HANOVER, MD, April 12, 2007 – The U.S. Coast Guard has been named one of only five finalists in an international competition that singles out the best project by an organization.
The winner of the Franz Edelman competition will be announced at a special awards banquet during The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS®) Conference on O.R. Practice in Vancouver from April 29-May 1. http://meetings.informs.org/Practice07/
Every year, the Franz Edelman competition recognizes outstanding examples of Operations Research (O.R.)-based projects that have transformed companies, entire industries and people’s lives. O.R. uses advanced analytical methods to help make better decisions and is a disciplined way by which management can improve organizational performance in a wide variety of situations, in nearly any type of organization in the public or private sector.
Past Franz Edelman winners have included Warner Robins Air Force Logistics Center, Motorola, Merrill Lynch, Canadian Pacific Railway, and IBM.
The Coast Guard’s submission is “Operations Research Enhanced Supply Chain Management at the Aircraft Repair and Supply Center (ARSC) at U.S. Coast Guard.” The work reports on four projects, the result of a six year collaboration between the Coast Guard’s Aircraft Repair and Supply Center at Elizabeth City, and faculty and students at the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University.
Americans rely on the U.S. Coast Guard, not only to rescue them during disaster at sea, but also at this time of heightened concern about terrorist attack. To fulfill its role at maximum efficiency, the Coast Guard’s assets must be at a heightened state of readiness.
The U.S. Coast Guard Aircraft Repair and Supply Center (ARSC) used operations research methodologies on a number of projects that increased readiness, reduced cost, and streamlined supply chain management. These projects provided critical decision support for planning various repair and maintenance activities at ARSC.
The Coast Guard projects developed a strong emphasis on data-driven planning at ARSC.
The quantifiable benefits of these projects include reductions in inventory by 20-70% for critical parts; 10% savings in repair costs by using maintenance information for component repair planning; successful conversion of the H65 aircraft from a “B” to “C” version, thus enhancing the safety and capability of Coast Guard missions; and a 50% increase in throughput of the H60 Programmed Depot Maintenance line, resulting in a reduction in deferred depot maintenance burden on the Coast Guard from a peak of $23.6 million to just $6.5 million.
The Edelman competition will take place throughout the day at the Sheraton Wall Centre in Vancouver on Monday, April 30. The winner will be announced at a banquet in the Grand Ballroom of the Sheraton. The winner will be announced at the gala approximately 9:15 PM. A press release announcing the winner will be issued the next day, May 1.
The additional 2007 Franz Edelman finalists are:
- Coca-Cola, for a project entitled “Optimizing Distribution at Coca-Cola Enterprises”
- Hewlett-Packard, for “Procurement Risk Management at Hewlett-Packard Company”
- Chrysler Group and J.D. Power for “PIN Incentive Planning System: A Decision Support System for Planning Automobile Manufacturers' Pricing and Promotions”
- Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center for “Operations Research Answers to Cancer Therapeutics”
Additional information about the Edelman Competition is online at http://www.scienceofbetter.org/Edelman.
About INFORMS
The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS®) is an international scientific society with 10,000 members, including Nobel Prize laureates, dedicated to applying scientific methods to help improve decision-making, management, and operations. Members of INFORMS work in business, government, and academia. They are represented in fields as diverse as airlines, health care, law enforcement, the military, financial engineering, and telecommunications. The INFORMS website is www.informs.org. More information about operations research is at www.scienceofbetter.org.
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