Year in Review – Growth, it’s all around us
And just like that, it is December, and we at Polymathian find ourselves looking back on a year which has been defined by growth. A year that started cloaked in uncertainty will happily come to an end as one of the most exciting in Polymathian's history.
How do mathematicians and optimisation experts define exciting? With numbers and percentages, of course. And all the numbers tell us it has been a massive year of growth.
In November, we officially opened our second location after securing office space in Perth. The new office represents our commitment to serving clients in Western Australia. Location manager and simulation expert Michael Dallimore said, "it's fantastic to have a physical presence here in Perth. The Subiaco office provides plenty of space for us to grow and from which to support exciting and future clients".
Brisbane Office 2021
The corporate headquarters in Brisbane experienced a 30% increase in headcount, which will soon have us looking to expand our office space in 2022. The increase in staff has been highlighted by the quality of talent joining the Polymathian team. "We like to think that our ability to attract top tier software engineers, mathematicians, and simulation experts is attributed to our reputation as a company which provides challenging and diverse projects together with a positive and supportive culture", said Polymathian co-founder and product leader Jonathan White.
Speaking of top-tier talent, Polymathian announced the promotion of long-time employee Mitchel Grice, to chief technology officer this year. With Mitch's leadership, Polymathian will continue making the right technology choices to keep our platform framework scalable: selecting the right technology for the right job will allow Polymathian to remain an agile and rightsized business.
Polymathian saw growth and diversification in 2021 by expanding our mining and bulk haulage footprint and diversifying into international markets. Ben Hollis, Polymathian co-founder and product leader commented that, "The international market will allow Polymathian to continue its growth rate while also diversifying industries and commodities. In 2022 we look forward to increasing our customer base in North America and Europe".
In 2021 we had a strong focus on improving operational tools to support faster solve times, more responsive web applications, and more powerful computational abilities. As an example, Polymathian customers now have access to Premium Solve capabilities. The service gives users who frequently run multiple complex planning and scheduling scenarios in time-critical environments the ability to improve solve times by up to 50%.
In 2021 BOLT, our bulk supply chain optimisation software doubled in deployments and revenue. By expanding operational features, BOLT is now reaching deeper into the pit to solve more challenging problems, like complex trucking allocations in open pit and underground mining. BOLT released its new Historian Module, which tracks adherence to plan to allow users to measure their expected vs. actuals across the entire supply chain. BOLT also gained international attention by attracting customers in Brazil and South Africa.
The product growth BOLT saw in 2021 provided the opportunity to promote internally, "Providing existing software engineers with a robust career path is essential, as it helps to ensure the long-term health and stability of the company", said Jonathan.
Not to be left behind, ORB, Polymathian's mine planning and scheduling software also had a stellar year by more than doubling its customer base and expanding into international mines. The ORB Live module used mathematical optimisation to solve a sub-level cave's development shift management plan, an industry first. The ORB team diligently upgraded ORB features to improve the user experience, such as control room displays and operator tablets.
ORB and BOLT are currently working on two projects that will eventually lead to their integration, another Polymathian first. This integration represents how Polymathian products can work together to transform heavy industry supply chains.
RACE, our rail supply chain optimisation software, saw a whopping 60% growth in customers this year. RACE delivered a slew of enhancements and a new module in 2021. The new RACE LIVE module is a dynamic tool for daily operations to take haulage providers from plan to actuals. Also improving the user experience, the RACE team introduced animation capabilities to allow for better data visualisation.
Agricultural rail supply chain networks on both coasts of Australia now use RACE, representing diversification in our commodity base. "The grain harvest for 2022 will see a 50% increase in tonnes hauled, and RACE looks forward to being an integral part of the networks' ability to rail the increased supply efficiently", said product manager Henry Chladil.
Emerging products VOLT and GEAR gained a lot of interest in 2021, both solidifying their market position for substantial growth in the coming years. Our simulation capabilities were also leveraged extensively this year by clients looking to make better business decisions.
As the year closes, it is impossible not to look back and wonder, "how the heck did we pull that off?". The answer is simple, our people. "Polymathian staff showed an abundance of resiliency this year. I was impressed by how adaptive the organisation was during travel restrictions, lockdowns and endless online meetings", said Steven Donaldson, co-founder and product leader, "Polymathian proudly exemplifies what it means to be a responsive organisation, despite the challenges 2021 brought the world".
Thank you to all our customers and business partners, for without you, we would be mathematicians with no problems to solve. From all of us at Polymathian, we wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We look forward to seeing you in the new year.
