Operations research at CSIR: A brief history through cases

Apart from work in the mining industry during the 1950s, the first real Operations Research (OR) group in South Africa was established at CSIR in the early 1960s. Those initially involved in this group played a significant role in establishing OR at various universities in South Africa. The OR group at CSIR did, however, continue and today the group still exists. This paper presents a brief history of this group and endeavours to provide a glimpse of some of the projects conducted over the many years since its establishment.