Rising customer expectations, volatile markets and growing demand are presenting distribution companies with ever greater challenges. In many organizations, the initial focus is on operational or tactical levers: transport modes are optimized, routes are rescheduled or short-term capacity bottlenecks are compensated for. These measures are important – but are often not enough to eliminate long-term inefficiencies.

Machine down. A supplier reports a delay in delivery at short notice. A plant has to close unexpectedly.

Such situations are no longer the exception, but are part of everyday life in modern supply chains. Nevertheless, many companies still react with improvised decisions based on manual planning – for example in Excel – under high time pressure and with limited transparency about the effects.