This example addresses a subject every industrial engineer knows about: production planning and the planning of due dates. The semiconductor branch of Harris Corporation was for a long time a fairly small company serving to a specialised market with minimal competition in aerospace and military industries. However, in 1988, General Electric's semiconductor product lines and manufacturing facilities were bought as part of a strategic shift. 

More than quadrupled the scope of business and product lines operated by Harris Semiconductor, it brought Harris to the commercial market, such as cars and telephones, with strong competition. As a consequence of the rising diversity of product lines and the enormous expansion in the complexity of production planning, Harris had difficulties in attaining delivery times and being financially competitive; it clearly required a stronger system. In the orientation phase, it was found that the MRP systems used by a range of competitors of Harris would not respond adequately. Therefore, it was decided to create a planning system that would meet Harris' special criteria. The final outcome was IMPRESS, an automated production planning and delivery quotation system for the whole production network. 

The system combines heuristics and optimization to get a good outcome. It works by using a heuristic deconstruction approach to bridge the global problem into smaller, more manageable difficulties. Linear programming and material requirement planning concepts are utilised to address the mathematical models of the issue. The system integration with complicated databases makes it possible to forecast, quotation and order entry, materials and dynamic capacity information. According to Harris, this technique has increased time deliveries from 75 to 95 per cent and has not increased inventories, which has helped the firm to go from losses of $75 million to profits of $40 million a year and to better manage its capital spending.

Who was involved in the solution, what was the problem and its context, what was the remedy and how and who was involved.