Author Archives: admin

We’re thrilled to share the news that our Aurora intelligent scheduling optimization technology has been selected as one of @hellotmrc’s Top 500 Deep Tech startups worldwide in the Data & AI track!

Being named one of the Top 500 Deep Tech Startups is more than an award — it reflects Aurora’s dedication to solving some of the hardest challenges in project scheduling with groundbreaking technology. Hello Tomorrow’s selection process evaluates startups from across the globe on innovation, scalability, and real-world impact. Out of thousands of applicants, Aurora stood out for its ability to combine artificial intelligence, advanced optimization, and practical industry expertise into a solution that transforms how organizations manage complexity.

This recognition validates what our customers already know: Aurora helps businesses do more with less, make smarter decisions faster, and eliminate costly inefficiencies. Whether coordinating massive aerospace projects, streamlining manufacturing operations, or ensuring critical missions run on schedule, Aurora delivers clarity where it matters most.

As we continue to grow, this milestone motivates us to push even further, expanding Aurora’s capabilities, entering new industries, and empowering more organizations worldwide.

Discover how Aurora’s intelligent scheduling can elevate your operations — learn more.

Tailored Solutions for Pharmaceutical Facilities

Aurora-ProPlan is a powerful extension of Stottler Henke’s flagship Aurora™ scheduling platform, designed with the unique needs of pharmaceutical operations in mind. By leveraging artificial intelligence, it enables managers and planners to handle the intricate variables that define packaging production. Whether coordinating multiple production lines, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards, or adapting to changing demand forecasts, Aurora-ProPlan delivers a structured yet flexible solution that keeps complex projects on track.

The International Pharmaceutical Expo (INTERPHEX) is the premier annual forum through which suppliers, developers, and manufacturers of pharmaceutical and biotechnological products from around the world exchange ideas and information, network, forge partnerships, learn by attending INTERPHEX’s numerous workshops, and view exhibitions of the latest technological innovations bettering peoples’ lives through medicine, with an emphasis on safe and fiscally responsible dosage processing. At INTERPHEX 2015, April 21-23, 2015, Stottler Henke Associates, Inc., as part of the Intellicentic consortium led by Pfizer to promote leading proven solutions that optimize pharmaceutical manufacturing, is exhibiting its Aurora-ProPlan solution for optimizing pharmaceutical packaging scheduling at Intellicentic’s booth (part of the Federal Equipment Company booth). Aurora-ProPlan is a customization of Aurora™, Stottler Henke’s intelligent planning and scheduling system, that adds capabilities necessary to perform Pharmaceutical production and project management optimally. Pfizer uses Aurora-ProPlan to create optimal schedules for pharmaceutical production.

Alaska Airlines: A Legacy of Excellence

Alaska Airlines delivers more than 17 million passengers each year to over 60 destinations across three countries, including coast-to-coast routes within the continental United States and flights to Hawaii. For more than eight decades, the airline has earned a reputation for quality service, operational excellence, and an unwavering commitment to customer satisfaction.

Throughout its history, Alaska has consistently sought ways to set itself apart from competitors through the strategic adoption of innovative technologies. From pioneering online ticketing and check-in to introducing mobile boarding passes and embracing new digital tools, Alaska Airlines has continually redefined the travel experience. Today, the fleet is composed of state-of-the-art Boeing aircraft, and Alaska continues to demonstrate leadership in aviation technology, operations, and customer engagement.

Innovation as a Core Principle

Alaska Airlines has long believed that innovation is essential to delivering its principal goal: an exceptional travel experience. The airline was one of the first in the industry to:

• Offer online ticketing and check-in, transforming the way passengers prepare for travel.

• Introduce mobile apps and Google Wallet integration, streamlining payments and boarding.

• Equip pilots with iPads instead of paper flight manuals, saving time, reducing cockpit clutter, and improving sustainability.

• Embrace social media platforms as tools for customer service, engagement, and real-time communication.

These steps reflect Alaska’s philosophy of using technology not only to improve efficiency but also to enhance the passenger journey from start to finish.

Meeting the Challenges of Growth

As Alaska Airlines continues to expand its fleet and add new routes, one of its most pressing challenges lies in the training and scheduling of pilots. Ensuring that every pilot receives the proper training on time is a highly complex undertaking. Training facilities, simulators, and instructors are finite resources, yet they must accommodate the scheduling demands of hundreds of pilots across multiple aircraft types and routes.

