Background
Optimum planning and scheduling have been long-standing goals in many private sector companies and public organisations. Organisations, however, face uncertainty, typically in demands, resource availability and yields. Thus, within the stochastic environment, the goals of maximum profit (return) in the private sector or best service level in the public sector are not always achievable as predicted by deterministic models.
In practice this translates directly into risk. Thus, risk may appear in many forms involving profit, liquidity, market share, service level and can be attributed to changes in economic conditions, environmental change, accidents and natural disasters. It is therefore necessary to extend the concept of optimisation and introduce mathematical models which can be used for optimisation with quantifiable risk.
The mathematical models and solution technologies for optimisation and models of risk are very close. The centre will pursue theoretical and applied research issues encompassing the growing use of risk and optimisation models in diverse industries.