Other OR topics requiring mathematical analysis are inventory control (when to reorder material to avoid shortages under demand uncertainty), manufacturing operations (what size of production run will minimize sum of inventory and production setup costs), location planning (where to locate the hub to serve markets with minimal travel distances), and facility layout (how to design airport terminals to minimize walking distances, maximize number of gates, allow for future expansion, and conform to government regulations).
OR analysts can model difficult practical problems and offer valuable solutions and policy guidance for decision-makers. Constraints involving budgets, capital investments, and organizational considerations can make the successful implementation of results as challenging as the development of mathematical models and solution methods.
In general, Operations Research requires use of mathematics to model complex systems, analyze trade-offs between key system variables, identify robust solutions, and develop decision support tools. Students of mathematics can be sure there are plenty of uses for the knowledge and skills they are developing. As the world becomes more complex and more dependent on new technology, mathematics applied to business problems is likely to play an increasingly important role in decision-making in industry.