Gurobi Days Frankfurt 2022
Overview
Gurobi Days Frankfurt, on May 10 & 11, 2022 was a success. You heard from our customers and partners how mathematical optimization is transforming businesses, got product updates and technical training.
This was also a great opportunity to network and discuss your business face to face.
The event content was 100% in German.
GUEST SPEAKERS
Andreas Farr
Sr. Manager Spielplanung & Spielleitung, DFL – Deutsche Fussball Liga
Andreas Farr, 39 years old. Born in Dusseldorf. Married and father of a three-year-old daughter. Commercial training at Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH. Sports management studies at the HS Koblenz / RheinAhrCampus Remagen. With the DFL since 2011. Until 2013 in Marketing & Events. Since 2014 in the match operations department. Areas of responsibility (among others): Creation of a framework schedule, game planning & scheduling, relegation, Supercup.
André Fuetterer
Solution Leader for Manufacturing and Supply Chain Optimization, McKinsey
Dr. André Fuetterer is based in Cologne and is an Expert consultant from McKinsey’s Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management Service Line and global manager for McKinsey’s digital and analytics solutions in Supply Chain planning and logistics and support clients from various industries, including process industries, agriculture, basic materials, CPG, and automotive. Before joining McKinsey in 2014, he was a researcher at the department of Supply Chain Management at the University of Cologne, where he did his PhD studies on supply chain network optimization.
Bernd Welter
Technical Partner Manager, PTV Group
Bernd Welter – born and raised in the beautiful south of Germany (* 1972 in Karlsruhe), joined the PTV Group in 2000. For more than 20 years he has been dealing with APIs related to geocoding, route calculation and map display. For more than 10 years he has also been active in the areas of sequence optimization, tour planning and strategic optimization. In short: Logistics and transport are both a job and a hobby for him. He is a passionate traveler, both for business and pleasure, and as Technical Partner Manager he looks after his contacts throughout Europe. Whenever possible, he demonstrates the special capabilities of the PTV software in webinars, on his YouTube channel and via social media, and it is always a pleasure for him to ignite the spark of enthusiasm in his audience.
Jens Peter Kempkes
CEO, Optano
dr Jens Peter Kempkes has supported more than 100 optimization projects over the past 15 years. With a background as a software developer, he initially implemented and managed IT projects in Silicon Valley. He returned to Germany for research projects on the use of mathematical optimization in logistics networks and founded OPTANO GmbH (formerly ORCONOMY GmbH). As managing partner of OPTANO GmbH, Jens Peter Kempkes has managed projects in numerous sectors such as automotive, chemicals, consulting, services, energy, real estate and logistics.
Michael Trebing
Research associate (postdoc), Fraunhofer ITWM
Dr. Michael Trebing is a mathematician educated at University of Duisburg-Essen, specializing in mathematical physics, and has worked with data analysis and data science in logistics and health insurance. He is now associated with the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM, where he does research in applied machine learning as well as optimization algorithms for quantum computers.
Robert Dochow
SCM – Operations Research Lead, HelloFresh
Dr. Robert Dochow, born in 1982, studied business administration with a specialization in finance and controlling at the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt/Oder. He also received his doctorate from Saarland University in the field of online portfolio optimization. As an employee and freelancer, he worked for various airlines and cruise companies with a focus on optimization for revenue management and pricing. Today he heads the International Operations Research Team at HelloFresh, which provides algorithmic solutions for menu, production and logistics planning, among other things.
Sebastian Heger
Senior Consultant, M2P Consulting
Sebastian Heger has been working as a consultant and OR specialist at M2P Consulting at the company headquarters in Frankfurt since 2017. Before joining M2P, Sebastian completed a master’s degree in mathematics at the Goethe University in Frankfurt and received his doctorate in economics from the TU Darmstadt (dissertation project in cooperation with Lufthansa). Today he designs and implements decision support systems for operational and planning problems in the aviation industry using OR techniques and predictive processes. In addition to project work with a focus on vehicle scheduling and personnel requirements planning, Sebastian is also involved in the development of open source projects.
