OPERATIONAL RESEARCH SOCIETY OF NEW ZEALAND

Wellington Branch

Branch Chair:
David Boland
Boland Associates Limited
4 Hicks Crescent
Waikanae
New Zealand            
phone: 04 902 3889
Email: [email protected]

Committee Members:
John Davies and Vicky Mabin

Program
The latest program of up-coming events is available here.

Presentations
29 August 2001, Bruce Beneseman, "Practical OR, Spreadsheets versus specialist packages"
15 March 2001, Pamela Mazoyer, The Disciplines of the Learning Organisation; And Why it’s Hard to Change

Seminar by Bruce Benseman
Date Wednesday, 29 August 2001
Place Rutherford House
Time 12noon - 1:30pm
Refreshments from 12 noon
RSVP by Friday 24 August.

Bruce will give a presentation on:

'Practical OR: Spreadsheets versus specialist packages'
Suppose you have a large numerical problem to manage. Do you grab your Excel spreadsheet for its instant charting, sorting, filtering and pivot features? Or do you dust off your OMNI, SIMSCRIPT or SAS package, for its algebraic modelling, powerful subroutines, debugging and documentation ability? What might influence your decision? The answer probably depends on your problem, your deadline, your skills, and your budget.

Bruce Benseman has been consulting for a long time. So he has made more mistakes than most. As his computers changed, he has worked with many optimisation and statistical packages. Today, all of his clients use Excel and GAMS. Over the years, Bruce's feelings for spreadsheets have changed from disdain and suspicion, to love and enthusiasm. As well as being a slow learner, Bruce forgets things fast. So come to hear about his experiences before it is too late! He will illustrate his talk with recent scheduling and forecasting projects in the Cement and Aviation industries.

About the Author:
Bruce Benseman is an OR consultant who specialises in modelling complex large-scale systems. He and his wife now run their own OR consulting company, Optimal Solutions Ltd. Their clients include some of the largest players in the Meat, Dairy, Oil and Cement industries here and in Australia. Bruce is also the OR specialist at Airways New Zealand. Before that, he spent 22 years consulting for DSIR Applied Mathematics and Industrial Research Ltd. He has also worked for Australian Gaslight in Sydney; and taught Economics at Canterbury. For 12 years, Bruce served on the ORSNZ Council -- from Treasurer down to President. And after 39 years, he is still running (because his legs outvote his brains). His email address is [email protected]

For your diary:

Seminar by Victoria Mabin & John Davies
Date Wednesday, 24 October 2001
Place Rutherford House
Time 12noon - 1:30pm
Refreshments from 12 noon

Vicky and John will give a presentation on:
VISA: 'Visual Interactive Sensitivity Analysis'. This commercial package has proved invaluable in a large number of practical application. Vicky and John will demonstrate the package by means of their own case studies.

September Meeting
A meeting is planned for 12 September 2001, at 12noon, at Rutherford House. Details will follow later.