Introduction: 2009 Franz Edelman Award for Achievement in Operations Research and the Management Sciences

This special issue of Interfaces is devoted to the finalists of the 38th annual competition for the Franz Edelman Award for Achievement in Operations Research and the Management Sciences, the profession's prestigious award for the practice of operations research. Of the six papers in this issue, one demonstrates the benefits from OR/MS-based scheduling of empty railcars based on customer orders at CSX. The second, the winner of the Edelman Award, shows how HP manages a product portfolio in the dynamic electronics industry. The third describes how IBM uses OR models to improve sales force productivity. The fourth reflects the development and deployment of OR-based revenue management for group pricing at Marriott. The fifth discusses the use of OR models for tactical and strategic decisions around supply chain planning and capacity at Norske Skog, including such difficult decisions as closing plants. The sixth entry shows how Zara deploys inventory from two central warehouses to stores worldwide using OR.