mastromonaco consulting is a consulting and services business that
specializes in using the methods of science and mathematics to solve business problems.
Our primary focus is delivering production applications that use the techniques of
mathematical optimization (linear and mixed integer programming) to help our clients
achieve the best outcome (such as maximum profit or lowest cost) subject to a set of constraints or
limitations.
For instance, in one engagement for a coffee processing plant, we delivered an application to recommend the
lowest cost coffee blends for each shift for their finished products subject to the availability of coffee containers in the
yard and the processing and dumping capacities of the plant. In this example, the outcome we were trying to achieve
was a "minimum/least cost" coffee blend recommendation, where the costs considered were primarily the material replacement
costs of the coffee. The constraints that limited these blend recommendations were: which coffees
were available in the yard; and how fast could the containers be unloaded. An additional output of the application was
a recommended "pick" list to prioritize the order in which specific containers are moved from the yard to the dump station.
Many of our engagements involve delivering an optimization-based application, but we also offer a broader range of
services. For instance:
- Using an optimization model to analyze one of your business processes and report the conclusions.
For instance, a site location
study that could recommend the best location for a plant or distribution center using an optimization model.
- Perform a study to determine how an optimization application would benefit your business.
- Provide support for and/or enhancements to your existing optimization applications
The optimization models that we develop require an optimization model solver (an optimizer). We currently
support the following third party optimizers:
We have over 20 years experience working with clients from many industries.
Please contact us to find out how we might help you.
Here is quick list of some of our recent engagements:
- Semiconductor Manufacturing - We developed production planning system that produces a least cost plan to
cover production starts in all phases of the production from wafer fab through final assembly and test.
The planning distinguishes the needs of order board production from forecasted demand production to ensure
that confirmed orders were given highest priority with respect to the materials and machines
- Dairy Processing - We developed a strategic planning application that produces a least cost plan
for building strategic inventories. In addition, it provides guidance on the recipes to be used in the plants
that would support that inventory plan.
- Coffee Processing - We developed a planning system that is used for both intermediate term planning of
material requirements and short-term planning for actual production. The plans include the recommended
recipes to be used for each product at each plant each week.
- Coffee Processing - We developed an intranet web site that is used to plan the coffee production. This application
interfaces with SAP for data feeds of inventory and production demand, and produces optimized bills of materials (BOMs)
for the coffee products that are then loaded back into SAP.
- Meat Processing - We developed a planning application that produces a set of blending recipes
based on material costs, material availability, and machine capacities.
- Electronics Assembly - We developed model to assess the ability to build
selected assemblies based on excess inventory position. This application uses
IBM's Watson Implosion Technology (WIT) tool
to perform the optimization.
Here are some things to consider when deciding what should be optimized and whether it is cost effective:
- High Leverage Resource - Are there one or two resources that make up a majority of your costs?
Maybe its material costs. In the coffee, dairy, and meat examples above, the material costs dominate the
production costs. So even small percent reductions in material costs can yield a large absolute return with no equipment changes required.
All that needs to be done is to adjust the recipes with the optimized usage rates of the materials.
- Flexibility in Resource Deployment - Even though materials may be your highest cost item,
if all production is done via a fixed bill of material, then there is little or no opportunity to
improve the material costs. The opportunity for optimization comes when the material usage is flexible, where substitute materials
are allowed to be used subject to a known set of rules that specify how these substitutions can be made.
- Large Number of Feasible Alternatives - Even though materials may be your highest cost item,
if all production is done via a fixed bill of material, then there is little or no opportunity to
improve the material costs. The opportunity for optimization comes when the material usage is flexible, where substitute materials
are allowed to be used subject to a known set of rules that specify how these substitutions can be made.
We have developed a proven and repeatable methodology to for our engagements that include the following tasks:
- Project Planning
- Requirements
- Model Design
- Benefits Reporting Design
- Application Design
- Implementation
- Testing
- Results Validation
- Integration
- Benefits Reporting
- Post-Installation Support
Working in partnership with our clients, we create detailed models of their process(es) to be optimized. These models deal with the each process step,
the costs involves for material, labor, transportation, and equipment usage.
Mastromonaco Consulting Incorporated has been in business since 1999 with the goal of delivering quality production applications based on mathematical optimization models.
Our most successful engagements are those in which we our clients have complete trust in our integrity and faith that
we will do the right thing. The kind of work we do requires a close working relationship with the clients
and access to detailed client information. Since we are building models of some facet of the enterprise, we have to learn the details
of how the process functions and all the costs that are involved.
You can contact us via email at:
Or, call us:
- Monday-Friday
- 9:00AM - 5:00PM (Eastern Time)
- 1-845-876-7750
