Designing Guest Flow and Operations Logistics for the Dolphin Tales

Eva K. Lee (), Chien-Hung Chen (), Niquelle Brown (), Joseph Handy (), Alex Desiderio (), Ruth Lopez () and Brian Davis ()
Additional contact information
Eva K. Lee: School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332
Chien-Hung Chen: School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332
Niquelle Brown: School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332
Joseph Handy: Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta, Georgia 30313
Alex Desiderio: Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta, Georgia 30313
Ruth Lopez: Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta, Georgia 30313
Brian Davis: Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta, Georgia 30313

Interfaces, 2012, vol. 42, issue 5, 492-506

Abstract: To prepare for its new Dolphin Tales exhibit, Georgia Aquarium partnered with Georgia Institute of Technology to design the exhibit's guest movement with the goal of enhancing the guest experience while limiting congestion. The result was the development and application of the RealOpt-ABM © simulation decision support system for complex modeling and optimization.This work advanced the knowledge frontier in analytical methods in three ways. First, we developed a powerful heuristic algorithm for finding good feasible solutions for intractable nonlinear mixed-integer program resource allocation instances. Second, we integrated simulation and optimization technology into a unified software framework for realistic modeling of large-scale applications with human cognitive and behavioral elements; the software assists in optimizing overall operational dynamics. Third, we developed software for automatically interpreting computer-rendered drawings of processes and tasks into system process maps for simulation and optimization; as advanced visualization becomes more common, automatic translation from mouse clicks and keystrokes to an analytic workflow model serves as an important facilitator in human-computer interfaces.The system provided recommendations that were implemented for strategic and operational planning of the exhibit. These recommendations resulted in reduced congestion, enhanced guest experience, lower operating costs, improved wellness of the dolphins, and better performance in operational logistics, efficiency, and show schedules. The total dollar value of improvements from using the decision support system in reducing the number of shows by one show per week was estimated to be at least $1.5 million per year.

Keywords: aquarium; managing guest flow; agent-based simulation; optimization; visualization; resource allocation; human behavior; cognitive; operations and logistics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/inte.1120.0652 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:orinte:v:42:y:2012:i:5:p:492-506

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Interfaces from INFORMS Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Asher ().