Sebastian Senge
Quantum Computing ASG Lead, Accenture
Dr. Sebastian Senge is a Technology Innovation Strategy Manager in Accenture’s global Quantum Computing practice and a co-lead in the ASG region. Additionally, he has a background in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence and manages large-scale technological transformation projects with various clients in Germany and Europe.
Stephan Westphal
Professor, Clausthal University of Technology
Agenda
Tuesday, May 10
Gurobi Optimization – “Deploying Gurobi in state-of-the-art Cloud and Container applications”
Kostja Siefen, Head of Global Technical Account Management, Gurobi
In this session we will look at the product innovations and improvements of our cloud products together. These include
– Enterprise management features for the Gurobi Compute Server
– Optional provision of powerful infrastructure in the Gurobi Instant Cloud
– Flexible licensing in container environments with the Gurobi Web License Service
PDF Slides
PTV Group – “Strategic optimization with PTV xCluster and Gurobi”
Bernd Welter, Technical Partner Manager, PTV Group
What you do wrong in the strategic area cannot be repaired operationally. This is what most people overlook when they optimize their data in various sectors and industries on a day-to-day basis. Retailers, service technicians, field sales force, freight forwarders and many more. Small-scale optimization is often carried out day after day and the long-term view of strategic and tactical data is neglected.
Bernd Welter introduces us to this often overlooked part of processes and how to optimize them with PTV components.
From the annual territory planning of the entire sales force, to the multi-week visit pattern planning of an individual employee (of course, taking into account overnight stays and in compliance with the legal framework), PTV offers the xCluster Service, a high-performance interface that masters the following tasks:
Territory planning: Optimal assignment of customers to their locations, including even load distribution or with heterogeneous team sizes.
Expansion Planning: Where Should They Open New Locations? Where to hire new employees?
Coverage Planning: How can you maximize customer coverage with minimal operational costs?
Visit pattern planning: How do you optimally plan your recurring customer visits for a given planning period and ensure that the daily working hours are adhered to? How often and where should they stay?
This is where Gurobi and PTV come into their own, because it is precisely these advanced features that can only be solved as quickly as possible and with the best quality using the professional solver.
PDF Slides
Gurobi Optimization – “Introducing the Gurobi Alliance Program”
Jan Schwarzkopf, Ecosystem Account Manager EMEAI, Gurobi Optimization
M2P Consulting – “Gurobi & CBC – The open source project “python-mip”
Sebastian Heger, Senior Consultant, M2P Consulting
In this lecture, a brief look beyond the horizon of Gurobi should be thrown. Under the umbrella of the COIN-OR Foundation, a new Python module was created in 2019 to integrate the open-source optimizer CBC and the Gurobi product. In contrast to existing Python APIs, which integrate several solvers, for the first time, extensive features such as callbacks and cut generators are available through direct and fast connection of the C interfaces of both solver libraries. In addition to the feature presentation of the Python module, practical experiences from M2P product development will also be shared, in particular the advantages and challenges of combining the commercial and open source optimization worlds.
German Football League (DFL) – “A masterpiece of man and computer”
Andreas Farr, Sr. Manager Spielplanung & Spielleitung, DFL – Deutsche Fussball Liga & Stephan Westphal, Professor, Clausthal University of Technology
18 clubs, 34 match days, 306 games, each club has 17 home and 17 away games and meets every other club exactly twice. There are also countless specifications from internal and external stakeholders. These are the framework conditions for the preparation of the match schedules for the League and League 2. A few years ago, the plans were still created manually using the so-called English key. Each club was assigned a number between 1 and 18 and fitted into a given scheme. This automatically resulted in encounters. Individual adjustments outside of the schema were not possible. In order to break up the rigid system of the English key and to meet the increasingly complex requirements, the DFL now works with its own software that enables the creation of individual game schedules. The software uses the method of integer linear optimization. Without this technical support, the goal of creating the best possible game plan could hardly be achieved.
