Planning education for real-world stuff.

Edition 006

When models stop, planners begin: The importance of emotion in scheduling

Blog post by Tom Cools - DevRel at Timefold

I live about 2 km away from “De Schorre” in Boom (Belgium), or as most people probably know it: the location where the Tomorrowland festival is hosted. It is genuinely one of the most beautiful festivals I’ve ever been to, and I remember thinking: “Wow, pulling all of this off must require a lot of planning”.

If there's one thing I love, it’s looking at these kinds of “close to home” (literally in this case!) planning problems and trying to figure out how I would model them. From the stage-builders, to the stewards and of course the artists and stages, everything needs a plan, a schedule to make it all work together like a symphony.

But when you try to capture that symphony in an optimization model, you quickly learn that you shouldn't treat a festival like a puzzle of constraints. The real magic comes from human planners, who know that success is measured in moments, emotions, and vibes no algorithm can calculate.

If you’re curious how to balance the mathematically optimal with the perfect festival vibe, read on.

Timefold in the wild:
Behind the scenes of SSI SCHÄFER's warehouse optimization

Interview with Markus Klug, hosted by Geoffrey De Smet

What does it take to keep a warehouse running at peak efficiency, when you’ve got tens of thousands of items, robots, conveyor belts, and humans all working together? In our first Timefold in the Wild interview, Markus Klug from SSI SCHÄFER shares how his team uses Timefold to tackle everything from smart product allocation to reducing costly tray changes. It’s a behind-the-scenes look at the math, strategy, and problem-solving that turn a chaotic warehouse into a well-oiled machine.

AI and scheduling optimization with Leon Ingelse from Dots & Lines

Podcast episode by Babl AI

Ever wonder what really goes into a “good” schedule? In the latest episode of Babl AI's podcast Lunchtime Babling, CEO Dr. Shea Brown chats with Leon Ingelse from Croatian optimization studio Dots & Lines about the math, ethics, and people behind scheduling and routing. From balancing “must-haves” with “nice-to-haves” to building digital twins and keeping things fair over time, it’s a fun, thoughtful dive into the kind of planning challenges we love at Timefold.

Integrating Timefold with Bryntum: A practical guide

Blog post by Tom Cools

Since launching our partnership with Bryntum, one question keeps coming up: “How do I actually use these tools together?” In this blog post, we walk you through exactly that: How to combine Timefold’s intelligent scheduling engine with Bryntum’s powerful UI to build schedules that do more than just display boxes on a timeline.

If you’re looking to build something smarter, more efficient, and fully integrated into your stack, this is for you.

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Cheers, Timefold