Roby Thomas

Associate Professor
of Business Administration

Degrees

• D.B.A., Southern Illinois University, 1994.
• M.S., Eastern Illinois University, 1983.
• B.Tech., Indian Institute of Technology, 1981.

Positions Held

• Associate Professor, Elmhurst College, 2001-present.
  President, I-Solutions Inc., 1999-present.
• Assistant Professor, Joint appointment with the School of Business and the School of Computer Studies, Robert Morris College, 1998-2001.
• Assistant Professor, Department of Information Systems and Analysis, School of Business, Howard University, Washington DC, 1988-1998.
• Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Management, School of Business, De Paul University, 1994-1995, (on leave from Howard University).
• Graduate Assistant, Department of Management, School of Business, Southern Illinois University, 1984-1988.
• Maintenance Engineer, Calico Mills, Ahmedabad, India, 1981-1982.

Teaching & Research Interests

• Teaching: Supply Chain Management, Production & Operations Management, Operations Research, Statistics, Systems Analysis and Design.
• Research: Planning, Control and optimization of Supply Chains, Data-mining applications in Customer Relationship Management, Optimization of Business Systems with special focus on Manufacturing Systems.

Recent Publications & Research-in-Progress

• Kathawala, Y. and Thomas, R., "MRP and KANBAN: A Comparison." Presented at the Production and Operations track of the MBAA meeting in Chicago, March, 1984.
• Thomas, R., Book Review, Eds: Chawla, S., and Rehnsh, J., "Learning Organizations", Productivity Press, Portland, Oregon, Journal of Advances in Competitiveness Research. Vol. 4, 1996.
• Thomas, R. and Troutt, M., "A Model for Optimal Lot Sizing in the Set-Up of Complementary Flexible Manufacturing Systems." (for European Journal of Operational Research).
• Thomas, R. and Troutt, M., "A Comparison of Flexible Manufacturing System Performance Under Various Objectives Using a Constraint Propagation Driven Simulation." (for International Journal or Production Research).
• Thomas, R., "De Novo Programming Applications in Allocating Resources at the Set-Up Stage of a Flexible Manufacturing System." (for Production and Operations Management).
• Thomas, R., "Generate and Test and Constraint Propagation Strategies for Solving Mixed Integer Problems in Flexible Manufacturing System Set-Up Planning." (in preparation).

Memberships of Professional Organization

• The Institute of Management Sciences
• Operation Research Society of America
• Production and Operations Management Society

Contact Information

Telephone: (630) 617-3116
Fax: (630) 617-6497
E-mail: rthomas@elmhurst.edu