Forum Proves OR to Be a Powerful Tool for Real-Life Messes by Elise Del Rosario

www.orsp.org.ph November 2019 Forum Proves OR To Be A Powerful Tool for Real-Life Messes by Elise del Rosario

The 2019 ORSP technical forum ties as loading a pallet and a truck, cess, he shared some experiences held last September 28, 2019 configuring a sales force, display- and lessons from his more than filled the Ateneo de Manila Uni- ing products on a store shelf, exe- 30 years of experience in the IT versity Leong Hall with profes- cuting price promotions and esti- field, capping his presentation sionals eager to hear recent ap- mating total market size based on with a song, which was a hit with plication updates and students a sample. He went through each his audience. wanting to hear how their OR problem type, a general formula- subject is relevant to real life in tion, and outcome of the applica- Rex Briones followed, this time the Philippines. tions. talking about the most well- known company where OR prac- The four-hour forum was opened The second speaker, founder and tice is alive and continuously cre- by ORSP Director Malu de Guz- CEO of Cyber Optimus Philippines ating value, the San Miguel Corpo- man U who introduced ORSP Past Inc and Director of the Computer ration. As a veteran OR analyst President Francis Miranda. An Science and Graduate Programs in of 15 years, Briones talked about Asia Pacific Director for Re- IT Education at the Asia Pacific a representative sample of facili- search, Data Science and Quality College Ernesto Boydon present- ties planning applications among at GfK Asia who possesses over ed the overall framework on the multifarious businesses of 20 years’ experience in OR and which his company, Pinoy Biznet SMC, namely, the beer, feeds and Analytics, Miranda went through has been built: its paradigms, packaging industries. In contrast Market Research applications strategies, and implementation to the mathematical program- that showed how OR has helped trajectory towards creating a glob- ming tools used in these projects, optimize such marketing activi- al marketing platform. In the pro- his fourth example touched on a

From left to right: Francis Miranda shows how mathematical formulations translate to better marketing of products; Ernesto Boydon's experience and lessons in setting up a business resonates with students; Rex Briones discusses some applications among the wide array of OR applications in San Miguel.

1 cont. on page 2 cont. from page 1 traffic simulation methodology ORSP president and currently Lec- OR work. It was key to helping the that is being applied in an SMC in- turer at the Department of Quanti- audience realize the powerful tool frastructure project. With their tative Methods and Information that OR is. This learning was punc- long trip to the forum still fresh in Technology Department at the tuated with raffle draws won by their minds, the students paid par- John Gokongwei School of Manage- more than 20 participants, major ticular attention to how OR could ment at the Ateneo de Manila Uni- prizes being three P5,000 vouch- potentially help traffic woes. versity. He started his talk with ers donated by Informatics. ORSP facts about the 12 to 16 tropical Directors Malu U, Jacky Chan and While everyone braces up for traf- cyclones entering the Philippine Elise del Rosario moderated the fic, disaster can only be dealt with area of responsibility, with an av- proceedings. by preparedness and mitiga- erage of 2-3 cyclones per month tion. OR is still active in this area, from June to December. He then Almost five hundred participants as presented by the fourth speak- related how OR tools have been comprised of students and profes- er, a former President of SVI Tech- developed to mitigate, prepare and sors from UST, University of Ma- nologies and Sr. VP of Home Devel- respond to the aftereffects of ty- kati, Holy Angel University, De La opment Mutual fund, among oth- phoons. Crucial in this effort is the Salle University-Dasmarin as, Que- ers. Vic Reventar was also past preparation and distribution of zon City Polytechnic University, UP relief goods to those who have Los Ban os, Malayan Colleges La- been affected and displaced by the guna, Mapua, Mondriaan Aura Col- disaster. He demonstrated how the lege, St. Dominic College of Asia, use of OR tools can greatly facili- Colegio de San Juan de Letran Ca- tate the proper design and struc- lamba, San Sebastian College- ture of supply chain, the acquisi- Recoletos de Cavite, UP Diliman tion, storage, assembly, as well as and professionals from companies the timely distribution of relief such as Maynilad Water Services items (called family packs) at a Inc., Social Security System, Rare- time when quick response is key. job Philippines, Inc. and Lockton Apart from this talk, he also shared Philippines Insurance and Rein- with the students some open surrance Brokers, Inc. found the source optimization resources technical forum very informative available in the cloud and how and gave it a very good feedback. Vic Reventar explains how OR figures they could access them. A lot of students came to ask ques- in humanitarian logistics, especially tions and had fun taking turns at during the Ondoy catastrophe. He also The afternoon put together the having their pictures taken on discusses how to access optimization collective experience of speakers stage way after the forum was tools in the cloud for free. spanning more than 100 years of over.

