Eindhoven
University of Technology has a vacancy for 3 PhD candidates in Maintenance and
Service Logistics (1.0 fte per position) within the Operations, Planning,
Accounting and Control (OPAC) Group of the School of Industrial
Engineering
The
The School of Industrial Engineering
- Planning and Control in Manufacturing, Services, and Supply Chains;
- Distribution Logistics;
- Maintenance and Reliability;
- Finance and Accounting, oriented towards operational processes.
Research is
generally quantitative in nature, while many of the researchers also engage in
empirical research. All research is embedded in Beta, the KNAW-recognized
research school for Operations Management & Logistics.
PhD projects
PhD project 1: System-focused inventory control
for spare parts networks. In this project, we study the spare parts inventory
control for networks consisting of central and local warehouses, and with
properties such as the use of lateral transshipments and emergency shipments,
customer differentiation, and budget constraints for investments in new parts.
The objective is to develop building blocks and to combine appropriate building
blocks for an overall planning concept under which system availability
constraints for the various installed systems are realized in an efficient way.
PhD project 2: Effect of (re)design decisions on
downtime, service logistics costs, and Total Cost of Ownership. In this
project, we look at design decisions for technical systems regarding the system
structure, the selection of components and suppliers, building in redundancy,
modifications of components of existing systems, and so on. Designers tend to
look mainly at reliability and production costs of a new system. We will
develop quantitative models which show the effect of design choices on the
performance of systems when they are installed in the field. With such models,
companies are able to make better decisions.
PhD project 3: Location strategy for the
maintenance of trains. The maintenance of trains consists of preventive and
corrective maintenance. Preventive maintenance actions are executed at planned
visits of trains to maintenance locations, and consist of usage-based and
inspection-based maintenance actions. A corrective maintenance action may take
place in the field or via a short extra visit of a train to a maintenance
location. In this project, we study how many maintenance locations one should
have in a railway network, where the locations should be positioned, and what
level of specialization is desired per location, such that one obtains a high
availability of the trains against low overall costs.
Projects 1
and 2 are part of the NWO-TOP project “Service Logistics for Advanced Capital
Goods” (NWO is the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research). In these
projects, we collaborate closely with ASML and NedTrain. Project 3 is funded by
NedTrain and is part of the NedTrain R&D program.
Tasks
The PhD
student is expected to do research, write a PhD thesis and write research
papers on the research project. The research is executed under the supervision of
prof.dr.ir. G.J. van Houtum (all three projects), dr. T. Tan (project 1), dr.
H. Peng (project 2), J.J. Arts, MSC (project 3). The candidate also
participates in the PhD education program. A small part of the position
involves teaching in courses offered by the group.
Requirements
For all 3
PhD projects, applicants should have completed (or be close to completion of) a
Master's degree in operations management, operations research, econometrics,
mathematics, or industrial engineering, with a solid background in quantitative
research methods. Fluency in English is required.
Conditions of employment
We offer:
- a challenging job in a dynamic and ambitious university;
- a PhD appointment for a period of 4 years with target start date in the fall of 2013;
- gross salary is in the range of €28.750 - €36.800 per annum (on a full-time basis), this includes 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end of year allowance.
- a broad package of fringe benefits (including an excellent technical infrastructure, moving expenses, savings schemes, coverage of costs of publishing the dissertation and excellent sports facilities).
Information
More
information about the OPAC group can be found at http://w3.ieis.tue.nl/en/groups/opac/.
More
information about this position and the research programs should be addressed
to: prof.dr.ir. Geert-Jan van Houtum, phone +31 - 40 247 5163, e-mail:
g.j.v.houtum@tue.nl
Information
about terms of employment can be obtained from Mrs. Ellen van der Mierden,
personnel officer (pz.ieis@tue.nl), phone: +31.40.247 4886. Further information
about Eindhoven University of Technology can be found at http://www.tue.nl.
Application
Your
application must contain the following documents (all in English):
- Cover letter (1 page max), which includes a motivation of your interest in the vacancies, your preferences regarding the 3 projects, and an explanation of why you would fit well for at least one of the projects;
- An extensive curriculum vitae;
- Course list of your Masters and Bachelor programs (including grades);
- Results of a recent English language test, or other evidence of your English language capabilities;
- Results of a GRE/GMAT test if available;
- Name and contact information of two references.
If you are
interested, we invite you to apply as soon as possible. You can send us your
application through the online job portal of the TU/e: http://jobs.tue.nl/en/vacancies.html
or click here.
We start
interviewing as soon as possible and keep the positions open until all 3
positions have been filled.