Traditional scheduling methods can quickly become overwhelmed in this environment, leading to inefficiencies, bottlenecks, or costly delays in training. For an airline committed to both safety and growth, these challenges required a new, more intelligent solution.

Aurora: AI-Powered Scheduling for Pilot Training

To address these challenges, Alaska Airlines turned to Aurora, Stottler Henke’s AI-based intelligent planning and scheduling software. Aurora is well known for its ability to handle complex, constraint-driven scheduling environments, making it an ideal fit for pilot training.

Aurora was customized to meet Alaska’s unique operational needs, creating a version specifically tailored to pilot training scheduling. By leveraging AI decision-making heuristics and optimization techniques, Aurora helps Alaska:

• Maximize training facility utilization, ensuring simulators and classrooms are used efficiently.

• Adapt to changing demands, such as new aircraft deliveries or unexpected staffing requirements.

• Reduce scheduling conflicts, preventing costly delays that can cascade into flight operations.

• Plan proactively, giving Alaska the ability to anticipate resource needs and resolve issues before they affect the broader operation.

The result is a smarter, more resilient scheduling system that scales with Alaska’s growing fleet and workforce.

A Partnership in Innovation

Alaska Airlines’ adoption of Aurora reflects the airline’s ongoing pursuit of technological innovation across every aspect of its business. Just as Alaska pioneered digital customer tools in the early 2000s, it is now applying the same forward-thinking philosophy to internal operations—ensuring that pilot training keeps pace with the airline’s growth and strategic vision.

By integrating Aurora into its training ecosystem, Alaska Airlines demonstrates how advanced AI solutions can directly support safety, efficiency, and operational excellence in the aviation industry. It is not just about scheduling—it’s about empowering Alaska’s workforce, strengthening reliability, and ultimately delivering a smoother travel experience for millions of passengers.

Looking Ahead

As aviation becomes increasingly complex, the ability to manage resources with intelligence and foresight will be a defining factor for airlines worldwide. Alaska Airlines’ use of Aurora highlights how AI-driven scheduling can transform even the most challenging operational problems into opportunities for greater efficiency and success.

With its deep history of innovation and its ongoing commitment to excellence, Alaska Airlines continues to soar above expectations—now with Aurora helping ensure that every pilot is trained, ready, and scheduled for success.

Stottler Henke’s Aurora Selected by Nation’s Leading College of Dentistry to Perform Dental Student Scheduling

The New York University College of Dentistry (NYUCD) is one of the United States’ most storied dental schools. It is also the nation’s leading educator of dentists—8% of new dentists in the U.S. each year are NYUCD graduates—and boasts diverse programs in pre- and postdoctoral dental medicine with approximately 1,900 enrollees from 41 countries. In addition, many professionals return to NYUCD for Continuing Education.

Over 735 clinicians and researchers (both full and part-time), many of whom have made groundbreaking discoveries in the treatment of illnesses such as oral cancer, lead courses in prosthodontics, periodontics, implant dentistry, pediatric dentistry, endodontics, and oral/maxillofacial surgery.

For NYUCD, Aurora-DentalResident, Stottler Henke’s AI-based intelligent planning and scheduling software, was chosen to create dental student schedules—planning which students take which courses, managing clinic rotations, and balancing the complex interdependencies of curriculum, faculty availability, and resource constraints. This decision underscores both NYU’s leadership in dental education and the value Aurora brings to higher education scheduling.

Addressing Core Scheduling Challenges

Aurora-DentalResident is built to meet the unique demands of large dental schools, where each class enrolls 375–400 students and more than 1,500 DDS students are active at a time. The system tackles fundamental challenges such as:

• Guaranteeing exposure to required experiences across all lectures, labs, and clinical rotations. 
• Maintaining equity so that students carry balanced workloads even when variations exist in clinic or course assignments. 
• Staffing clinics and scheduling rooms in a way that avoids conflicts and accounts for other programs or special events. 

These are not small tasks; Aurora-DentalResident brings automation and intelligence to what was an immensely time-consuming, error-prone manual process..

Structured Years (D1 & D2)

In the first two years, dental training is largely structured: students move through lecture series, labs, and section-based experiences. Aurora-DentalResident supports hierarchical scheduling of sections and sub-sections. This ensures that small groups (atomic sub-sections) are never double-booked with their parent sections and that every student in the same group receives an equivalent educational experience. The system also enforces room constraints, so proper facilities are assigned, avoiding bottlenecks and resource clashes.

