One branch of computational intelligence tools, neural networks, is worth surveying as part of the extended data mining and modeling toolkit. Neural networks models can be helpful when a) The form of a model is not known and may be complex (nonlinear, higher order terms, etc.), and b) There is value in a black box transfer function that can be updated on the fly. The article provides an example to illustrate a practical application of neural network software.

This article was published on iSixSigma.com.

Palisade Corporation is a software developer that produces decision support tools for professionals in many lines of work. The company was founded in 1984, and at present more than 400,000 people use Palisade’s software in fields that range from finance to oil and mineral exploration, real estate to heavy manufacturing, and pharmaceuticals to aerospace. Its software is used by many Fortune 500 companies, including Shell Oil, Procter & Gamble, ExxonMobil, Chase Manhattan, and by prominent economic and financial consultants.