ZS | 25: Rooted in Innovation-1

ZSAssociates

 

In order to make you know more about ZS before the campus talk, we will post 25
daily messages, each providing a glimpse into our history, beginning with the
first installment below. These stories provide insight into who we are, where
we've come from, and why we're proud.

 

Rooted in innovation

 

In 1973, Andy Zoltners completed a PhD in integer programming algorithms at
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU).  A chapter in his dissertation addressed the
territory alignment problem. Andy subsequently joined the faculty of the
University of Massachusetts (UMass) to teach.

 

At UMass, Andy crossed paths a year later with PhD student Prabha Sinha, who
was exploring the use of higher math in meal planning for the military.  The
two collaborated on the Multiple Choice Knapsack problem and co-wrote a paper
 on the topic.

 

Much later, they discovered that this line of thinking was applicable to the
 problems of sales force sizing and resource allocation.

Andy provided a solution to his first real territory alignment problem in 1975,
in a project for National Blank Book. This work was done for free, in the name
of academic research.  Andy displayed the NBB territories using a rough mapping
 package from Harvard, which provided the impetus for the later development of
the MAPS® software.  This set the tone for many more innovations to come.

 

To be continued....

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[ 本帖最后由 ZSAssociates 于 2008-10-7 18:11 编辑 ]