Innovation Group
The Crucible
Your Industrial Innovation Partner for Breakthrough Concepts That Become Accessible Business Tools
The Innovation Group is SDI’s “crucible” – where promising concepts are tested, refined,
and transformed into Model-Based Applications that empower decision-makers at every level. We don’t just evaluate ideas; we systematically grow winners into intuitive business applications and reject costly dead ends before they drain your resources.
Why Choose SDI's Innovation Group?
We Transform Ideas Into Human-Centered Business Applications
Our philosophy: First make it work. Then transform it into applications that business users can operate without specialized expertise. We’re extremely rigorous about creating decision intelligence that functions in production environments and can be accessed through human-centered interfaces designed for real-world operational contexts.
We learn fast. We adapt faster.
Technology Learning Agility for Model-Based Applications
We adapt to you, not the reverse. Whether it’s Python, Knime, Power BI, Databricks, or Siemens software – we master whatever becomes your strategic priority, then transform breakthrough concepts into Model-Based Applications that speak business language. We learn fast. We adapt faster.
Academic Excellence & Technology Leadership
Masters/PhD level expertise in analytics, economics, operations research, and machine learning provides the quantitative rigor essential for breakthrough innovation. Our team includes F# Software Foundation leadership and .NET community involvement, ensuring we’re not just technology users but technology leaders who shape the tools we deploy.
Industries We Excel At Transforming Into Business Applications
Manufacturing
CPG, food processing, chemical operations through businessaccessible interfaces
Automotive
Supply chain optimization and logistics intelligence for decisionmakers
Government / Defense
Critical decision support systems accessible to operational leaders
Process Industries
Advanced analytics and predictive maintenance through operator-friendly applications
Cross-Industry Innovation Excellence
20+ Years
of Quantitative Experience
delivering data-driven solutions across biotech, manufacturing, supply chain, and consulting environments. This diverse background enables us to bring proven methodologies from multiple industries to solve your unique challenges.
35+ Years
of Model-Based Applications Excellence
Drawing on SDI’s proven track record, we combine deep industry knowledge with cuttingedge technology to deliver applications that work in real production environments and can be operated by business users.
Comprehensive Innovation Capabilities
Proven Breadth of Experience Creating Business Applications
Huge breadth of experience creating intelligent systems that become accessible business tools. Our Innovation Group has spent the past decade as innovation partners, closing scores of projects every “semester” across diverse challenge areas:
What We Master & Transform Into Applications
Technologies We Learn for Your Business Applications
Your platforms become our Model-Based Applications expertise: Python ecosystems, BI platforms (Power BI, Tableau), analytics tools (Knime, R), cloud platforms (AWS, Azure), and complex enterprise software including Siemens’ evolving product portfolio – all transformed into business-accessible interfaces with human-centered design principles.
Technologies We Create for Business Users
F# – Our Secret Weapon for Model-Based Applications: F# empowers everyone to write succinct, robust and performant code. F# gives you simplicity like Python with correctness, robustness and performance beyond C# or Java. Perfect for analysts who need both interactive data exploration (like Python REPLs) and enterprise-grade production applications. For these reasons and more, SDI uses F# for data exploration and OR modeling – it’s an excellent way to start a model-based app because it can be used for the heart of the modeling. Makes our team incredibly productive at turning concepts into business applications that decision-makers can operate independently.
Mathematical Modeling That Becomes Business Capability
We blend whatever works best and wrap it in business applications:
- Machine Learning & AI for quality prediction presented through operator dashboards
- Optimization & Statistics for complex decision-making accessible to business leaders
- Simulation including our pioneering Discrete Rate methodology delivered through manager-friendly interfaces
- Hybrid approaches combining multiple techniques in unified business applications with human-centered design
F# Advantage: F#’s capabilities span web, cloud, data-science, apps and more, enabling seamless integration of mathematical models with business applications. The professional tooling and free licensing ensure cost-effective development of sophisticated analytical capabilities wrapped in business-friendly interfaces.
