Improving logistical decision making—applications for analysing qualitative and quantitative information

The problem of the amount of available information has changed, from scarcity to abundance. It is also common that a great amount of information appears both in numerical and symbolic form. Better tools for utilizing both quantitative and qualitative information are strongly needed. To help meet that need we have applied two methods, the self-organizing map (SOM) and text mining, and focused them on the logistical decision making of companies. The methods help to analyse and further improve the deliveries of a company. This article is a conceptual description with an example of the methods offering a new information technology application and decision support system for effective value creation management in a company.