Preface for the special issue on stochastic models of manufacturing and service operations

This special issue of Flexible Services and Manufacturing is an outgrowth of the 11th International Conference held in Acaya, Italy sponsored by the organization Stochastic Models of Manufacturing and Service Operations (SMMSO). These international conferences gather together knowledgeable individuals from all over the world every 2 years to communicate and share ideas. The conferences have been ongoing since 1997. The main purpose of this special issue is to present innovative results of Stochastic Models of Manufacturing and Service System operations united by common methodologies and problems. Service systems (non-manufacturing) papers in this volume demonstrate that their operations are strongly related to manufacturing system operations and methodologies. This special issue is subdivided into two parts: I. Manufacturing Systems, and II. Service Systems. This special issue examines Manufacturing and Service Systems, their operations and shared methodologies. Operations include (but are not limited to): Supply-Chains, Maintenance, Scheduling, Flow Lines, Queueing, Material Handling, Inventory & Quality Control, and Bufer Allocation. Methodologies include (but again are not limited to): Decomposition, Markov Chains and Markov Processes, Stochastic Networks, Linear, Nonlinear, Integer Programming, and Simulation. There were twenty-two papers submitted to the special issue. After a thorough review by the reviewers, the following seven papers were accepted for publication.