Clinical Years (D3 & D4): Layering Complexity

By the third and fourth years, student scheduling becomes more complex as clinical assignments overlay didactic courses. At this stage, Aurora-DentalResident transitions to per-student scheduling, which ensures every individual gets the proper mix of coursework and clinical experience.

When overlaps arise between clinics and classes, the system employs preemption logic. This capability encodes which activities are allowed to override others and which must yield, distinguishing between acceptable, tolerable, and unacceptable conflicts. The outcome is a carefully balanced schedule that honors requirements without creating chaos for students or faculty.

Output, Visualization & Usability

Aurora-DentalResident also emphasizes clarity in how schedules are communicated. The system generates:

• Course-level schedules 
• Student-level schedules and rosters 
• Clinic availability views 

A standout feature is the Daily Plot interface — a calendar-style visualization that can be filtered by course, student, room, or academic year. This gives administrators, faculty, and students an easy way to spot conflicts or review workload distribution.

Transforming Dental Education Scheduling

By deploying Aurora-DentalResident, NYU Dentistry gains more than a scheduling tool — it gains a robust system capable of handling one of the most complex academic and clinical scheduling problems in higher education. The software reduces administrative burden, minimizes conflicts, and provides fair, transparent scheduling to students and faculty alike.

Aurora-DentalResident allows NYU to move beyond manual firefighting, equipping the institution with a flexible, scalable solution that supports its leadership in dental education well into the future.

TenA Company, founded in 1982, is the premier mortgage quality control service in the United States, assisting thousands of mortgage lenders each year. Among their carefully vetted personnel are counted Legal & Compliance experts and a QC Solutions team. With SOC2 Compliance and a Secure Facility, TenA handles originated mortgage loans valued in excess of $100 Billion as well as performing mortgage quality control services (for example, outsourcing and prefunding/post closing). TenA also stands ready to perform investigations into allegations of fraud and carry out audits (for quality control, compliance, cancel/reject, and foreclosure/EPD) on behalf of its clients. TenA has also developed unique expertise in preparing mortgage quality control plans and conducting commercial loan reviews. In addition to enabling its clients to confidently outsource their QC needs, one of TenA’s particular strengths is its rules-based SecondLook software for mortgage audit quality control, which empowers companies to perform internal audits with the help of SecondLook’s wealth of information on FHLB guidelines, FHA, VA, federal laws, and more.

Batches of mortgages need to be audited within certain time constraints. TenA is using Aurora to perform dynamic audit scheduling, maximizing throughput of their high audit volume and guaranteeing enforcement of all special audit expertise necessitated by their more unusual categories of audits (including forensic audits). Stottler Henke’s Aurora AI-Based Intelligent Planning and Scheduling Software takes into account training of auditors, and its processing speed modifier allows for the speed difference of different auditors.

IFPAC 2013: Driving Innovation in QbD and PAT

Stottler Henke was invited to present at the International Forum Process Analytical Chemistry (IFPAC) 27th International Forum and Exhibition Process Analytical Technology (Process Analysis & Control) on the topic of: Intelligent Planning & Scheduling Platform for Lean Manufacturing and Optimization of Changeovers.

The forum took place in January 2013 in Baltimore, Maryland, bringing together scientists, engineers, regulators, and industry leaders from across the globe. Known as the premier international event for Quality by Design (QbD) and Process Analytical Technology (PAT), IFPAC 2013 highlighted the rapidly evolving role of analytics in modern manufacturing.

Over four days, attendees explored how real-time measurement tools, risk management strategies, and advanced spectroscopic methods are transforming process understanding and control. Presentations covered a broad spectrum of industries — from pharmaceuticals and biotechnology to generics and food safety — showcasing the universal impact of PAT and QbD principles. A particularly noteworthy theme was the sharp increase in QbD adoption within generic drug applications, signaling a strong shift toward efficiency and reliability in product development.

With technical workshops, regulatory insights, and case studies from leading companies, IFPAC 2013 reaffirmed its reputation as a hub for innovation. The forum not only demonstrated the power of advanced analytics but also underscored the value of collaboration in shaping the future of manufacturing.

Gaining a Strategic Advantage Through Aurora-CCPM

In today’s fast-paced business environment, organizations rarely manage just a single project at a time. More often, multiple initiatives are underway simultaneously, competing for the same people, equipment, and physical space. Traditional project management tools often struggle to account for this complexity. They may create theoretical schedules that look fine on paper but quickly break down when faced with real-world variability, resource bottlenecks, or unexpected changes.

