376: See The Future Of Your Supply Chain, with Optilogic
Don Hicks is the founder and CEO of Optilogic and the original founder of Llamasoft, a company he led for 20 years. With a career rooted in applied operations research, Hicks is passionate about using modeling and digital technology to solve complex real-world problems. He founded Optilogic to redefine the principles of supply chain design, shifting the focus from pure cost optimization to a more balanced approach that incorporates service, risk, and sustainability. Hicks believes in making design tools more accessible, which is why Optilogic offers a powerful, free version of its Cosmic Frog software to empower a new generation of supply chain designers.
Today I’m joined by Optilogic, a forward-thinking supply chain software brand that is passionate about designing supply chains to thrive.
Optilogic’s cloud-native supply chain design solution enables businesses to build digital models of future supply chains to evaluate trade-offs across cost, service, risk, and sustainability.
Today Don Hicks, founder and CEO at Optilogic, joins me to talk all about Optilogic and what they do; taking a proactive approach to risk and resilience; answering the supply chain ‘what-ifs’; and finding the perfect balance between cost, service, risk and ESG goals.
Guest Bio:
Don Hicks is the CEO and founder of Optilogic. Don’s passion for software technology development and applying scientific and engineering methods to solve complex supply chain problems has made an indelible impact in the software industry as well as companies around the world. He is best known for founding LLamasoft, a supply chain modeling, optimization, and analytics solution in 1998, which later sold for $1.5 billion. In 2015, while CEO of LLamasoft, Don led the acquisition of Barloworld’s Supply Chain Software Division and IBM’s LogicTools supply chain applications business unit. In addition to making his mark in the supply chain technology market, Don founded a biotech software company called DNA Software. Don later established Saganworks, an Ann Arbor based tech firm that provides a 3D immersive experience used in museums, galleries, and a range of other industries. Don graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and served as an officer in the US Army’s field artillery branch in Germany.
Don’s entrepreneurial career history, and how it led him to found Optilogic.
Optilogic’s evolution from generic platform designed to empower developers, to supply chain design solution; and why the principles of supply chain design need redefining.
An overview of Optilogic – who they are, what they do, and how they help their customers.
The ideal client for Optilogic.
The stories behind brand names Llamasoft and Cosmic Frog; and why Don wants to bring the fun to supply chain.
A closer look at Cosmic Frog’s three core areas – optimization, simulation and risk.
A deep dive into how Optilogic helps customers in a variety of different ways; and why we need to stop judging investments based purely on financial return.
How supply chain design and simulation can measure sustainability to give businesses the information they need to start making impactful change; but why organizations need to reach a trade-off between cost, service, risk and ESG goals.
Don’s predictions for future technology trends.
The future for Optilogic.
Resources & Links Mentioned
- Head over to Optilogic’s website now to find out more and discover how they could help you too. You can also connect with Optilogic and keep up to date with the latest over on LinkedIn, Facebook or X (Twitter) or you can connect with Don on LinkedIn.
- If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more about simulation and modeling, check out 170: Give your business a fresh start – Simulation: The Future is Here or 307: Driving Your Parcel Performance: Virtual Sandbox.
- Check out our other podcasts HERE.
