Introduction: 2011 Daniel H. Wagner Prize for Excellence in Operations Research Practice

Competition for the 2011 Daniel H. Wagner Prize for Excellence in Operations Research Practice provided the six finalist papers featured in this special issue of Interfaces . The prestigious Wagner Prize, awarded for achievement in implemented operations research and advanced analytics, emphasizes quality and originality of mathematical models along with clarity of written and oral exposition. Operations research professionals from Intel Corporation won the competition with uniquely comprehensive models to support product planning—determining what products to offer and what features each should have—over a multistage planning period; recently their models were in use by over 250 Intel personnel from most major Intel groups, and were integrating many previously separate business processes. The challenge in a public school system of creating schedules for experimental schools that offer highly individualized instruction provided the setting when the New York City Department of Education called upon a research team from Analytics Operations Engineering, Inc.; new methods developed enabled administrators to better satisfy student needs, while reducing the time devoted to scheduling at a school from roughly eight weeks to roughly two weeks. A team from the University of Texas and Texas A&M University invented methods to help Internet advertising firm Chitika make its ads more effective; implementation increased Chitika's revenues while helping Chitika sign up more site publishers to run its ads. La Poste, the French national postal service, working with a team from INSEAD and from the WHU–Otto Beisheim School of Management, derived a preferred strategy for adopting electric delivery vehicles over time; the team's analysis assisted La Poste in its vehicle acquisition planning and also in related negotiations with energy companies and electric vehicle manufacturers. A team from the University of Waterloo and the University of Michigan collaborated with Ford Motor Company to develop analytical methods for planning and scheduling in especially complex manufacturing situations, such as in stamping plants, where setup times are important; Ford's utilization of these methods has produced significant benefits, including reductions in inventory costs, freight charges, and overtime wages. To help plan a major new exhibit, the Georgia Aquarium teamed with researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology; recommendations based on the researchers' original analytical methods resulted in a better-than-anticipated exhibit design characterized by improved overall experience for guests, lower operating costs, enhanced treatment of the dolphins, and improvements in operations and show scheduling.