In previous entries we saw there are cases in which Integer Linear Programming is not the most appropriate approach to solve routing problems, and we proposed the option of using metaheuristic algorithms to obtain feasible solutions, and in many cases close to the optimal solution.
As already mentioned in this blog, integer linear programming is often not useful in the real world to find the optimal solution to routing problems.One of the most common metaheuristic techniques to solve this problem is known as Ant Colony Optimisation (ACO).
After reading Puget’s post, I decided to write this one, where I will try to explain the difference between Predictive and Prescriptive Analytics and, within the latter, the difference between a System based on Business Rules and one based on Optimisation.
A few months ago at Decide we chose to embark on a Corporate Social Responsibility project, an initiative proposed by the Human Resources Department. After an internal round of questions and suggestions, we opted for the Food Bank of Madrid.
During the recruitment processes at Decide one of the questions candidates ask me is “What are you like here?” It’s a question I truly appreciate, because deep inside I think when we all make the decision to start a new stage in our professional career, if we are really interested we think about what the company is like, the ins and outs.
In recent years, many times I have had to argue that the using Linear and Integer Linear Programming was not the most appropriate one to solve routing problems. This is not an absolute truth, although it is true that it makes quite a bit of sense as a general rule.
Inspired the book “What I talk about when I talk about running” by Haruki Murakami whose hobby I share, for some time now I have been thinking about writing down those thoughts that come to mind while I’m running.
My alarm clock goes off every morning, I open my eyes and get ready to go to work. Why? What pushes me to do this? The first simplest and most obvious answer is what a friend of mine says, “I work because for now it’s the only thing I get paid to do”. That’s true. But that is not what I think about the minute I get up. From bed to shower many other reasons come to mind.
I would like this post to be a tribute to Guillermo, as advisor and as a friend, as a key element of Decide’s genome that will last forever. How many times, today, do we the partners ask ourselves, every time we face a problem: What would Guillermo say?
Out of all of Decide’s values, there is one that we give special importance to, even though we have not bothered to define it precisely: excellence. It may seem initially that it is not necessary to define this word, but looking it up in the Spanish Dictionary of the Royal Academy, we can read this definition: