Z IS FOR ZANY
Find out how why a little madness drives great ideas
Being a little zany is the quality that helped us the most along the way!
"Logic can take you from A to Z. But imagination can take you anywhere." Do you think this quote, often attributed to Albert Einstein, sounds a little zany? Even so—or perhaps because of that—it captures our motivation remarkably well. Our vision has always been to use logic to make even the most complex processes simple and efficient for our customers.
Along the way, we have become internationally recognized masters of complexity, finders of decisions, and planners of the unplannable.
For more than 55 years, we have been working toward one goal: making sure that, at the end of a complex process, nobody is disappointed—not the customer whose package might arrive late, and not the company held responsible for it. Achieving that takes specialized, AI-powered software capable of reliably managing supply chains, production processes, workforce schedules, and transportation operations. Most importantly, though, it takes people who are curious, committed, and zany enough to immerse themselves in the complex worlds behind those processes.
Apparently, we are so fascinated by this challenge that it follows us into everyday life. A normal person thinks: "Oh no, a line!" At INFORM, the reaction is: "Interesting. Why did it form? And how could we prevent it?" A normal person is happy when a package arrives on time. We wonder how many decisions had to be made to make that happen. A normal person is happy when a flight departs on schedule. We see thousands of processes at an airport that must work together to make that possible.
Whether at work or in everyday life, always looking for ways to improve how things work may seem a little zany. For us, however, that mindset has made us experts across a wide range of industries—from airports and banks to container terminals and manufacturing operations. There probably are not many companies curious enough to immerse themselves in so many different worlds of work.
We have been talking about one thing: How good decisions are made when the world becomes complex.
That is also why INFORM is not easy to explain. Trying to do it through the alphabet, from A to Z, may sound a little zany. To us, it seemed like the best approach. Because the truth is, we have not really been talking about 26 different topics throughout this series. We have been talking about one thing: How good decisions are made when the world becomes complex.
Whether it is a production facility, a container terminal, or a bank, it ultimately comes down to understanding relationships, managing uncertainty, and helping people make better decisions.
That is part of INFORM’s DNA: staying curious, not being intimidated by complexity, wanting to understand how things work, and finding solutions together when the answer is not obvious.
To outsiders, all of this may sound a little zany. To us, it is perfectly normal to focus on things most people never even notice. More precisely, the things they would only notice if something went wrong.
Our work probably receives the best possible compliment when we are told that things usually go without a hitch.
Z IS ALSO FOR
Zero & One
Everything we do in software ultimately comes down to just two numbers: zero and one. It is what happens between those two values that fascinates us—because that is where complex processes, better decisions, and sometimes entire businesses are managed.
Z IS ALSO FOR ZEITGEIST
Every few years, a new buzzword takes over the business world. Digitalization. Big Data. Industry 4.0. Artificial Intelligence. Suddenly, everyone is talking about it.
At INFORM, we have learned to take a slightly longer view. Not because we ignore new developments, but because many of the challenges behind the buzzwords are surprisingly familiar. How do you make better decisions? How do you manage complexity? How do you turn data into meaningful action? We have been working on questions like these for more than 55 years.
That does not mean we resist the Zeitgeist. Quite the opposite. We constantly explore new technologies and ideas. But we try to separate lasting value from short-lived hype. Sometimes this leads to an interesting situation: by the time a trend becomes the talk of the town, we have often been working on the underlying problem for years.
So, do we follow the Zeitgeist? Sometimes. And sometimes the Zeitgeist catches up with us.
