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Customer Centric Supply Chain Planning

Supply Chain Network Design

Optimize your supply chain network with decision intelligence

What is Supply Chain Network Design Software?

Supply chain network design is the process of defining the optimal structure of a supply chain by determining where to produce, store, and distribute products, and how material and product flows move across the network.

It evaluates suppliers, manufacturing sites, warehouses, distribution centers, and transportation lanes through strategic and tactical decision-making to identify the network configuration that best meets cost, service, capacity, risk, and sustainability objectives.

Network Design Insights Discover Our Platform
Global supply chain network connectivity concept showing interconnected regions and flows across a digital network.

How ICRON Supports Supply Chain Network Design Decisions

ICRON enables organizations to optimize supply chain network design with AI-driven analytics and scenario-based modeling under real-world constraints, ensuring that decisions are feasible, resilient, and aligned with long-term goals.

  • ICRON Supply Chain Network Design supports decisions in these key areas:

    • Facility location optimization: Identifying cost-effective, flexible locations
    • Sourcing strategies: Balancing cost, service, and lead times
    • Inventory positioning: Reducing excess stock and holding costs
    • Transportation routes: Minimizing costs and improving service levels

How ICRON Addresses Supply Chain Network Design Challenges

ICRON supports continuous supply chain network design by enabling organizations to evaluate complexity, uncertainty, and decision impacts through data-driven scenario modeling.

ICRON supports this by enabling organizations to:

  • Simulate, compare, and optimize multiple network scenarios in real time

  • Evaluate cost, service, risk, and sustainability trade-offs explicitly

  • Run scenario-based and what-if analyses under real-world constraints

  • Translate network design outcomes into actionable decisions across the broader planning process

What ICRON Delivers Across End-to-End
Supply Chain Network Design

ICRON delivers end-to-end supply chain network design capabilities that support
strategic, tactical, and investment-level decisions across complex global networks.

ICRON supports this by enabling
organizations to:

End-to-End Supply Network Design

  • - Capacity usage and resource utilization analysis

  • - End-to-end visibility through dynamic global pegging

  • - Optimization model input management and lexicographic optimization

  • - Production process and dynamic capacity management

  • - ESG criteria optimization

Scenario Planning and Investment Decisions

  • - Resource investment and capacity expansion analysis

  • - What-if scenario simulation and comparison

  • - Center-of-gravity and financial impact analysis

  • - Advanced analytics to support long-term structural decisions

Inventory Optimization

Data-to-Decision Platform Foundations

  • - Data integration and validation

  • - Visualization and analytics

  • - Collaborative decision environments across teams

ICRON named a Visionary in the 2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant for Supply Chain Planning Solutions

ICRON Named a Visionary in the
2025 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for
Supply Chain Planning Solutions

Read More

Optimizing Supply Chain Performance Through
Network Design: Customer Stories

ICRON supports Supply Chain Network design initiatives for complex global and European enterprises across
manufacturing, life sciences, consumer goods, and industrial sectors.

Together, these examples illustrate how network design principles translate from strategy into execution.

Webinar
Customer webinar featuring supply chain experts discussing network design in the life sciences industry.

Customer Perspective Webinar: Network Design in Practice

In this webinar, supply chain leaders from Bayer share how decision intelligence and AI are applied to supply chain network design and multi-echelon inventory optimization. The session explores how organizations evaluate alternative network configurations, align decisions across strategic and tactical planning layers, and respond to demand volatility, risk, and capacity constraints. It provides a practitioner view on how network design connects long-term strategy with day-to-day planning decisions in complex global supply chains.

Watch The Webinar
Customer Story
Customer story showcasing supply chain optimization in the pharmaceutical industry with pills and capsules.

Network Design for a Global Pharmaceutical Leader

This customer story describes how a global pharmaceutical organization used supply chain network design to address long lead times, regulatory complexity, and supply risk across a multi- regional network. By comparing alternative manufacturing and distribution structures, the organization assessed trade-offs between cost, service levels, capacity utilization, and resilience before committing to structural changes. The case illustrates how scenario-based network design supports more robust, risk-aware decision-making in highly regulated and disruption-prone supply chains.

Read The Customer Story

Business Benefits of Supply Chain Network Design

Supply Chain Network design delivers measurable improvements in cost, service, lead time, and inventory
performance across the end-to-end supply chain.

15

reduction in inventory holding costs by optimizing inventory placement, safety stock positioning, and flow paths across the network

25

reduction in stockouts through improved service coverage, lead-time alignment, and demand-to-supply matching

15

reduction in transportation by redesigning transportation routes, modes, and network footprint

20

reduction in lead times by aligning facility locations, sourcing strategies, and fulfillment paths with customer demand

Business Impact of Supply Chain Network Design

Supply Chain Network design improves cost efficiency, service performance, resilience, and sustainability by optimizing structural decisions across the end-to-end supply chain.

Supply chain network design concept showing business growth through improved profit margins and financial strategy."

Maximize Profit Margins

Supply chain network design improves profit margins by optimizing facility locations, transportation routes, sourcing strategies, and inventory levels. By reducing structural cost drivers across the network, organizations can lower operating expenses and improve cost-to-serve.

Supply chain optimization concept showing improved operational efficiency through digital tools and performance metrics.

Enhance Operational Efficiency

By aligning network structure, lead times, and fulfillment paths, network design enables faster order fulfillment, reduced lead times, and more consistent service performance. This results in supply chain operations that run efficiently across regions and channels.

Strategic decision-making concept showing chess pieces representing supply chain decisions and optimization.

