About Maximal Software

Maximal Software, Inc. is a leading provider of software for developing and formulating models in the field of optimization. Optimization is today one of the most important tools in implementing and planning efficient business operations and increasing competitive advantage. Organizations need to make intelligent decisions to obtain optimal use of their available resources, such as manpower, equipment, raw materials and capital. The discipline of optimization, through the use of advanced mathematics and computer science techniques, is used to assist organizations with solving their complex business problems in areas such as manufacturing, operations planning, distribution and transportation, supply-chain, finance, and defense related industries.

Maximal is the developer of the MPL Modeling System and the OptiMax 2000 Component Library, and has many years of practical experience providing innovative solutions to our customers and assisting them in achieving the successful completion of their optimization projects.

Products and Services

The MPL Modeling System
Maximal Software is the developer of MPL (Mathematical Programming Language), an advanced modeling system that allows the model developer to formulate complicated optimization models in a clear, concise, and efficient way. The MPL modeling language offers a natural algebraic notation that is unrivaled in its expressive power, readability and user friendliness. MPL is the fastest and most scalable optimization modeling software on the market today, easily capable of handling problems with millions of variables, quickly and efficiently. MPL works with the world's fastest optimization engines, such as CPLEX and XPRESS, and many other industrial strength solvers.

OptiMax 2000 Component Library
The OptiMax 2000 Component Library is specifically designed to embed optimization models into end-user applications. OptiMax allows MPL models to be seamlessly integrated directly into object-oriented programming languages such as Visual Basic, VBA for Excel and Access, C/C++, Java, Delphi, as well as many popular web-scripting languages. This bridges, for the first time, the gap between model developers, whose expertise lies in developing models, and IT professionals, whose focus is mainly on databases and building end-user applications.

Consulting Services
Maximal Software provides consultation services to our customers, at every stage of the project, from conceptualizing the optimization problem, to building the final business application. Maximal combines its advanced optimization modeling software, with quality consulting and software development services, which enable our customers to create the best optimization applications. Our technical expertise and in-depth product knowledge allow us to provide our customers with innovative solutions and services including, conceptualizing and formulating models, managing and connecting to data, designing and developing business applications.

Technical Support Services
Maximal Software provides a complete range of technical support services including, software support, model development, improve the performance of solvers, database connectivity, installation and deployment. Maximal offers maintenance contracts for all customers, renewable annually, that include all software upgrades during the maintenance period and technical support via phone, fax and email. Maximal offers training for our customers at Maximal locations, or, upon request, at customer sites.

Maximal Web Site
Maximal Software is a global corporation with customers and users all over the world, in both commercial and academic environments. The Maximal web site, www.maximalsoftware.com, is one of the most popular and extensive web-sites in the field of optimization. It offers visitors information about Maximal Software, the MPL Modeling System and OptiMax 2000 including complete technical manuals. Other resources include links to popular OR sites, FAQ, slide presentations and white papers. There is an extensive on-line tutorial with a free student/trial version of the software for download and a model library with hundreds of examples from popular textbooks that show how MPL can be used to solve real world optimization problems.

History of Maximal Software

Maximal Software was founded by Bjarni Kristjansson in 1987. The company initially offered a linear programming package Turbo-Simplex for the IBM PC and Macintosh. By 1988, Maximal began the development of the MPL Modeling System, an algebraic modeling language, that is the core product of Maximal Software. In 1990, Maximal Software opened offices in Arlington, VA in order to provide marketing and sales closer to the key US markets of its software. In order to expand it operations to service the European market Maximal Software opened a London office in 2001.

In the early 90’s major developments were occurring in the computer field, such as the growing popularity of Graphical User Interfaces (GUI’s). In 1993, the MPL Modeling System was the first optimization modeling system that was released for the Microsoft Windows platform. Shortly afterwards, both MPL for Macintosh and MPL for Motif (UNIX) were released. Using graphical user interfaces in a modeling system greatly enhanced the productivity for both model developers and the end-users.

The second major enhancement that Maximal Software was first to introduce to optimization modeling market, was the concept of directly linking the modeling language to relational databases. The database connection allows model developers and consultants to create real world end-user applications by using commercial databases, such as MS Access and Oracle, to handle the user interface and hide the complexities of the model from the end-user.

The most recent major enhancement brought by Maximal Software is the OptiMax 2000 Component Library. This object-oriented Component Library (API) can be used to seamlessly call MPL, from both Visual Basic and C/C++, allowing the model developer to create customized end-user applications that solve real-world optimization problems.

Today, Maximal Software, Inc. has customers, both the commercial and academic, in over 40 countries all over the world. Some of the customers in the U.S. include Agilent, AT&T, Fluor Corporation, International Paper, Jacobs Consulting, McHugh Software, SAIC, TRW, US Department of Energy, USSTRATCOM, US Army (Pentagon), Sprint, and Wachovia.

Maximal Software, Inc. is a member of INFORMS, EURO, MPS, APICS, ORS, GOR, AIRO, DORS, and ICORS, and regularly exhibits and gives presentations at their conferences.

Names and addresses of Maximal Software offices

Names and addresses of major worldwide distributors

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