Supply Chain
Redesigning a regional distribution network with Supply Chain Guru for a global luxury group
3 daysShorter delivery lead time to boutiques and partners, with inventory down 7%, after the supply-planning and network redesign
- Client
- Global luxury and beauty group, regional business
- Sector
- Retail & Consumer Goods
- Region
- Europe and Middle East
- Engagement
- Consulting engagement
- Scope
- Network design · Supply planning · Inventory policy · Service model · Transport
01 — Situation
The regional business sold through its own boutiques, wholesale partners and a growing online channel. Each brand had inherited its own warehouses and carriers, and replenishment rules differed by country.
Service was uneven: launches arrived late in some markets, while slow-moving references accumulated in others. Every proposal to change the network was contested because nobody could quantify its effect.
02 — Scope
- the regional network from the central distribution centre to boutiques, wholesale customers and the online fulfilment unit, across twelve markets.
- Model the network in Supply Chain Guru with the group’s real flows, costs, lead times and service constraints, and test the alternatives: number and location of hubs, stocking policy by reference, transport modes.
- Choose a design with the brands and the finance function, then implement it: inventory parameters, transport contracts, supply-planning routines.
- 01
Baseline in the model
Twelve months of flows, costs and service levels loaded into Supply Chain Guru and reconciled with Finance, so that the baseline was accepted before any scenario was discussed.
- 02
Scenarios
Hub consolidation, a second regional hub, stocking policies by reference class and modal choices were simulated against service targets by market and channel.
- 03
Decision
The chosen design consolidated two hubs, moved slow-moving references to central stock and set service classes by market. The business case was signed by the brands and Finance.
- 04
Implementation
Inventory parameters rewritten in the ERP, transport contracts retendered on the new flows, and a monthly supply-planning and S&OP cycle installed to keep the design alive.
03 — Impact
Launches now reach every market on the same week. Slow-moving references are held once, centrally, and the online unit is served without competing with boutiques for stock.
The model stays in use: the planning team reruns it each quarter as demand, tariffs and carriers change.
04 — ROI and savings
- −3 daysDelivery lead timeTo boutiques and wholesale partners, twelve months after go-live
- −7%InventoryRegional inventory value at equal or better availability
- −9%Transport costThrough consolidated flows and retendered contracts
- < 12 monthsPaybackWorking capital released and transport savings against fees and licences
Rounded, conservative orders of magnitude measured on the group’s own baseline in the model and in the ERP.
AI Orchestration
- Demand sensing on launches to feed the model with earlier signals.
- Automated exception handling on late inbound shipments before they affect boutique availability.
What this involved
- Network design
- Supply Chain Guru modelling
- Supply planning
- Inventory policy
- Transport sourcing
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