Audience absorbs wealth of information presented prior to the snack and raffle that followed.

2 12th Conference Highlights OR Contributions to Public Service by Janni Boydon

The 12th annual ORSP National the Metro Manila Development Conference held last November 23, Authority, gave a quick run 2018 at the Eastwood Richmonde through of the 7 mandates of Hotel, Quezon City was themed MMDA and what they are doing “Raising the Bar for Public Ser- particularly to improve opera- vice”. The event attracted 110 par- tions. She emphasized that analy- ticipants coming from both the in- sis on MMDA operations are on- dustry and the academe, all of going but there is really a need for whom eagerly awaited an answer leadership and political will to to their question of whether OR actualize the change people want Angelo Tanchoco goes over techniques can be applied to the public sector. to see. and applications of OR in the media sector. The event had four plenary speak- This was also one of the points ers sharing experiences and in- research and actuarial science to sights on how Operations Research optimize the benefits received by had helped in the efficiency and SSS contributors considering also effectiveness of the systems they all associated risks. While briefly work with and how it has contrib- delving into the mathematics be- uted to better public service. hind investment decisions, among others, he showed how results of Celine Pialago, current Spokes- studies translate into actions person and Assistant Secretary of which benefit the organization. To one of the questions from the audience, he replied that leadership plays a huge role in getting scien- Rizaldy Capulong, amid success at tific methods applied and imple- providing the correct investment deci- mented in the public service sec- sions through scientific methods, still tor. emphasizes the important role of top management in successful project implementation. Angelo Ramon A. Tanchoco, con- sultant at ABS-CBN, dwelt on the made by Rizaldy Capulong, Exec- theoretical and practical parts of utive Vice President and Head of applying operations research in media services. His extensive dis- Celine Pialago of MMDA admits to the the Investments Sector for the difficulty of implementing well- Social Security System. In his cussion included various tech- thought out plans. work, he combines operations niques applicable to this industry.

A fully-engaged audience listens to the plenary speaker as they get ready to ask their questions.

3 cont. on page 4 cont. from page 3 Paper presentations in two parallel sessions covered OR in Public Service and OR in Business Opti- mization. Both sessions had nu- merous attendees with papers be- longing to fields ranging from logistics, risk management, inventory theory, finance, system dynam- ics, cooperative models, manufac- turing, quality management, to analytics. These papers highlight- ed efforts to incorporate operations research in public service and business optimization, some Francis Miranda keeps OR profession- A. Tanchoco receives his Plaque of Ap- with proven results. als updated on technical trends and preciation from Board Member Vic Reventar. industry shifts. The last plenary speaker was Dr. of goal programming to support through the activities for the year Leorey Marquez, DOST Balik- decisions in optimizing the reset- and ended by inducting into mem- tlement of informal settler families bership those that were present, in Quezon City. The model he presented was comprehensive and complete with in-depth analysis of possible alternatives. Many participants were delighted to learn how Solver could be used to do goal programming in Excel.

