Complex planning - when are individual solutions required?
Interview with Yenal Ersen and Denise Lelle, Business Development, OPTANO GmbH
For many companies, current planning processes are increasingly reaching their limits because increasing complexity, volatility and conflicting objectives can no longer be managed using heuristic or rule-based approaches in Excel. Mathematical optimization based on operations research (OR) methods makes it possible to systematically solve this complexity and make reliable, comprehensible and, above all, better decisions. This quickly raises the question: standard software or custom software solution?
In this interview, Denise Lelle and Yenal Ersen from OPTANO's Business Development department explain when individual software solutions can offer decisive added value and how they are created in close cooperation between the customer and OPTANO.
Many companies initially think about using standard software for optimization in planning. In your opinion, when do these solutions reach their limits - and when is it better to opt for a custom software solution?
Today, there is very good standard software for many optimization issues in planning - for example in supply chain or production planning. OPTANO also has corresponding solutions in its portfolio. As long as companies work with manageable complexity and largely standardized processes, these can make perfect sense. However, our experience shows that as soon as size or complexity increase, standard solutions reach their limits.
Absolutely right, especially when it comes to highly specific or unusual planning problems, companies with standard solutions often have to work with workarounds or make compromises. This is precisely where a customized software solution from OPTANO comes in: it precisely maps the real complexity and individual restrictions of the specific company - and thus creates the basis for well-founded, measurably better decisions.
Every company is different. How does OPTANO ensure that it really understands the real initial situation and the specific requirements of a company - for example in multi-stage production processes?
We start every project with an intensive analysis of the initial situation. Together with the customer, processes, objectives, data and framework conditions are examined in detail. The customer benefits directly from OPTANO's many years of experience from numerous optimization projects: Our experts know which questions need to be asked in order to quickly penetrate even complex planning requirements.
Let's take production planning as an example: the close involvement of the production and planning team is crucial, especially in multi-stage production processes. Our experts work closely with the knowledge carriers in the company right from the start of the project - for example in requirements workshops, joint reviews or in the development of the planning target image. This makes it possible to visualize and mathematically capture the implicit detailed knowledge of the employees. This knowledge flows directly into the software. The result is a solution that is not only technically sound, but also functions reliably and is accepted in day-to-day business.
Everything from a single source - OPTANO combines consulting, operations research and software development
OPTANO supports customers from the initial analysis to the ready-to-use software solution in day-to-day business. What does this process typically look like?
OPTANO bundles different areas of expertise in a targeted manner: Our analytics consultants analyse the initial situation and identify the goals and limitations of the optimization, our operations research experts translate these into a mathematical optimization model, and our software developers integrate this model into a user-friendly application. Through continuous exchange, including requirements workshops and training sessions, we ensure that the solution is not only technically convincing, but also sustainably anchored in day-to-day business.
This integrated approach offers customers one thing above all: comprehensive solutions from a single source. At OPTANO, consulting, mathematical optimization and software development are closely interlinked right from the start. This reduces interfaces, accelerates decision-making processes and ensures a high-quality solution - from ideal modeling for maximum efficiency gains to user-friendly software that users enjoy using.
Customized software solutions are often considered time-consuming. However, time and cost-effectiveness play a major role for customers. How does OPTANO ensure that custom software solutions are not only individual, but also quickly effective?
For us, the focus is on added value for the customer right from the start. That is why we aim to deliver measurable results as early as possible. Our experience from numerous projects enables us to quickly identify where short-term optimization potential lies. At the start of a project, our first step is to identify and validate the added value of the optimization for the company. This results in quick wins that can be implemented immediately and accelerate the ROI, while at the same time creating a sustainable, long-term solution.
Exactly - another decisive factor is the software development itself. OPTANO generally develops on the basis of our own platform, which provides proven technical standards and basic functions. In combination with tried-and-tested modules, our software developers can implement individual solutions as MVPs within just a few weeks. This noticeably shortens the time to value for the customer.
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The OPTANO platform for fast, reliable results - on a proven basis with high quality
How do customers actually benefit from using the OPTANO platform and proven modules and standards?
Using the OPTANO platform has several advantages for customers. Firstly, it forms a stable and proven technological basis on which individual software solutions can be efficiently built. Basic functions, interfaces and security standards are already available and do not have to be developed from scratch.
Building on this, OPTANO uses tried-and-tested modules and standards that have already proven themselves in numerous projects. This significantly shortens development times and reduces project risks. For customers, this means faster implementation, a highly stable solution and reliable quality.
At the same time, the solution remains completely individual: the platform can be flexibly expanded and grows with new requirements. This provides customers with tailor-made software that is not only impressive today, but also scalable and future-proof in the long term.
For which companies and projects is a custom software solution from OPTANO particularly interesting - and where do you see the greatest added value for customers?
A custom software solution from OPTANO is particularly interesting for companies whose planning and decision-making processes do not correspond to the market standard. This applies to very complex planning situations on the one hand, but also to companies from specialized or highly individualized industries for which there is simply no suitable standard software on the market.
I agree with that. In addition, it can be said that the decisive difference lies in the fact that OPTANO can precisely map these requirements. Our solutions create transparency in complex contexts, make conflicting objectives manageable and provide a reliable basis for decision-making. This results in clear strategic benefits: greater planning reliability, measurable efficiency gains and sustainable competitive advantages.
Many thanks to Denise Lelle and Yenal Ersen for their practical insights and answers.
Interested in a customized solution? Talk to us - we will be happy to advise you on the right planning software and support you through to successful implementation. Or find out more in the factsheet on working with OPTANO.