Design and implementation of an optimization-based decision support system generator

Decision makers today need to be able to rapidly find good solutions to increasingly complex problems. Optimization-based decision support systems (OBDSSs) can help decision makers to meet this challenge. Building such systems, however, is expensive and time consuming. In this paper we present the design of an OBDSS generator that greatly automates the development process by integrating a model specification with a database, a solver, and a graphical user interface (GUI). The generator automatically creates the database for storing the instantiating data, the GUI, and the solver interface. With this generator, an OR/MS analyst can build an OBDSS faster and more efficiently than using traditional tools. The resulting OBDSSs can be used by decision makers with little knowledge of the underlying OR/MS technology. We also discuss our experience using the generator to develop production planning and truck dispatching OBDSSs for several firms in the context of a three-year R&D project.