A decision support system to determine bankhall concepts

Abstract

The Rabobank consists of about 900 local cooperative banks which have in total about 2000 branches. These branches are located in different areas with different types of clients. Therefore the bankhall of a Rabobank is not standardized. A bankhall concept in an agricultural area is not the same as in a suburban area. To assess the functions and the organization of a bankhall the Department of Applied Mathematics has developed a simulation model to support decision making on the various bankhall concepts.

The simulation model has two subsystems. The first subsystem is the dialogue system. This system takes care of the communication with the user and the devices. The second subsystem is the simulation model itself.

Building a decision support system is not a guarantee that it will be used to support decisions. There are several aspects which have to be considered before implementing a decision support system. The (end)users must be convinced that the system is a real help in decision making. The problem of data collection and data handling should not be underestimated. The access to the system has to be simple and flexible. And last but not least, the user has to have the knowledge to interpret the results in the right context.