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Supply Chain and Operations

Supply Chain Network Optimizer

Allocate customer demand to facilities while balancing capacity, distance-based transport cost, and fixed facility cost.

Browser-based optimization Capacity-constrained allocation Current vs optimized network

Why use this tool?

Decision Supported

Use this tool when you need to decide which warehouses or facilities should serve each customer region under capacity and cost constraints.

What It Tells You

It estimates the lowest-cost feasible allocation, open facilities, flow volumes, utilization, average distance, and savings versus a current assignment.

Example Input

Facility coordinates, capacities, fixed costs, customer coordinates, demand, optional current facility, and transport cost per unit/km.

Sample Output Interpretation

The optimizer shows where demand can be served at lower cost while still respecting available facility capacity.

1

Prepare Network

Enter facilities, customers, demand, capacity, and costs.

2

Optimize Allocation

Minimize transport and open-facility cost.

3

Map Flows

Review routes, distances, utilization, and flow volumes.

4

Interpret

Compare current and optimized network decisions.

1. Network Data

Prepare facility and customer records before optimizing the allocation.

Prepare your network CSV

Upload a CSV file with one row for each facility and each customer or demand point.

Facility rowsUse Type = Facility, then provide Name, Latitude, Longitude, Capacity, and Fixed Cost.
Customer rowsUse Type = Customer, then provide Name, Latitude, Longitude, Demand, and optional Current Facility.
Transport costEnter the cost per unit per kilometre once below. Use consistent units and currency.

Example rows: Facility | Midlands DC | 52.4862 | -1.8904 | 5200 | 32000   and   Customer | London Region | 51.5072 | -0.1276 | 2600 | Southern DC

What ATH does next: The tool tests feasible facility sets, allocates customer demand to open facilities, and selects the lowest-cost network within the capacity constraints.

Network data, optimization, diagnostics, and exports remain in your browser. The optional map view loads background map tiles from OpenStreetMap for the visible geographic area.

Facilities / warehouses

Capacity and fixed cost are used when the optimizer decides whether a facility should be open.

NameLatitudeLongitudeCapacityFixed costRemove

Customers / demand points

Current facility is optional. Add it when you want a current-versus-optimized comparison.

NameLatitudeLongitudeDemandCurrent facilityRemove

2. Run Network Optimization

The optimizer minimizes transport cost plus fixed facility cost while satisfying demand and capacity where feasible.

About Supply Chain Network Optimization

Supply chain network optimization helps decide how customer demand should be assigned to facilities when distance, transport cost, fixed operating cost, and facility capacity all matter.

This ATH tool focuses on a single-echelon allocation problem: facilities serve customer or demand points directly. It is useful for practical network reviews, but it should be paired with operational judgement when lead time, service policy, resilience, carrier constraints, or carbon targets are important.

Guidance

Use comparable units

Keep demand, capacity, and transport-cost units consistent. A pallet-based model should not mix cases, tonnes, and orders without conversion.

Check capacity realism

A mathematically feasible allocation can still be operationally weak if utilization is very high or if service-time constraints are missing.

Use current assignment carefully

Current-versus-optimized savings are meaningful only when current facility assignments and fixed facility costs are realistic.

Methodology, Assumptions, and Limitations

Formula Logic

For each open-facility set, minimize total cost = sum(flow × distance × transport cost per unit/km) + sum(open facility fixed costs), subject to customer demand and facility capacity constraints.

Optimization Approach

The browser enumerates feasible open facility sets for modest scenarios and solves each allocation using min-cost flow. This gives an exact result within the current browser limits.

Limitations

The model is single-echelon and does not yet include facility-location generation, service-level constraints, lead times, carbon, route vehicles, resilience, or multi-period demand.

FAQ

Does the tool choose which facilities to open?

Yes. For modest scenarios it tests feasible open-facility combinations and includes fixed facility cost in the objective.

Is this a full strategic network design solver?

No. It is a practical browser-based allocation optimizer. Larger multi-echelon or mixed-integer models usually need a dedicated solver.

What if demand exceeds total capacity?

The tool stops and shows a high-risk diagnostic because demand cannot be fully satisfied under the entered capacity constraints.

Is my network data uploaded?

No. CSV parsing, optimization, diagnostics, route drawing, and exports run locally in your browser. The map background uses OpenStreetMap tiles, so tile requests are made for the visible map area, but ATH does not send your facility, customer, demand, capacity, cost, or optimization data.