Abstract
A Setorização entendida como a divisão de um território em regiões mais pequenas pode apresentar vantagens em problemas de rotas com capacidades. Decidir, a priori, que região atribuir a que veículos, reduz substancialmente a dimensão das instâncias e conduz a resultados que, para além de serem obtidos de forma mais rápida podem expressar o interesse do agente decisor. A introdução de sectores em rotas de veículos permite igualmente lidar com situações de planeamento/calendário e outras restrições. Uma situação real será apresentada onde uma abordagem integrada sectores-rotas foi aplicada.

Abstract
Sectorization means dividing a set of basic units into sectors or parts, a procedure that occurs in several contexts, such as political, health and school districting, social networks and sales territory or airspace assignment, to achieve some goal or to facilitate an activity. This presentation will focus on three main issues: Measures, a new approach to sectorization problems and an application in waste collection. When designing or comparing sectors different characteristics are usually taken into account. Some are commonly used, and they are related to the concepts of contiguity, equilibrium and compactness. These fundamental characteristics will be addressed, by defining new generic measures and by proposing a new measure, desirability, connected with the idea of preference. A new approach to sectorization inspired in Coulomb’s Law, which establishes a relation of force between electrically charged points, will be proposed. A charged point represents a small region with specific characteristics/values creating relations of attraction/repulsion with the others (two by two), proportional to the charges and inversely proportional to their distance. Finally, a real case about sectorization and vehicle routing in solid waste collection will be mentioned.

Abstract
There is growing evidence that internationalization of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has become a priority to gain competitive advantage. However, SMEs still face major challenges and obstacles during these processes. This paper proposes a model of collaborative networks for internationalization processes of SMEs, mediated by industrial enterprise associations (IEAs), in order to improve decision-making processes. First, a systematic literature review (SLR) was performed to study the impact that networks and collaboration have in the decision-making process of internationalization. Then, the model was developed using adequate information and knowledge management tools. Finally, to understand the relevance of the proposed model, data were gathered through interviews to key persons in companies of the IT/electronics and textile industries. Results showed that collaborative networks can represent an important facilitator in the internationalization of SMEs and that IEAs can have a fundamental role for promoting collaboration in this domain, between associated SMEs.

Abstract
In this paper we introduce the dial-a-ride problem with split requests and profits (DARPSRP). Users place transportation requests, specifying a pickup location, a delivery location, and a time window for either of the two. Based on maximum user ride time considerations, the second time window is generated. A given fleet of vehicles, each with a certain capacity, is available to serve these requests, and maximum route duration constraints have to be respected. Each request is associated with a revenue and the objective is to maximize the total profit, that is, the total revenue minus the total costs. Transportation requests involving several persons may be split if it is beneficial to do so. We formulate the DARPSRP as a mixed-integer program using position variables and in terms of a path-based formulation. For the solution of the latter, we design a branch-and-price algorithm. The largest instance solved to optimality, when applied to available instances from the literature, has 40 requests; when applied to newly generated instances, the largest instance solved to optimality consists of 24 requests. To solve larger instances a variable neighborhood search algorithm is developed. We investigate the impact of request splitting under different geographical settings, assuming favorable settings for request splitting in terms of the number of people per request. The largest benefits from request splitting are obtained for problem settings exhibiting clustered customer locations.

Abstract
The term Dynamic Manufacturing Network (DMN) refers to a new collaborative business model that relies on real-time information sharing, synchronized planning and common business processes. DMNs are operational networks formed among autonomous and globally dispersed partners, and can be seen as the manufacturing industry application of the Virtual Enterprise (VE) concept. Despite their numerous practical benefits such as optimized processes and access to new and global markets, they are particularly vulnerable to disruptions. Any disruption in manufacturing or transportation of products may obviously result in failed orders, thus impacting the whole DMN reliability. Instead of developing stochastic models to deal with uncertainty, as it is usually done, we have rather integrated the concept of flexibility into the tactical and operational planning of such networks. We therefore propose in this work, a multi-objective optimization model that simultaneously maximizes reactive flexibility measures while minimizing total operating costs.

Abstract
Irregular nesting is a subgroup of cutting and packing problems in which a set of irregular items must be inserted in a rectangular container with a variable width. It is often found ill industries such as textile, wood and shipbuilding and an efficient solution usually renders an economical and environmental positive impact. Due to the complex geometry of items, the no overlapping rule is hard to guarantee and, therefore, geometric tools are usually employed. In this work, a raster method is proposed to solve the overlap minimization problem, which can be adapted to solve the irregular nesting problem. A map of overlap values is created and is employed to find the minimum overlap placement for each item A multiresolution approach is used to reduce the size of the map and, consequently, accelerate the search process. The results from tests performed using 4 benchmark tests indicates that more compact layouts can be obtained using multiple resolutions. Moreover, the results are competitive when compared to other solutions in the literature. Copyright (C)2015 IFAC.