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ORSSA Annual General Meeting

Magnifica 3 Room, Protea Hotel Technopark, Stellenbosch Tuesday September 17th, 2013 at 16:15

Minutes

1. Welcome and apologies

The President welcomes all present. An attendance register is added as Addendum A to these minutes. Members of the Executive Committee who sent apologies: Niel Matthee (Webmaster), Dave Evans (Marketing Manager), Louis Dannhauser (Johannesburg Chapter Chair) and Theodor Stewart (EURO Representative). All these members of the Executive Committee have sent representatives to read their reports on their behalf. The reports are added as addenda to these minutes. Non-Executive Committee members who sent apologies: Gerhard Geldenhuys and Isabelle Nieuwoudt. 2. Finalisation of agenda

The agenda is closed without the addition of any additional points.

3. Minutes of the 2012 AGM

Danie Lötter motions to accept the minutes of the 2012 Annual General Meeting. Wim Gevers seconds the motion.

Decision: The minutes of the 2012 AGM are accepted by the AGM.

4. Matters arising

There are no matters arising from the previous Annual General Meeting in addition to the points already on the current agenda.

5. President’s report Jan van Vuuren (President) presents his annual report. A copy of the report is added as Addendum B to these minutes.

6. ORSSA Membership

Ian Durbach (Database Manager) explains the changes to the management of members on the database with respect to the termination of memberships that are overdue, namely that memberships of members owing more than the equivalent of two annual membership fees in their respective categories are to be terminated on an annual basis in response to a directive at the 2012 AGM. A list of memberships that were thus terminated at the end of 2012 is attached as Addendum C to these minutes. A list of further memberships that are due to be terminated at the end of 2013 if these individuals do not pay their 2013 membership dues by December 31st 2013 is attached as Addendum D to these minutes.

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7. Financials a. 2013 Income, expenditure and financial position

Jonas Stray (Treasurer) presents the financial report, consisting of a description of the Society’s Income & Expenditure Statement and its Balance Sheet. The report is attached as Addendum E to these minutes.

b. Budget for 2014

Jonas Stray (Treasurer) tables the 2014 budget, which is attached as Addendum F to these minutes. The salaries budgeted for 2014 should be corrected to R 10 000, instead of R15 000. The President indicates that the statements were only received on 16 September and the Treasurer's report was compiled on 11 September, hence there will be some small changes to the statements presented here. Wim Gevers asks for an indication of the actual funds available to the society after the conference. The Treasurer replies that there are approximately R380 000 available and, thus, the society is in a good financial state. Wim Gevers suggests that money in the cheque account be placed into an account with a higher interest rate. The Treasurer indicates that he did attempt this earlier in the year, but has not managed to be successful as yet (due to administrative red tape). He suggests to move R 100 000 to such an account at least. Mark Einhorn suggests setting up pay point at the conference for members to pay missed dues and their next year's registration. The President replies that there is an internet banking option available to members at the conference. Members who were not paid up were not allowed to register for the conference at the reduced rate.

Action: Treasurer to relocate some funds to a higher interest earning account.

c. Financial statements for 2010, 2011 and 2012

Financial statements for 2008 and 2009 were tabled and accepted at the 2012 Annual General Meeting. The Treasurer tables the financial statements for 2010, 2011 and 2012, thereby bringing the Society’s financial reporting up to date. These statements are attached as Addenda G, H and I to these minutes. Hans Ittmann motions to accept the statements. The motion is seconded by Wim Gevers.

Decision: The AGM accepts all statements up to 2012.

d. The requirement of auditing financial statements

Jonas Stray (Treasurer) suggests that, as an independent accountant has compiled the reports according to internationally accepted accounting principles, they need not be audited for a rather hefty fee (of R 8 500 per annual statement). The constitution requires this, however. The President adds that, because ORSSA is a tax exempt organisation with annual receipts not exceeding R 1 million, a tax clearance certificate will be provided by SARS without the requirement of an audit of the Society’s statements. He also indicates that the constitution can only be changed next year to reflect a relaxation of the requirement of statements to be audited. Hans Ittmann motions to accept these statements, and continue to audit all new statements from 2013 going forward, stating that the society has to move forward with this issue at some point. The Treasurer agrees to see whether an auditing firm will be able to do an audit on this year’s statements without having the statements of 2008-2012 audited. Wim Gevers volunteers to speak to a new colleague who is a Chartered Accountant to perhaps offer ORSSA lower auditing rates.

Action: Jonas Stray and Wim Gevers to obtain a quote for auditing of the 2013 statements. If this cannot be afforded, changing the constitution in 2014 should be considered.

8. Marketing manager’s report A copy of the report by Dave Evans (Marketing Manager) is added as Addendum J to these minutes. A form to be completed by volunteers indicating areas of assistance and any

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suggestions is provided to all attendees. Aderemi Adewumi (KwaZulu-Natal Chapter Chair) suggests circulating the form to all members via e-mail as well. These forms are to be passed on to Dave Evans to follow up on.

Action: The secretary is to circulate the form to all members of ORSSA.

9. ORSSA Conferences

a. 2013 Conference

Elias Willemse (Conference Proceedings Editor) reports that 32 papers aimed for inclusion in the 2013 ORSSA Conference Proceedings were received, of which 16 were accepted. The formal proceedings are to be published by 18 December 2013 and this does qualify for subsidy.

b. 2014 Conference Lieschen Venter (Vaal Triangle Chapter Chair) announces that the 2014 conference is to be held at Stonehenge in Africa, in Parys (Free State), from 14 to 17 September 2014.

10. Publication reports

a. Report by ORiON editor and journal manager

Stephan Visagie (ORiON Editor) tables the annual journal report, which is attached as Addendum K to these minutes.

b. Report by Newsletter editor and business manager Mark Einhorn (Newsletter Editor) tables the annual newsletter report, which is attached as Addendum L to these minutes. The president reminds student members to make use of the opportunity to publish a half-page curriculum vitae upon graduation in the newsletter.

11. Webmaster’s report

Mark Einhorn tables the webmaster’s report on behalf of Niel Matthee (Webmaster). The report is attached as Addendum M to these minutes.

12. Chapter reports

a. Johannesburg Chapter

Brahm Bothma tables the Johannesburg Chapter report on behalf of Louis Dannhauser (Johannesburg Chapter Chair). The report is attached as Addendum N to these minutes.

b. Pretoria Chapter

The Pretoria Chapter report is tabled by Winnie Pelser (Pretoria Chapter Chair). The report is attached as Addendum O to these minutes.

c. Vaal-Triangle Chapter

The Vaal Triangle Chapter report is tabled by Lieschen Venter (Vaal Triangle Chapter Chair). The report is attached as Addendum P to these minutes.

d. Western Cape Chapter

The Western Cape Chapter report is tabled by Michelle van der Merwe (Western Cape Chapter Chair). The report is attached as Addendum Q to these minutes.

e. KwaZulu-Natal Chapter The KwaZulu-Natal Chapter report is tabled by Aderemi Adewumi (KwaZulu-Natal Chapter Chair). The report is attached as Addendum R to these minutes.

The president reminds all chapter chairs that each chapter needs to have an Annual General Meeting before the end of the year, to operate in accordance to the national constitution.

