SAS/OR® Software
Optimize business processes and address management science challenges
SAS/OR software provides a powerful array of optimization, simulation and project scheduling techniques to identify the actions that will produce the best results, while operating within resource limitations and tight restrictions. It enables organizations to consider more alternative actions and scenarios, and determine the best allocation of resources and the best plans for accomplishing goals.
Benefits
- Identify the best answers to planning problems with a wide range of operations research methods.
- Build models interactively and experiment with changes to underlying data.
- Incorporate more data, more easily.
- Plan, manage and track project and resource schedules through a single integrated system.
- Generate quicker, better answers to large, real-world problems.
Features
- Mathematical optimization
- Discrete event simulation
- Project and resource scheduling
- Genetic algorithms for local search optimization
" Now, faster than ever, we can determine the best combinations of mode and route to ship our products. The net ROI is huge – it's automated decision making in real time."
—R.B. Singh
Chief Financial Officer
Jaypee Group
How SAS® Is Different
- SAS/OR offers the broadest available spectrum of operations research modeling and solution techniques, and includes state-of-the-art advancements in mathematical optimization. With SAS/OR you gain the knowledge you need to answer the complex business questions that occur every day.
- With SAS you can derive greater insights into the factors that affect your business and processes so you can make better decisions and produce optimal results.
- Incorporating operations research analytics not only adds structure and repeatability to decision-making processes, it can optimize your BI investments to deliver the competitive edge.
Benefits
- Identify the best answers to planning problems with a wide range of operations research methods. SAS/OR offers the broadest available spectrum of operations research modeling and solution techniques, and includes state-of-the-art methods for mathematical optimization. The depth of detail and realism in modeling capabilities, control of optimization, simulation and scheduling processes, and an integrated approach to data access and information delivery enables organizations to identify and distribute the best answers to complex planning problems.
- Build models interactively and experiment with changes to underlying data. SAS/OR lets you build models interactively, modifying constraints or variables and experimenting easily with the effects of changes to underlying data. In mathematical optimization, a specialized modeling language enables you to work transparently and directly with symbolic problem formulations, and an appropriate solution method for the business scenario can be automatically chosen. This allows problems to be formulated and solved intuitively and efficiently whether they are linear, nonlinear or quadratic.
- Incorporate more data, more easily. With SAS/OR it is easy to indicate where and how input data will be used in a model. Data/model separation is maintained, which is critical when reusing models or model components. Users can select the aspects of the solution to be reported and can control the form in which they are reported.
- Plan, manage and track project and resource schedules through a single integrated system. SAS enables you to more effectively manage projects to meet deadlines within resource limitations and create back-up plans to address unforeseen variations in resource availability. The software is adept at handling complicated situations.
- Generate quicker, better answers to large, real-world problems. SAS/OR includes analytic and solution methods that are tuned to address large, complex, real-world problems.
Features
- Mathematical optimization
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- The OPTMODEL family of procedures provides:
- Use of industry-standard MPS/QPS format input data sets.
- Flexible algebraic syntax for intuitive model formulation.
- Support for the transparent use of standard SAS functions.
- Direct invocation of linear, nonlinear, quadratic and mixed-integer solvers.
- Support for the rapid prototyping of customized optimization algorithms.
- Aggressive presolvers to reduce effective problem size.
- Linear programming solvers:
- Primal simplex and dual simplex.
- Interior-point with (experimental) crossover.
- Network simplex.
- Branch-and-bound integer and mixed-integer programming solver with cutting planes and primal heuristics.
- General nonlinear programming solvers:
- Interior-point trust region method with line search.
- Active-set trust region method with line search.
- Multistart capability.
- Quadratic programming with state-of-the-art solver tailored for large-scale optimization.
- Network flow optimization: shortest path, maximum flow, minimum cost flow.
- Genetic algorithms for local search optimization.
- The OPTMODEL family of procedures provides:
- Discrete event simulation
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- Versatile, graphical modeling capabilities; create and save custom components.
- Ability to model both static and mobile resources.
- Automated experimental design and input analysis via integration with JMP® software.
- Ability to drive models with historical data in SAS data sets or JMP tables.
- Integrate with SAS or JMP for analysis of results.
- Project and resource scheduling
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- Critical Path Method and CPM-based resource-constrained scheduling.
- Calendars, work shifts and holidays for determining resource availability and schedules.
- Full support for nonstandard precedence relationships.
- Ability to include PERT estimates of duration.
- Versatile reporting, customizable Gantt charts and project network diagrams.
- Earned Value Management analysis for project tracking execution.
- Decision analysis:
- Create, analyze and interactively modify decision tree models.
- Customize utility functions, including risk aversion/tolerance.
- Calculate value of perfect information (VPI) and value of perfect control (VPC).
- Bill of material (BOM) processing:
- Read from standard product structure data files and part master files, or combined files.
- Account for lead times, lead time offsets, scrap factors, quantities on hand.
- Produce single- or multiple-level bills of material, including indented and summarized BOM.
- Produces summarized parts, listing items and quantities required to meet the specified plan.
- Constraint programming capabilities with scheduling and resource features.
- Genetic algorithms for local search optimization
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- Genetic algorithms apply principles of natural selection and evolution in working with groups of solutions to optimization problems.
Screenshots
Using SAS/OR to optimize workforce allocation
Sample interface demonstrates the use of SAS/OR to optimize workforce allocation, factoring in shift hours, pay rates and the opportunity cost of unmet demand.
Interactive model building and experimental design
The SAS Simulation Studio graphical interface provides interactive model building and experimental design capabilities.
SAS/OR software's powerful production and distribution optimization capabilities are displayed in a Web-based demonstration.
Plan, manage and track project and resource schedules through a single integrated system.
SAS/OR software's project management capabilities give you the flexibility to plan, manage and track project and resource schedules through a single integrated system.
System Requirements
Host Platforms
- HP/UX on Itanium: 11iv3 (11.31)
- HP/UX on PA-RISC: 11iv3 (11.31)
- IBM AIX on POWER architectures: 6.1 and 7.1
- IBM z/OS: V1R10 and higher
- Linux (32-bit): Novell SuSE 10 and 11; RHEL 5 and 6
- Linux x64 (64-bit): Novell SuSE 10 and 11; RHEL 5 and 6
- Microsoft Windows (32-bit): Windows XP Professional, Windows Vista *, Windows 7**, Windows Server 2003 family, Windows Server 2008 family
- Microsoft Windows on x64 (64-bit): Windows XP Professional for x64, Windows Vista* for x64, Windows 7** for x64, Windows Server 2003 family for x64, Windows Server 2008 family for x64
- Solaris on SPARC: Version 10 Update 8
- Solaris on x64 (x64-86): Version 10 Update 8
Required Software
- Base SAS (required)
- SAS/GRAPH® required for Gantt charts, network diagrams and decision trees
SAS® Simulation Studio is included automatically/transparently with SAS/OR®
- Supported for Windows 32-bit
- Requires JRE 1.5 or higher
- Requires JMP 8 or higher for automated experimental design and input analysis
- SAS Simulation Studio also can be licensed separately as an add-on to JMP
* NOTE: Windows Vista supported editions are: Enterprise, Ultimate and Business.
** NOTE: Windows 7 supported editions are: Enterprise, Ultimate and Professional.
Ready to learn more?
Call us at 1-800-727-0025 (US and Canada) or request more information.
