Composite AI Using Forecasting and Optimization Q&A, Slides, and On-Demand Recording

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Watch this Ask the Expert session to learn how forecasted values, generated from time series models, can be integrated into an optimization model to provide practical guidance and decision making under uncertainty. 

Watch the Webinar

You will learn how to:

• Combine forecasting with optimization for strategic decision making under uncertainty.
• Revise model recommendations in real time amid new requirements and changing information.
• Accommodate custom scenarios to answer specific questions.
• Use the functionality within the OPTMODEL procedure to achieve these objectives.

The questions from the Q&A segment held at the end of the webinar are listed below and the slides from the webinar are attached.

Q&A

Can a user access the model and run scenarios without being in SAS Studio?

As opposed to looking at just the code and making modifications to either the data sets or the parameters directly inside of our model, there is a technique called a SAS job inside Viya. If you're familiar with stored processes, they were formally used in SAS 9 to allow you to create custom web applications or things that run optimization behind the scenes for you. The Viya equivalent for that is called a SAS job. If you want to take advantage of a more automated custom web or custom UI approach, I encourage you to look at SAS jobs because you can create your own custom web application that runs either Visual Forecasting and/or SAS Optimization under the hood for you so you never have to either be in SAS Studio or ever see the OPTMODEL code itself.

Is SAS Viya Forecasting in the default Viya License?

I'm not sure what's meant by the default Viya license, but there are several different types of forecasting licenses. There is SAS Visual Forecasting, but there are also forecasting techniques inside of SAS Econometrics as well and so those are two Viya licenses in which you can leverage forecasting capabilities. SAS Visual Forecasting is an additional license within Viya.

Are the TSMODEL and OPTMODEL procedures available in SAS 9?

OPTMODEL is available in both SAS 9 and SAS Viya.  TSMODEL is available only in SAS Viya.

Do you recommend a key or code sheet to reference when modifying forecasting code?

Yes, the TSMODEL documentation contains all of the syntax with examples to make sure you're doing it correctly (https://go.documentation.sas.com/doc/en/pgmsascdc/v_036/casforecast/casforecast_tsmodel_syntax02.htm)

Recommended Resources

SAS Optimization

SAS/OR

Mathematical Optimization, Discrete-Event Simulation, and OR

Operations Research: Optimize, Simulate, Understand

Operations Research with SAS Optimization Education Course

Network Analysis and Network Optimization in SAS Viya Education Course

Moving from SAS®9 to SAS® Viya®

Please see additional resources in the attached slide deck.

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