Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Data Driven Supply Chain
From our team at Data Driven Supply Chain: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. 2025 has been a wonderful year. Thank you to all of our clients, supporters, and partners. Selected Posts from 2025 A series on last-mile delivery network design How Many Distribution Centers Do I Need For One-Day Delivery? How Many Delivery Stations Do […]
How Many Donuts Should I Buy?
Our recent Thanksgiving dinner included a 19-pound roasted turkey. We ate about one-third of the turkey and refrigerated the remainder, as the Pilgrims did so long ago. On Black Friday, my stepmother returned from a trip to the grocery store and remarked that whole turkeys – already quite affordable before the holiday – were now […]
How Many Delivery Stations Do I Need For 15 Minute Delivery?
This post is a follow-up and is best read after reading How Many Distribution Centers Do I Need For One-Day Delivery? and How Many Delivery Stations Do I Need For 30 Minute Delivery? Upskill your supply chain data professionals! We are holding intensive, two-day supply chain analytics training at the University of Wisconsin – Madison […]
Training Opportunity: Supply Chain Analytics at University of Wisconsin – Madison, Nov 13-14 2025
Ready to level up your supply chain analytics skills? Learn from Ralph Asher and Jeff Clement on November 13-14, 2025 in Madison, Wisconsin. Offered by Interdisciplinary Professional Programs in the University of Wisconsin College of Engineering, our Supply Chain Analytics course is aimed at data professionals working in roles that support supply chain, operations, logistics, […]
How Many Delivery Stations Do I Need For 30 Minute Delivery?
This post is a follow-up and is best read after reading How Many Distribution Centers Do I Need For One-Day Delivery? In our previous post, we showed how supply chain leaders can get a quick pulse on the number of Distribution Centers, and their approximate locations, are necessary to meet a service goal: ensuring 95% […]
How Many Distribution Centers Do I Need For One-Day Delivery?
When designing your supply chain, proximity matters. For both B2B and B2C firms, it is vital to consider how far your Distribution Centers (DCs) are from your customer base, and what impact that distance has upon service level and operational cost. For example, Grocers may locate their temp-controlled Distribution Centers within a day’s drive […]
Purchasing Decisions For Perishable Inventory: The Newsvendor Model
In supply chain management, the newsvendor problem describes an inventory purchasing decision where: Inventory is highly perishable (e.g., they can’t be sold tomorrow, like a newspaper) Demand is uncertain There are costs associated both with overstocking and understocking relative to demand There may be a lost sales penalty associated for unmet demand There may be […]
Avoid the Bullwhip Effect When Planning for Tariffs Using Data Science
President Donald Trump’s 2025 tariff actions, both actual and threatened, present challenges to U.S. businesses. There is a lot of FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) among CEOs, Chief Supply Chain Officers (CSCOs), and other executive leaders who fear that rising tariffs will drive up consumer prices while lowering demand and profitability. There is a real urge […]
Use Simulation To Optimize Your Inventory: The Data Driven Supply Chain Approach (Part 2)
If you have not read Part 1 of this white paper, please first read it here. To download the complete white paper now, click here. By Jennifer Houle For our Omaha Distribution Center and its peanut butter, the plots below show inventory simulations with reorder point r between 5,000 and 15,000 jars (5 to 15 […]
Use Simulation To Optimize Your Inventory: The Data Driven Supply Chain Approach (Part 1)
The conclusion of this white paper will be published on a later date on our website. To download the complete white paper now, click here. By Jennifer Houle For additional background, read this case study. A national restaurant chain approached the Data Driven Supply chain team with a problem: despite high days of supply in […]