Models and Algorithms For Operations Management Applications

In the last decades, there has been a huge evolution in the development and application of Derivative Free Optimization (DFO) techniques. One of the major emerging DFO application fields are the optimal design of industrial products and machines and the development of efficient computer software. This Ph.D. thesis focuses on the exploration of the emerging DFO techniques, oriented especially in the optimization of real-world industrial problem. In this thesis is firstly presented a brief overview of the main DFO techniques and application. Then, are reported two works describing the development of DFO approaches aimed to tackle the optimization of Computer Vision Algorithms (CVA), employed in the automatic defect detection of pieces produced by a real-world industries.