计算机英文文献翻译
INDUSTTRY PERSPECTIVE
USING A DSS TO KEEP THE COST OF GAS DOWN
Think you spend a lot on gas for you car every yer?J.B.Hunt Transportation Inc.spends a lot more..J.B.Hunt moves freight around the country on its 10,000trucks and 48,000 trailers.The company spent$250 million in 2004 on fuel.That figure was up by 40 percent over the previous year.Diesel fuel is the company's second-largest expense(drivers'wages is the largest),and the freight hauler wanted to find a way to reduce that.part of the answer lay,as it often does,in IT.
In2000,J.B.Hunt installed a decision support system that provides drivers with help in deciding which gas station to stop at for refueling.Using statellite communications,the system beams diesel-fuel prices from all over the country straight into the cabs of the tricks.The software accesses a database with local taxes for each area of the country and then calculates for the drivers how much refueling will actually cost.
J.B.Hunt doesn't require drivers to use this system,but provides incentives for those who do.The company estimates that the system saves about $1 million annually.
Decision Support System
In Chapter 3,you saw how data mining can help you make business decisions by giving you the ability to slice and dice your way through massive amounts of information.Actually,a data warehouse with data-mining tools is a form of decision support.The term decision support system ,used broadly ,means any computerized system that helps you make decisions.Medicine can mean the whole health care industy or in can mean cough syrup,depending on the context.
Narrowly definrd,a decision support system(DSS) si a highly flexible and interantive IT system that is designed to support decision making when the problem is not structured.A DSS is an alliance between you,the decision maker,and specialized support provided by IT(see figure4.4).IT brings speed,vast amounts information,and sophisticated processing capabilities to help you create information useful in making a decision.You bring know-how in the form of your experience,intuition,judgment,and knowledge of the relevant factors.IT provides great power ,but you-as the decision maker-must know what kinds of questions to ask of the information and how to process the information to get those questions answered.In fact,the primary objective of a DSS is to improve your effectiveness as a decision maker by providing you with assistance that will complement your insights.This union of your know-how and IT power helps you generate business intelligence so that you can quickly respond to changes in the marketplace and manage resources in the most effective and efficient ways possible.Following are some example of the varid applicatins of DSSs:
.。A national insurance company uses a DSS to analyze its risk exposure when insuring drivers with histories of driving under the influence.The DSS revealed that married male homeowner in their foeties with one DUI conviction were rarely repeat offenders.By lowering its rates to this group the company increased it market share without increasing its risk exposure.
。Burlington Northern and Santa Fe(BNSF) railroad regularly tests the rails its trains ride on to prevent accidents . Worn out or defective rails result in hundreds of derailment every year , so it's important to address the problem .USing a decision support system to schedule rail testing ,BNSF decreased its rail-caused derailments by 33 percent in 2000,while the other three large railroad companies had a 16 percent rise in such accidents
。Customer relationship management(CRM),as you saw in Chapter 2,is an important part of any successful company's strategy.Decision support is an important part of CRM.On Wall Street,retail brokerage companies analyze opportunities and alerts brokers to beginning problems.
COMPONENTS OF A DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM
DSSs vary greatly in application and complexity,but they all share specific features.A typical DSS has three components(see below and figure 4.5):model management ,data management ,and user interface management.
Before we look at these three components individually,let's get quick overview of how they work together.When you begin your analysis,you tell the DSS,using the user interface management component,which model (in the model management component) to use on what information(in the data management component).The model requests the information from the data management component,which in turn passes the results back to you (see Figure 4.5).Here's an esample of a decision support system at Lands'End clothing business.
。Model management :The DSS at Land's End has to have models to analyze information.The models create new information that decision makers need to plan product lines and inventory levels .For example,Lands'End uses a statistical models called regression analysis to determine trends in customer buying patterns and forecasting models to predict sales levels.
。 Data management:The DSS's data management component stores Lands'End's customer and product information .In addition to this organizational information , the company also needs external information ,such as demographic information and industry and style trend trend informatin.
User interface management : A user interface enables Lands"End decision makers to access information and specify the models they want to use to create the information they need.
Now w'll examine the three DSS components in more general terms.
MODEL MANAGEMENT COMPONENT The model management componet consists of both the DSS models and the DSS model management system. A model is a representation of some event ,fact,or situation. Businesses use models to represent variables and their relationships.For example,you would use a statistical model called analysis of variance to determine whether newspaper,television,and billboard advertising are equally effective in increasing sales. DSSs help in various decision-making situations by using models that allow you to analyze information in many different ways .The models you use in a DSS depend on the decision you're making and ,consequently,the kind of analysis you require.For example,you would use what-if analysis to see what effect the change of one or more variables will have on other variables,or optimization to fine the most profitable solution given operating restrictons and limited resources.You can use spreadsheet software such as Excel to creat a simple DSS for what-if analysis.Look again at Figure 4.5 for an example of a spreadsheet DSS you might build to cpmpare how much you'd pay for a huose at different interest rates and payback periods.
The model management system stores and maintains the DSS's models.Its function of managing models is similar to that of a database management system.The model management component can't select the best model for you to use for a particular problem-that requires your expertise-but it can help you creat and manipulate models quickly and easily.
DATA MANAGEMENT COMPONENT The data managment component performs the function of storing and maintaining the information that you want your DSS to use.The data managment component ,therefore,consists of both the DSS information and the DSS database managment system.the information you use in your DSS comes from one or more of three sources:
1. Organizational information:You many want to use virtually any information available in the organization for your DSS.You can design your DSS to access this information directly from your company's databases and data warehouses.
2. External information:Some decisions require input from external sources of information.Various branches of the federal government,Dow Jones,and the Internet,to mention just a few ,can provide additional information for use with a DSS.
3. Personal information:You can incorporate your own insights and experience-you personal infomation-into your DSS.
USER INTERFACE MANAGEMENT COMPONENT The user interface management component allows you to communicate with the DSS.It consists of the user interface and the user interface manaement system.This is the comonent that allows you to combine your know-how with the storage and processing capabilities of the computer.The user interface is the part of the system you see ;through it you enter information,commands,and models.If you have a DSS with a poorly designed user interface-if it's too rigid or too cumbersome to use-you simply won't use it to matter what its capabilities.The best user interface uses your terminology and methods and is flexible,consistent,simple,and adaptable.377