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Further to this, chairs are asked to make an effort in staying in touch with their members. Margarete Bester suggests all chapter events should be posted on the website as well, to facilitate attendance of members from other chapters who might be in the vicinity at the time. Jeanne le Roux offers to distribute notices of chapter events to their national student base of UNISA, if chairs send her the advertisements. Mark Einhorn also reminds chairs that events can be advertised in the newsletter if they are planned far enough in advance.

Action: Chapter Chairs to organise Annual General Meetings before the end of the year, if this has not been completed already. Chapter Chairs to utilise their pages on the ORSSA website to advertise all chapter events planned and to forward notice of these to Jeanne le Roux and Mark Einhorn.

13. External Liaison

a. SACNASP

The president informs the meeting that there is nothing to report relating SACNASP at this stage. Members are encouraged to contact Elias Munapo should they wish to register professionally with SACNASP.

b. EURO

No formal points of interest regarding EURO, other than a brief mention of the next conference to be held in Glasgow, 2015, are raised.

c. IFORS No formal points of interest regarding INFORMS, other than a brief mention of the next conference to be held in Barcelona, 2014, are raised. Members are reminded of the OR in Development competition.

Action: Secretary to distribute information on the OR in Development competition to all members again.

14. Election of 2014 Executive Committee

The signed nomination forms are attached as addenda to these minutes. The 2013 nominees for the ORSSA Executive Committee are:

Portfolio Nominee Nominator Seconded by

President Jan van Vuuren

The current president becomes vice president in 2014. Vice President Hennie Kruger

The current vice president becomes president in 2014.

Secretary Tanya Visser

Alewyn Burger James Bekker

Treasurer Jonas Stray

Jan van Vuuren Alewyn Burger

Database Manager Ian Durbach

James Bekker Liezl van Dyk

Marketing Manager Dave Evans

James Bekker Liezl van Dyk

Newsletter Editor Mark Einhorn

Jason Matthews Jacques du Toit

Newsletter Manager Danie Lötter

Mark Einhorn Francois Fagan

ORiON Editor-in-Chief Stephan Visagie

Isabel Nieuwoudt Hannelie Nel

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ORiON Manager Martin Kidd

Jan van Vuuren Daniel Lotter

Webmaster Niel Matthee

Anton de Villiers Jacques du Toit

Additional Member Elias Willemse Jan van Vuuren James Bekker

Additional Member Elias Munapo James Bekker Liezl van Dyk

Additional Member Margarete Bester

Tanya Visser Marthi Harmse

Co-opted: Johannesburg Chapter Chair Louis Dannhauser

Co-opted: Pretoria Chapter Chair Winnie Pelser

Co-opted: Vaal Triangle Chapter Chair Lieschen Venter

Co-opted: Western Cape Chapter Chair Michelle van der Merwe

Co-opted: EURO Representative Theodor Stewart

Co-opted: IFORS Representative

Hans Ittmann

Decision: All nominees are elected, unopposed.

15. General No general points are discussed under “General”.

The meeting is adjourned.

______________________________ Signed by the ORSSA President 2013 Prof Jan van Vuuren 19 September 2013

Addendum A – Attendance register

Addendum B – President’s report

Operations Research Society of South Africa

President’s Report Protea Hotel Technopark, Stellenbosch, Tuesday 17

th September 2013

In my report I would like to showcase the work of the Executive Committee (EC) of ORSSA towards ensuring that ORSSA provides a home and quality service to its members. I hope to convince you that the EC has done very well this year in many respects, but that there is room for improvement in some areas. It is, however, important to mention that all members of the EC serve the Society on a voluntary basis, without remuneration, and amidst severe pressures of their fulltime jobs. I would therefore, at the outset of my report, like to thank all members of the EC for their time, commitment and passion for our Society.

Executive Committee

At the AGM in Aloe Ridge last year the current fourteen-member Executive Committee of ORSSA was elected unopposed and will serve until the end of 2013. The Executive Committee members, together with seven co-opted members, are:

President: Jan van Vuuren

Vice President: Hennie Kruger

Secretary: Tanya Visser

Treasurer: Jonas Stray

Database Manager: Ian Durbach

Marketing Manager: Dave Evans

Newsletter Editor: Mark Einhorn

Newsletter Manager: Danie Lötter

ORiON Editor: Stephan Visagie

ORiON Manager: Martin Kidd

Webmaster: Niel Matthee

Additional Members: Margarete Bester Elias Willemse Elias Munapo

Co-opted: Louis Dannhauser (Johannesburg Chapter Chair) Winnie Pelser (Pretoria Chapter Chair) Lieschen Venter (Vaal Triangle Chapter Chair) Michelle van der Merwe (Western Cape Chapter) Remi Adewumi (KwaZulu-Natal Chapter) Theo Stewart (EURO Representative) Hans Ittmann (IFORS Representative)

Membership

Membership and providing value-for-membership-fee service to its members are and should be the core business of the Society. This year there have been 33 new applications for full membership of ORSSA and 27 new applications for student membership. This represents a 14% growth rate from the baseline of 426 members at the time of last year’s AGM.

However, we are experiencing difficulties collecting membership dues each year. This problem became so serious that the EC was given a clear directive by the members during last year’s AGM to terminate all memberships of individuals who owed more than the equivalent of two current annual membership fees on December 31

st, 2012. After repeated requests to these members to pay their

dues, a total of 162 memberships were terminated at the end of last year as a result of the AGM directive ─ a full list of these terminated memberships is contained in the meeting materials parcel.

One does not like to carry out such mass membership termination, but I think we have done the right thing in this case to trim our membership tree so as to get rid of the inactive leaves, leaving us with a much more realistic picture of the current size of our Society, which is as follows:

JHB PTA VT WC KZN Other Totals

Full Members 49 61 37 67 6 3 223 78%

Student Members 1 3 1 29 7 0 41 15%

Retired Members 2 0 0 3 0 0 5 2%

Life Members 1 1 1 3 1 2 9 3%

Honorary Members 1 3 0 3 0 0 7 2%

Totals 54 68 39 105 14 5 285 100%

19% 24% 14% 36% 5% 2% 100%

The figures in the table above do not reflect 11 reciprocals, such as libraries, sister societies and the like. Another challenge facing the EC is retaining student members as full members of ORSSA once they complete their studies, and as a result the average age of full members of ORSSA is growing, as I mentioned last year.

The EC designed a new corporate membership package which came into effect at the start of this year. This package is rather attractive, offering 10% discount on Newsletter advertisements, the option of including a number of individual memberships on a rotation basis within the member company, free exhibition space at conferences, and displaying the member company logo on the ORSSA website, amongst other benefits. This package has already attracted two new corporate members, Unisa’s Department of Decision Sciences in Pretoria and OPSI Systems in Johannesburg (also not reflected in the figures above), and the package is expected to attract further corporate members, thereby hopefully further increasing industry participation in the activities of the Society.

Let me thank the database manager, Ian Durbach, for the meticulous job that he does maintaining the Society’s membership database.

Finances

I am happy to report that the Society’s annual financial statements are finally up to date after a very long backlog involving four successive treasurers ─ we presented the 2008 and 2009 statements at last year’s AGM, and in your current meeting materials parcel you will find the statements for 2010, 2011 and 2012. I would like to thank the treasurer, Jonas Stray, for helping me to obtain these statements under very difficult circumstances. Due to excessive auditing costs, these statements have not been audited, but have been drawn up by Mr Christiaan Scheepers, an independent, qualified accountant, in accordance with the principles of transparent book keeping required by SARS from tax-exempt organisations, such as ORSSA. Technically, we are in contravention of our Constitution, which requires annual statements that are audited. I do not believe that the currently exorbitant costs associated with auditing statements is warranted for a Society such as ours, and therefore we shall raise this point with the members again later in the meeting.

