a check-in desk in the airport, the waiting time for one person (mins) (T) equals number of people in the queue (pers) (I) divided by the processing rate at the counter (mins/pers) (R).

The other major rule in dynamic systems is that an inventory is building up when the arrival rate is greater than the output rate and vice versa, inventory is decreasing when the arrival rate is smaller than the output rate.

For more details check http://web.mit.edu/sgraves/www/papers/Little's%20Law-Published.pdf

°<><

Fara Sabina

As we experience a really nice and hot autumn, on Saturday I went out.

Fara Sabina is nothing romantic but has some green to offer to the eyes. It was an easy choice as it is 40 mins away from Rome and I just had to take the train on the opposite direction than I usually do every morning. I arrived there around noon following my instinct that the town was uphill. I had bought my pizza biancha in Rome before leaving so I complemented with peach juice and clementines bought at the local supermarket.

- The church -

I walked around to find a quiet green spot but the city is rather small and as I said nothing particular. I just liked the atmosphere, italian countryside, relaxed, sunny and green. I should do that more often, it's just so good to take a few hours break from daily life! Maybe I will try to see olive's harvest next Saturday...

- A Fara Sabina cat -

°<><

Pizza Biancha

Questo si chiama la pizza biancha...
This is the "white" pizza...
Cette chose s'appelle la pizza blanche. Blanche par opposition à rouge lorsqu'il y a de la sauce tomate. Et c'est trop bon! Il s'agit de pâte à pizza badigeonnée à l'huile d'olive salée. On peut l'utiliser pour faire des sandwiches. Tout juste sortie du four c'est encore meilleur :) mmmmmmmmmmmh


°<><

Mais où est ce qu'ils vont trouver qqn répondant à ces critères?

Formation/Qualité requise : Titulaire d’un bac + 4 minimum ou équivalent, le ou la candidat(e) devra être

un bon communiquant Il/elle devra rendre compte régulièrement (par écrit et par oral) de ses actions auprès du chef de station dont il dépend ainsi qu’auprès de l’Ipev.

et un bon manuel: Il/elle assure la maintenance courante des moyens de déplacement affectés à l’AWIPEV (1 zodiac, 2 embarcations coque rigide, 10 vélos et 6 motos neige), les grosses réparations étant prises en charge par le garage local.

Permis côtier, expérience de conduite en mer : Durant l’été, il/elle peut être le guide-sécurité et l’accompagnateur des scientifiques lors des sorties hors de la base dans les fjords et vers les glaciers.

Expérience montagne: Le candidat ou la candidate participera à un hivernage d’une durée minimale de douze mois, au sein d’une équipe de recherche. Ny-Ålesund est le lieu habité le plus au nord du monde (79°N).

Anglais parlé écrit couramment
Allemand apprécié
Pratique des outils bureautiques (excel, word)

Bonne sociabilité indispensable: la base internationale de Ny Ålesund se compose de 10 stations scientifiques de plusieurs pays. La population en hiver (de novembre à février) est d’environ 30 personnes, en été (mars octobre) de 130 personnes (composée à 80 % de scientifiques de toutes nationalités).

Titulaire du titre de Sauveteur Secouriste
Ce poste exige une très bonne condition physique


et type de poste:
POSTE LOGISTICIEN EN REGION POLAIRE
Il/elle supervise et participe au bon déroulement du transport du matériel logistique et scientifique (établissement des différents documents de douane tel que colisage, etc…).

Il/elle a en charge l’inventaire du matériel logistique et scientifique, le suivi de l’état des stocks et doit proposer et justifier les achats complémentaires au responsable basé au siège de l’IPEV.

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Josette and the color of the walls...

I'm working on the 6th floor, blue tower. Josette is having her headquarters 6th floor, green tower. Josette is our Executive Director and uses the elevator like everyone else. So it happened that Friday night I got on the same lift. She was accompagnied by a lady but a few second later she hold out her hand at me "Hi I'm Josette!" (not sure she did have this pandemic awareness training...) -"Nice to meet you, I'm L" I answered politely. Then she asks "Where are you from?" "How long have you been working with us?" "Where are you working?" Logisitics/Shipping blabla.

Ok, that's fair enough and pretty usual for every employee that happen to be on the same elevator. Now is the funny part.... She keeps on going "You have really nice color" me: "Yes, they're blue with waves, like the sea" (speaking about our office walls) ......
!?!! ....... "No, I was not speaking about the walls but your hair and eyes, you have a pretty color" ..........

No comment on this misunderstanding :X

°<><

Why do italians...

wear sunglasses
- in the tube (underground)
- at night (7pm)
- in winter (nov)?

Yes, I saw the combination of all factors yesterday....

°<><

Fièvre - Fever

I was about to write a new post in my italian series. Fever. However documenting myself I found out that maybe I was about to write something wrong...

My office looks like an atomic bomb has exploded. Day after day they are less people. Some come at work in the morning but go back home after 30 mins, 2 hours, 1/2 day... It starts to be scary. All suffer from fever. And 37,2°c is considered as an abnormal body temperature. This was the point I was questioning, isn't it exaggerated to say that 37,2°c is a fever? I was always told that up to 37,5°c it's fine.

L.Girard and A. Le Strat from Université de Rennes give the following definition:

La température centrale normale du corps humain est de :- 37C° le matin- 37,5C° le soir La fièvre est définie par l'élévation de la température centrale au dessus de :- 37,5C° le matin- 38C° le soir En fait, cette définition est variable, car il existe des variations individuelles et des facteurs physiologiques influençant la température :- nycthémère : pic physiologique vers 18 heures, augmentant la température de 0,5C°- activité musculaire, digestion peuvent augmenter la température de 1C°- cycle menstruel : la température augmente au cours de la deuxième partie, de 0,5C° à 1C°

CARACTERISTIQUES DE LA FIEVRE

2 - Intensité - peu élevée 37,5 à 38C° (fébricule) - modérée 38 à 39C°- élevée > 39C°

and you also have a nice description of the underlying diseases as the fever is only a symptom... if you are interested check:

http://www.med.univ-rennes1.fr/resped/cmg/lafievre.html

However wikipédia, is telling us:

When a patient has or is suspected of having a fever, that person's body temperature is measured using a thermometer. At a first glance, fever is present if:
Temperature in the anus (rectum/rectal) is at or over 37.8 °C (100.0 °F)
Temperature in the mouth (oral) is at or over 37.5 °C (99.5 °F)
Temperature under the arm (axillary) is at or over 37.2 °C (99.0 °F)
Temperature in the ear (otic) is at or over 37.2 ºC (99.0 ºF)

So it depends on the measurement method, and you see that 37,2°c can be considered as fever if the temperature was taken under the arm or in the ear.

Conclusion, is this a real epidemia or somatic signals of discontent?

°<><