Inventory Management with Mip Wise
About the company
At Mip Wise, science is leveraged to design and develop highly scalable and adaptable solution engines. Thanks to their experience in solving challenging business problems and their strong background in mathematics, algorithms are designed to strike the right balance between performance and accuracy. Mip Wise means: making intelligence prevalent to drive wiser decisions. For more information visit https://www.mipwise.com/
The Challenge
Procurement in an inventory storehouse involves managing multiple items under variable demand and cost constraints. The objective of the challenge is to decide the optimal timing and quantities of orders to meet demand while minimizing total costs.
18%
decrease in inventory cost
-5%
unsatisfied demand
~5 min
execution time
Winners of the Challenge
Andrés Santos Tovar
Dante Volpedo
Andrés and Dante developed a solution that optimized inventory management, helping the company achieve a more efficient balance between product availability and storage costs. The project led to a more than 5% reduction in unmet demand and 18% decrease in inventory costs, proving that it was possible to maintain high service levels without creating overstock.
A key insight was that maximizing the use of inventory cost in the objective function enabled more efficient decisions regarding the amount of inventory to order, allowing stock levels to be adjusted more strategically. Additionally, the analysis highlighted the importance of prioritizing the most demanded SKUs to reduce unmet demand, while also acknowledging that sacrificing less relevant costs can be necessary to prevent stockouts.
WHAT THE COMPANY SAYS
— Asteroide Santana Ph.D —
CEO at Mip Wise
We gave the students a problem that can go from confusing to easy and then to challenging as the goal and requirements are understood. So I would say it was a tricky problem. Now, to solve a tricky decision-making problem, as it frequently happens in the industry, you need to deeply understand the problem itself and the techniques available to tackle it. I was very delighted to see Andres and Dante doing exactly that. As a result, they got and shared new insights, which I really enjoyed discussing. Congrats to the students and thanks Rabie for the opportunity to share the problem and learn from you all.
A word from the professor
This was a very interesting Challenge from multiple perspectives. From the pedagogical perspective, it was extremely valuable for the students to not only apply Operations Research techniques, but also to be resourceful in adapting these methods to the specifics of the problem. Collaborating with MipWise was truly a joy — Aster, the CEO, has deep insight into the world of optimization, both from a technical standpoint and from the broader perspective of how OR can bring tangible value. Finally, the problem itself was rich in complexity, blending classical inventory optimization with a unique mix of constraints and penalty structures that pushed participants to think creatively. The challenge fully met my expectations and was a rewarding experience for all involved
Prof. Rabie Nait-Abdallah
Leader of the Challenge
Javeriana University