The Society’s financial affairs are in a fair state. However, because of the large number of membership terminations, a total of just over R 287 000 had to be written off as bad debt at the beginning of this year, and this figure will reflect in the 2013 financial statements. It is imperative that members pay their dues to the Society promptly. I appeal to all members to ensure that they are fully paid up. There is currently a rather large number of members who have not yet paid their membership fees this year. These individuals will be contacted by email or telephone before the end of the year to remind them to pay their dues. A list of 41 members has been compiled who currently owe the Society more than R1 000 each, totalling dues of just over R53 000. This list is also part of your meeting materials parcel. Membership of these individuals will be terminated on December 31

st this

year if they have not paid their dues by that date in accordance with the AGM directive of last year. If you know any of these people, please do assist us in contacting them and reminding them to pay their membership fees.

The major expenses of the Society (i.e. its publications and the annual conference) are being managed responsibly: we expect to make a small profit on this year’s annual conference, while the Newsletter is almost self-sustaining. The Treasurer will report shortly on the Society’s capital, assets and liabilities as they reflect so far on this year’s balance sheet. He will also present our 2014 Budget. No increase in membership fees is planned for 2014.

Few people know how time-consuming the work of the treasurer is. Unfortunately Jonas is not available to serve as treasurer again next year due to pressure of other work, and I would like to thank him for the meticulous job that he has done this year managing the Society’s finances.

Chapters

The Society has the following five fairly active chapters:

the Johannesburg Chapter (Chair: Louis Dannhauser)

the Pretoria Chapter (Chair: Winnie Pelser)

the Vaal Triangle Chapter (Chair: Lieschen Venter)

the Western Cape Chapter (Chair: Michelle van der Merwe)

the KwaZulu-Natal Chapter (Chair: Remi Adewumi)

Chapter activity is the lifeblood of the Society, and the Chapter Chairs will be reporting later in the meeting on activities organised this year by the respective chapters. I would like to thank all the chapter chairs for their hard work.

Each ORSSA member is affiliated with a Chapter, and should be receiving electronic mail invites to activities of their Chapter. I would like to invite all members to approach your Chapter Chairs if you have ideas for possible future events, or if you are not on the Chapter mailing list. Chairs may be contacted via the Society’s website and some of them are also present at this meeting.

Conferences

The national conference is the highlight in the calendar year of events organised by the Society. I would like to thank Danie Lötter and the local organising committee of this year’s conference, which is still underway here at the Protea Hotel Technopark, for a job well done. I am impressed by the variety and depth of the operational research work covered at recent conferences, and this year’s conference is no exception. I am particularly pleased with the large industry component in the conference programme as well as the large contingent of students and young people attending the conference. The venue and the social side of the conference are also superb.

This is the third year now that we are publishing double-blind peer-reviewed proceedings for our national conference. Submitting a paper for inclusion in these proceedings is, however, not a prerequisite for presenting a paper at the conference. I would like to thank the proceedings editor, Elias Willemse, and his entire team of referees for the sterling job they are doing in this respect to help raise the levels of quality and visibility of the work presented at our conferences and to make it possible for ORSSA delegates to generate subsidy-qualifying research outputs from our conferences. Elias is unfortunately no longer available to continue in his capacity as editor of the conference proceedings ─ from next year Hennie Kruger will take over the portfolio from Elias.

The EC has decided that next year it is time to head north again with our annual conference ─ the 2014 conference will be hosted by the Vaal Triangle Chapter of our Society from Sunday 14

th

September to Wednesday 17th September 2014. The local organising committee will be headed by

the chapter chairperson, Lieschen Venter, who will be telling us more about the conference venue later in this meeting ─ more information about next year’s conference, as well as important dates related to the conference, will also be posted on the ORSSA website in due course.

Newsletter

The Society publishes its high-quality newsletter every quarter. It contains feature articles, conference advertisements, book reviews and software advertisements, amongst other things. The costs incurred in printing and distributing the Newsletter, as well as the income generated from advertisements in the Newsletter, were as follows so far this year:

March 2013 Issue June 2013 Issue

Printing Cost R 3 745* R 3 527*

Postage Cost R 2 580* R 5 077*

Income Generated R 5 925* R 4 550*

Total Cost R 400* R 4 054* *Every 2

nd Newsletter issue (Jun & Dec) is accompanied by an ORiON issue in the same envelope

The Newsletter editorial team should be commended for increasingly making the newsletter self-sustaining in terms of costs to the Society. I would like to thank the editor, Mark Einhorn, for a sterling job done again this year ─ the newsletter is the main vehicle by which the Society binds its members together and facilitates networking ─ and we are very proud of this publication. I would also like to thank the business manager, Danie Lötter, for his efforts in continuing to make the newsletter more self-sustaining and for his plans to secure further advertisers. Members are encouraged to increase the relevance of the Newsletter even further by sending contributions to the editor.

ORiON

The flagship publication of the Society is its scholarly journal, ORiON, which has been shipped bi-annually to members for the last 29 years. Volume 29(1) has just been dedicated to the journal’s founding editor, Theo Stewart, in honour of his 70

th birthday, which we celebrated yesterday. The

journal has been published on time since 2004 and Volume 29(2) is due to go out on time in December this year. The editor will report later in this meeting on the current state of affairs regarding the management of and challenges faced by the journal. One major problem for the editorial team is a relatively low submission rate of high-quality papers. I would like to encourage members to remember ORiON when deciding where to send your manuscripts for publication. You may ask: “Why ORiON?” Well, it has a fast turn-around time ─ much faster than most journals. It is focussed at work in an African context and at the interface between the developed world and the developing world. It has a mandate to publish case studies. I appeal to you, please support our journal, so that it can grow in stature. I would like to thank the editor, Stephan Visagie, and the journal manager, Martin Kidd, for the extremely time-consuming and important scholarly aspect of the EC’s job that they do so well.

Website

Our webmaster, Niel Matthee, has overseen a long-needed and extensive revamp of the Society’s website at http://www.orssa.org.za/, which includes a new commercial host able to report on access and download traffic, and an online membership database for the Society with a web-based front end which will allow members each to log into their own profiles, view their membership dues status and edit their personal information, such as addresses, etc. All the content of the previous website has been transferred to the new site, which is fully operational. The online database is in its final stages of validation and should go live by the end of this year. Unfortunately Niel cannot be here today, but he has asked a representative to report in more detail on this initiative later in the meeting.

Awards

Each year the Society organises two national student competitions: one on honours / 4th year level and

one on masters degree level. These competitions are based on written year projects and theses, and the entries are typically of a very high standard. Two finalists were invited from a large list of entries to compete in this morning’s special competition session. Winners have been selected in each category, and will be announced at tonight’s banquet, at which time Gerhard Geldenhuys and Theo Stewart will present the medals named after them to the two winners. I would like to thank FICO for their partial sponsorship of these competitions ─ this has enabled us to waive the conference registration fees of the finalists in each competition category and to pay them an accommodation stipend to attend the conference. I would also like to thank Wolfram who has, facilitated by Blue Stallion Technologies, sponsored full commercial Mathematica licences for the winners of the competition, and they have just announced that they will extend this competition prize sponsorship for 2014 and 2015 as well. Thank you also to Margarete Bester and her team of independent adjudicators for the hard work they have put in to consider the entries of both competition categories and to select winners.

