World Class Critical Chain Project Management Technology Included in Aviation Week Innovation Challenge Shortlist

ORLANDO, Florida, October 25, 2011Stottler Henke Associates was one of the top technology innovators from around the world that was selected as an Aviation Week Innovation Challenge finalist. Stottler Henke’s Aurora-CCPM technology uses artificial intelligence technology to create more efficient project schedules in combination with the Theory of Constraints (TOC) Critical Chain project management methodology. Aurora-CCPM is the most advanced project management software for project scheduling and execution.

“Aurora-CCPM’s multi-project critical chain capability, combined with Stottler Henke’s underlying intelligent scheduling engine, has saved Boeing and NASA millions of dollars,” says Richard Stottler, president of Stottler Henke. “Aurora manages resource-constrained operations more efficiently by generating schedules that are shorter than those provided by other project management software,” continues Stottler.

The Aviation Week Innovation Challenge Showcase, to be held on March 15-16 in Orlando, Florida, www.aviationweek.com/events/current/innov, is designed to promote, encourage and bring to the forefront the definitive work done by suppliers and deliver a better system of connecting buyers and sellers to bring innovation to market faster and more efficiently.

Aurora-CCPM combines Aurora, Stottler Henke’s intelligent planning and scheduling system, with the added power and flexibility of Multi-project Critical Chain Project Management. Traditional scheduling methods usually allocate a safety margin to each task. This approach wastes time due to bad multitasking, Student syndrome, Parkinson’s Law and poorly synchronized integration. The Critical Chain method avoids these problems by leveraging the concept of aggregated risk to consolidate per-task safety margins into fewer aggregate safety margins. By allocating safety times strategically, organizations achieve higher throughput. Aurora intelligent scheduling technology enables Aurora-CCPM to apply the Critical Chain method to complex projects that encompass thousands of heavily constrained tasks and hundreds of different kinds of resources. Because Aurora remembers the reasons for its scheduling decisions, it can adjust schedules intelligently when production requirements, resource availabilities, and other conditions change.

Founded in 1988, Stottler Henke Associates, Inc. applies artificial intelligence and other advanced software technologies to solve problems that defy solution using traditional approaches. The company delivers intelligent software solutions for education and training, planning and scheduling, knowledge management and discovery, decision support, and software development. In 2006, Stottler Henke was the subject of a NASA “Hallmarks of Success” video profile for its work developing and later commercializing advanced planning and training software systems. Stottler Henke received a 2004 “Brandon Hall Excellence in Learning” award for innovative technology. Stottler Henke was named one of the “top 100” companies making a significant impact on the military training industry by Military Training Technology magazine for 2011 and seven previous years. Stottler Henke has received a Blue Ribbon from Military Training Technology magazine, recognizing it as a company that leads the industry in innovation.

October 25, 2011