Optimization is a powerful approach to driving up the value yield from a scarce and expensive asset. Space is another asset that can be as scarce as equipment and no less contentious: shelf space, space in shipping containers and freight cars, seats in auditoriums and arenas, and space in magazines and newspapers. Take ad space. […]
Optimizers look for opportunities, even as resources become more constrained. Rather than asking, “How can we reduce costs?” optimizers attack a business challenge by taking a long, hard look at each step of an operation and asking, “What is the best way of doing this? How can we add value by getting more from the […]
This post is adapted from a teleconference for transportation and finance executives, conducted by Steve Sashihara and John Larkin of Stifel Capital Markets on January 22, 2017, and from this Fleet Owner article. I often hear analytics as just one pod, but I really think there are two types. One I call “analytics at rest” […]
This post is adapted from a presentation and discussion with the New Jersey Society of CPAs (NJCPA) in October 2014. Really Valuable Time Optimization practitioners know it is not time that is valuable—it is contiguous time. Having a large chunk of time—a solid one-hour or two-hour block—is much more valuable than the same number of […]
This post is adapted from a presentation and discussion with the New Jersey Society of CPAs (NJCPA) in October 2014. Optimizing Inventory Management Some industries are really good at certain things. Maybe you [CPAs] can talk to client business executives and say, “You know, in the Grocery industry they have 20,000 SKUs and a profit margin […]
The Jan de Wit Company, www.jandewit.com.br, is a wholesale producer of bulb flowers in Brazil. In 2000, when the company began to consider optimization to help its production planning, it had 18,745 square meters of greenhouses, 1,032 square meters of cold-storage rooms, a team of approximately 30 employees and US$80 million in annual sales. It […]
“For an MBA student, it’s very important to understand how you will encounter a problem in the real world,” says Arnie Greenland, a professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. “You have to excel at more than the technical side of optimization to succeed in business—you have to understand the […]
Here is a true story about a visit to a major asset operations planning center. Our host executives had told us about their smart system and how, through optimization, it executed the planning and scheduling. They took us on a tour of the facility and pointed out the team of specialists. My colleagues and I […]
QuadGraphics, www.qg.com, an NYSE company, is the second largest print and integrated media solutions provider in North America. The firm’s leaders have consistently emphasized improving performance through innovation and, as evidence of that commitment, they invited us several years ago to look for optimization opportunities at their organization. First, they showed us the printing presses, […]
If you are an executive exploring whether or not optimization will help your company raise its level of competitive play, I don’t advise running out to sign up for a crash course in advanced mathematics. There’s no need for you to become a quant, but it would help to think a bit like one. Begin […]