Finally, a technology update was given by Francis Z. Miranda spe- President Shella Mariscal inducts new cifically on digital trends in the re- members to ORSP. Balik-Scientist Leorey Marquez shows search industry. The update ex- how goal programming using Excel plained how the industry is shift- namely: Mariaangela Obviar, Ga- can easily be applied to help in the ing from digitized to being digital, briel Villareal and Leonard Cuento. resettlement of informal settler fami- from subscription-based solutions lies in Quezon City. to customized solutions, and the At the end of the conference, par- use of new technologies such as ticipants were given real-life in- Scientist and Senior Research Sci- Artificial Intelligence, Virtual and sights and perspectives from those entist with the Natural Hazards Augmented Reality, Chatbots, in the front-line of OR in the public Modelling Group at the Common- Blockchain, and more. sector. Indeed, OR has a lot of po- wealth Scientific and Industrial tential to achieve more in the Research Organization, Australia. During the Business meeting, Pres- realm of public service.  His talk was about the application ident Shella Tan-Mariscal went

Board Members Elise del Rosario, Vic Reventar, Dennis Beng Hui, Shella Mariscal and Malu de Guzman-U get Participants get to choose the papers they want to listen to during the parallel together for a photo at the end of the sessions, of which one is shown above. last session.

4 International News ♦ International News ♦ International News ORSP Represented at 30th EURO Conference in Dublin

Having been the Chair of the EU- RO Working Group on OR for De- velopment from 2012 to 2017, E. del Rosario also helped organize the satellite event held days be- fore on June 20. With the theme Renewable: Energy, Health and Sustainability, the Workshop en- couraged a lot of discussions and exchange of ideas, made possible by the limited number of participants. This annual Workshop

E. del Rosario begins her talk on OR Consulting by going through her extensive aims to promote the importance background in consulting for both the private and public sectors. of Operational Research in im- proving the lives of people in de- The 30th European Conference on Invited to present in the stream of veloping and developed coun- Operational Research, EURO XXX, OR in Governance, she delivered tries. was held in University College her paper entitled OR in Govern- Dublin (UCD), Ireland from 23rd ment: Developing Country Experi- A useful reminder for ORSP mem- to 26th June 2019 while a satellite ences and Lessons. E. del Rosario bers is that they belong to the event, the EURO Working Group was also asked to be part of the international OR community, the on OR for Development was held Jury of OR in Ethics competition. International Federation of Oper- at the same venue days earlier on The purpose of this award is to ational Research Societies June 20. Significant for ORSP was distinguish outstanding work by (IFORS) and in it, ORSP forms the presence of two Filipinos in OR researchers and practitioners part of the Asia Pacific Regional the Conference, Elise del Rosario promoting ethical dimensions in grouping (APORS) while EURO is and Milagros Baldemor. OR-based studies. The award was the grouping of national societies won by the contributions from in Europe. Other regional group- EURO was held in six buildings of Peru and Germany. She also ings are North America (NORAM) the UCD campus which was home chaired a session on OR for Devel- and South America (ALIO).  to the 50 streams where 2,400 opment. participants coming from 70 countries presented their work. The wide range of topics discussed could be gleaned from plenary talks on ethics and governance (Ulrike Reisach), the history of the travelling salesman problem (William Cook), Robust Optimi- zation (Dick Den Hertog), Women in OR, among others.

The EURO Working Group on Practice of OR had several Making an Impact sessions, Organizers and participants of the EWG ORD 2019 show their certificates after the participated in by E. del Ro- day-long intensive Workshop. In photo are (from l to r): Jaime del Rosario, Adewoye sario on OR consulting, where Olabode, Zilla Sinuany-Stern, Gerhard-Wilhelm Weber, Lorena Pradenas, Aparajita she delivered a well-received Bannerjee, Carla Henriques, Nina Kajiji, Elise del Rosario, Gordon Dash, Milagros talk entitled OR at Your Service. Baldemor, M. Teresa Ortuño, Hua Jin, Begoña Vitoriano, Bo Li, Phillips Obasohan.

Student Chapter News ♦ Student Chapter News ♦ Student Chapter News FUSION Shows the Way To Business and Innovation Through OR by Alona Moncada

