Optimization PoC
See what better optimization is worth to you
4colors builds a working prototype of an optimization solution for your problem, on your own data and constraints. It is measured fairly against your current plan or solver before you commit.
Trusted by Airbus, BMW Group and the UK Space Agency.
Start with the problem and its constraints
Bring a scheduling, routing, assignment, loading, packing or rostering problem. Name the resources, the business rules every plan must keep and the objective you measure.
We help you formulate the model and agree how to test it. You work directly with the specialists who design our solvers, from the first model to the measured result.
| Where you start | The problem | You bring | We do |
|---|---|---|---|
| A spreadsheet plan | Rebuilt by hand after every changePlanners rebuild it by hand, and every change costs days. | The plan and the rules behind itThe spreadsheet and the rules your planners apply. | Better plans, found in minutesWe model its rules and find better plans in minutes. |
| An existing solver | Stalled results or slow runsResults have stalled, or runs take too long to use. | Its data and the plan to beatIts inputs, its outputs and the plan it has to beat. | A challenger, compared fairlyWe build a challenger and compare both on the same data. |
| A new problem | No tool covers the decision yetNo tool covers the decision yet. | A short description is enough, or a sanitized sample of the data. | A model built and tested with youWe define it with you, build the model and test it. |
What you get
Clear answers to two questions: how much better your plans can be, and how much planning time you can save.
A working prototype
A model and a fast solver built for your problem, checked for correctness and feasibility on representative cases. Code access is defined in the project scope.
A fair comparison
Your current plan or solver and the prototype side by side, on the same cases and time budget, so you see exactly where the plans improve.
The value in numbers
Where your data allow it, the gain in cost, capacity or planning time, including the cases where nothing improves.
A next step
A clear view of the modeling, integration and data work before a wider rollout.
From problem to decision in five steps
Fast solvers that make good decisions take the routine work off your planners and leave them more time for the exceptions.
- 01
Define
Agree the decision, the business rules and how success is measured.
- 02
Baseline
Capture how you plan today, from current plans or an existing solver.
- 03
Develop
Build the model and a fast solver tuned to your problem.
- 04
Compare
Run both under the same conditions and look at the gains and the hard cases.
- 05
Decide
Review the results and decide whether to integrate, extend or refine.
Find what the present method leaves unexplored
Planners and current tools settle for a plan that works. A fast solver weighs far more options in the same time and finds plans your current method never reaches, all within your real constraints.
Not every workload improves. The PoC shows which ones do before you decide what to build.
The gap between a plan that works and the best plan your constraints allow is capacity you have already paid for.
Problems like yours
Explore all articles and guides- Insight
Satellite Mission Planning: Every Opportunity Has a Cost
A spacecraft can do many useful things, but not necessarily at the same time.
Read the insight - Case study
Nineteen years, three hundred tasks, a better schedule
How 4colors found new answers to a scheduling challenge that has occupied optimization researchers for nearly two decades.
Read the case study - Use case
Everything Fits on Paper. Will It Fit in the Truck?
A loading plan is easy to judge badly. Add up the volume of the items, compare it with the volume of the vehicle and declare that there is enough room.
Explore the use case - Use case
The Mathematics of a Fair and Workable Roster
Two schedules can cover every shift and still create very different weeks for the people working them.
Explore the use case - Use case
The Shortest Route Is Not Always the Best Route
The map tells us how to get somewhere. The delivery plan has to decide how the whole day will work.
Explore the use case - Guide
From Spreadsheet to Optimization Model
A spreadsheet can contain nearly everything needed for an optimization model, yet still lack a precise statement of what is being chosen.
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
Start with a representative workload
Share the problem, your business constraints and how you measure success. We then agree the prototype, the baseline and what you will receive.