Operational Research: The Science of Better

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Operational Research The Science of Better
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What we do

• Our accomplishments
• Our mission
• Our expertise
• Our scope
• Our approach
• Our services

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Our accomplishments

• name of client/organisation
• business problem
• O.R. solution
• value we delivered

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Our mission

• Help you with the challenge of making complex
  decisions by
• Performing appropriate analysis that provides
  insight
• Providing sensible options and recommending
  courses of action
• Reducing risk
• Improving the quality of recurring decisions

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Our mission (cont)

• Have a dramatic, positive impact on a projects
  or organisations value

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Our expertise

• Business consulting
• Modelling analysis
• Mathematical modeling, simulation, decision
  support, problem structuring, data mining,
  optimisation, revenue management, supply chain
  management, logistics, strategic analysis
• Technical support, training

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Our scope

• Serving any organisational unit, any function,
  any geographic area
• Assistance from strategy to execution

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Our approach

• Partner with management to frame and prioritise
  the issues
• Focus on business impact and implementation
• Establish a disciplined, consultative approach
  through teamwork and collaboration

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Our approach (cont)

• Build an objective, quantitative structure for
  analysis
• Transfer technology to your organisation so you
  can take over the project

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Our services

• Strategic planning
• Supply chain management
• Pricing and revenue management
• Logistics and site location
• Simulation
• Marketing research

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Our services (cont)

• Scheduling
• Portfolio management
• Inventory analysis
• Forecasting
• Sales analysis
• Auctioning
• Risk analysis

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A few words about operational research

• What is it?
• Conventional computing isnt enough
• Combinatorial explosion
• The distinct nature of operational research

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O.R. What is It?

• Operational research (O.R.) is
• the discipline of applying advanced analytical
  methods to help make better decisions

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Conventional computing is not enough

• Cannot enumerate alternatives
• Combinatorial explosion of viable options

Never got outside the box
Few alternatives
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Combinatorial explosion Example 1

• Problem Find shortest path through 10 points
• Assume a super-powered computer analyses,
  quantifies, and compares a million alternatives
  every second
• Answer is found in less than one second
• Now find the shortest path through 20 points
• Same computer would take over 39,000 years to
  solve

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Combinatorial explosion Example 2

• Construct a 5 stock portfolio out of 100 possible
  stocks
• Evaluate for risk and return using same computer
  as Example 1
• Answer found in 1.25 minutes
• Now diversify to 9 stocks
• Answer found in 220 days
• Now diversify to 10 stocks
• Answer found in 5.5 years

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Distinct nature of O.R.

• Applies leading-edge analysis
• Can find the best among many choices, in
  reasonable time
• Can consider and balance multiple objectives
• Can help measure, control, and reduce risk

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O.R. success stories
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Some important points

• Differences between O.R. and IT
• Keys to success
• Conclusion

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Differences between O.R. and IT

• IT
• Focuses on data as a corporate resource
• Stores, retrieves, formats, displays data
• Understands business processes and transactions

• O.R.
• Helps management select the best decision or set
  of decisions
• Applies analysis to convert data into useful
  information
• Works with management to help gain the deepest
  insights from analytical results
• Is typically embedded in an information system to
  provide recommended decisions or actions

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Keys to success

• Focuses on business impact and implementation
• Improves decision processes while reducing risk
• Helps operations become more efficient and
  effective
• Establishes a disciplined, consultative approach
• Transfers technology to your department so you
  can take over the project
• Uses the appropriate analytical tools

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Conclusion

• Operational research is the discipline of
  applying advanced analytical methods to help make
  better decisions
• We collaborate easily with organisations like
  yours to achieve major goals
• We can help you realize powerful benefits in
  revenues, time, productivity, customer
  satisfaction, market share, and more