*PDF Slides not available
Quantum Block
1- Introduction by Richard Oberdieck, Technical Account Manager, Gurobi Optimization
2 – “Quantum Computing Incubation Journey: Opportunities & Challenges” by Dr. Sebastian Senge, Technology Innovation Strategy Manager at Accenture’s global Quantum Computing practice and a co-lead in the ASG region
Abstract:
Is Quantum Computing here to stay? Many companies are looking into this fascinating technology to assess its inherent value for their business. In this talk we will present Accenture’s perspective on the potential benefits of Quantum Computing and the challenges on the incubation journey. Additionally, we will showcase samples of our client projects and our holistic Quantum strategy. In this regard, classical solvers for mathematical programming, like Gurobi, are a crucial part of our approach as a benchmarking tool as well as a way to offer full “algorithmic agility” in order to implement end-to-end processes and systems already today and to move to QC gradually as the technology matures
3- “EnerQuant – Optimization for the energy industry with the help of quantum computing” by Dr. Michael Trebing, ITWM
4- “It takes two to Tango” by Dr. Sebastian Senge and by Dr. Michael Trebing
5- Closing by Richard Oberdieck, Technical Account Manager, Gurobi Optimization
5- Q&A
McKinsey – “E2E Supply Chain Planning Optimization in Agriculture”
André Fuetterer, Solution Leader for Manufacturing and Supply Chain Optimization, McKinsey
We supported a global grain processor and exporter developing a tactical supply chain planning optimization application, spanning the complete value chain from farms to customers. This helped our clients to realize 10% increase in throughout, 30% reduction in vessel and rail demurrage, 2% reduction in transportation cost and 3% margin uplift from optimized product mix. The application was centered around a MILP model with Gurobi as a solver embedded into a web-based application for automated data refresh, validation and plan and scenario generation. To build capabilities and ensure acceptance of the solution, End-users from supply chain, commercial and operations were fully part of the process: from designing the user experience to testing the solution and providing constructive feedbacks.
*PDF Slides not available
Optano- “Rapid Projects: Was kann man von Math. Optimierung in Beratungsprojekten lernen?
Jens Peter Kempkes, CEO, Optano
The lecture shows best practices and transferrable concepts to make projects faster, more effective and more robust.
Among other things, the following questions will be discussed: How can mathematical optimization be used in consulting in such a way that the best possible results are achieved? Which cooperation models are suitable, which typical mistakes can be avoided? What aspects should be considered when selecting the technology? And how can the transition be designed after the consulting project?
HelloFresh – “Art meets Operations Research – Menu Planning”
Robert Dochow, SCM – Operations Research Lead, HelloFresh
Menu planning as art? At HelloFresh, we see the weekly selection of recipes we offer our customers as a kind of art. Namely the art of maximizing the satisfaction of all our customers. Every week we put together our menus in such a way that from a large selection of recipes we provide those that pursue this goal, taking into account many conditions for different diets and sufficient variety. From a mathematical point of view, menu planning is a nested knapsack problem and can therefore be optimally solved using operations research methods.
*PDF Slides not available
Wednesday, May 11 (Training Day)
Gurobi Optimization – Welcome & What’s New in Gurobi
Michael Winkler, Senior Developer, Gurobi Optimization
Beginners Track:
1- Introduction to Modeling by Marika Karbstein, Optimization Engineer at Gurobi & Mario Ruthmair, Optimization Engineer at Gurobi
2- Introduction to Algorithms by Kostja Siefe, Head of Global Technical Account Management at Gurobi
3- Quadratic Optimization by Robert Luce, Senior Developer at Gurobi
4- Introduction to Performance Tuning by Sonja Mars, Director of Optimization Support at Gurobi
Advanced Track:
1- Mastering Numerical Challenges by Roland Wunderling, Senior Developer at Gurobi
2- Advanced Modelling by Michael Winkler, Senior Developer at Gurobi
3- Advanced Algorithms by Michael Winkler, Senior Developer at Gurobi
4- Nonconvex optimization under the hood by Robert Luce, Senior Developer at Gurobi
*Training content available on-demand for the event attendees only
