About Us
ConsultLink is a specialist consulting firm helping our clients make better-informed decisions. Formed in 2004 we aimed to provide the link between identifying and analysing a business challenge and implementing a sustainable solution to that challenge, hence our name ConsultLink.
We believe that the fist step to delivering a sustainable solution is a proper understanding of not only the problem but also the context. Our strong analytical foundation is augmented with deep and wide industry experience and expertise to ensure that we address the right question and provide practical solutions to them. However, we never forget that you are the expert at running your business, our role is to understand and provide an alternative perspective.
So whether you need to analyse current performance to identify lurking issues, gain a deeper understanding of how equipment, performance and business rules affect the overall system, or need a tool to help your planners make better more consistent decisions, contact us today.
Analytics
According to a Forrester report, up to 73% of all data within an enterprise goes unused for analytics. All too often companies merely automate existing reports focusing more on getting consistency in look and feel rather than seeking real insights into the underlying processes. One of our core strengths is the ability to look at data and see the hidden stories within, but then presenting that to the business in a format that allows the business to see the same.
Modeling
A model is a simplified representation of a real process or system. Building models help us to investigate how different inputs affect the output from the system. We are highly skilled in the development of complex spreadsheet models, as well as the evolution of these models into more sustainable database-backed application models.
Simulation
Simulation is the execution of a model over the time domain. We use simulation models to analyze the dynamic behaviour of a system looking at the combinatorial impact of various stochastic events and logic decisions on the performance of the system over time. Part of the journey in developing a simulation model is the discovery and interrogation of the business rules driving the decision making in the system which often in itself assist the organisation in formulating a better understanding of the system. The system performance is often more influenced by how the various pieces of equipment are being used rather than the capacity of the individual pieces of equipment. This can have a very important impact when looking at capital optimisation in expansion projects.
Scheduling
Scheduling is the process of sequencing and allocating start and end times of a set of tasks to be completed to achieve a specific outcome, often in an environment of constrained resources. Since both Simulation and Scheduling involves a model of the various tasks to be performed and the capabilities of the resources and uses time in the evaluation thereof, the two are often seen as synonymous. However, this is a grave pitfall as the type of questions one seeks to answer with the two are very different and require different treatment of the time domain. In Scheduling, we seek to make the best decision in terms of sequencing and resource allocation based on the current known state of the system for a defined window into the future. In a Simulation problem, we seek to determine the long term capacity impact of a system in applying certain decision making logic. A Simulation model thus implements a simplified scheduling algorithm to be repeated many times throughout the simulation, while a Scheduling tool implements a simplified simulation model to predict start and end times for resources. Since we are strong in both areas, we are not biased to force a question into a specific box.
Solutions
Analysing data, building static and dynamic models of processes and developing robust scheduling algorithms is all good, but remains a single point intervention. It is only when the knowledge and understanding gained through the analysis is translated into a sustainable solution usable by the organisation that real sustainable value is created. We thus take pride in our ability to develop quality sustainable software solutions that our customers can implement.