Decision Models for Structural Industrial Choices

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Decision Architecture

Some industrial decisions seem hard because the right numbers are missing.

ORVEN builds a decision model on your real operational data (cycle times, OEE, structural costs) and identifies the economically dominant alternative. The result is a defensible number, not an opinion.

Check FIT (2′) See a real case

How an ORVEN project works

ORVEN runs the analysis first using proprietary software. The client then receives a one-month licence to the ORVEN Engine to explore scenarios independently.

Select the decision

A structural industrial decision with relevant economic consequences is identified. ORVEN assesses whether the decision is suitable for quantitative modelling.

Build the decision model

ORVEN builds a model from the client’s operational data: costs, capacity, flows, constraints. All relevant alternatives are defined with the same boundaries and the same objective function.

Identify the dominant alternative

The model calculates the economic outcome of each alternative under real operating conditions. The dominant alternative is the one that performs best across the relevant set of scenarios.

Explore scenarios with the ORVEN Engine

The client receives a one-month licence to the ORVEN software. Parameters can be changed, assumptions tested, and the robustness of the recommended choice verified independently.

Typical decisions analysed

ORVEN is used for structural decisions that are difficult to reverse, where the wrong choice has a quantifiable economic impact.

Production layout design

Capacity expansion or reconfiguration

Automation vs. direct labour

Make-or-buy and insourcing

Throughput vs. inventory trade-off

Line balancing and bottleneck allocation

Equipment investment under uncertain demand

Case: layout decision for a new product line

A manufacturer was evaluating two layout configurations for a new product line. The ORVEN model identified a structural economic error in the preferred configuration.

Structural layout error detected	€152,290 / year
Margin improvement (correct layout)	€90,605 / year
Payback on ORVEN engagement	5.9 months

The dominant alternative was not the one selected by the team on purely operational grounds.

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The journey

Sprint

We build the model on your real case, identify the dominant alternative and deliver a documented recommendation. Included: one month of access to the ORVEN Engine to verify the recommendation independently.

Annual licence

If you want to continue using the engine on internal projects independently, there is dedicated training and an annual licence. The starting point is always the model built during the sprint.

The typical mistake

Attributing to layout what depends on another lever (automation, OEE, mix). Inflated ROI. Fragile choice.

When you find out

It’s too late: implementation has locked the system in. Correcting costs 10× and requires internal credibility you no longer have.

The ORVEN approach

Apples-to-apples comparison: same boundaries, same objective function, isolated levers. Break-even and downside as numbers, not opinions.

If any of these sound familiar…

You suspect your layout is not optimal

but you don’t have a number to prove it.

You have a decision within 3–6 months

layout, capacity or make-or-buy, and you need a defensible recommendation.

Your data does not converge

OEE says one thing, capacity another, and you cannot attribute the problem to a specific lever.

Management asks “what if volumes drop?”

and you don’t have a structured answer.

Request FIT

What we do (in brief)

Explicit alternatives

assumptions and constraints made visible.

Break-even

when the choice reverses as volume, mix or shifts change.

Downside

quantified economic risk of the wrong option.

Decision Memo

a defensible choice, not an opinion.

Note: if you are looking for implementation or training, ORVEN is not the right partner.