Franz Edelman Award for Achievement in Operations Research and the Management Sciences
TNT Express Wins the 2012 Franz Edelman Award
TNT Express is one of the world’s leading express delivery companies. The introduction of operations research (O.R.) at TNT Express during the past seven years has significantly improved decision-making quality and resulted in millions of Euros in cost savings. The Global Optimization Program (GO) initiative has led to the development of an entire suite of optimization solutions and the GO Academy, TNT’s management development program for teaching the optimization principles. The tools and available knowledge allow operating units to analyze performance, identify optimization opportunities and overcome operational challenges. To date, the most significant savings originate from the network routing and scheduling solution (TRANS), the tactical route planning solution for pickups and deliveries (SHORTREC), and the supply chain solution (DELTA Supply Chain). As a result of all these initiatives, O.R. is now an effective part of TNT Express' DNA, and over the period 2008-2011, more than €207 million in savings were realized.
Purpose of the Award
The Franz Edelman competition attests to the contributions of operations research and analytics in both the profit and non-profit sectors. Since its inception, cumulative benefits from Edelman finalist projects has topped the $180 billion mark. Edelman finalist teams have improved organizational efficiency, increased profits, brought better products to consumers, helped foster peace negotiations, and saved lives. The purpose of the Franz Edelman competition is to bring forward, recognize and reward outstanding examples of operations research, management science and advanced analytics in practice in the world, with $15,000 in awards. First prize is accompanied by a $10,000 honorarium.
View the 2012 Edelman Award program book (PDF) to read summaries of the 2012 finalists and the winning submission from TNT Express. Visit the INFORMS Video Learning Center to watch the 2011 Edelman Award presentations.
Videos and DVDs of past competitions, suitable for teaching, marketing, or publicizing OR/MS practice successes, are available for purchase from INFORMS. Click here to view the Franz Edelman Laureates and the Franz Edelman Academy.