The Tom Rozwadowski medal is awarded each year for the best paper published in a peer-reviewed journal during the previous calendar year by a member of the Society. A large number of excellent nominations were received this year and again there is a clear winner of this premier award for 2013. The award will be made this evening at the banquet. Thank you to Hennie Kruger for convening the nomination and selection committees, and for following the governing rules of the award to the letter. Thank you to all the nominators and also to the referees who made recommendations in terms of the winning entry.

Recognition awards will also be made in all three existing categories at the banquet this evening, as well as in a new, fourth category for young and upcoming members of our Society. The EC has again decided not to extended new fellowships this year.

Liaison with other Bodies

Our Society is a member of the International Federation of Operations Research Societies, known as IFORS. IFORS has a large international conference every three years, and the next one will be in Barcelona during the period 13–18 July 2014 with the theme The Art of Modelling. Members are encouraged to visit the conference website at www.ifors2014.org and to start planning now to present a paper at that meeting which promises to be an excellent networking opportunity. Hans Ittmann is the IFORS representative on the EC and also a regular contributor (and past editor) of the IFORS Newsletter for Developing Countries – please contact Hans should you have a suitable contribution for that newsletter. Hans will report later in the meeting on IFORS-related matters.

ORSSA is also a member of the European Association of Operational Research Societies, known as EURO. This grouping organises conferences during non-IFORS-conference years, the last one taking

http://www.orssa.org.za/

http://www.ifors2014.org/

place in Rome three months ago, at which one of the fellows of our Society, Theo Stewart, was honoured with the 2013 EURO Distinguished Service Medal. This prestigious lifetime service award is a huge honour – in fact a first for ORSSA. Please join me in congratulating Theo. Next year there will be no EURO conference; the next one will be in Glasgow in 2015. Theo Stewart is also the EURO representative on the EC and he will be reporting later in the meeting on EURO-related matters. Whilst individuals cannot be members of EURO, ORSSA members are encouraged to register online as members of a member society of EURO at http://www.euro-online.org/ ─ this site is often used for international OR conference abstract submission.

ORSSA also has representation on the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions, known as SACNASP. Elias Munapo is the SACNASP representative on the EC and members interested to register with SACNASP are invited to contact Elias.

Let me conclude by reiterating my sincerest thanks to all members of the EC for their hard work and commitment. It is a privilege and a pleasure for me to work with you. I would like to thank Tanya Visser in particular for the meticulous manner in which she has handled the portfolio of secretary this year ─ to most members she is the face of the EC throughout the year. Finally, thank you also to our Vice President, Hennie Kruger. He has provided me with expert advice and second opinions on many occasions this year. I would like to declare myself available to reciprocate, should that be required, when he takes office as President of our Society in January.

Finally, I would like to extend a warm invitation to the members of our Society to please make contact with Hennie or myself if you have any ideas by which you feel ORSSA can improve the quality of the service it provides to its members. Thank you for your attention.

Jan van Vuuren

ORSSA President

http://www.euro-online.org/

Addendum C – Terminated memberships

Terminated members 1/1/13

Mr WA Albrecht Mr AO Fadugba Mr M Magele Ms C Pretorius

Prof MM Ali Mr D Folowo Mr AM Mahlangu Dr DN Raad

Mr KB Andrew Ms MM Fourie Mr E Makoni Mr M Rabolinyane

Mr JD Ankamah Mr PJ Fourie Mr M Maku Mr A Saxena

Mr CA Anthonissen Dr DM Germishuys Mr CT Malan Mr P Schmitz

Mr A Anyogu Mr AH Ghebretsadik Mr KT Manyuchi Mr G Schnelle

Mr RG April Dr GW Groves Miss N Marais Mr IH Sekgololo

Mr S Ballantyne Dr V Gumbo Mr E Maré Dr K Setlhare

Mr D Basu Mr FS Habtemichael Miss GG Masae Mr SG Sharpe

Miss K Baumann Prof JW Hearne Dr LC Masinga Mr L Shinya

Mr LAK Bloy Mr M Herbst Mr S Mbatha Mr UR Shookan

Mr N Böhm Mr PH Hlapolosa Mr AJ McTaggart Mr EW Sithole

Mrs G Boikanyo Mr F Holder Prof TS Misi Mr E Slack

Mr F Bokaba Mr PM Horton Ms F Mitchell Mr L Snyders

Mr A Botha Mr PK Hough Miss M Mmatli Mr PWM Swart

Mr PN Boynton Mr PF Jacot-Guillarmod Mr OP Mmileng Mr AM Syed

Mr DH Burger Mr J Janse van Rensburg Mrs M Modise Miss A Taylor

Mr V Chikwasha Mr JR Jones Ms E Mogopodi Mr LD Tomé

Mr EM Chinaka Dr KC Jordi Mr NP Moloi Mnr J Tredoux

Mr P Chisango Dr AR Joubert Mr P Monamo Miss T Tshitshi

Mr CN Coetzee Mr S Kanyemba Mr NJ Mosehla Mr MP Tsogang

Dr D Compton Ms V Kazie-Ravat Mr T Moyo Mr JB Tyler

Mr GN Crosse Mr JJ Khoza Mr S Mthembu Mnr M van Biljon

Mnr JN de Bruyn Mr V Khumalo Mr M Mukamuri Dr A Van Biljon

Prof DCJ de Jongh Mrs J Kistiah National Ports Authority of SA Ms M van der Walt

Prof HC de Kock Mr B Kok Mr BMB Naude Mr JP Van der Walt

Mnr JD de Kock Mr T Kolobe Mr NV Ndaba Dr HH van der Watt

Mr PO de Wet Mr NH Kone Ms E Neves Mr G van Dieman

Discovery Health Dr L Kotze Mr NW Ngomane Mrs L van Dyk

Dr CE Dohm Mr D Krige Miss P Ngulube Mej L van Eck

Mr T Donga Mnr PH Kruger Mr MD Ngurah Mr JF Van Niekerk

Mr M Dowart Mr H Kuswanto Mr PG Nkosi Dr N Venugopal

Mnr PM du Plessis Mr A Lapperts Mr GS Nkwe Prof PJ Vermeulen

Miss A du Plessis Miss E le Roux Mr L Nyawani Mr DJ Vermeulen

Mr M Dube Miss RJS Lebelo Mr S Olowoyeye Dr HR Weistroffer

Prof TT Dunne Mr J Lejaha Mr O Omorinde Mr A Yankey

Mr N Dyers Mr W Lekalake Mrs T Osiyemi

Dr GN Engelbrecht Prof M Lesaoana Mrs JM Parr

Mr DG Engle Mr OC Lesole Mr J Phiri

Mr L Erasmus Miss D Lombaard Mr M Pillay

Mr YJ Essa Mr JM Louw Mr L Pillay

Mrs TJ Evert Mr M Mafatshe Mr CJ Potgieter

To be terminated 1/1/14

Miss V Atud Mr MJ Kushner

Mr J Baard Mr S.M Manyatsi

Mr BPM Barasa Mr L Mashiri

Mr J Benest Mr OO Mogapi

Mr JJ Bornman Mr ME Moshidi

Mrs V Chidanika Vimbainashe Ms M Muller

Mr KT Chirenje Miss J Naudé

Mr E Chuka Mr O Ncube

Prof J Cochran Mr ZP Ncube

Mr LJ Coetzee Mr A Neveling

Mr D Coleman Dr P Potgieter

Mr DG Conradie Mr R Rossouw

Mr M Croucher Mr GB Schrieff

Mev R Cruywagen Mr MJ Sekhasimbe

Ms K Cyrus Mr VBM Sekoto

Mr A du Plessis Miss HL Tarr

Mr D du Toit Mr CW Turner

Dr JM Greben Mr S Vilakazi

Mr P Hector Prof JS Wolvaardt

Dr T Kapamara Mrs J Wrench

Mr IA Krige

Addendum D – Memberships with outstanding fees

MEMBERSHIP STATISTICS AT 1/9/2013

Membership numbers by membership type (note “in good standing” owe some

fees but won’t be terminated 1/1/14 [i.e. owe < R1000])

Membership

Terminated

1/1/13

To be

terminated

1/1/14

Fully paid

up

In good

standing

Corporate 2 0 1 0

EURO member 0 0 3 0

Full 159 41 94 89

Honorary 0 0 6 1

Library 0 0 7 0

Life 0 0 10 0

Others 0 0 3 0

Retired 0 0 3 2

Student 0 0 19 22

Grand Total 162 41 145 114

Membership numbers by chapter

Chapter

Terminated

1/1/13

To be

terminated

1/1/14

Fully paid

up

In good

standing

Africa 16 2

International 8 1 7

Johannesburg 56 16 23 16

Pretoria 27 10 20 41

Vaal Triangle 7 2 27 11

KZN 10 1 6 8

Western Cape 37 8 62 38

No info 1 1

Grand Total 162 41 145 114

Fees owing by membership type (note for terminated members, amount given is

amount owed at termination)

NOTE THESE ARE FROM THE DATABASE. JONAS PROBABLY HAS MORE

RELIABLE FIGURES.

Membership

type

Terminated

1/1/13

To be

terminated

1/1/14

Fully paid

up

In good

standing

Corporate 3600 0 0 0

EURO member 0 0 0 0

Full 282497 53446.0254 0 51080

Honorary 0 0 0 -410

Library 0 0 0 0

Life 0 0 0 0

Others 0 0 0 0

Retired 0 0 0 650

Student 0 0 0 4380

Grand Total 286097 53446.0254 0 55700

Fees owing by chapter (note for terminated members, amount given is amount

owed at termination)

Chapter

Terminated

1/1/13

To be

terminated

1/1/14

Fully paid

up

In good

standing

Africa 32260 2476.89 0 0

International 18772 1012.5827 0 0

Johannesburg 96830 20566.5527 0 10150

Pretoria 44510 13570 0 21195

Vaal Triangle 13055 2600 0 5600

KZN 19620 1400 0 330

Western Cape 60725 10520 0 17375

No info 1450 1300 0 0

Grand Total 287222 53446.0254 0 54650

Addendum E – Financial statements for 2013

ORSSAIncome

01 January 2013 to 31 December 2013

01 Jan 201331 Dec 2013

IncomeConference sales ZAR 275 300,00Interest Income ZAR 8 675,32Newsletter Sales ZAR 14 700,00Orion Sales ZAR 27 572,40Sales ZAR 127 050,00Total Income ZAR 453 297,72ExpensesBank Charges ZAR 1 642,75Computer ZAR 5 125,00Conference Speaker ZAR 1 080,00Conference accessories ZAR 15 923,78Depreciation ZAR 290 297,00Dues/Subscriptions ZAR 3 923,03Internet ZAR 1 958,00Meals/Entertainment ZAR 1 035,00Office Supplies ZAR 97,96Postage/Shipping ZAR 10 768,46Printing ZAR 23 509,73Prizes/Awards ZAR 37 041,38Rent ZAR 340,00Resignations ZAR 1 800,00Salaries ZAR 5 000,00Venue and catering ZAR 28 900,15Total Expenses ZAR 428 442,24Net Income ZAR 24 855,48

Prepared 07 September 2013.

ORSSABalance Sheet

As of 07 September 2013

07 Sep 2013AssetsAccounts Receivable ZAR 161 126,00Chequing ZAR 380 430,94Savings ZAR 168 005,32Total Assets ZAR 709 562,26LiabilitiesAccounts Payable ZAR 11 545,10Unallocated payments ZAR 10 936,27Total Liabilities ZAR 22 481,37EquitiesOpening Balance ZAR 662 225,41Net Income ZAR 24 855,48Total Equities ZAR 687 080,89Total Liabilities & Equities ZAR 709 562,26

Prepared 07 September 2013.

Addendum F – Budget for 2014

Prepared by Jonas StrayDate 9/7/2013ORSSA Budget for 2014Expense budgetAccount 2014Bad debts 33 423,50R Bank Charges 2 404,39R Dues/Subscriptions 5 741,02R Internet 2 865,37R Meals/entertainment 1 514,63R Office supplies 143,36R Postage/shipping 15 758,72R Printing 34 404,48R Prizes/awards 19 000,00R Rent 340,00R Resignations 2 634,15R Salaries 10 000,00R

Income budgetInterest income 10 080,00R Newsletter sales 21 512,20R Orion sales 27 600,00R Sales 127 000,00R

Result budget 57 962,58R

Note: Any conferences are held outside of this budget, as they are assumed to break even.

Addendum G – Financial statements for 2010

Addendum H – Financial statements for 2011

Addendum I – Financial statements for 2012

Addendum J – Marketing manager’s report

ORSSA Marketing Strategy: Draft

Background

As those of you who were there will know, we took a decision at the agm at the 2012 conference to

introduce a marketing portfolio, and I was elected as the Exco member for that.

Exco has had various interactions during the year on this topic, including a video-conference

workshop in April.

We have surfaced 26 potential initiatives which we could address in this area, which is clearly far

more than we can realistically address in the short term. A vote was therefore held, with a scale as

follows:

3 Start as soon as possible.

2 Tackle as ‘phase 2’ when we’ve addressed the more important ones;

1 Leave for the time being until we’ve more idea if it will be worthwhile;

0 Don’t do it at all;

A table is appended, with them sorted in order of priority, based on the votes.

Exco members were also asked to indicate which ones they were prepared to give time to.

Interestingly, when Exco voted, the lowest score was 1.7. Exco therefore obviously believes that

most of the ideas that came up are worthy, so clearly our way forward needs to address the higher

priority ones initially, which are going to give us most value from the very limited resources which

ORSSA has. Having said that, several of them are activities which are effectively already underway. In

those cases, it will be a matter of making sure that our focus and resourcing is appropriate, rather

than starting from scratch.

The following strategy is suggested: it starts with existing activities, particularly those where we

already have Exco members involved, and then moves on to newer activities.

All members are strongly encouraged to assist us in implementing the strategy, by volunteering for

any of the items they would like to help with. We are going to circulate the full list, with room for

you to tick topics you are prepared to assist with, and indicate the type of assistance.

