OptaPlanner Software Development: Top Business Use Cases

ERP Solutions oodles
4 min readMay 12, 2023

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Successful business planning is essential in today’s cutthroat industry, which is fueled by quick-moving technological innovations. Strategic planning is necessary for every size business or organisation to increase operational effectiveness and promote long-term growth. Even if it goes without saying that planning has always been essential to success in business, the conventional approaches no longer hold true. Maintaining a competitive edge in the market requires keeping up with emerging trends and technical advancements.

Businesses across industries have seen radical change as a result of the introduction of artificial intelligence and deep learning algorithms in the form of better strategic planning and wiser decision-making. We now have planning engines like OptaPlanner that are helpful for implementing AI algorithms and resolving operational difficulties. An AI-based constraint solver called OptaPlanner offers thorough planning solutions for resolving typical business issues including staff rosters, truck routing, and similar issues.

Also, Read Top Indicators For Legacy Application Modernization

What Is OptaPlanner? Why Does It Matter?

The open-source embeddable planning engine OptaPlanner enables businesses to create unique solutions for business process automation. Because it is entirely Java-based, it is incredibly easy to create AI algorithms to address challenging business problems. The solution is becoming lighter and completely interoperable with a wide variety of JVM languages, including Scala and Kotlin. The AI constraint solver, as it is also known, enables Java developers to resolve challenging optimisation issues.

To accomplish the necessary functionality, OptaPlanner combines metaheuristic optimisation algorithms with cutting-edge AI methods like Tabu Search and Simulated Annealing. Additionally supported by OptaPlanner’s planning engine are well-known Java frameworks like SpringBoot and Quarkus. We will examine the typical commercial use cases for OptaPlanner in the section that follows.

Business Use Cases

OptaPlanner’s distinctive problem-solving abilities and low cost have helped it gain popularity in recent years. It is open-source and freely used according to the Apache software licence, as we are all aware. As a result, you simply have to pay for development costs rather than additional fees for software licence purchases. The top business applications for OptaPlanner software development are listed below.

Employee Rostering

The entire backend module (OptaWeb) for building employee rosters for managing work schedules and shift planning is offered by OptaPlanner. Using a set of established criteria and the staff’s availability, it automatically distributes shifts to employees.

The essential operation of the OptaWeb employee rostering model is accurately depicted in the class diagram above.

Task Scheduling

There is a dedicated module for task schedule optimization that assigns tasks to employees as per their skills and work experience. Besides, it optimizes the task queue of all employees by reassigning and re-ordering various tasks.

Vehicle Routing In Logistics

In logistics management, the vehicle routing issue (VRP) frequently occurs and results in unfavourable shipping delays. Here, OptaPlanner combines intricate heuristic and metaheuristic algorithms to offer potential solutions to overcome vehicle routing issues. Logistics organisations can optimise the routes of their goods carriers, such as delivery trucks, merchant ships, and cargo planes, with the use of OptaPlanner software development services. As a result, it expedites delivery of goods while also lowering fuel use and associated costs.

Conference Scheduling

OptaPlanner software development makes it easy to conduct various conferences by automatically assigning suitable timeslots based on the availability of rooms and the number of attendees. It automates conference scheduling while adhering to 30+ constraints that can be defined at any given time.

Closing Thoughts

OptaPlanner is the perfect choice for small-to-medium businesses that cannot afford to overpay on their IT investments due to its low-cost development. The software development services offered by OptaPlanner can be customised to meet the various needs of businesses. Along with the aforementioned business use cases, OptaPlanner can also be used for a number of non-commercial initiatives. Exam timetable scheduling, hotel or hospital bed planning, dinner party planning, HR recruiting, and other similar tasks are some examples of popular applications.

ou may also be interested in reading Selecting The Right Tools For BI Application Development

How We Help You Enhance Business Productivity Through OptaPlanner Software Development?

At Oodles ERP, we use open-source software such as Odoo, OpenTaps, and ERPNext to deliver comprehensive corporate software solutions. We have years of experience designing solutions to handle challenging business problems and developing unique enterprise applications. Utilising the OptaPlanner constraint solver to meet the various business needs of our clients is a speciality of our development team. We are also skilled in managing business processes efficiently using Java-compatible automation solutions like jBPM. Reach out to us at erp@oodles.io for additional details.

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ERP Solutions oodles
ERP Solutions oodles

Written by ERP Solutions oodles

We are a leading ERP development company in India offers a wide range of ERP software development services to help you grow your business exponentially.

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