Classical Optimization
More from the resources you already have
4colors finds better decisions about the equipment, people and infrastructure you already have. Its software and services raise capacity and cut costs.
Scheduling software, ready planning apps and custom solutions, all built on 4colors Optimizer.
Explore optimization softwareDiscuss an optimization challenge
Choose your starting point
Four ways to better plans, all built on the same engine.
Scheduling software
Optimizer for Scheduling
Advanced scheduling algorithms for the software you build to manage jobs, machines, people and resources. Use the Python package or the hosted API.
Planning apps
Takt, Roster and Stride
Planning applications for production, workforce and project plans, with scenarios. An AI assistant sets each one up with you.
Built for you
Custom Optimization
Built for integrated optimization and problems unique to your organization. You work directly with the specialists who design our solvers.
A first project
Optimization PoC
A focused test on your own problem: a working prototype, compared fairly with your current plan. A short description is enough to start.
The engine behind every product
Solver technology
4colors Optimizer
Complementary algorithms run in parallel, and the search adapts to each problem. Each 4colors product puts it to work on one kind of problem.
Share of compute · Illustration
Constraint reasoning leads while precedence rules dominate; heuristics refine sequences once a feasible schedule exists.
Problem-specific heuristics take most of the budget; mathematical programming checks bounds on promising arrangements.
Mathematical programming carries the search; learned guidance helps decide which neighborhoods to explore next.
The sequence changes the outcome
When products share machines, every switch between product families costs setup time. Grouping similar jobs saves that time but can hold up an urgent order. A good schedule weighs both at once: the plan finishes sooner and urgent work still goes first.
The gain is not a busier machine. It is more useful production from the capacity you have.
Sixteen jobs on four machines, in three product families.Changeovers (red) cost time. The outlined job is an urgent order.
All jobs done after13.5 h
Changeovers8
Urgent order done after11 h
Illustrative example, not customer data.
Integrated optimization. Greater opportunity
Optimize related decisions together to find stronger plans across the operation.
Production and workforce:
A schedule works only when the required people and skills are available.
Packing and routing:
The fullest vehicle is not necessarily the most efficient delivery plan.
Manufacturing and transportation:
Production timing affects inventory, transport and delivery costs.
Algorithms tested on demanding problems
See our recognitionWinner
| Airbus x BMW Quantum Computing Challenge:
Integrated production and transportation optimization.
Finalist
| ROADEF/EURO Renault Challenge:
Three-dimensional truck loading and the logistics decisions around it.
Explore integrated optimization
Explore all articles and guides- 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
Are We Solving the Right Optimization Problem?
A mathematically excellent answer can be a poor result if the objective rewards the wrong outcome.
Read the insight - Insight
A Better Algorithm Can Change the Decision, Not Just the Calculation
Two algorithms can solve the same model and still leave an organization with very different decisions to choose from.
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
Modeling Changeovers in Production Scheduling
The order of jobs can determine how long a factory spends changing products rather than making them.
Read the guide - Insight
A Good Production Schedule Is More Than a Gantt Chart
The bars show when work happens. The difficult questions are why it happens in that order, and what changing the order would cost.
Read the insight
What could better optimization achieve for your business?
Tell us about one decision, and we will help you find the right place to start.