Analytical and Operations Research Methods and Techniques in Lean Management

If a few decades ago, companies faced the problem of not having enough data from which to analyse and extract valuable information that would help them make better decisions, today, they are facing a new challenge. Today’s companies have access to a tremendous amount of data, referred to as “big data”, which is growing at a remarkable pace each day. A variety of sources can be used to gather the data, including but not limited to company databases, surveys, social media, the Internet, transactions, sensors etc. The data can appear in a structured format as reports, or mainly unstructured (more than 80%) as images, videos and audio. The big data contains hidden information, and only by knowing how to extract the information will the companies be able to improve their performance, gain a competitive advantage and survive in the market in the long term. Digital transformation imposes the need for business transformation, i.e. investing in advanced information technologies and systems and, above all, in finding staff who have the necessary competencies to discover the hidden potential in data and to invest in the existing intellectual capital in gaining analytics and operations research skills. Analytics provides the answer to the question of how to extract information from raw data that will create values such as higher profit, increased customer and employee satisfaction, increased efficiency, productivity, quality, etc. for the companies. Operations research is the application of analytical methods, techniques and tools that are used to solve real complex problems and help the decision-makers in making faster and fact-based decisions. According to the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), “Operations Research and Analytics enable organizations to turn complex challenges into substantial opportunities . They transform data into information, and information into insights for making better decisions and improving results” (INFORMS, n.d.). As the amount of data that companies faced yesterday is smaller than the one they will face tomorrow, operations research and analytics have become the most important ingredient for companies to operate successfully.