- Network Design
- Transportation
Optimizing the flow of goods across the globe is incentivized by logistics savings, amplified by an enterprise’s economies of scale. Waters’ international shipments are majorly carried out via air freight and are exclusively performed by three main carriers: Expeditors, FedEx, and UPS. The specific problem addressed in this capstone is finding the best solution to systemically reduce the overall inbound international logistics costs for Waters Corporation, which have been flagged as higher than necessary over the last two years. The project methodology followed three main steps: receiving raw data, analyzing the excel spreadsheets, and finally providing outputs of findings. The different sets of raw data were bucketed into two main categories: historical shipment level detail (SLD) and Waters negotiated rates (rates). The carrier-selection cost savings are estimated at 13% of Water’s total international logistics costs into their three DCs. There is a growing opportunity to expand that savings target by reducing the number of annual shipments. The estimated 13% savings can be materialized through a decision-making tool allowing automatic selection of a carrier that ensures lowest shipping costs.