Optiant's Jerry Shapiro To Speak At INFORMS Annual Meeting

Presenting Cost-Based Global Perspectives on Integrating Supply Chain Network Design With Inventory Optimization

Boston /PRNewswire/ - Optiant, the premier provider of inventory optimization solutions, today announced that Dr. Jeremy Shapiro, creator of Optiant's PowerChain™ Network Design software and a Professor of Operations Research and Management Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), will present at the INFORMS Annual Meeting in San Diego. Dr. Shapiro's presentation, "Integrating Inventory Optimization and Supply Chain Network Optimization Models," will be delivered on Monday, October 12, 2009, from 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM.

"This presentation will discuss how supply chain network optimization models, specifically incorporating inventory information, are applied to strategic planning problems such as facility location decisions, transportation mode analysis, and strategic sourcing issues," said Fred Lizza, CEO of Optiant. "Dr. Shapiro is one of the world's leading researchers in the field of supply chain management and a supply chain thought leader for more than 25 years."

The presentation will cover tactical planning problems such as production and distribution decisions, and will include a case study. Dr. Shapiro will discuss incorporating inventory decisions about safety stocks and replenishment quantities in network optimization models to decrease supply chain costs and eliminate stock-outs.

PowerChain Network Designer models and analyzes complex, real-world, global supply chains while balancing service levels, capacities, and costs. The solution identifies the optimal network of facilities, sources, and assets that frees up working capital from the supply chain, creates transportation and distribution scenarios that improve customer service, and sets inventory policies that meet capacity constraints and seasonality requirements.

Dr. Shapiro has published numerous articles in industry publications such as Supply Chain Management Review and over 50 papers in the areas of logistics, management science, mathematical programming and optimization. He also authored a book entitled, "Modeling the Supply Chain." He is a frequent speaker at conferences like Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) and INFORMS. Prior to Optiant, Jeremy founded and successfully grew several companies that focused on the development, application and support of optimization and decision-support solutions, including SLIM Technologies, Resource Management Systems, and J.F. Shapiro Associates, Inc. SLIM Technologies was acquired by Optiant in 2008.

About Optiant

Optiant, a premier provider of inventory optimization, supply chain network design, and supply chain business intelligence solutions, helps Global 2000 companies optimize bottom-line performance by reducing inventories, freeing up working capital, optimizing supply chain asset utilization and delivering lowest total supply chain costs.

Optiant's PowerChain® solutions optimally balance resources, total costs, and customer service across the entire, extended supply chain to deliver greater profitability, increased customer satisfaction, more efficient use of capital, and a resilient supply chain that fully handles uncertainty in supply and demand. Optiant has transformed supply chains for the world's leading manufacturers including Procter & Gamble, Kraft, HP, IKEA, Microsoft and Boston Scientific.

Delivering millions of dollars in returns, Optiant's solutions for consumer product, high tech manufacturing and industrial organizations generate quantifiable savings, often within 90 days of implementation. Optiant's solutions, certified for integration by SAP and other ERP systems, are based on award-winning research from MIT and decades of experience dedicated to the identification and realization of supply chain efficiencies. For more information, please visit http://www.optiant.com.

Optiant, the Optiant logo, and PowerChain® are registered trademarks of Optiant, Inc. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies.

SOURCE Optiant