António Correia Alves, Luís Guardão and Luís Lima (CESE)

“The CESE nominates António Correia Alves, Luís Guardão and Luís Lima for the work developed over the past few years on the scheduling engine (Escalona project). This is the result of the activities done by these three people, so it would not be possible to highlight a single member of the team. This solution, of great relevance to the industry, went through the entire process of transforming science into economic value”.

– CESE Coordinators

António Correia Alves

Given the current context, what challenges did you face while carrying out your tasks?

The project, focusing on the development of a solution for scheduling production operations in a manufacturing environment, began nearly a decade and a half ago. It took place following the request by a small Portuguese software company that wanted support in the optimisation component. The entrepreneurs had an idea of what they wanted to do, but they didn’t know how to materialise it. They had already tried to partner with a university, but without success. Since we had already collaborated in a quite successful professional consulting activity, they decided to develop a solution in partnership with then called INESC Porto.

The work was part of the strategy of the then called “Unit”, and it was a very interesting challenge, given that it had the potential to generate a product capable of asserting itself in an international niche market, helping the national industry to position itself in a global market, in addition to its clear scientific innovation aspect.

The project was an excellent training opportunity, as it allowed getting to know a reality that surpassed what we were used to, namely in terms of establishing product development strategies and licensing models, as well as providing advanced services to companies in the field of industrial management and operations.

How did you overcome these challenges?

It required a lot of teamwork and self-learning, namely in terms of formalising and documenting specifications, software testing and project management. It was also a training opportunity to several young engineers, either carrying out their internships or theses. Over time, the solution expanded to other software companies that started integrating the scheduling engine in their operations planning solutions, with concrete implementation in the national and international market – Europe, South America and China.

Which aspects of your job do you enjoy the most? In your opinion, what is the main differentiating aspect of the project?

The most differentiating aspect of this solution is the ability to model a huge diversity of discrete production scenarios, while providing reliable and interpretable planning solutions, thereby gaining the trust of its users.

How do you comment on this nomination?

The nomination of the team members, for the work developed over these years, highlights the value of their performance, in favour of creating software products with a high scientific knowledge base, and transferring them to the business community.

Luís Guardão

Given the current context, what challenges did you face while carrying out your tasks?

The greatest challenge we encountered in the development of this project was the lack of familiarity with the end customers of the Advanced Planning & Scheduling (APS) system, sold by our partners – which includes our scaling engine. In the first projects, we were unable to be involved in the diagnosis, design and monitoring of the implementation of solutions in industrial companies, which prevented us from helping ensure the success of the projects.

Another issue was the fact that our team was quite small, which made it difficult to simultaneously ensure the tasks of supporting our partners and the evolution of the system.

How did you overcome these challenges?

We changed the collaboration strategy, moving from a situation in which we sold licenses for our scheduling engine and established annual plans for system evolution, to a new form of collaboration, focused on addressing the pre-sale, design and implementation of the solution with the final customers, in addition to selling licenses. That way, we were able to ensure the success of the projects, and the creation of added value for the companies. This has proven to be a successful strategy.

We recently advanced this partnership by licensing the scheduling engine source code to our partners, transferring intellectual property and knowledge, and establishing multi-annual partnership agreements with them. In this sense, on the one hand, we have managed to free our team to provide our partners with higher added value services (advanced consulting in planning and scheduling, as well as software architecture), while, on the other hand, allowing our partners to improve (with our support) an already mature product, with greater autonomy and flexibility.

Which aspects of your job do you enjoy the most? In your opinion, what is the main differentiating aspect of the project?

I essentially like to diagnose and design effective solutions that help companies solve their problems and become more competitive. I also enjoy talking to people from companies, learn from them and transfer knowledge to them.

How do you comment on this nomination?

I believe it is a fair recognition for this exceptional team – which, over the years, showed significant commitment to keep investing in this field of knowledge, increasingly crucial to companies. The support and challenges/guidelines presented by the CESE coordinators were fundamental, since they helped us completing the maturity cycle of the product we developed, also allowing us to keep investing in it.

Luís Lima

Given the current context, what challenges did you face while carrying out your tasks?

Working from home is different, and can have significant impact, depending on the type of work; obviously, it has a greater impact when we need to carry out field or laboratory activities. In my specific case, I don’t think it has a great influence in terms of performance, and it ends up being helpful in many aspects, since nowadays one can reach us quite easily. Hence, I didn’t really feel that I had to face any specific challenge – also because I was used to work that way. We are experiencing a new reality, which brings positive things, like debunking some myths; for instance, it is perfectly possible to hold meetings online effectively, thus avoiding unnecessary trips, which made face-to-face meeting last two or three times more. It also shows that having people working from home does not mean they are not as dedicated or as equally effective.

The biggest challenges I faced were related to the project, since it is a complex and demanding endeavour – which, over the years (more than a decade!), has evolved into a product currently used in various industrial environments, and in very different areas. In this sense, it was necessary to support and advance the product according to specific needs, with an extremely limited team, making it really complicated to reply to all requests within a certain deadline. We were able to achieve our targets, but it required a lot of effort – leading to many annoyances.

How did you overcome these challenges?

The key factor regarding teleworking is being able to remain disciplined and focused, by resisting things that can distract you – which are greater at home than at the office. The use of digital platforms such as Zoom, Teams, NextCloud, etc. is crucial to teleworking, since it allows preserving team spirit, even at a distance. Regarding the project itself, the last few years have been exhausting, due to the increase in the number of customers using the system; in this sense, dedication, commitment and organisation are fundamental aspects. Sometimes it is complicated, but seeing the results and the work’s materialisation is very rewarding.

Which aspects of your job do you enjoy the most? In your opinion, what is the main differentiating aspect of the project?

I enjoy working on the design of a system in an integrated way, monitoring its design, architecture and implementation. However, at the end of the day, the most rewarding thing is to see our efforts becoming something that really produces more value in a real environment, rather than something that ends up stored in a drawer, after the project ends. Regardless of the technological challenges that projects like these bring, which are always very appealing, what gives me the most enjoyment is knowing that what I do will become a tool effectively used in a production environment.

The differentiating element is the fact that this project evolved significantly from its creation over the years, until it reached the maturity of a very robust product, applicable to the most diverse production areas, without the need for major conceptual changes. It reached a point where we must transfer this technology to our partners, as we no longer have the internal ability (resources) to manage a product that has grown considerably over the last few years. Now, our partners are responsible for managing this scheduling tool, while maintaining a close collaboration with us; we now play a consultancy role, namely in terms of the implementation and future evolution of the product. I believe that this type of agreement fits perfectly with INESC TEC’s mission of transferring technology to companies/industry, and other projects from CESE should replicate it.

How do you comment on this nomination?

It is always gratifying having people acknowledging our work, so I’d like to show my appreciation and willingness to keep working hard to address future challenges. As a final remark, I would like to point out that I think it made perfect sense to nominate the entire team, since the success of a project like this is only possible thanks to the effort of all those involved, not of any particular individual.

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