www.cementamericas.com • Winter 2016 • CEMENT AMERICAS
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FEATURE
The problems faced by decision makers in today's com-
petitive fast-paced environment are often extremely
complex and can be addressed a myriad of ways. Using
models in decision making and problem solving is really
not new and is certainly not just tied to computers and
spreadsheets.
Quite frequently a mental model is enough to analyze a
problem and go forward. But for complex business de-
cisions, it may be impossible to capture all the moving
parts without using a tool like an LP. One of the chief
benefts from network modeling is the ability to test
decisions that would have been otherwise impossible
to do in reality.
Furthermore, linear programs don't require much band-
width from the organization to develop and run. The
biggest lesson for this logistics company? Just because
the problem is thorny and complex does not mean the
answer has to be.
Ryan Brown is the founding consultant at Next Level
Essentials LLC., a proft improvement practice for the
construction materials industry. E-mail Ryan at ryan.
brown@nextlevelessentials.net or visit www.nextleve-
lessentials.net.
Exhibits 5-6: Network rebalancing creates a redundancy in railcar capacity during the busy season and creates
higher demand for common carriers.
Exhibit 7: An example of an output from the optimized network model. In this case, what looked like a key
bottleneck proved to be nearly value-less in resolving.