Ali Guneri - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Ali Guneri

Emergency departments (EDs) face high numbers of patient arrivals in comparison to other departme... more Emergency departments (EDs) face high numbers of patient arrivals in comparison to other departments of hospitals because they provide non-stop service. Patient arrivals at these departments mostly do not appear in a steady state. Predicting existing uncertainty contributes to the future planning of these departments. Therefore, forecasting patient arrivals at emergency departments is crucial so as to make short and long term plans for physical capacity requirements, staffing, budgeting and arranging staff schedules. In this paper, variations in annual, monthly and daily ED arrivals are analyzed based on regression and neural network models with the aid of a collected data from a public hospital ED in Istanbul. The results show that ANN-based models have higher model accuracy values and lower values of absolute error in terms of forecasting the ED patient arrivals over the long and medium terms. The paper is also aimed to provide ED management and medical staff a useful guide for fu...

Sigma Journal of Engineering and Natural Sciences, 2017

An ideal healthcare system is considered as a system that provides the most quality service level... more An ideal healthcare system is considered as a system that provides the most quality service level, lower costs and unlimited access. Any delay in patient flow may result in undesired consequences and losses in healthcare facilities such as hospitals and their sub units. Project management is defined as application of techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements. It has techniques that can help healthcare facilities and units standardize care and quality, reduce costs, improve effectiveness and decrease prolonged waits. The current study is carried out in an emergency department of a university hospital to understand the patient flow of the department with respect to the Fuzzy Critical Path Method (FCPM) and Fuzzy Program Evaluation Review Technique (FPERT). The reason for incorporating fuzzy sets is stemmed from that fuzzy numbers are more effective for high uncertainty processes as in emergency departments. Activities affecting patient flow through the ED are identified and project network is drawn. 1500 patients' data about the times of each activities are obtained from the observed ED. Findings through application of FCPM and FPERT, the expected time for completion of the project, the critical path and slack times are determined.

Journal of Thermal Engineering, 2021

Gun and rifle manufacturing contain various failures in the process of CNC machining, material su... more Gun and rifle manufacturing contain various failures in the process of CNC machining, material supply, research & development, infrastructure and, operator. Due to these failures, the enterprise is exposed to great economic losses and a decrease in competition in the global market. In addition, failures in production cause events that seriously threaten human health. Failure analysis can increase safety by determining the cause of potential errors and taking measures for identified errors in the life cycle of the products. Therefore, this study employs a Bayesian Network (BN)based modeling approach for capturing dependency among the basic events and obtaining top event probability. Firstly, a fault tree analysis (FTA) diagram is constructed, since its target is to pinpoint how basic event failures result in a top event (system) failure by an AND/OR logical gate. While, AND logical gate should take place in both cases, it is sufficient to realize one of the states in the OR logical g...

Hospital emergency departments (EDs) are institutes which have to carry on the activities under v... more Hospital emergency departments (EDs) are institutes which have to carry on the activities under vagueness conditions. Determination of the resource requirements that an ED needs is difficult and high cost. When the importance of service is taken into consideration, determination of the ED system performance and improvement of the current system enables using of simulation as an efficient tool. In this study scenarios that reduce patient average length of stay (LOS), improve patient throughput (number of patients served in unit time) and enhance utilization of resources and evaluate the level of ED staff with respect to these constraints are aimed to developed. It is tried to evaluate the most appropriate scenario by the integration of MCDM methods and scenarios obtained. The weights of performance measures are determined using fuzzy AHP (Analytical Hierarchical Process). The rankings of the scenarios are determined with VIKOR (Vise Kriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje) a...

Material selection is a complex problem in the design and development of products for diverse eng... more Material selection is a complex problem in the design and development of products for diverse engineering applications. This paper is aimed to present a fuzzy decision?making approach to deal with the material selection in engineering design problems. A fuzzy multi criteria decision?making model is proposed for solving the material selection problem. The proposed model makes use of fuzzy TOPSIS (Technique for Order reference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) with trapezoidal numbers for evaluating the criteria and ranking the alternatives. And result is compared with fuzzy VIKOR (VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje in Serbian, means Multi criteria Optimisation and Compromise Solution) which is proposed by Jeya Girubha and Vinodh [2012]. The present paper is aimed to also improve literature of fuzzy decision making for material selection problem.

Global Journal of Environmental Science and Management, 2018

As wind energy is one of the most important renewable energy sources over the globe, need for inc... more As wind energy is one of the most important renewable energy sources over the globe, need for increasing safety for this type of energy is gaining importance. Although this sector is not suffering an excessive amount of fatal injury accidents, there are many aspects open for improvements in occupational health and safety management. The construction and operation processes of wind turbines include several hazards that must be reduced. This study aims to present a risk assessment for the construction and operation period of wind tribunes using a new fuzzy based method. Fuzzy analytical hierarchy process, a common used multi criteria decision making method, is applied to assign weights to the parameters of Fine-Kinney risk analysis method. Then, fuzzy VIKOR method is used to prioritize hazards. A case study is carried out for an onshore wind turbine in Turkey by using occupational health and safety experts in weighting risk parameters and evaluating compromised rankings of the hazards...

This research investigation, the researcher inquires into the effects of decision of tourist on c... more This research investigation, the researcher inquires into the effects of decision of tourist on choosing services of tourist attraction. In carrying out this investigation, the researcher applies a conceptual framework derived from various theories of competition. The methodological approach adopted by the researcher blends quantitative and qualitative research methods. As such, the research instruments utilized by the researcher to collect apposite data were twofold, viz., an focus group interview form and a questionnaire. The data were obtained from 400 persons of tourist from tourist attraction for Quantiattive and the data from 30 persons for focus group interview. The data collected were subsequently analyzed using the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. Using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the researcher validated the items in the questionnaire in terms of accuracy and reliability. In determining the weight of factors derived from testing the construct validity ...

In recent years, there is a growth trend in hospitality industry together with positive economic ... more In recent years, there is a growth trend in hospitality industry together with positive economic development in Turkey. The selection of hotel location is of high priority and significance for domestic and foreign entrepreneurs. It is also complex and challenging due to the involvement of multiple decision makers, the multi-criteria nature of the decision process and the subjectivity and uncertainty in the decision making process. To effectively solve this problem, this paper aims to determine the importance of the criteria on hotel location via Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) and to select the optimal via Fuzzy Technique for Order Preference By Similarity To An Ideal Solution (FTOPSIS) from a number of potential locations in Mugla which is a city in the top three by the number of tourists. As a result, FTOPSIS method combined with FAHP is an efficient decision tool and it can successfully be applied in solving hotel location selection problem for a real case.

Mathematical Problems in Engineering, 2021

The increased focus of people on the quality of health care in recent years has led hospital owne... more The increased focus of people on the quality of health care in recent years has led hospital owners to develop strategies and policies to improve medical services through the establishment of new hospitals. For hospitals to be competitive, the hospitalʼs location and proximity to potential patients are considered crucial factors in establishing new hospitals. In this context, evaluating and selecting the most suitable hospital location to establish a new hospital from the multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) perspective is a priority for the entrepreneurs or government to gain a competitive advantage. Therefore, this study aims to present a systematic literature review of the hospital location selection problem considering the applied methods and application areas. The preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis statement (PRISMA) are used as a reference framework. Initially, known electronic databases (Web of science, IEEEXplore, Scopus, Science direct, and Go...

Journal of the Operational Research Society, 2019

Emergency departments (EDs) provide health care services to people in need of urgent care. Their ... more Emergency departments (EDs) provide health care services to people in need of urgent care. Their role is remarkable when extraordinary events that affect the public, such as earthquakes, occur. In this paper, we present a hybrid framework to evaluate earthquake preparedness of EDs in cities. Our hybrid framework uses artificial neural networks (ANNs) to estimate number of casualties and discrete event simulation (DES) to analyse the effect of surge in patient demand in EDs, after an earthquake happens. At the core of our framework, Earthquake Time Emergency Department Network Simulation Model (ET-EDNETSIM) resides which can simulate patient movements in a network of multiple and coordinated EDs. With the design of simulation experiments, different resource levels and sharing rules between EDs can be evaluated. We demonstrated our framework in a network of five EDs located in a region of which is estimated to have the highest injury rate after an earthquake in Istanbul, Turkey. Results of our study contributed to the planning for expected earthquake in Istanbul. Simulating a network of EDs extends the individual ED studies in the literature and furthermore, our hybrid framework can help increase earthquake preparedness in cities around the world. On the methodological side, the use of ANN, which is a member of machine learning (ML) algorithms family, in our hybrid framework also shows the close links between ML and DES.

Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 2018

The adverse impact of occupational accidents and occupational diseases on the society have recent... more The adverse impact of occupational accidents and occupational diseases on the society have recently increased a lot since the industrial-oriented society is getting more and more widespread. Although attempts regarding occupational health and safety (OHS) increase in Turkey, they are still at an inadequate level. OHS experts prepare employees for a healthy and safer working environment, so that work accidents can be eliminated and employees can be healthy psychologically and physically. At the same time, the worksites can be prevented from being financially damaged and productivity can be improved. The aim of this study is to measure OHS service quality by the evaluations of OHS experts from various sectors and workplaces. In this way, the OHS performance is measured, the difference between perceptions and expectations of the OHS experts is determined and deficiencies are revealed. In the study, the OHS activities are examined in five dimensions using the SERVQUAL scale; tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy. The questionnaire is carried out using a Likert-type five-point scale among 81 OHS experts from different sectors. In conclusion, SERVQUAL analysis is introduced as a useful tool for employers to better understand what they need to know about OHS services.

Journal of Safety Research, 2019

Introduction: Underground mining is considered one of the most hazardous industries and is often ... more Introduction: Underground mining is considered one of the most hazardous industries and is often associated 21 with serious work-related fatalities; this paper addresses job-related hazards and associated risks. Method: 22 A risk assessment approach is proposed (Pythagorean fuzzy environment) and a case study is carried out in an 23 underground copper and zinc mine. Results: Results of the study demonstrate that hazards can be categorized 24 into different risk levels via compromised solutions of the fuzzy approach. Conclusion: The study provides a the-25 oretical contribution by suggesting a Pythagorean fuzzy numbers-based VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I 26 Kompromisno Resenje (PFVIKOR) approach. Moreover, it contributes to improving overall safety levels of under-27 ground mining by considering and advising on the potential hazards of risk management Q4. 28

Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal, 2016

ABSTRACT Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) is a basis to reduce occupational accidents in an a... more ABSTRACT Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) is a basis to reduce occupational accidents in an acceptable level, and it covers employee health, safety, and welfare in the workplaces. Hospitals as the largest employer group in healthcare industry in Turkey face major hazards categorized as chemical, biological, physical, ergonomic, and psychosocial risks. Although Turkey demonstrates rapid economic growth, OHS practices have not been fully put into practice, and necessary attention has not been paid to the health industry. For this reason, this paper aims to assess risks for health staff, contribute for planning of health services, and enhance regulations. A case study was carried out in a leading hospital in Turkey using a two-stage fuzzy multi-criteria approach, which provides more consistency in decision-making process and gives an appropriate final rank of hazard types. Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) is used in weighing five risk parameters, which are severity, occurrence, undetectability, sensitivity to maintenance non-execution, and sensitivity to personal protective equipment (PPE) non-utilization. The fuzzy VIKOR (FVIKOR) approach is then applied for prioritization of hazard types in each department of the hospital. On conclusion of the hazard control hierarchy, measures are overtaken for the hazards, and areas open for improvement are presented.

Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 2017

The most crucial step of a risk assessment process that follows identifying the scope of assessme... more The most crucial step of a risk assessment process that follows identifying the scope of assessment and hazards is the initial risk assessment, particularly with a risk scoring system. The Fine-Kinney method is a comprehensive method for quantitative evaluations to aid in controlling hazards. In this risk assessment method, the risk value is calculated by considering the parameters of the consequence of an accident (C), the exposure or frequency of occurrence of a hazard event that could lead to an accident (E) and the probability of a hazardous event (P). The classical Fine-Kinney method has a limitation in that it assigns an equal weight to these three parameters. Therefore, we propose a new risk assessment method incorporating a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) with fuzzy VIKOR (FVIKOR). FAHP was used in weighting these risk parameters derived from the Fine-Kinney method. The priority orders of hazards were determined by a FVIKOR method. The proposed method enables group decision-making in assessing hazards and uses relative importance among three risk parameters by pair-wise comparison of Buckley's FAHP. Owing to the difficulty in evaluating C, E and P, linguistic terms are used in the proposed method. In addition, a case study of the evaluation of risks in the arms industry is used to illustrate the proposed method. A comparison with the classical method and fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity of an ideal solution (FTOPSIS) is discussed. The results show that the proposed method is effective in helping stakeholders to determine the risk control policies to validate the effectiveness of their risk controls.

European J. of Industrial Engineering, 2016

Emergency departments (EDs) have an important position in healthcare system environment because o... more Emergency departments (EDs) have an important position in healthcare system environment because of their serviceability to the patients with several illnesses and injuries at all hours of the day and night. Therefore, efficient management of these departments by executives and service providers is only possible with effective tools such as simulation. The concept of multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) is applicable by computer simulation for decision analysis and performance evaluation of an ED. This study proposes an integration of computer simulation, MCDM methods of interval type-2 fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (IT2FAHP), and ELECTRE for an ED system in a university hospital. Due to the high uncertainty in ED operations, interval type-2 fuzzy sets (IT2FSs) are used in MCDM process. Consequently, the integrated method can be used as a useful tool to evaluate the ED performance and select the best scenario considering different numbers of nurses and doctors for three shifts.

Applied Soft Computing, 2016

Multi criteria decision making (MCDM) is one of the research areas of operations research and man... more Multi criteria decision making (MCDM) is one of the research areas of operations research and management science which has widely studied by researchers and practitioners. It finds a compromise solution for evaluating and ranking alternatives from the best to the worst under conflicting criteria with respect to decision maker(s) preferences. In a compromise approach, the VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR; that means multi-criteria optimization and compromise solution) continues to be applied satisfactorily across different application areas. This paper conducts a state-of-the-art literature review to categorize, analyze and interpret the current research on VIKOR applications. It also discusses the extensions of VIKOR applied in fuzzy environments. A total of 343 papers are classified into 13 different application areas and a number of sub-application areas. Furthermore, all papers are also categorized with respect to publication year, published journal, country of origin, application type (real case study vs empirical study), and version of fuzzy sets used. This comprehensive literature review provides an insight for researchers and practitioners on VIKOR applications in terms of showing current state and potential areas for future attempts to be focused in the future.

Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 2016

Abstract Decision matrix risk-assessment (DMRA) technique is a systematic approach widely used in... more Abstract Decision matrix risk-assessment (DMRA) technique is a systematic approach widely used in the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) risk assessment. In a typical matrix method approach, a measure of risk value is obtained by evaluating two risk factors as the likelihood of a hazard and the severity of the hazard when it arises. In this paper, a fuzzy approach enabling experts to use linguistic variables for evaluating two factors which are the parameters of matrix method is proposed to deal with shortcomings of a crisp risk score calculation and to decrease the inconsistency in decision making. The parameters likelihood and severity related to the hazards in an aluminum plate manufacturing plant are weighted by using Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP), then the orders of priority of 23 various hazard groups are determined by using Fuzzy TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) method. As a follow-up study of the case application, the proposed risk assessment methodology is applied for hazard types in each department of the plant. Depending on the hazard control hierarchy, control measures are overtaken for the hazards that are placed at first of intra-department rankings.

Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 2015

This paper aims to review what is known about the preparedness of hospital emergency departments ... more This paper aims to review what is known about the preparedness of hospital emergency departments (EDs) for a possible major earthquake expected in the near future in Istanbul and reveal the past experience and future plans from employees’ viewpoints and, as well as from the related literature. For this purpose, potential effects of the earthquakes on ED operations, patient flow, and performance are discussed considering the statistical data of recent earthquakes in Turkey, a comprehensive report on the disaster preparedness of Istanbul and, one to one interviews with the earthquake experienced ED medical staff. In particular, issues on patient surge, triage and registration, communication, patient flow and transportation and, lack of enough resources and space to treat are presented as the main challenges. According to the viewpoints obtained from various sources, EDs in Istanbul are not ready to meet the needs caused by a major earthquake. It is proposed that operational research (...

International Journal of Risk Assessment and Management, 2015

In modern times daily occupational accidents cause an ever increasing number of pecuniary loss cl... more In modern times daily occupational accidents cause an ever increasing number of pecuniary loss claims as well as intangible damage within small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) worldwide. To counter this problem, most enterprises commonly apply risk assessment methods (RAMs) to promote occupational safety (OS). As there are plenty of different methods in this area, an effective and careful approach is required to select the most appropriate RAM for enterprises in general. This paper provides a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) methodology for selecting the best RAM in OS operations for SMEs. As a test case study, a Turkish woven-printed-carton labelling company was chosen to carry out this study application under four separate decision criteria namely: scope, practicality, cost and sensitivity. On conclusion, it was deduced that the decision making approach can benefit company management in selecting the right method for OS operations.