Quintiq's Optimization Team Continues to Set World Records for Scheduling Optimization

PR55472

'S-HERTOGENBOSCH, The Netherlands, Jan. 9/PRN=KYODO JBN/ --

    Quintiq [http://www.quintiq.com ], a global leader in supply chain planning

and optimization (SCP&O), has set 98 world records in solving the Flexible Job

Shop Scheduling Problem (FJSSP). This achievement follows the vehicle routing

[http://www.quintiq.com/optimization/vrptw-world-records.html ] world records

set by the team earlier in 2013.

    (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130328/606756 )

    The FJSSP is based on the constraints of a production environment. Machines

run particular operations to fulfill orders placed, which is part of a wider

sequence of operations to complete a job order. The goal of each scenario of

the FJSSP is to complete the overall set of job orders in the least amount of

time. Each instance of the FJSSP has the following characteristics:

    - The number of jobs and number of machines are specified

    - Each job consists of a fixed sequence of operations

    - Certain operations can only be performed on certain machines

    - The processing time of an operation can differ depending on the machine it

      runs on

    - A machine can only run one operation at a time

    Using the company's SCP&O platform, the optimization team investigated all

the published instances of the FJSSP and all known results. Of these, the

Quintiq optimizer found new best-known solutions for 98 instances. Of these 98

best-known solutions, 80 have been proven to be optimal.

    "We have yet to encounter an optimization challenge that cannot be solved

by Quintiq. Finding this number of best-known solutions to the FJSSP is a

notable achievement and a high testament to the capabilities we can offer

clients who face scheduling puzzles," commented Wim Nuijten, Quintiq's VP of

Optimization Technology. "Production-based organizations can achieve maximum

efficiency through optimization, using fewer machines, less production time

overall and generate more profit. We call this the profit economy

[http://www.quintiq.com/blog/the-missing-piece-of-the-profit-economy-isnt-erp

]."

    About Quintiq

    Every business has its supply chain planning puzzles. Some of those puzzles

are large. Some are complex. Some seem impossible to solve. Since 1997, Quintiq

has been solving each of those puzzles using a single supply chain planning &

optimization [http://www.quintiq.com/solutions/supply-chain-planning.html ]

software platform. Today, approximately 12,000 users in over 80 countries rely

on Quintiq software to plan and optimize workforces

[http://www.quintiq.com/solutions/workforce-planning.html ], logistics and

production. Quintiq has headquarters in the Netherlands and the USA, and offices

around the world.

    For more information, visit http://www.quintiq.com or follow Quintiq on

Twitter [https://twitter.com/Quintiq ], Facebook

[https://www.facebook.com/Quintiq ], LinkedIn

[http://www.linkedin.com/company/quintiq ] and YouTube

[http://www.youtube.com/user/channelquintiq ].

    SOURCE: Quintiq