The safety and reliability of railway transport requires new solutions for monitoring and quick identification of faults in the railway infrastructure. Electric heating devices (EORs) are the crucial element of turnouts. EORs ensure heating during low temperature periods when ice or snow can lock the turnout device. Thermal imaging is a response to the need for an EOR inspection tool. After processing, a thermogram is a great support for the manual inspection of an EOR, or the thermogram can be the input for a machine learning algorithm. In this article, the authors review the literature in terms of thermographic analysis and its applications for detecting railroad damage, analysing images through machine learning, and improving railway traffic safety. The EOR device, its components, and technical parameters are discussed, as well as inspection and maintenance requirements. On this base, the authors present the concept of using thermographic imaging to detect EOR failures and malfunctions using a practical example, as well as the concept of using machine learning mechanisms to automatically analyse thermograms. The authors show that the proposed method of analysis can be an effective tool for examining EOR status and that it can be included in the official EOR inspection calendar.

This paper presents the problem of the assessment of the supply chains in the context of their effectiveness. In this paper the concepts of a supply chain and effectiveness were characterized. The supply chain is a structure of entities which are connected with each other by the use of material and financial flows and functional, structural, technological, economic and information dependencies. Entities such as: suppliers, final recipients, entrepreneurs, warehouse facilities, supply centers, logistics operators, carriers, etc. perform material flows from suppliers to recipients. The concept of efficiency, in general terms, refers to economic rationality and means the relationship between the achieved or expected effects and the expenditures incurred. Additionally, indicators of measuring the effectiveness of the supply chain were described. In order to assess the effectiveness of the supply chain the decision model was developed. Optimization is crucial in decision support systems. The development of an appropriate model for mapping the behavior of a real object or system and formulating an optimization task is a necessary activity in effective management. This is even more important if we want to be competitive. Along with the development of decision support systems, as well as the development of systems for data acquisition on the system functioning, which feed optimization models in ever more detailed form, complex decision models are created that take into account many optimization criteria and require a large amount of data. It allows, however, to ensure the sustainable development of the system and simultaneous implementation of its basic tasks. The main aim of this paper is to present the stages and assumptions of the model for assessing the effectiveness of the supply chain. The main data input, constraints of the model, the criteria functions were determined.

The article investigates the problem of task assignment of vehicles for a production company. The presented problem is a complex decision-making issue which has not been analyzed in the literature before. Two stages must be passed through in order to solve the task assignment problem of the vehicles for the production company. The first stage is to designate the tasks, the other one is to determine the number of the vehicles that is needed to perform these tasks. The task in the analyzed problem is defined as transporting the cargo from the suppliers to the warehouses and from the warehouses to the production company. The number of the tasks depends on the type of the vehicle which carries out a given task. In order to solve the presented problem, the mathematical model has been developed, i.e., decision variables, constraints, and criterion functions. There are three types of decision variables occurring in the model, which means that this problem is quite complex. The first type of the decision variables determines the volume of the cargo which flows among the facilities on a given working day, the second type of the decision variables determines the use of a given type of the vehicle in the task, and the third type of the decision variables determines the number of the vehicles which perform the task. The criterion functions take the following form: the fuel consumption costs, the transition costs of the cargo via the warehouses, the purchase costs of the cargo, and the task completion time. In order to solve the task assignment problem of the vehicles, a genetic algorithm has been developed. The proposed method of task assignment solution is unique due to the coding method of individuals and related recombination procedures. The construction stages of this algorithm are presented. The algorithm has been verified by the use of the real input data. The developed model and method of its solution are unique in the application to the service of manufacturing enterprises. Due to the high efficiency and multi-aspect approach, it can be applied in enterprises of various industries as support for decision-makers in the optimization of resources.

The article discusses the issue of air traffic safety in the context of aircraft combat readiness. Implemented methodological approaches to ensure security of civil and military aviation depend on the achieved level of safety The article points out selected aspects of data analysis in the field of flight safety gathered in IT systems functioning in civil and military aviation supporting the management of flight safety. Selected aspects of data analysis with different tools influencing the safety of flights are presented. The article also points to the role of the inspection functions and supervision at the stage of execution of normative acts on safety and conduct of flights and the implementation of projects to ensure flight safety. The development of projects firstly preventing air accidents is mentioned as an important action to support flight safety. Increasing level of flight safety in civil and military aviation requires searching for methods to support decisions and actions. The main aim is to develop such methods to support decisions which minimize the risk of errors.

In the article the mathematical models and results of research conducted at the intersection located on multilane artery in big city in Poland have been presented. The research allowed to describe the relationship between the speed of car vehicles and the occurrence of the tram tracks, which may be important in determining the empirical capacity of intersections located on multilane arteries in cities. This dependency may be used when updating the methods of estimation of the capacity of road intersections in Poland [1], what is the original achievement of the authors. Moreover, the results of research of noise emission in the aspect of speed change of car vehicles and the occurrence of the tram tracks have been presented. In addition, the research problem is of particular importance in the process of selecting the intersection type, which is very important during the planning and organizing traffic at intersections located in cities, where the development of the tram infrastructure is being observed.