How can a company with a vast and complex manufacturing network optimize production while considering logistics costs, fairness constraints, and site capacities? 🤔
Join us on February 21st at 13:00 CET for an exclusive talk with Siemens AG, where they will showcase their Data-Driven Planning (DDP) Tool—a cutting-edge software solution designed to optimize mid-term, network-wide production and capacity planning.
🎯 Talk Title: “Data-Driven Planning (DDP) Tool: Innovation in Production and Capacity Planning”
đź“– Abstract:
DDP is a new software solution being developed within Siemens to optimize mid-term, network-wide production and capacity planning. By using mathematical algorithms, DDP enables the automated generation of optimized production plans and cross-site balancing within the Siemens Manufacturing Network. DDP is fully compatible with SAP IBP and serves as an optional add-on that complements the SAP IBP planning framework for Siemens.
In this talk, Siemens will present the current functional coverage of DDP and introduce new, partially business unit-specific extensions.
đź“Ś What to Expect:
âś… How Siemens optimizes production levels across multiple locations.
âś… The role of data transparency and mathematical optimization in decision-making.
âś… Integration of SAP IBP and DDP for seamless production planning.
This is a must-attend event for practitioners, researchers, and decision-makers interested in production optimization, logistics, and data-driven decision-making.
đź”— Stay tuned for registration details and mark your calendar!
#OperationsResearch #Optimization #ProductionPlanning #Siemens #PRADOSeries
Author: sikora.gustavo
PRADO Series 2025 – January Talk Recap: Timefold & Combinatorial Optimization
Our first PRADO Series talk was a fantastic success! 🎉 We had an engaging session with Geoffrey De Smet, CTO of Timefold, who delivered an insightful presentation on how Timefold’s combinatorial solver simplifies complex scheduling and routing problems. 🚛📅
🔑 Key Takeaways:
âś… Metaheuristic-based Solver: Unlike LP-based solvers, Timefold enables flexible modeling of complex constraints without additional overhead.
âś… Incremental Scalability: Designed to efficiently compute solutions as constraints evolve.
âś… Pre-built Solutions for Scheduling & Routing: The API includes ready-to-use models, integration with map services, and demo constraints for problems like vehicle routing and shift scheduling.
✅ Exciting Developments Ahead: The team is actively working on job scheduling enhancements, and we can’t wait to see what’s next!
The session brought together 33 OR enthusiasts from Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, Greece, Italy, England, India, USA, Brazil, and Colombia, fostering a vibrant discussion that continued well beyond the scheduled time. 🌍đź§
A big thank you to Geoffrey for sharing his expertise and to all attendees for making this a great start to PRADO 2025!
📢 Next Up: The topic for February will be posted next week!
📢 In April, we’ll host Planningio GmbH with a session on integrated planning solutions for the beverage industry. Stay tuned for more details!
Our newsletter (https://prado-series.beehiiv.com/subscribe) already has 61 members that are getting the meeting links and reminders for the talks!
#OperationsResearch #Optimization #Scheduling #Routing #Metaheuristics #PRADOSeries2025 #Timefold #AI #Logistics #JobScheduling
Join the PRADO Series: Monthly Talks on Operations Research!
🚀 Are you passionate about optimization, problem-solving, and the transformative power of OR? The Prescriptive Analytics and Decision Optimization (PRADO) Series brings together practitioners, researchers, students, and industry leaders for cutting-edge talks on the latest tools and real-world applications.
🔗 Don’t miss a thing! Subscribe to our newsletter to receive meeting links and updates: https://lnkd.in/e7jBeMYP.
🌟 Upcoming Talks 🌟
đź“… January 31st, 2025 (13:00 CET):
🎤 Speaker: Geoffrey De Smet, CTO of Timefold (https://timefold.ai/)
Topic: Timefold – Complex Scheduling and Routing Optimization Made Easy
Explore how the Timefold Solver and Platform tackle Vehicle Routing Problems, Job Shop Scheduling, and more. Learn about their PlanningAI technology and its applications in automating and optimizing the scheduling of vehicles, employees, and machinery worldwide.
đź“… April 2025 (Date TBD):
🎤 Company: Planningio GmbH (Optimization Start-up company)
Topic: From Production to Bottling: Integrated Planning Solutions for the Beverage Industry
Discover how Planningio integrates production and bottling operations into a single optimization framework, offering reduced costs, increased automation, and responsiveness to market demands.
