Optimization methods help businesses minimize costs and respond to market forces

Companies around the world are relying on vast computational resources to help make crucial business decisions. The July 2007 issue of the IBM Journal of Research and Development shines a light on more than a dozen business areas that are profiting from business analytics and optimization research.

Topics include:

• Applying supply chain optimization to workforce planning.
• Inventory allocation and transportation scheduling for network-centric military operations.
• Multicommodity network flow approach to railroad crew-scheduling.