INFORMS presents HP with 2009 Franz Edelman trophy

Cupertino, California, July, 2009 – During an event held at HP's offices in Cupertino, Mark Doherty, the executive director of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS), presented the 2009 Franz Edelman Award trophy to Todd Bradley, Executive Vice President of the Personal Systems Group, and Shane Robison, Chief Strategy and Technology Officer.

HP was announced winner of this prestigious award at an INFORMS ceremony in Phoenix in late April. It was presented to a team of HP researchers and business unit managers in recognition of their successful product variety management initiatives. At the announcement, Kathy Chou, vice president of Worldwide Commercial Sales for PSG, stated “We are honored by this significant award, and it’s great to be recognized for HP’s ability to innovate and drive that innovation into meaningful business benefits for our customers and shareholders”.

The work honored included the technological innovation of the Revenue Coverage Optimization (RCO) software algorithm, developed by HP Labs, and the company’s complexity return on investment (ROI) calculators, developed by HP’s Strategic Planning and Modeling Team (SPaM). The combined innovations were deployed in the business through the Global Product Offer and core and extended product portfolios, saving HP more than $500 million. between 2005 and 2008 And the savings continue .

Prith Banerjee, senior vice president of research and director of HP Labs, who spoke at the event, made it clear that the success of the RCO initiative was the direct result of the close collaboration between HP Labs’ researchers and HP’s business units, who were able to use it to radically rationalize their product portfolio and generate substantial savings in the process.

In his remarks Mark Doherty said that these achievements demonstrated fundamental paradigm shifts in the way HP conducts its business operations. He quoted from an article in the New York Times that highlights the new culture of measurement underscored by the initiatives which won HP the award.

The Edelman award raises awareness within HP of the importance of operations research and applied mathematics in delivering significant business impact. HP, in turn, wants to raise awareness within the community by donating the $10,000 monetary award to the Silicon Valley Education Foundation. This donation will be used for the Stepping Up to Algebra program, which is designed to help children reach their full potential in math and algebra. HP believes it is important to continue to invest in our young people to ensure strong future leaders and Edelman laureates.