Existing Activities

1. Newsletter (Scored 3 out of the maximum of 3)

It was suggested that we should more consciously address customer (i.e. member, in our case)

relationship management (CRM) via the newsletter, as it is a channel which makes contacts with all

members, quarterly. Mark Einhorn, the newsletter Editor, volunteered for this one, along with Dave

Evans, who has been a newsletter editor in the past. All ideas as to how CRM with our members

should be focused will be welcome. You, the members, are our target audience – what would you

like to see about the Society?

2. Website (Scored 3)

Exco feel we should also be making more use of the website for CRM. Jan van Vuuren, the President,

and Mark Einhorn, have volunteered for this one. Exactly the same points apply as for the

Newsletter above, so please let us know what you would like to see.

3. Social Media (Several different initiatives, which scored from 1.9 to 2.5)

Several of the social media scored relatively low priorities individually, but there was a general sense

in Exco that we need a more co-ordinated approach to how ORSSA is going to use all aspects of

them. Mark Einhorn volunteered to lead this area, with Lieschen Venter and Jan van Vuuren also

assisting. Again, any other volunteer members will be extremely welcome. We propose that Mark

leads a team (virtual or otherwise) to come up with specific approaches for the various areas –

FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.

4. Joint Meetings with the Industrial Engineers; (Scored 2.5)

Michelle van der Merwe has volunteered to help here. Gauteng is already up and running in this

respect, with joint ORSSA/SAIIE meetings having been held several times in the last year or two. It is

suggested that Michelle liaises with one or more of Winnie Pelser, Louis Dannhauser and Elias

Willemse, to get ideas for taking a similar initiative forward in the Western Cape. If other chapters

wish to do the same, I’m sure those people will be equally happy to advise.

New Initiatives

5. More ORSSA awareness for students in university departments where OR is taught and ORSSA

is represented. (Score 3)

Ian Durbach and Remi Adewumi volunteered to contribute here. It is suggested that they liaise with

other ORSSA members in academia and come up with a proposal as to how this should be done.

This goes hand in glove with the closely related idea of More ORSSA awareness for students in

university departments where OR is relevant and ORSSA is not represented (Score 2.9) which Ian

Durbach also volunteered for, so we suggest that this team also gives some thought as to how we

can take a similar message to this second community of university departments with OR content.

6. Survey of members to find out what they want. (Score 2.8)

Michelle van der Merwe, Ian Durbach and Dave Evans volunteered to assist here. It is suggested

that Michelle initiates an email exercise with Ian and Dave to generate a draft questionnaire to be

used to explore members’ ideas in this regard.

7. Recruiting more corporate members (Score 2.5, with the idea of the generation of a common

sales document for this, scoring 2.8)

Dave Evans and Ian Durbach offered to work on the document. Danie Lotter has approached

potential members via email, but this has been relatively unsuccessful. It is felt that a face to face

approach is required. Dave will lead the development of the document. Once this has been

generated, Dave to lead a discussion (probably by email) on how we can get access face to face to

potential new corporate members, and then take it forward as appropriate.

8. General marketing of ORSSA in the print media to both the Public and Private sectors. (2.6)

Dave Evans and Ian Durbach also volunteered for this one. It is suggested that they take it forward in

whatever way they see fit, keeping Exco advised of what they are going to do.

9. Chapter events focused on business sectors (Score 2.6)

Volunteers for this were Remi Adewumi, Michelle van der Merwe and Lieschen Venter. It is

suggested that Remi leads a discussion of how to address this, also including the Gauteng Chapter

chairs, Winnie Pelser and Louis Dannhauser, and then tries pilot seminars led by interested Chapters.

10. Recruitment drive for new individual members, using social media (2.5)

No-one volunteered specifically for this action. I suggest we add it to the wider social media item 3,

above.

11. Recruit students to help with all this (2.9)

Jan van Vuuren volunteered for this; I suggest he uses any other of the Stellenbosch ORSSA

members to come up with a proposal for this, covering numbers, areas where students can be used,

and costs.

This covers the top fifteen priority ideas, and picks up two lower scoring social media ones as well.

12. The key issues at this stage are:

a) Will this be overcommitting us? If so, we need to pull our horns in and be more realistic. If I

read through the items, one at a time, it doesn’t look too bad, but I fear that I’m overdoing

it. We particularly need feedback on this from the people who have been identified to do

the work.

b) How many more volunteers form the wider membership of ORSSA will assist? We need to

emphasise this particularly strongly during the conference. This may also help to address the

concern of (a) above.

13. A key aspect of the way forward is to generate concrete plans.

At the moment, the proposals above are largely a ‘wish list.’ Each of the owners should see their first

priority as being to work out who their team is, and then come up with a plan with specific

deliverables, resourcing and target dates; without that, we are likely to make limited progress.

DW Evans

Marketing Portfolio Manager

ORSSA National Executive Committee

3 September 2013

Proposed Marketing Initiatives, ranked by Exco priority score.

Initiative Score

CRM – newsletter 3.0

More ORSSA awareness for students in university departments where OR is

taught and ORSSA is represented.

3.0

CRM – ORSSA Website 3.0


relevant and ORSSA is not represented.

2.9

Recruit students to help with all this 2.9

Survey members to find out what they want 2.8

‘Pitch’ for selling ORSSA to corporate members 2.8

General OR marketing in wide range of print media; private sector 2.6

General OR marketing in wide range of print media; public sector 2.6

Chapter events focused on business sectors 2.6

CRM – Facebook 2.5

Recruitment drive – individual members: social media 2.5

Recruit new corporate members 2.5

CRM – LinkedIn 2.5

Joint chapter events with SAIEE 2.5

Sell OR as a skill to recruitment agencies 2.4

Contact business schools, technicons, etc., re OR(SSA) visibility 2.4

Schools visibility via career guidance staff 2.3

Follow on from 18. With their students 2.2

More visibility in schools; ‘presentations’ or similar 2.2

CRM - Twitter 2.2

Increase ORSSA awareness for individual IEs 2.1

Joint conference with SAIEE 1.9

Students’ ORSSA Facebook SIG 1.9

OR in Africa initiative 1.8

Go back to an ORSSA membership model with accreditation 1.7

Offer to Assist with Marketing Initiatives (Ranked by Exco Priority)

Name: _____________________________ Email address: ______________________________ Contact Number : _____________________________

Initiative Help Nature of Help

CRM – newsletter


taught and ORSSA is represented.

CRM – ORSSA Website


relevant and ORSSA is not represented.

Recruit students to help with all this

Survey members to find out what they want

‘Pitch’ for selling ORSSA to corporate members

General OR marketing in wide range of print media; private sector

General OR marketing in wide range of print media; public sector

Chapter events focused on business sectors

CRM – Facebook

Recruitment drive – individual members: social media

Recruit new corporate members

CRM – LinkedIn

Joint chapter events with SAIEE

CRM - Twitter

Students’ ORSSA Facebook SIG

Please tick the ‘Help’ column for any topic you are willing to assist with, and if relevant, indicate briefly the nature of the assistance.

Addendum K – ORiON report

Report: ORiON

Executive committee meeting at annual ORSSA conference 2013

I would like to report that the management of ORiON is running smoothly. All issues since mylast report was published on time and Volume 29(2), which is due in December 2013, is alreadyin the final editing process. It is on track to be printed soon.

