I have found that understanding the underlying math and logic of network design software, like IBM’s ILOG LogicNet Plus XE, makes me a better modeler.  That is, it helps me structure the problem so that the tool can answer the question I want it to.

In fact, one of the ILOG LogicNet Plus XE customers had such a good understanding of the underlying logic and math that he could make the product answer many questions that we had never dreamed up when we created the interface.

I asked him why he didn’t just build the a custom model for these problems and his reply was that since he understood what the tool did, it could answer the question and came with the interface, error-checking, and reports.

The book, Supply Chain Network Modeling, will give you a deeper appreciation of the underlying logic.  This will allow you to create better models of your supply chain.  And, you might be surprised that this understanding allows you to solve many new types of problems.