https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operations_research

Basically a mathematical approach to problems of logistics and scheduling developed first in WW2. Very powerful in the domains for which it was developed but less generally applicable than enthusiasts hoped, leading to the usual “hype cycle”.

If you have a problem OR could solve or just want to fool around with it PuLP is very easy to use https://pythonhosted.org/PuLP/ Of course the ease of use means that it is a commodity skill now.

https://developers.google.com/optimization