🌟 Who Should Attend?
From practitioners and companies to researchers, students, and software providers, there’s something for everyone. Whether you’re looking to solve real-world challenges or gain insights into the future of OR, the PRADO Series is the place to be.
đź’Ľ Stay updated on all events, subscribe today: https://lnkd.in/e7jBeMYP.
📣 We’re also open to new speakers. Interested? Contact us!
Join us in connecting the OR landscape! đź’ˇActivate to view larger image,
🎉 It’s time to announce the first talk of our Prescriptive Analytics and Decision Optimization (PRADO) Series 2025 on January 31st!
On the virtual stage, we’ll have Geoffrey De Smet, CTO of Timefold (https://timefold.ai/), an innovative heuristic solver. Geoffrey will share Timefold’s key features and explain why it’s a powerful tool for your projects— especially if you’re tackling scheduling and routing challenges.
đź“ť Title
Timefold – Complex scheduling and routing optimization made easy
đź“„ Abstract
Operations Research problems, such as real-world variants of the Vehicle Routing Problem and Job Shop Scheduling, are naturally complex. So the solver technology shouldn’t complicate it further. Adding a new constraint should be easy. Scaling should just work. Model development should simply follow the best practices in software development, such as unit testing, monitoring and REST integration.
With this in mind, we’ve created Timefold Solver and Timefold Platform. Timefold’s PlanningAI technology is used around the globe to automate and optimize the scheduling and routing of hundreds of thousands of vehicles, employees and machinery.
Timefold Solver: An open-source next-gen metaheuristics solver.
Timefold Platform is managed service with REST APIs for Field Service Routing and Employee Shift Scheduling.
Join us in this session to get to know the Timefold technology stack.
_______________________________________________________
đź—“ Event Details
đź“Ś Topic: PRADO Series – January – Timefold
đź•’ Time: Jan 31, 2025, 1:00 PM (Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna)
Meeting details will be available
The PRADO Series
The PRADO Series grew from a simple idea: creating a space for deep, practical discussions in Operations Research.
The series features monthly meetings where experts share real-world case studies, explore cutting-edge tools, and foster open discussions on the transformative power of OR.
What started as an internal meeting with colleagues (Claus Gwiggner, Max Sonnelid, Suwaythan Nahaganeshan, Thomas Bulka, Mike Gubko, Ali Ghezelsoflu, Vincent Kammerer, Sivanja Sivanesan, and many others) has now evolved into a public series, inspired by the rich exchanges at the Gurobi Summit 2024 in Amsterdam. A special thanks to Cristina Radu, PhD for the inspiration and encouragement to broaden the vision.
The series now connects practitioners, researchers, students, and industry leaders, spotlighting real-world applications, cutting-edge tools, and the transformative power of OR.
Follow along to stay updated on talk publications and meeting links!
We also have a few open slots for companies and OR experts interested in presenting or collaborating. If you’d like to join us as a presenter, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Stay tuned for exciting monthly talks packed with insights, innovation, and collaboration opportunities!
🌟 Introducing the Prescriptive Analytics and Decision Optimization (PRADO) Series 2025! 🌟
Where OR meets practice, innovation, and collaboration.
Are you passionate about optimization, problem-solving, and the transformative power of OR? Join us in 2025 for our monthly series of cutting-edge presentations showcasing the best of Operations Research in practice, tools, and technologies.
________________________________________
Who Should Attend?
đź‘ĄPractitioners:
• Gain insights from real-world OR projects.
• Discover best practices in implementation, change management, and IT integration.
• Expand your network and collaborate with like-minded professionals.
đź‘ĄCompanies:
• Learn how OR can unlock hidden value in your operations.
• Hear success stories from industry leaders like Siemens, Bayer, and Deutsche Bahn (examples only).
• Meet experts and practitioners who can guide your next big OR initiative.
đź‘ĄResearchers:
• Understand industry needs and discover applications for your work.
• Gain inspiration for impactful research topics.
• Connect with companies for collaborations and partnerships.
đź‘ĄStudents:
• See how OR theory transforms into real-world applications.
• Explore career pathways and gain insights into the skills needed to succeed.
• Network with mentors and industry leaders.
đź‘ĄSoftware Providers:
• Identify opportunities for innovation based on practitioners’ challenges.
