Production & supply chain planning
Better decisions across the whole chain
4colors plans what to produce, when, where and how it ships as one integrated problem. A strong factory schedule then serves the whole supply chain.
Winner of the Airbus x BMW challenge for integrated manufacturing and transport optimization.
One department's gain can become another's cost
A factory selects longer production batches to reduce changeovers. The warehouse fills with inventory while urgent customer orders wait. Another site offers cheaper manufacturing, but transport makes the total plan more expensive.
Optimizing production, inventory and logistics separately can miss better solutions that only appear when the decisions are considered together.
Twelve weeks of demand (grey) and production (blue) against capacity.
Weeks short7
Average stock, units0
Illustrative example, not customer data.
What must be coordinated across the chain
Production and capacity
Decide which work runs where and when, with equipment, materials, changeovers, calendars and delivery commitments constraining the plan.
Inventory and timing
Balance early production, stock availability, storage cost and the risk of being late. A plan must account for material readiness, not just nominal capacity.
Transportation and coordination
Connect production choices to shipping assignments, available vehicles, travel time and delivery requirements. A decision at one site can change feasible options across the network.
Why algorithm quality matters
Linked choices, not one schedule
Integrated models create many linked choices. A method that finds only a locally attractive production schedule may overlook a lower-cost combination of production and transport.
Room to compare real alternatives
Stronger search gives teams more scope to compare genuinely different plans before committing. It examines a larger set of interdependent decisions under one consistent set of assumptions.
How 4colors can help
From one production line to the whole chain, pick the level that fits your planning.
4colors Optimizer
Model production, inventory and transport as one problem. The solver engine searches the linked decisions together, from Python or the API.
Optimizer for Scheduling
Sequence jobs on machines with changeovers, calendars and due dates inside your own planning software.
Takt
Production schedules for the shop floor that re-plan when a rush order lands or a machine stops.
Custom Optimization
Cross-functional models that plan production, stock and shipping together, built around your own sites, rules and costs.
Scheduling & Sequencing Routing & Transportation Packing & Loading
Proven on supply-chain planning challenges
All case studies| Winner
Airbus x BMW Quantum Computing Challenge
An approach to integrated production and transportation planning using advanced classical algorithms and implemented quantum routines.
Proof of concept
| Airbus aerospace supply chains
A separate project with Airbus to develop and evaluate quantum-enhanced optimization for aerospace production planning and logistics.
Consortium lead
| Aircraft cargo loading
A 4colors-led collaboration implemented and evaluated hybrid approaches to loading aircraft cargo, across classical and quantum hardware.
An integrated supply chain, explained
Explore more use cases- Insight
The Value of Asking What If
One useful schedule is an answer. Several carefully chosen alternatives can be a way to understand the business.
Read the insight - Insight
Batch Manufacturing: Why the Order of Production Matters
Two schedules can produce the same products and consume very different amounts of time.
Read the insight - Guide
From Enterprise Data to Better Decisions
The hard part of integrating an optimizer is often deciding which facts the next decision can trust.
Read the guide - Guide
What Should an Optimization Proof of Concept Actually Prove?
A promising solver demo is not yet evidence that an operational system will work.
Read the guide