Experts on complexity theory are gathering at the University Warwick to see if their theoretical musings can be used by modern businesses. Seiichi Yaskawa, Director of Development of the Yaskawa Electric Corporation from Japan will address the conference on Complexity and Complex Systems in Industry on 19th - 20th September on the use of complexity theory in Japan's railways saying: "If any system needs some new thinking to get all the variables under control it is the railways. With any conventional programming scheme, it would have taken much more time and cost to build a management simulation for Japan's railways".
This is just one example among many at the International Conference on Complexity and Complex at the University of Warwick's Warwick Manufacturing Group illustrating how modern business processes have been gaining in complexity. "For years we have modelled these processes on essentially mechanical processes and then failed to understand why systems that begin at the start of a button fail to behave like those that used to begin at the turn of a handle." said Professor Kumar Bhattacharryya of Warwick Manufacturing Group. When you have to respond to complex supply and demand patterns in a global business environment one of your biggest problems is scheduling. Also attending the conference is Bill Fulkerson, staff analyst at Deere and Company in the US, has solved this problem by using a complex systems genetic algorithm to improve productivity and delivery performance.
Also attending is US complexity guru Professor John Casti, of the Santa Fe Institute, (the world leading centre for this type of study) says "In an unpredictable world modern corporations in order to exist at all will need greater predictive powers about the future. That degree of predictability can only come from better modelling of the environment in which they operate".
"Complexity is a familiar word in business and the industrial environment. Indeed, many organisational issues and problem solving are geared toward reducing or overcoming complex issues. Similar questions about complexity have been brewing in the scientific and engineering community for last couple of years, to the extent that complexity theory, provides new tools and insights to help businesses manage and solve issues of complexity", says Dr Ian McCarthy of Warwick Manufacturing Group who went on to say that: "Business models and concepts such as self-organisation, survival of the fittest, living at the edge-of-chaos and emergence are the results of this. Many organisations have embraced this complexity thinking and implemented them in their daily operations and strategic planning. The process involves a conceptual shift to viewing organisations as living systems that are subjected to the same biological phenomena as all natural beings. Consequently, it is assumed that organisations are never in equilibrium, but rather in a critical state between chaos and equilibrium in order to stay alive," During their stay at Warwick how will these complexity guru's relax? "Warwick have laid on an evening playing roulette and black-jack in a simulated casino environment to put some of the greatest forecasting minds in the world to the test", said Dr Ian McCarthy, "We hope that they are not too good at this type of prediction as it could put pressure on next years budgets!"