HANOVER, MD – Coca-Cola Enterprises has been named one of only five finalists in an international competition that singles out the best project by an organization. The winner will be announced at a special awards banquet during The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences Conference in Vancouver from Apr. 29-May 1. Coca-Cola Enterprises’ submission is “Optimizing Distribution at Coca-Cola Enterprises.” The bottler and distributor of Coca-Cola products responded effectively to the growth of its fleet, which increased from 13,000 vehicles in 1986 to approximately 54,000 today. With a vast system and demands to route in the most efficient way, Coca-Cola Enterprises applied operations research to improve the scheduling of its trucks by implementing a route-optimization model. As a result of cooperation between the company, the software maker ORTEC, and Tilburg University, Coca-Cola will reduce annual costs by $45 million. The reduction in miles driven has also resulted in reduced consumption of fossil fuels and less pollution. The other finalists include:

• The U.S. Coast Guard, for “Maximizing Aircraft Availability by Managing Aircraft Maintenance Throughput at the U.S. Coast Guard Aircraft Repair and Supply Center.”
  

• Hewlett-Packard, for “Procurement Risk Management at Hewlett-Packard Company.”
  

• DaimlerChrysler and J.D. Power for “PIN Incentive Planning System: A Decision Support System for Planning Automobile Manufacturers’ Pricing and Promotions.”
  

• Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center for “Operations Research Answers to Cancer Therapeutics.”