Princeton Consultants Optimization Principal Dr. Irv Lustig has been nominated for the position of Vice President of Marketing, Communications, and Outreach (VPMCO) for INFORMS. The election will take place this summer. The volunteer role includes serving as an advocate for INFORMS and as a trusted O.R. and Analytics subject matter expert, as well as speaking […]
In November, Steve, as a guest speaker at Gurobi Days in New York City, presented a project risk management framework. Following is a lightly edited excerpt from Q&A with practitioners in the audience. Audience Member: You said a consulting group is brought in when things are not going well. Isn’t there another situation where things […]
Every year Princeton Consultants surveys executives about digital disruption and its impact on freight transportation and supply chains. In 2022, as with previous years, the largest segment of survey responders, 58 percent, were executives at transportation carriers. The other segments were: Finance, Media and Government executives, 19 percent; Shippers executives, 15 percent; and Suppliers executives, 8 percent. […]
The metaverse buzz has begun and Transportation and Logistics executives should pay attention. In fact, we think it is inevitable that the metaverse—Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR)—will impact the industry in a variety of ways. The Big Four have made big bets on the metaverse. Facebook, which purchased the Oculus Company, then the […]
How do Advanced Analytics leaders sustain great teams, companies, and agencies? The INFORMS Practice Section conducts a webinar series, moderated by Dr. Arnie Greenland, featuring presentations and interviews with leaders of a variety of organizations. On January 21 Steve was the guest; following is a lightly edited excerpt. Arnie Greenland: You run an external consulting organization, not […]
How can you replicate the hero’s journey in your organization? Here are three steps. 1. Search for the Unique Value Activities (UVAs). Examine parts of core business activities–such as scheduling, planning, routing, and assigning–where experts make repetitive decisions of high consequence. You will often see them working outside of the core IT system, using data […]
Before I go forward, you might be wondering, “Wait a minute. The UPS drivers, tens of thousands were planning their routes in their heads? Why? Didn’t they have computers?” Well, in the hero’s journey, there has to be a reason why no one before the hero has succeeded before. In large corporations, the “villains” are […]
What do Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz,” Luke Skywalker, Frodo Baggins, and Harry Potter have in common? They all participate in “the hero’s journey,” a term coined by Joseph Campbell, whose great book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, famously asserts that the hero’s journey has been told thousands of times through history, and […]
Once you have a working optimization prototype program that has been tested and embraced by one or more users under field conditions, it is time to roll out the program to the organization and be sure that the right people are using it daily. Because the best optimization opportunities address decisions that are made repeatedly […]
Following is a lightly edited excerpt of Steve’s presentation at the Joint Mathematics Meeting in January 2021, part of a special session, “Transformation Through Advanced Analytics.” I am pleased to be speaking on the topic of The Princeton 20: the most common risk factors in implementing optimization AI into production. As we discuss project risk, […]