The ORSP Student Federation Con- by highlighting the potential of OR Rizaldy Capulong, the Executive gress was held last March 29, 2019 in solving business problems and Vice President of the SSS Loan De- at the Palacio de Manila with the engendering innovation. The main partment. theme FUSION: Integrating Opera- topics of the event were discussed tions Research Towards Business by experts in the business solu- Meanwhile, March 16 marked the and Innovation. Inspired by the 9th tions industry. Alberto L. Villegas, day of the case study and quiz bee Sustainable Development Goal: competition. Expertise on a wide Jr., Founder and General Manager Industry, Innovation and Infra- range of OR topics. e.g., transpor- of Core Enabler Business Process structure, the theme came out of tation, allocation, decision analy- the Student Federation’s effort to Solutions Inc., talked about how sis, queuing, inventory models, deliver a better understanding of OR and optimization work togeth- were called to the fore both by the how Operations Research can er to enable one to start a busi- contestants and the audience. The drive innovation. ness. Elisier M. Fantillo, a consult- case study competition was judged ant in Kaizen Management Sys- by ORSP members Alleli Ester C. Even the choice of the venue was tems, Inc., discussed how trends of Domingo, Rozano Santos, and Ri- an innovation, since it was the first innovation are used for business. zaldy Capulong while the quiz bee time that the Congress was held Felix C. Veroya, Process Excellence was emceed by quizmaster Eldrick outside of affiliates’ schools. More Manager of HGST Philippines Fon ollera. Judges for the quiz bee than twenty-seven (27) school or- Corp., discussed how OR is used in were ORSP members Ma. Shella ganizations and over 600 at- business management. Mariscal, Juanito Chan, and Nes- tendees participated in making the tley Sore. congress serve as a platform for The event also featured talents collaboration among youth and from Adamson University, the Kai- Winners of the case study compe- professionals in contributing to zen Singing Company who sere- tition were Adamson University, nation building through Opera- naded the crowd with their heart- Southern Luzon State University, tions Research. The Congress was felt songs at lunch. Meanwhile, Mapua University and De La Salle hosted by Arrem Christian Jusi and officers led by Sarah Belison, University. Four, instead of three Ariel Salvador, Jr. showcased their talent in dancing awards were given to the top com- petitors courtesy of competition by leading the crowd in the event ORSP Board Director Christian judge Rizaldy Capulong. The top tradition called the “ORSP Dance John Immanuel S. Boydon, Assis- three places for the quiz bee com- Craze”. Representatives from dif- tant Professor in the University of petition, on the other hand, were ferent universities also showcased the Philippines – Department of bagged by: UP Diliman (1st) , De their dancing skills and were given Industrial Engineering and Opera- La Salle University (2nd) and prizes. The event was closed by tions Research, keynoted the event Ateneo De Manila University (3rd).

Speakers (l to r) Christian Immanuel S. Boydon, Alberto L. Villegas, Jr., Elisier M. Fantillo, and Felix C. Veroya draw on their experiences to show student congress participants how OR plays a role in starting a and innovating in business .

6 cont. to page 7 Student Chapter News ♦ Student Chapter News ♦ Student Chapter News Student Federation Launches Sports Fest 2019 by Brian Espiritu

of Batangas Main Cam- pus, and Bulacan State University. This activity, according to ORSP-SF President, Alona Moncada, aims to create strong bonds among the affiliates apart from encouraging teamwork, determina- Photo shows one of the key strokes in the badminton competition. tion, and the sports- TIP-Q.C. emerges as Men's Basketball Champion. manship. Basketball cont. from page 6 and badminton were Fusion Shows the Way…

