Optimizing operations planning through mathematical programming
Monia Rekik develops smart planning tools to facilitate operations management, improve production system efficiency, and optimize resource use in the manufacturing and utilities sectors.
Project architects
Monia Rekik, P.Eng. Ph.D.
Full Professor, Faculty of Business Administration
Researcher, Interuniversity Research Centre on Enterprise Networks, Logistics, and Transportation (CIRRELT)
Teams
CIRRELT
The CIRRELT research team is made up of regular members, postdoctoral fellows, research professionals, and undergraduate and graduate students. Team members are involved in projects with partners in the community.
CMDO and SRMC
Research team member, Cardiometabolic Health, Diabetes and Obesity Research Network (CMDO) and Centre de recherche en gestion des services de santé (CRGSS)
Montreal Clinical Research Institute
The team brings together research professors from the Department of Operations and Decision Systems and the Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM) to develop AI-based algorithms that can help people living with type 1 diabetes better manage their diabetes day to day.
CRISI
Member of the Industrial Systems Engineering Research Consortium 4.0 (CRISI). The team brings together CRISI members, research professionals and graduate students who work with consortium partners to improve manufacturing operations planning.
Integrating optimization algorithms for industrial planning
Monia Rekik’s work uses mathematical programming concepts to improve operations planning in production facilities. One practical application of her work involved a robotic welding cell at the Alstom plant in La Pocatière, Québec. Welding operations in the cell were planned on a first-come, first-served basis. Professor Rekik’s team developed a series of algorithms that were integrated with the plant’s existing tools to assign an optimal order of execution to the robots instead. This resulted in faster order fulfillment and improved productivity on the assembly line.
Complex schedules made easy
Designing schedules that take into account human needs, union requirements, and principles of equitable scheduling can quickly become a time-consuming headache. Professor Rekik’s mathematical models have been used to produce everything from hospital on-call schedules to timetables for community-based professionals. The algorithms developed by her team automate work planning, providing in mere minutes quality solutions that take into account all the constraints imposed.
Leveraging artificial intelligence for type 1 diabetes management
Professor Rekik is working with the Montreal Clinical Research Institute to use AI in the management of type 1 diabetes. More specifically, she is interested in the data generated by the devices patients use, from continuous glucose sensors to smart watches and insulin pumps. By pooling the data generated by these devices, factors that influence the disease, such as administered insulin, meals, and physical activity, can be taken into account. In this way, the data collected can be used to enable more precise and less restrictive day-to-day management of diabetes.
The scheduling solution developed by Professor Rekik generates results in minutes and eliminates hours of manual work.
Monia Rekik is seeking solutions to decision-making problems for combinatorial transportation auctions.
Professor Rekik and her team are exploring how artificial intelligence can facilitate more effective management of type 1 diabetes.
Optimization algorithms provide fast, effective and efficient solutions to complex problems.
What’s next
Over the next several years, Monia Rekik will continue her work on schedule optimization, applying her research findings to other hospital settings and new areas, such as Québec’s parole board. She is working to design a tool for use in the planning and management of hearing schedules for the parole board and other administrative tribunals.
Professor Rekik is also interested in the transport of goods by road, especially the use of so-called combinatorial auctions. To optimize operations, she is exploring the possibility of setting up a centralized collaborative platform based on these auctions where carriers and shippers could interact and trade. Potential benefits for both sides include cost savings, greenhouse gas emission reductions, increased profits and improvements in quality of life for drivers.
Université Laval au coeur de nos vies
Podcast
Learn more about Monia Rekik and her use of mathematical programming to solve complex processes and develop concrete tools in this interview with Valérie Gaudreau, editor-in-chief of Le Soleil.
ULaval Nouvelles article
Retrace Dr. Rekik’s journey from Tunisia to Québec and explore her research, including her work to develop analytical tools for people with type 1 diabetes.