In addition, I would like to report on the following points.

1. Rate of submissionsThe submission rate of papers to ORiON haven’t change in the last year. It is relativeslow. We had a spike in submissions for the special issue (Volume 29(1)) dedicated to TheoStewart. The special issue contained seven papers – equalling the maximum number ofpapers in a single issue up to now, but accounting for the maximum number of pages everin a single issue of ORiON.

Currently there are 4 papers scheduled to appear in volume 29(2), 3 papers scheduled toappear in volume 30(1) and a further 9 papers are in various forms of review.

The increase in the submission rate remains my major challenge as this is an importantstep towards an increase in citations and thus getting indexed on the major indexes. Onceagain I would like to ask members to please encourage all members to submit papers toORiON. I dearly want to submit the journal again for these ratings, but we’ll have to upthe number of submissions before we can make a serious attempt. My feeling is that theranking agencies simply do not take journals publishing less than 10 papers per volumeseriously. My first goal would thus be to at least get ORiON to publish more than 10papers per volume - which would be the case for 2013.

Furthermore, I would also like to ask members to consider citing papers from ORiON inpapers submitted internationally. The number of times ORiON is cited in other (specifi-cally ISI) journals is weighted heavily in the selection criteria.

2. VisibilityWe are doing everything in our power to get papers visible to scholarly search engines.ORiON is hosted (electronically) by SUNScholar, EBSCO, ProQuest, AJOL, SABINETand on the ORSSA website, which make ORiON’s papers visible to a lot of search enginesand will hopefully increase our citations.

Another factor in getting ORiON indexed is to increase the number of international sub-missions. Increasing the visibility of ORiON should also aid in this regard.

3. Online submission systemThe online submission system is stable and is functioning smoothly. We would like toencourage all the members to please explore and use the electronic system as it significantlyeases the administrational burden on the editorial team. All submissions during the lastyear were received through the online submission system.

4. International indexing and ORiON subsidyThere are no new developments regarding the subsidy of DoHET. In the light of theuncertainty regarding the subsidy and what the DoHET will replace it with, I am busywith the following pro-active steps:

1

(a) Turning ORiON into a fully open access journal (which the exec already approved).

(b) Applying to have ORiON listed on DOAJ and SciElo. In both these cases I am stillin the process of finding out the complications for ORiON — SciElo, for example,might want us to move to a different open source platform which might imply biggerchanges for ORiON. The issue of having two different open source archives also arises.

(c) Preparing an application to get ORiON evaluated by SciVerse/Scopus.

Hopefully one of these indexes will be added to DoHET’s list of subsidised journals.

As always I would like to thank all authors who have chosen to publish in ORiON during thepast year. Thank you also to all the reviewers who helped ORiON to maintain its standards.Without these two parties, especially the reviewers that does not get any gain for their laboriousefforts, there would be no ORiON.

As usual I would also like to thank Martin Kidd and Anton de Villiers for their hard work andassistance as journal manager and editorial assistant, respectively. Both has put a tremendousnumber of hours into ORiON and are performing very professional jobs. Without them mywork would have been considerably harder!

My best wishes to all subscribers of ORiON and members of ORSSA.

Stephan VisagieEditor-in-chief: ORiON

Martin KiddJournal Manager: ORiON

2

Addendum L – Newsletter report

Exec Meeting: Protea Hotel, Technopark, Stellenbosch

ORSSA Newsletter Report: September 2013

The past year has been a very successful one for the newsletter. All the issues were completed on schedule and I trust that everyone received their copies within a reasonable amount of time.

Things are looking promising for the two remaining issues of the newsletter for 2013. I have secured an article by Jacques du Toit for the October edition on the happenings and highlights of this year's conference. There usually is not a problem when it comes to content quantity for the October edition as there are numerous photos and recognition award citations to include and I don't suspect this year to be any different. I have also received a chapter event update from Lieschen Venter regarding activities of the Vaal Triangle chapter for which I am very grateful and I encourage other chapter chairs to please submit short summaries of any chapter events which they have organised.

Depending on the amount of space available in the next issue, I would like to introduce the idea that Tanya proposed during our last web meeting. Tanya suggested including a piece on what is being done in terms of OR at the various universities around the country. I think this is an excellent idea and would like to start with Stellenbosch University.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank anyone who has contributed to and/or helped out with the Newsletter this year, it is as always, very much appreciated. Given the opportunity, I look forward to my third year as Newsletter editor, with a focus on showcasing the potential of Operations Research, ORSSA and its members.

On the business side of the newsletter, things are also looking very promising. Danie has managed to secure a number of advertisers in the last three issues with the result that the newsletter is almost self sustainable. His future plans are to manage the newsletter at this self sustainable level and even try to cover a portion of the cost incurred by ORiON.

We would like to thank in particular Bluestallion Technologies, Simulation engineering technologies and the department of Industrial engineering at the University of Stellenbosch for their support throughout the year.

Finally, we would like to urge members of the society and in particular members of the Exec to spread the word to their colleagues and institutions to advertise in the newsletter.

Thank you,

Mark EinhornNewsletter Editor

Addendum M – Webmaster’s report

ORSSA Webmaster Report 2013

Daniel Matthee

September 4, 2013

Regarging Point 6.c:The online website has undergone some change with few to no disruptions at all.The hosting location has change from the dip.sun.ac.za server to a new locationat Innerhosting. Hierby I would like to thank Louis from InnernetHosting for allhis help and dedication to the smooth transaction and design of the database.Those that do not know of the new change an online database for all mem-bers information has been designed and can be used by all ORSSA members.Currently the database is populated with all member data but it needs to be re-vised which i am currently doing along with Ian Durbach as well as Jonas Strayfor any incorrect information that might have slip through will populating thedatabase once off.

Regarding the financial data of all members in the database which is notpopulate since I did not give this information through to be populated. Ian,Jonas and myself took the matter at hand and will populate the database finan-cial information once the confirmation is give of which financial data from thisday forward are going to be used. I would like to recommend that the financialdata should be loaded into the database before the next invoices are sent toORSSA members.

When the online database is fully populated a link for the new membershipstatus will change to a new link which will then populate the information di-rectly into the database. At this stage of the process an email will then be sentto me and the database manager, Ian Durbach. After the acceptance of the newmember Ian will update the information of the member, which will then grantthe member access to his information as well as invoices in his name.

The member however will not be able to see all the data on the databasesince certain information is hidden and only accessible by the executive mem-bers.

Regarging Point 10:Some minor problems were reported when a sun.ac.za webmail address is usedto sent emails to the ORSSA executive members. We have looked into the mat-ter and found that the problem is on the sun.ac.za side and unfortunately cannot be resolve. My suggestion is if a failed delivery status is returned whensending an email from a sun.ac.za address please retry sending the email fromany other service provider and if the problem is still recurring then the problem

1

should please be directed directly to me.

Please bring any problems to my attention so that we can create a friendly,high standard website to our members.

I look forward to making the database live for use to all members and shouldI be re-elected to serve once again as the Webmaster, I will gladly accept anddo my utmost to ensure that the high standard of the Website and database ismaintained for 2014.