That is where Aurora-CCPM, Stottler Henke’s enterprise-level Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) software, provides a breakthrough. Aurora-CCPM combines the intelligence of the Aurora scheduling engine with robust support for CCPM principles, giving organizations a competitive edge in delivering projects faster, more reliably, and with greater efficiency.

Intelligent Scheduling that Goes Beyond the Basics

Aurora-CCPM is not just a digital calendar. It applies advanced AI-driven decision-making heuristics to build schedules that reflect real-world conditions and constraints. Unlike traditional approaches that emphasize rigid task deadlines, Aurora-CCPM focuses on protecting the project’s critical chain with buffers, enabling schedules that are both realistic and resilient.

Some of Aurora-CCPM’s unique capabilities include:

• Handling Short-Duration Tasks with Flexible Buffer Updates
  Aurora-CCPM can manage tasks measured in minutes or hours and update buffer reports as frequently as needed—even hourly—so project managers gain real-time visibility into buffer health and potential risks. 
• Supporting Multiple Large Projects Simultaneously
  Whether an organization is constructing multiple facilities, developing overlapping product lines, or managing enterprise-wide IT initiatives, Aurora-CCPM balances resources across all projects. It ensures that scarce resources are allocated where they provide the greatest overall benefit. 
• Forward, Backward, and Mixed-Mode Scheduling
  Aurora-CCPM offers the flexibility to schedule projects forward from today, backward from a due date, or in mixed mode. This adaptability allows project managers to evaluate options and choose the strategy that best supports their goals. 
• Resource-Constrained Task Placement
  The software doesn’t just assume resources are always available—it intelligently schedules tasks based on actual resource availability, delivering practical, executable plans. 
• Accounting for Variability in Buffer Consumption
  Real projects are never as predictable as plans suggest. Aurora-CCPM accounts for variability in task durations, ensuring buffer consumption reflects reality and protecting delivery dates. 
• Managing Sophisticated Constraints
  Unlike human schedulers or conventional tools, Aurora-CCPM can model physical space constraints. It can account for space being created or eliminated over time—for example, construction zones opening or closing—so schedules align with real-world conditions. 
• Flexible Deployment Options
  Aurora-CCPM can run in the cloud, within an internal cloud environment, or as a standalone application on Windows, Mac, or Linux. This ensures organizations can deploy it in whatever configuration best fits their IT strategy. 
• Seamless Integration with Existing Systems
  The software connects easily with company databases and enterprise systems, minimizing manual data entry and ensuring everyone works from consistent, up-to-date information. 
• Sophisticated What-If Capabilities
  Aurora-CCPM enables project managers to test alternate scenarios, evaluate tradeoffs, and quickly adjust when conditions change. This empowers organizations to make confident, data-driven decisions.

Real-World Applications and Benefits

Aurora-CCPM is used in industries where project complexity is the norm, such as construction, aerospace, shipbuilding, energy, and defense. In these environments, delays are costly and resources are limited.

For example, in a shipyard or construction site, tasks must be carefully sequenced not only around equipment availability but also around the physical space in which crews work. Aurora-CCPM’s ability to model physical space constraints ensures that two teams are not scheduled to occupy the same area simultaneously, preventing costly clashes and rework.

Similarly, in environments with short-duration but high-impact tasks—such as inspections, certifications, or repairs—Aurora-CCPM’s real-time buffer updates allow managers to spot problems early, adjust quickly, and keep the overall project on track.

Clients leveraging Aurora-CCPM often report:

• Shorter project durations 
• Reduced idle time for resources 
• Improved throughput across portfolios 
• Increased reliability in meeting delivery commitments

A Clear Competitive Advantage

By combining advanced AI scheduling with the proven principles of Critical Chain Project Management, Aurora-CCPM gives organizations more than just schedules—it provides insight, agility, and confidence. Projects are completed faster, resources are used more effectively, and organizations can respond to uncertainty without losing momentum.

Other Key Benefits You Don’t Want to Miss

Aurora-CCPM delivers measurable advantages that directly impact project performance and organizational agility:

• Accelerated Project Completion: Minimize delays and deliver faster by identifying and protecting critical chains.

• Optimized Resource Utilization: Ensure people, equipment, and space are allocated where they add the most value.

• Greater Schedule Reliability: Reduce uncertainty and enhance confidence with AI-driven, buffer-protected schedules.

• Real-Time Insight: Gain immediate visibility into project health and proactively address emerging risks.

• Enhanced Decision-Making: Evaluate “what-if” scenarios and adapt quickly to changing priorities or constraints.