• Showcase your tools and advancements to a targeted audience.
• Build relationships with potential customers and collaborators.
________________________________________
đź”— What to Expect:
đź’Ľ OR in Action: Behind-the-scenes looks at OR projects, implementation stories, and challenges faced by industry leaders.
🔧 Tech and Tools: The latest in solvers, software, and cutting-edge research. From tutorials and OR-classics to state-of-the-art advancements, see what’s shaping the future of OR.
🤝 OR Connect: Interactive sessions for discussion panels, networking, and collaboration opportunities.
________________________________________
đź“… Program Sneak Peek:
🎤 January: Timefold – Complex scheduling and routing optimization made easy
🎤 April: Planningio GmbH – From Production to Bottling: Integrated Planning Solutions for the Beverage Industry
________________________________________
đź”— Follow us for updates and registration details.
🗓️ Save the date and join us in revolutionizing the OR landscape!
Reflecting on a Year in Consulting: Operations Research in Practice
It’s been a year since I transitioned from academia to consulting, and I’ve been reflecting on how different operations research feels in these two worlds. Here are a few observations that stood out to me:
1. Simplicity is key. In practice, solutions tend to be much simpler than the ones I worked on in academia. Time constraints and the need to quickly deliver impact often outweigh the drive for optimality or sophistication.
2. Real data brings real challenges. While artificial data is a great tool for research, it only gets you so far in practice. Collecting, cleaning, and understanding real-world data is often more challenging than designing the solution itself.
3. The solution is just one piece of the puzzle. IT architecture, training, lifecycle management, roles, documentation—the list of considerations around the model can easily overshadow the model itself.
4. Impact > Optimality. The goal is rarely to achieve a perfect solution. It’s to improve the current system in a tangible, measurable way. Extendibility and theoretical contributions take a backseat to solving the immediate problem.
5. Communication is everything. In academia, we write papers for people who understand our field. In consulting, the audience often has no background in OR. Explaining complex ideas clearly—and convincing others of their value—requires a completely different approach.
6. Tools and technology are rarely up to you. Clients often have established tools and infrastructure. Working within these constraints adds a practical layer that academic projects don’t typically face.
7. Defining the problem can be harder than solving it. Clients often come with symptoms, not fully defined problems. Framing the problem well becomes as important as delivering a solution.
It’s been an eye-opening year, and I’m still learning how to balance these dynamics. Consulting has its own set of complexities—ones that often go beyond the math and algorithms we focus on in academia.
What has your experience been like transitioning between academia and industry?
Embracing Decision Intelligence at the Gurobi Summit EMEAI 2024
I had the incredible opportunity to attend the Gurobi Summit EMEAI 2024 in Amsterdam this November. As someone who has been working with Gurobi since 2015 and recently transitioned from academia to consulting at Capgemini Germany, this was my first event as a practitioner—and it exceeded all expectations!
My key takeaways:
– Client-Centric Excellence: Gurobi’s dedication to their clients is truly impressive. Their expert support team goes above and beyond to assist customers. I also discovered some of their promising tools, like their Git integrations and modeling bots, which I’m excited to explore—especially the integration of machine learning with optimization.
– Beyond the Theory: Studying or researching operations research (OR) only scratches the surface. Implementing optimization solutions in large companies involves challenges like IT integration, change management, lifecycle management, training, and data availability. Hearing real-world use cases and best practices was enlightening.
– Building a Community: I connected with several firms and professionals in the OR field that I hadn’t heard of before. Even some “large players” were new to me! A highlight was meeting Cristina Radu, PhD, a freelance OR expert who has built a community around OR writing. This experience underscored the need for greater networking and collaboration in our field.
At Capgemini, we have an internal OR discussion group, and the summit inspired me to expand this beyond our company. I’m planning events for 2025 and would love to include more voices. If you’re interested in participating or presenting, feel free to reach out!
A huge thank you to the Gurobi team and especially to Jan Schwarzkopf for the invitation and for organizing such a fantastic event.
Check out this video from the summit: https://lnkd.in/evkyivtH
Looking forward to connecting with fellow OR enthusiasts and driving innovation together!
hashtag#GurobiSummit hashtag#OperationsResearch hashtag#Optimization hashtag#DecisionIntelligence hashtag#MachineLearning hashtag#Networking