15+
Network design instances across 8 years
15 to 20
Network scenarios compared per year
12K+
Stores
56
DCs
A101, a retailer with 12K+ stores and 56 DCs, opens 1,000+ stores a year. Its strategic network design was a manual process of determining new warehouse locations, and the central planning team had limited resources.
So A101 partnered with Solvoyo to turn store location selection into a data-driven process. It compares 15 to 20 network scenarios a year, and Solvoyo recommends the DC-store mappings that reduce total cost to serve.
Choosing Warehouse Locations by Hand While Opening 1,000+ Stores a Year
A101 wanted to minimize logistics costs through an optimal DC-store mapping and to identify the most cost-effective network structure to support aggressive growth.
The challenges were:
- A constantly growing, vast network of stores, vendors and alternative DC locations
- Operational constraints such as workload balancing across DCs, geographical boundaries and service requirements
- A manual process for determining new warehouse locations while opening 1,000+ stores a year
- A need for what-if analysis across many scenarios, each calculating Total Cost to Serve for different planning parameters
The central planning team had limited resources. The company also wanted to create and maintain a digital modeling platform that could be used with minimum effort.
Strategic Network Design in One Digital Modeling Platform
Solvoyo’s Network Design solution gives the planning team a digital modeling platform for running what-if scenarios on new DC locations and territory assignment decisions with minimum effort.
The solution recommends DC-store mappings that reduce total cost to serve, and the team compares 15 to 20 scenarios every year. It also minimizes total transportation costs in the network and optimizes distribution center and store locations.
The team can also evaluate potential new stores based on expected store demand and view them on a location-based map. All of this sits in the same solution.
15+ Network Design Instances Across 8 Years
Over 8 years A101 has run 15+ network design instances, and scenarios are evaluated at each one.
What the team gets from the platform:
- Potential new stores evaluated on expected store demand
- Minimized total transportation costs across the network
- DC-store mappings recommended to reduce total cost to serve
- A location-based map of potential new stores in the same solution
What Does This Mean for You?
At A101, determining new warehouse locations was a manual process while the company opened 1,000+ stores a year. With Solvoyo’s Network Design solution, its central planning team, which has limited resources, compares 15 to 20 scenarios a year.
If your network keeps growing and your central planning team has limited resources, A101 faced the same constraints. Solvoyo gave it a platform to run what-if scenarios on DC locations and territory assignments.
About Company
A101 is a retailer with 12K+ stores, 56 DCs and 300+ vendors, carrying 2K+ active SKUs with $4.5B in revenue and opening 1,000+ stores a year.
Achievements
15+ network design instances across 8 years
15 to 20 network scenarios compared every year
DC-store mappings recommended to reduce total cost to serve
What-if analysis on new DC locations and territory assignments
Don’t take our word for it
Solvoyo’s Network Design solution allowed us to minimize total transportation costs in our network and optimize distribution centers and store locations. We can compare 15 to 20 scenarios every year where the solution recommends DC-store mappings to reduce total-cost-to-serve. In addition to this, we can now evaluate the potential new stores based on expected store demand and easily view them on a location-based map. All of these are available within the same solution.
With a network of 9800 stores, supply chain disruptions and uncertainty are normal for us, we keep opening hundreds of new stores and multiple DCs every year. With advanced analytics and automation, we planned for this level of complexity way ahead of our competitors.
Using demand-driven replenishment planning gave us the agility and scalability we needed in times of market disruptions. We replaced our manual methods with automated recommendations for 10,000 stores in different locations. Thanks to Solvoyo’s daily replenishment recommendations, we gained a competitive edge by reducing stock-outs and increasing availability.
Solvoyo is not just a great platform to support your replenishment process. It is also a great team to support you with insights and guidance on the road to improved efficiency. A true partnership.