See Aurora-CCPM in Action

The best way to understand the difference Aurora-CCPM can make is to experience it yourself. Explore how its intelligent features can help you manage complexity, protect critical chains, and deliver more value with the same resources.

Request a FREE Demo and see how Aurora-CCPM can transform your project scheduling.

Solving the World’s Most Challenging Project Management and Scheduling Problems More Efficiently

Aurora continues to solve many of the world’s most challenging project management and resource-constrained scheduling problems more optimally than any other solution.

The image below illustrates the benefits of applying Aurora to the complex project management domain of refinery turnaround. Similar benefits are available to other types of maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) situations, such as plant maintenance or aircraft MRO.

Benefits of Using Advanced Scheduling Technology With Primavera P6 Versus  Resource-Leveling Only

Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management is a powerful, robust, and easy to use solution for globally prioritizing, planning, managing and executing projects, programs and portfolios. Primavera P6 Enterprise Project Portfolio Management is an integrated project portfolio management (PPM) solution comprising role-specific functionality to satisfy each team member’s needs, responsibilities and skills.

Primavera P6 provide a resource leveling capability. The goal of resource leveling in Primavera P6 is to provide the user with a valid resource loaded schedule that does not have any over allocated resources. Primavera P6 does not optimize the allocation of resources in order to generate the shortest resource leveled schedule. Even though Primavera P6 does not optimizethe the schedule, it is likely many users of Primavera P6 are NOT aware that the results from the resource leveling process are not optimal, and could be improved upon significantly.

• Resource leveling will refer to the functionality provided in Primavera P6 and other commercial project management software, and
• Advanced scheduling technology or intelligent scheduling will refer to resource-constrained scheduling that attempts to optimize the utilization of resources to minimize the project duration. For projects that are time critical/resource intensive, advanced scheduling technology can significantly shorten the project duration.
  • Aurora is an intelligent advanced scheduling engine that can be utilized independently or in conjunction with other tools such as Primavera P6 to generate shorter schedules. The following will illustrate these benefits via the analysis of a real refinery turnaround project.

REFINERY TURNAROUND LEVERAGING ADVANCED SCHEDULING TECHNOLOGY

• Primavera P6 only (utilizing its resource-leveling capability), and
• Primavera P6 leveraging Aurora’s advanced scheduling technology.

The project network consists of over 2,500 activities. A view of the network is shown below.

The results of the analyses are a follows:

• Primavera P6 resource-leveling: 67 days, 3 hours
• Primavera P6 leveraging Aurora Advanced Scheduling: 56 days, 6 hours, 30 minutes

The difference is absolute terms is over 10.5 days. There are a few ways to compare these results; the simplest is to simply compare overall durations, using the Aurora Advanced Scheduling results as the basis:

• Primavera P6 resource-leveling is 19.3% longer than Aurora (67.125 – 56.27) / 56.27
• Using the P6 resource-leveling as the bases:
  • Aurora Advanced Scheduling is 16.2% shorter than Primavera P6 resource-leveling (67.125 – 56.27) / 67.125

Another valuable perspective is comparing the resource-constrained result with the Critical Path that is the situation assuming unlimited resources. Why is this perspective valuable? Because the Critical Path is the best case scenario, and the valid schedule when considering resources must always be longer than the Critical Path, so the length longer than the Critical Path is the only portion of the total project duration that the resource- leveling or advanced scheduling can effect.

The Critical Path for the refinery turnaround project is 46 days.

Primavera P6 resource-leveling results longer than Critical Path 21.125 days

Percent longer than Critical Path 45.9% 21.125 / 46

Primavera P6 leveraging Aurora Advanced Scheduling results longer than Critical Path 10.27 days

Percent longer than Critical Path 22 % 10.27 / 46

The percent difference between days more than Critical Path for resource leveling and advanced scheduling is 105.70% (21.125 – 10.27) / 10.27

All the results demonstrate the significant benefit of leveraging Aurora advanced scheduling in conjunction with Primavera P6. Recall that everything besides the method for scheduling is that same in both cases. Leveraging Aurora saved over 10.5 days, and all the associated costs with all the resources that are needed, as well as the lost revenue from the refinery being unavailable.

Cost savings and other benefits of leveraging Aurora are huge for the initial plan,

BUT

even more potential benefit comes in the execution phase of the project, where unexpected circumstances need to be dealt with. By leveraging Aurora’s intelligence rescheduling can by done quickly and the updated schedule will be shorter than if one used resource-leveling only. Therefore, every time a re-schedule is performed the overall benefit of leveraging Aurora increases.