By Bob Scott, Board Member, The OR Society
Businesses face ongoing pressures, including rising inflation, changing regulations, and tight budgets. The latest British Chambers of Commerce[i] survey highlights these concerns, with over half of firms citing inflation as a key worry.
Business confidence is also fragile, with only 49% of firms expecting turnover to grow in the next 12 months, and nearly a quarter (24%) reporting reduced investment in recent months.
For this reason, good decision-making has never been more important. While AI and big data dominate headlines, a lesser known but equally powerful tool is quietly helping businesses stay competitive: Operational Research (OR).
Termed ‘the art and science of decision making,’ OR combines advanced mathematics, data analytics, and human insights to tackle the toughest business challenges.
Originally developed during WWII to enhance military operations, it has evolved into a robust framework for business decision-making. It offers a structured, evidence-based approach that goes beyond data analysis to help organisations optimise processes, reduce risks, and improve overall efficiency.
Driving better business outcomes with OR
OR is ideal for organisations dealing with uncertainty or operational complexity. By simulating different scenarios and analysing possible outcomes, OR enables smarter, evidence-based decisions.
It provides insights that enable businesses to anticipate challenges, streamline operations, and allocate resources more effectively. Whether it’s optimising delivery routes for a logistics company or balancing inventory levels for a retailer, operational research can improve performance and resilience.
While AI and big data are excellent for identifying trends and predicting what’s likely to happen OR can turn those predictions into practical strategies. For instance, AI might forecast a spike in product demand, but OR can determine the most efficient way to meet that demand, through optimising supply chains or adjusting production processes. By combining predictive power with operational know-how OR helps businesses stay ahead and adapt.
Operational research in action
OR’s impact is being felt in many industries. In healthcare, OR is used to optimise patient flow, manage bed allocation, and reduce waiting times, improving patient care. By modelling patient pathways, OR helps healthcare providers allocate resources more effectively, improving patient outcomes and operational efficiency.
It’s saving lives too, and in Wales OR interventions have led to significant improvements in cancer survival rates. Modelling led to the establishment of “rapid diagnostic hubs” and Wales became the first UK nation to introduce a single waiting time target for cancer patients, ensuring timely access to the right resources and the best outcomes for patients.
It’s also helping solve logistical and operational challenges. At airports OR is used to optimise airport operations, from reducing security queue times during peak travel periods to streamlining baggage handling systems.
In the Netherland’s it has enabled a smooth transition to electric buses, where electrification of the network required significant operational changes and real time adjustments to handle delays and ensure buses had adequate charge.
For manufacturers like Pilkington UK, part of the NSG Group, OR techniques were used to optimise the manufacturing processes and reduce the amount of glass waste. This led to better planning and alignment with specific customer orders, which reduced waste, made cost savings, and improved customer satisfaction.
These examples illustrate how OR can drive efficiency and innovation across many different sectors and solve a wide variety of complex issues.
What to expect when you work with an OR professional
Many leaders like the sound of OR but wonder what it looks like in practice. The process is structured, collaborative and designed to get under the skin of your organisation’s unique challenges. Here’s what a typical engagement might look like:
- Define the Problem
First, the OR team helps you clearly define your business challenge, whether it’s improving delivery times, reducing downtime or better allocating resources. Precision at this stage saves time later. - Gather relevant data
You don’t need perfect data to get started. OR professionals work with what you have, combining it with expert judgement to build useful models. - Build a model
Using tools such as simulation, optimisation or decision analysis, an operational researcher will create a working model of your system or process, capturing its complexity and constraints. - Test scenarios
These models are used to test “what if?” questions. What if demand surges? What if a delivery route is disrupted? This enables businesses to explore the impact of each decision before making it. - Make Recommendations
OR delivers practical, evidence-based strategies, often including decision rules you can apply in future. The focus is on action, not just analysis. - Refine and Reuse
OR models can be updated as your circumstances change, making them an asset for continuous improvement, not just one-off projects.
Whether working with specialist consultants, academic researchers or in-house analysts, the key to success is partnership and blending knowledge with analytical expertise.
Why Every Business Needs OR in Their Toolkit
In a world awash with data, Operational Research helps businesses cut through the noise and make confident, effective decisions. The discipline complements AI and data analytics by adding context, structure and strategy, helping organisations go beyond prediction to purposeful action.
From healthcare to logistics and energy to finance OR has a track record of quietly making things work better so is it time more business leaders took notice?
[i] https://www.britishchambers.org.uk/news/2025/07/fragile-outlook-remains-after-ni-tax-hike/
