Keynote speakers

Cost Optimization in a Global Enterprise

The importance of reducing the negative externalities resulting from freight distribution activities is recognized by an ever growing number of countries. Therefore, logistics companies and researchers are exploring changes in their operational paradigms in anticipation that these would be aligned with current and future regulations. This talk is centred around recent advances in the area of Pollution-Routing Problems. This stream of research includes several dimensions that were previously simplified. Considering internal combustion engines, fleet composition along with their load and speed have a great influence on the resulting pollution, and thus should be explicitly modeled. Dealing with Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) implies taking their limited autonomy and compensating for it by adequate infrastructure enabling battery charging to take place. This implies modeling the charging process as well as accounting for battery health. Tackling such issues introduces interesting challenges, the algorithmic treatment of which will be discussed in this talk. Namely, existing metaheuristic frameworks are strengthened by the assessment of the pollution as a function of several dimensions often warranting diverse subproblems.

Today, more than ever being competitive in the market place requires offering good value-for-money to costumers and specially to consumers. Good cost management is fundamental to deliver the value consumers need but… how is it done? Is the theory really applied in a very competitive business environment? What is the process that large multinational enterprises use to optimize costs and cash?

Short bio

Ola Jabali obtained her M.Sc. in industrial engineering from the Technion, Israeli Institute of Technology in 2006. She received her Ph.D. in industrial engineering in 2010 from the Eindhoven University of Technology (Netherlands). In 2011, she was a post-doctoral fellow at École Polytechnique de Montréal (Canada). From 2012 until 2016, she was an assistant professor at the Department of Logistics and Operations Management at HEC Montréal. She joined the Operations Research Group of DEIB (Dipartimento di Elettronica e d’Informazione) at the Politecnico di Milano as assistant professor in September 2016. Ola’s research interests lie in the development of mathematical models coupled with efficient solution procedures for realistic problems arising in transportation, production and logistics. She focuses on optimizing goods transportation, in particular problems related to pollution, uncertainty, fleet composition and customer service.

Short bio

Jorge holds the role of Cost Savings Leader for Oral Care E-IMEA at Procter and Gamble. He was born in Peru and has lived in Venezuela, England, Poland and Switzerland. Prior to his current role, he was the Supply Chain Leader for Procter & Gamble’s Pet Care business in EMEA. Earlier in his career, Jorge was responsible for planning Gillette’s Blades and Razors business in Central Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa. He began his career in Lima, Peru as a Sales Manager for one of the country’s largest companies, Backus and Johnston Breweries (now AB-InBev). Jorge has taught supply chain related courses at University of Geneva, EPFL, Reutlingen University, Université Savoie Mont Blanc and Presidio Graduate School. Jorge holds a BSc in Industrial Engineering and MBA from Cranfield University. He resides in Geneva with his wife and son.