53
votes
Accepted
MATLAB vs. Python in industry
Regardless of what completes the phrase "Python vs ...", the answer is always going to be Python.
Very few people who are serious about using optimisation in production use MATLAB, and the ones who ...
- 11.9k
47
votes
Are Python and Julia used for optimization in industry?
Despite being a great fan of Julia (and JuMP) I must admit that Python is most widely adopted in industry. I won't recommend PuLP however, which tends to be too slow. As alternatives, I would consider
...
- 1,471
41
votes
Accepted
What are the reasons OR industry projects fail?
In addition to what others have shared, in my experience, the following can cause industry OR projects to fail or can at least cause big issues and/or delays:
1) Quickly changing problem ...
32
votes
What are the main differences between Operations Research in the academic world, in the enterprise world and in the government world?
Here are a few differences I have noticed. (I am mainly an academic, but also work part-time for a consulting company that specializes in OR and AI models for supply chain and other industries.)
...
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29
votes
Recommended books/materials for practical applications of Operations Research in industry
Not solely dedicated to transportation, but Model Building in Mathematical Programming by Williams is a very good start for every beginner in modeling as it contains the theories on mathematical ...
- 2,438
26
votes
What are the reasons OR industry projects fail?
I can immediately think of two reasons, both of which occurred on a consulting project in which I participated.
Every project needs one or more "champions", people in the client organization with a ...
- 37.8k
25
votes
Are Python and Julia used for optimization in industry?
We use Julia in production for optimization at Invenia.
We use Convex.jl, and JuMP.jl, and have found them to be excellent.
- 351
21
votes
What are the main differences between Operations Research in the academic world, in the enterprise world and in the government world?
My experience, as a former phd in an academic context, post doc in a semi-industrial/semi-academic context and now working for an APS editor, is the following:
When working on academic problems one ...
- 2,398
20
votes
MATLAB vs. Python in industry
I agree with everything Nikos said and I add some colors to some of the reasons:
Python is free and open-source but Matlab is not. Anyone can write codes in Python and share it with others who can ...
- 5,864
19
votes
What are the main differences between Operations Research in the academic world, in the enterprise world and in the government world?
One difference I did not see mentioned in earlier responses: moving targets. In academe, we tend to start out with a well-delineated (if perhaps overly simple) problem, and we stick with that problem. ...
- 37.8k
19
votes
Are Python and Julia used for optimization in industry?
The feed back we get from our customers at Mosek is Python is used extensively in the financial industry for doing portfolio optimization and lot of other operations.
Those customers like to use ...
- 3,046
18
votes
How can I do the jump from academia to industry?
Just apply for any job you find interesting and you think you can do well. The trick lies in convincing the people hiring that you are great value for money.
Although this might seem obvious, my ...
- 11.9k
17
votes
Recommended books/materials for practical applications of Operations Research in industry
Surprised that no one has yet mentioned
"Applications of optimization with Xpress-mp".
Of course it is focused on their Mosel language, but it contains many good applications.
Also, a free PDF is ...
- 1,024
17
votes
MATLAB vs. Python in industry
Nikos Kazazakis and EhsanK have given you great reasons for using Python. I will focus on the point from you about needing to use an additional package/library in Python for matrix and vector ...
- 321
15
votes
Recommended books/materials for practical applications of Operations Research in industry
Joe Geunes's book Operations Planning does a nice job of teaching MIP modeling in an operations context (production, distribution, facility location, etc.).
- 13.1k
15
votes
Recommended books/materials for practical applications of Operations Research in industry
Since the OP asked for Transportation domain, I recommend the following:
Vehicle Routing: Problems, Methods, and Applications by Toth & Vigo: here
In Pursuit of the Traveling Salesman: ...
- 5,864
15
votes
What are the reasons OR industry projects fail?
Last year I attended a presentation by Maria Antónia Carravilla where she gave several case studies of optimisation projects, examining the factors affecting their success or failure.
Her main point ...
15
votes
Are Python and Julia used for optimization in industry?
Staffjoy was an early user of Julia and JuMP for their start up providing workforce scheduling. They also release all of their internal software as open-source after they shut-down. See for example ...
- 2,316
15
votes
MATLAB vs. Python in industry
I work for a company that offers a commercial optimization solver. The solver offers interfaces to both MATLAB and Python for solving problems defined in those languages.
We only get one or two ...
- 151
14
votes
What are the reasons OR industry projects fail?
Adding to the other good answers here...
Failing to employ an iterative process
The idea that a few meetings to communicate and understand the problem, scope the OR solution, desired outputs, etc., ...
- 1,885
13
votes
What are the reasons OR industry projects fail?
This may or may not be considered as occurring only within an OR context, but not getting senior-enough leadership guidance and buy-in on the client side (whether internal or external) as to the need ...
- 13.1k
13
votes
Recommended books/materials for practical applications of Operations Research in industry
The AIMMS Optimization Modeling book is freely available and very accessible. There are lots of worked examples going from problem description to example data and model formulation.
- 2,316
13
votes
Accepted
What's the current status of the Vehicle Routing Problem in the logistics industry?
The answer to this question is quite complicated. There are two main types of vehicle routing problems, the offline and the online problem.
Solving the offline problem takes longer and is used to ...
- 11.9k
13
votes
Are Python and Julia used for optimization in industry?
I personnaly use Python for optimizing industrial problems every day.
I know Polymathian also use Python for their Tropofy platform.
GUROBI has a python API, which I think is quite popular (...
- 12.9k
13
votes
Are Python and Julia used for optimization in industry?
My answer will be focused on teaching, and I'll give you my perspective from Georgia Tech ISyE.
Yes, you should teach your students optimization using Python. For simple models, one simple open-...
- 1,542
13
votes
Accepted
Softwares for Operations Research. Is Excel Outdated or Useless for the OR industry?
Excel remains extensively used in industry for non-OR applications. That means that if you are doing an OR application that does not require access to a database, there's a good chance the data for ...
- 37.8k
12
votes
Recommended books/materials for practical applications of Operations Research in industry
Production Planning by Mixed Integer Programming by Yves Pochet and Laurence A. Wolsey might fit the bill. Panos Padalos says on MathSciNet: "... Practitioners who are interested in using MIP solvers ...
12
votes
Recommended books/materials for practical applications of Operations Research in industry
Just to add a different flavor, there's a very good case study section in "The Theory and Practice of Revenue Management" by Talluri and Van Ryzin. Among other things, you will find some interesting ...
- 739
12
votes
What are the reasons OR industry projects fail?
One obstacle in finding champions within the client company is that with OR solutions, there is a fear of automating decisions, which might make some people's job redundant. Or at least this ...
- 2,316
12
votes
Are Python and Julia used for optimization in industry?
Although I personally think Julia is glorious, nearly no-one outside academia uses it for numerous reasons, including:
Missing out on all the Python packages
Julia programmers being much harder to ...
- 11.9k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible