Rethinking a manufacturing and sourcing network.
The decision context
An interconnected European manufacturing network faced sharply different energy, utility, logistics and production economics across sites. A change that appeared attractive at one plant could shift cost or risk elsewhere in the system. The central question was which production, sourcing and transport configuration would perform best over time—not which individual facility looked cheapest.
What I owned
I helped redesign the network decision model in AIMMS, translated business questions into comparable scenarios, and worked with manufacturing, procurement and commercial partners to validate assumptions. I incorporated operating constraints and cost drivers, including energy, labor, utilities and logistics, and connected forecasting insights to longer-horizon scenario analysis.
How the work moved forward
I compared alternative network configurations, investigated the drivers behind model recommendations, and used segmentation to test whether different product and customer needs justified different supply choices. I then translated technical outputs into financial and operational trade-offs that stakeholders could evaluate.
Research questions it raised
How should supply networks jointly optimize cost, resilience and energy exposure? How can forecast uncertainty and operational constraints be incorporated into strategic network design?
Adapted AIMMS network-model inputs and constraints; developed comparable operating scenarios; incorporated forecast-informed analysis; tested product/customer segmentation; and translated model trade-offs for cross-functional decision-making.
TOOLS & TECHNOLOGIES USED
Different site costs + capacity constraints