Systematic Innovation Process Toward Model-Based Applications
The Proven Pathway to Business Applications
1
Master your technology stack
Start with your preferred platforms for rapid prototyping
2
Human-centered design discovery
Work directly with operators and decisionmakers to understand real needs
3
Rigorous proof of concept
Validate ideas with systematic testing using technical tools
4
User feedback integration
Continuous validation with actual operators and managers throughout development
5
Strategic decision point
Advance winners, reject dead ends based on business value potential
6
Model-Based Applications transformation
Rebuild as business applications using proven design principles and business-domain interfaces
7
Production deployment
Deliver as scalable decision intelligence assets accessible to business users
Living Proof
Decision Intelligence Into Production Through Business Applications
The Innovation Group transforms decision intelligence across the complete spectrum through Model-Based Applications:
Three Deployment Contexts We Master for Business Applications
Proof-of-Concept Applications: Rapid development and testing of breakthrough ideas using preferred client platforms before strategic investment in business application development.
Desktop & Web Applications: Business analyst and manager tools enabling independent analysis and scenario exploration through intuitive interfaces during concept validation.
Enterprise Applications: Strategic applications for organization-wide deployment with enterprise-grade scalability and reliability.
Innovation Group Excellence: We don’t just develop concepts – we systematically mature them into Model-Based Applications across all deployment contexts, then transfer successful applications to our Enterprise Group for organization-wide scaling, ensuring breakthrough ideas become accessible business assets.
Innovation Group Model-Based Applications Portfolio
Living Proof: ChiAha Applications Created by Innovation Group
ReliaSim Toolkit
GreenfieldAnalysis.ai
Rice Production Optimization
The Innovation Advantage
The SDI Model-Based Applications Advantage
“Any model we make can be turned into a Model-Based Application with only a little more effort”
–
transforming technical expertise into sustainable business capability that decision-makers can operate without specialized training.
Innovation Group Advantages for Model-Based Applications
Technology Evolution Toward Business Capability
We don't just adopt new technologies - we guide ideas through their entire lifecycle from experimental tools to business applications that decision-makers can operate independently, with human-centered design ensuring real-world adoption and sustained value.
Function First, Business Application Second
Our rigorous approach ensures reliability and correctness before transforming technical capabilities into business applications, delivering systems that actually work in critical business environments while remaining accessible to business users through interfaces designed with continuous operator feedback.
Rapid Technology Adoption for Business Value
Technology-agnostic approach enables us to quickly master new platforms while maintaining rigorous standards for business application development and user accessibility, ensuring solutions integrate seamlessly with existing operational workflows.
Systematic Risk Reduction Through Business Applications
Our disciplined evaluation process saves customers from costly technology investments that don't deliver measurable business value, focusing on concepts that can become accessible business tools rather than expert-only technical implementations.
Complete Innovation Lifecycle Management
Innovation Group → Modeling Group → Enterprise Group
pipeline ensures seamless
progression from concept validation to business application development to
organization-wide deployment, with human-centered design principles maintained
throughout the entire lifecycle.
Innovation Success Stories & Validation
VINLogic
The Strategic Inflection Point
The Innovation Group’s most significant breakthrough: VINLogic convinced SDI that “the future wasn’t just in models, but in Model-Based Applications.” This project transformed from a 6-hour technical model into a 20-minute business application that CFOs used for budgeting, demonstrating the power of human-centered design in making sophisticated analytics accessible.
ChiAha Spinoff
Innovation Commercialized
2024 Strategic Success: The Innovation Group’s systematic development of breakthrough concepts led to the ChiAha spinoff, commercializing Model-Based Applications for broader market reach while demonstrating the business value of our human-centered innovation process.
Client Partnership Excellence
"The SDI team went above and beyond the project scope, proactively brainstorming
ways to make our project better."
— J Adam Traina, Director of Operations Research, Symbotic
Measurable Innovation Impact
Scores of projects every "semester" over the past decade
Three commercial products successfully spun off through ChiAha
Live demonstration capability through Rice Production Optimization
Enterprise scaling through successful transfer to Enterprise Group
Human-centered design methodology ensuring high adoption rates
Ready to Transform Your Innovation Process Into Business Applications?
Stop wasting resources on technology dead ends that only experts can use.
Partner with your industrial innovation partner to systematically grow breakthrough ideas into Model-Based Applications that business users can operate independently through human-centered design that ensures real-world adoption.