Description

Description

We are interested in measuring the adequacy of test suites in the context of distributed applications using object-oriented middleware such as CORBA and Java RMI. We are evaluating test criteria based on the object interface descriptions. These criteria are related to method coverage, exception coverage, method sequence coverage and interface mutation. A tool that collects the coverage metrics will also be implemented.

Description

We are interested in providing a test infrastructure for distributed Java applications. The infrastructure will allow testers set up tests, monitor and control their execution, and observe changes in test coverage. An event and control-action specification mechanism will be developed and a prototype tool will be implemented.

Description

Supply Chain Management assists in meeting ever-urgent customer demands for finished products. The supply chain " consists of all stages involved, directly or indirectly, in fulfilling a customer request" (Chopra and Meindl, 2001). Managing the supply chain involves attention to, for example, developing a product, transporting finished products, and the timeliness with which these activities are conducted. Recent applications have addressed minimizing supply chain costs associated with getting the product to the customer, and sustaining the customer's use of that product.

Consider that many corporations purchase multi-million dollar computer systems to maintain data bases and websites, and carry out mundane duties such as word processing. The computer companies that sell these complex systems not only supply the customer with the product, about must also ensure that the computer systems remain constantly functional.

However, computer systems invariably fail, generating a demand for repair parts. This demand is extremely time-sensitive, as the computer systems, and the corporations who depend on these systems, become crippled without the timely response of a repair vendor with the appropriate hardware or software.

Policies regarding where and how many repair parts to store are far from obvious. For example, storing many and different types of repair parts close to the corporation will virtually guarantee an extremely rapid response to a failure. owever, a computer company would hardly be able to economically justify such a policy due to the cost of maintaining many warehouses, and of holding a generous number of repairable parts in inventory. In the latter case, holding parts "in storage" causes the computer company to incur an opportunity cost, primarily a function of the company's inability to derive revenue-either directly from the sale of the repair part or indirectly through the part's inherent value-while the part sits in a warehouse unused (potentially becoming obsolete).

Because repair parts can be extremely valuable, even minor reductions in repair parts inventory can save a computer company millions of dollars. Therefore, our research investigates optimal inventory policies for the Repairable Service Parts . Logistics System of a computer company. In addition to determining the stocking levels for each part at each warehouse, questions concerning the number and location of warehouses must also be answered. Different "types" of warehouses must be considered. Some only hold inventory, while others hold inventory and repair broken parts. A final level of complexity presents itself in determining the way in which warehouses interact, e.g., whether one warehouse ships parts to another stocked-out warehouse.