Thank you,Daniel MattheeWebmaster

2

Addendum N – Johannesburg Chapter report

ORSSA Johannesburg Chairman's report: Thursday, 17 January - chapter AGM. New committee selected: Chairman: Louis Dannhauser Vice chairman: Brahm Bothma Treasurer: Derek Saunderson Secretary: John Dean Additional member: Ian Campbell Saturday, 9 February - Valentine's dinner. Speaker: Johan Pelser - Air Force logistics Head, on challenges in logistics Thursday 29 August - Ian Campbell, Wits Industrial Engineering, on Charter plane route planning in Botswana

Addendum O – Pretoria Chapter report

Status of Pretoria Chapter activities for 2012-3

The committee members are: Nadia Viljoen, Elias Willemse, Wilna Bean, and Winnie Pelser.

After the success of the Analytics lecture at the conference last year, the Pretoria and Johannesburg chapters had a combined event on the 25th of October. The topics were "The hype around analytics" by Hans Ittmann, “Combining analytics and Operations Research” by Elias Willemse and “Effective analytical tools” by Bruce Bond-Myatt”. The event was very well attended. The function cost was R5 411.44 plus R400 book vouchers for the speakers. The remaining bank balance for the Pretoria chapter is: R30 293.94.

The Pretoria chapter had a planning meeting after the financial year end. At this meeting the first event was planned for the6th of August due to the involvement of members in other societies. Unfortunately, this date was inconvenient due to such involvements.

The next function will be in October or November. An AGM will take place at the function or earlier.

Addendum P – Vaal-Triangle Chapter report

ORSSA Vaal Triangle Chapter

Annual Report

September 2013

Here follows the Vaal Triangle Chapter Report of events since the last ORSSA AGM in September

2012.

The AGM of the Vaal Triangle Chapter was held on 30 November 2012 at Sasol Technology in

Sasolburg. A wrap up of the year's events was presented and the Chapter executive committee for

2013 was elected.

North West University hosted the chapter event for the first quarter on 13 March 2013. The Chapter

vice-chairman, Fanie Terblanche presented a talk based on a joint paper with a German colleague.

The title of the talk was "Alternative model formulations for improving the optimization of mine

production scheduling problems" and the venue was the Potchefstroom campus of NWU. The talk

proved to be a good way to raise student awareness about ORSSA membership as Fanie and Hennie

Kruger used the opportunity mention the benefits of membership to students working in the field.

For the national student competition, the chapter has one entry from NWU. Jan Brand entered his

MSc thesis which he completed under the supervision of Hennie Kruger.

For the second quarter chapter event, the chapter coordinated with NWU in order to host a

workshop presented by dr Ted Ralphs from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. The workshop was on

open source tools available for modelling and solving optimization problems and the main focus was

on tools from the COIN-OR software repository. The event was held on 20 June 2013 at the Centre

for Business Mathematics on the Potchefstroom campus of NWU.

The third quarter chapter event was hosted by Sasol Technology in Sasolburg on 29 August 2013.

Michele Fisher, a member of the chapter executive committee and principle operations researcher

at Sasol, presented a talk on the development of Operations Research Talent and her work in placing

structures for talent and technology development in Sasol’s Decision Support team. The event also

featured the official announcement of the Chapter’s intention to host the 2014 Conference.

The fourth quarter event will be hosted in Secunda in order to accommodate for the geographic

diversity of the chapter members and it will be followed by the chapter AGM in the same venue

where the chapter exec for 2014 will be elected. The date of the event is yet to be determined.

Addendum Q – Western Cape Chapter report

ORSSA

WESTERN CAPE CHAPTER REPORT September 2013

The objective of the Western Cape Chapter of ORSSA is to promote a wider knowledge of

the techniques and practices of Operations Research within the Western Cape region. In

line with this objective, the Chapter hosted two events during the year 2013.

CHAPTER EVENTS:

The first chapter event was held on February the 7th at the University of Stellenbosch. The

subject of the colloquium was ‘Algorithms for the Train Unit Assignment Problem’, presented

by Professor Paulo Toth from the University of Bologna, Italy. The Train Unit Assignment

Problem consist of finding the minimum cost assignment of train units to a set of timetabled

trips in order to fulfil the seat requests. Professor Toth presented two integer linear

programming formulations of the Train Unit Assignment Problem and extensive

computational results on real-world instances. The colloquium proved to be very successful

with a large number of members attending the event. Refreshments were also served after

the colloquium during which everyone socialized.

The second chapter event was held on August the 1st, at the Stellenbosch University Business

School in Cape Town. This was a joint event between the Western Cape Chapter of ORSSA

and the South African Institute of Industrial Engineering Operations Research (SAIIE OR)

special interest group. The theme of the event was ‘Analytics in Finance’. We had two guest

speakers, namely, Margarete Bester from XTranda and Marli Mostert from Principa.

Margarete’s presentation focused on the critical importance of data validation for

researchers and how partially incorrect/incomplete data may adversely affect analytical

results. Examples from the credit risk industry were provided. Marli’s presentation focused

on the principles of credit scoring and the practical application of linear programming in

developing prediction models. The joint event was a huge success which members from both

societies attended. Refreshments were served afterwards where everyone had the

opportunity to socialize.

These events provided opportunities for expanding our knowledge of techniques and

practices of Operations Research. Furthermore members were provided the opportunity to

meet/socialize with other ORSSA members.

ORSSA

GENERAL:

I recommend that a joint event between the Western Cape Chapter of ORRSA and SAIIE-

OR should be organized annually. This was a great opportunity to share knowledge

between the two societies. Furthermore, as a note for next year, it would also be nice to

have SAIIE-OR speakers present as well.

Michelle van der Merwe

Western Cape Chapter Chair

ORSSA

Addendum R – KwaZulu-Natal Chapter report

ORSSA Activities Report for 2013

KZN Chapter

The KZN chapter was resurrected late 2012 after I was able to recruits some students into ORSSA. We

held our first meeting in December 2012 where I was elected Chairperson by unanimous concession. A

Secretary, Sandile Saul, was also elected but unfortunately, he later got a job that transferred him to

Johannesburg. Luke Joel was then appointed to act in his stead. The coming of Elias Munapo to join the

Graduate School of Business and Leadership at UKZN was a boast as it gives us access to the business

class targets.

We have held three meetings in 2013, all at UKZN, with the following main focus:

1. Discussion on strategies to recruit new members both in the academia and industry for ORSSA

and the chapter.

2. Planning of activities for 2013 –

a. The main activity was a seminar held in July by Elias Munapo at the GSBL which we used

as avenue to promote ORSSA to participants.

b. A public lecture on “Global Optimization applied to industrial Problems” for which I

obtained the consent of the School of Maths, Statistics and computer Science at UKZN

for joint sponsorship. We have invited Prof. Montaz M. Ali for this lecture that will take

place immediately after ORSSA 2013 on the 25th of September 2013. Publicity is

ongoing both within and outside campus with some RSVP coming in already from

industrial participants. We hope to have Dave in this meeting and also use it as an

avenue to market ORSSA and recruit new members.

c. A regular seminar will soon be scheduled with focus on OR problems which will be of

interests to both researchers and industrial participants.

d. We are deliberating also on the possibility of hosting the the ORSSA conference for the

year 2015. This is still on discussion and hopefully, we will finalize on the feasibility asap

and report back to the National Executive.

Thank you.

Aderemi ADEWUMI

KZN Chairperson

orssa annual general meeting magnifica 3 room, protea ... · magnifica 3 room, protea hotel...

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