the featured sports. Winners were June 30, 2019 was the National Overall, the event was very enrich- Sports Fest 2019 of the Opera- for Men's Basketball Champion - ing for the OR majors. Was the con- tions Research Society of the Phil- Technological Institute of the Phil- gress able to ignite fire and inspire ippines - Student Federation. Held ippines QC; 2019 ORSP-SF Men's the participants to use the full po- at the Amoranto Sports Complex, Singles badminton- Quezon City tential of OR especially in business Quezon City, the event was partic- Polytechnic University; and the and innovation? The organizers, ipated in by the following affili- Mixed Doubles Champion - Ad- led by Alona Moncada (ORSP-SF ates: TIP-QC, QCPU, PATTS, Ad- amson University. The organizers President) and Andrea Jane Man- amson University, Colegio de San hope that this event will be the rique (ORSP-SF Executive Vice President and Congress Over-all Juan de Letran Manila, University start of a new tradition.  Head) hope it did!  From the President Marie Shella T. Mariscal mal settlers in Quezon City. This tials of OR in addressing problems Bringing OR was further enriched by a digital of business, government and soci- trend in the research industry ety. Closer to You technology update. The ORSP Committee on Public th The 12 Na- On the other hand, the Student Service had been called on several tional Confer- Congress focused on integrating assignments to help with optimi- ence last No- OR in business and innovation. zation of public services. It could vember brought Over 27 school organizations lis- thus be said that the year was together key tened to what experts had to say marked by efforts at bringing OR players in the on this. Of course, the much- closer to people who need them OR world awaited annual Case Study and most, by focusing on experiences who shared Quiz Bee competitions formed part at providing OR solutions to prob- their experiences and insights on of the congress. lems all around us. how OR has contributed to better public service. Topics ranged The 2019 Technical Forum was The association could only contin- from: the 7 Mandates of MMDA to a huge success, with the ADMU ue to do its work with your sup- improve operations, how OR in Leong Hall filled to capacity with port. We are urgently in need of combination with Actuarial Sci- participants wanting to know people who could contribute to a ence, optimizes the benefits an SSS more about OR: A Powerful Tool for lively exchange of ideas and who contributor receives, applications Real-Life Problems. Speakers from would be willing to work to fur- of OR in media services, and the industry, though only scratching ther the objectives of ORSP. Don’t relevance of goal programming in the surface of possible applica- hesitate to get in touch, if you optimizing resettlement of infor- tions, did well to show the poten- think you’ve got what it takes!  7 Welcome New Members!

This newsletter issue welcomes at Social Security Systems, Andrei new members who have joined the Triz Patupat, Junior OR Analyst at ORSP Family. San Miguel Corporation, Mari Michelle Chiong, Junior OR Analyst From the Academe are: Ruevan at San Miguel Corporation and Jona- Alboro, Instructor at Bataan Penin- than Ventura, Global Supply Chain sula State University; Glenda Marie Analytics Senior Manager at Dyson. Armie Ibay Melanie Lear Balitaan, Instructor at De la Salle  Lipa; Cheryl Barredo, Associate Professor at Western Mindanao State University; Leila Benito, Technical Associate to the VPAA, College of Nursing at Western Min- danao State University; Gilbert Calosa, Lecturer at De La Salle Lipa; Maria Tavita Lumintac Ma. Nissa Montecillo Ruevan Alboro Glenda Marie Balitaan Mary Ellen Camarillo, Associate Professor at Cebu Technological University; Alexander Carrascal, Professor 1 at Polytechnic Universi- ty of the Philippines; Allemar Jhone Delima, Instructor at Surigao State College of Technology; Ma. Emmie Delluza, Assistant Professor Cheryl Barredo Leila Benito Janus Pansacala Dean Ashton Plamenco at Catanduanes State University; Wilson Gan, Vice President for Aca- demics at Enderun Colleges; Gerwynne Savina Gascon, College Instructor at De La Salle Lipa; Fred- erick Halcon, Lecturer at Chiang Kai Shek College; Armie Ibay, In- Gilbert Calosa Mary Ellen Durwin Santos Emelie Tan structor at Western Philippines Uni- Camarillo versity; Melanie Lear, Faculty at Western Mindanao State University; Maria Tavita Lumintac, Associate Professor at Surigao State College of Technology; Ma. Nissa Montecillo, Jr. Specialist at Social Security Sys- tem; Janus Pansacala, Instructor at Alexander Allemar Jhone Alexander Oros Rizaldy Capulong Carrascal Western Mindanao State University; Delima Dean Ashton Plamenco, Instructor at University of the Philippines- Diliman; Durwin Santos, Head of Quantitative Methods and Opera- tions Management Section at Ende- run Colleges; and Emelie Tan, Fac- ulty at Western Mindanao State Uni- Ma. Emmie Delluza Wilson Gan Andrei Triz Patupat Mari Michelle Chiong versity. ORSP wishes From the Industry sector are Alex- one and all a ander Oros, Operations Supervi- very Merry sor at Stealth Monitoring (UCIT Phil. Christmas and Inc.), Rizaldy Capulong, Executive a Happy New Vice President, Investments Sector Gerwynne Savina Gascon Frederick Halcon Jonathan Ventura Year! 8