Optimize Supply Chain Decisions

By explicitly modeling alternative network configurations, supply chain network design makes trade-offs between cost, service, capacity, and risk transparent. Decision-makers can compare the downstream impact of structural changes before implementation, reducing uncertainty and improving long-term decision quality.

Supply chain operations and resource allocation in an optimized end-to-end supply chain network."

Improve End-to-End Supply Chain Performance

Network design helps allocate resources effectively across production facilities, distribution centers, and transportation networks. By optimizing capacity utilization and material flows, organizations can improve productivity while maintaining operational feasibility.

Supply chain resilience concept illustrating risk management and capacity buffers using fall-down dominoes.

Strengthen Supply Chain Resilience

By modeling alternative sourcing options, capacity buffers, and distribution paths, supply chain network design helps identify vulnerabilities and reduce exposure to supplier disruptions, logistics constraints, and demand volatility.

Sustainable supply chain performance concept showing optimized network decisions balancing efficiency and sustainability.

Support Sustainable Supply Chain Performance

An optimized supply chain network enables organizations to balance cost, service, and sustainability objectives. Improved delivery speed, lower logistics costs, and more reliable fulfillment contribute to sustained competitive advantage and higher customer satisfaction.

Decision Intelligence Capabilities for Supply Chain Network Design

Customer Centricity

  • Customer-centric supply chain network design customizes the supply network to meet customer demand with pinpoint accuracy, supporting timely and reliable deliveries.
  • By aligning network structure, inventory positioning, and fulfillment paths with service-level requirements, organizations can maintain consistent service performance across regions and channels. As demand patterns shift, network design decisions can be adapted to maintain alignment between customer needs and network configuration.
Read E-Book

Dynamic Global Pegging

  • Dynamic global pegging enables end-to-end alignment of supply and demand across the supply chain network by linking customer demand to suppliers, production, inventory, and distribution under real operational constraints.
  • Using detailed network projections and simulation, organizations can evaluate the feasibility and impact of network planning decisions while anticipating disruptions, market changes, and regulatory constraints. This ensures network decisions remain aligned with business objectives, customer service requirements, and external factors, supporting robust and explainable decision-making.
Read E-Book

Embedded Analytics

  • Embedded analytics integrates advanced data analysis directly into supply chain network design, enabling organizations to derive actionable insights from demand, supply, inventory, and capacity data within the same decision environment.
  • By supporting real-time and near–real-time analysis, embedded analytics allows planners to respond quickly to changing market conditions while maintaining decision consistency. Predictive and prescriptive analytics help represent demand variability and supply lead time accurately, supporting precise network optimization and feasibility-aware decision-making.

Risk Management

  • Risk management in supply chain network design enables organizations to evaluate structural vulnerabilities and mitigation options by modeling alternative sourcing strategies, capacity configurations, and distribution paths under uncertainty.
  • By incorporating supplier reliability, capacity constraints, and demand variability, network design decisions can be tested against potential disruption scenarios. This supports alignment between network strategies and organizational risk tolerance, helping reduce exposure to stockouts, excess inventory, and service disruptions.
Read E-Book

Sustainability

  • Sustainability in supply chain network design is addressed by evaluating how network structure, inventory placement, and transportation flows impact emissions, energy consumption, and waste across the supply chain.
  • By modeling inventory levels and material flows precisely, organizations can reduce excess stock and associated environmental impact. Network design decisions can also assess energy usage across production, warehousing, and transportation, enabling sustainability objectives to be evaluated alongside cost and service performance.
Read E-Book

Adaptive Scenario Planning

  • Adaptive scenario planning enables organizations to compare multiple supply chain network configurations under changing assumptions such as demand shifts, capacity changes, or supply disruptions.
  • By evaluating scenarios side by side, planners can assess trade-offs across cost, service, risk, and sustainability dimensions before committing to structural decisions. This supports proactive, data-driven network planning and helps select strategies that remain robust under uncertainty.
Read E-Book

Features of Supply Chain Network Design Software

Supply Chain Network design software provides a set of capabilities that enable organizations to model, evaluate, and compare alternative network configurations across cost, service, capacity, risk, and sustainability dimensions. These features support strategic and tactical decision-making by ensuring network design choices are feasible, data-driven, and aligned with business objectives.

Facility Location Optimization

Evaluates where to locate or consolidate production plants, warehouses, and distribution centers based on cost, service levels, capacity constraints, and demand patterns. This supports network footprint decisions that balance total cost, lead times, and service coverage across regions.

Transportation Network Optimization

Optimizes transportation routes, modes, and flow allocations between network nodes to minimize cost and lead time while respecting capacity and service constraints. This enables objective comparison of alternative logistics structures within the network design model.

Resource Allocation Optimization

Allocates supply, production, and distribution volumes across facilities and transportation routes to meet demand efficiently. This ensures capacity is utilized effectively while maintaining feasibility across sourcing, manufacturing, and distribution decisions.

Production and Distribution Flexibility

Models alternative production and distribution configurations to assess how the network can respond to demand variability, capacity changes, or disruptions. This supports flexible network design decisions that improve responsiveness without sacrificing cost or service performance.

Inventory Management and Analysis

Evaluates inventory placement, safety stock policies, and flow strategies across the network to balance service levels and holding costs. Inventory decisions are assessed in relation to lead times, demand variability, and network structure.

What-If Scenario Simulation

Enables side-by-side comparison of multiple network scenarios by changing demand assumptions, cost parameters, capacity availability, or sourcing strategies. This supports informed evaluation of trade-offs before committing to structural network changes.

Performance Analytics

Provides consistent metrics and visual insights on cost, service, capacity utilization, and network performance outcomes. This enables decision-makers to compare network design alternatives using transparent and explainable measures.

Resources

Gain insights, and stay ahead of supply chain trends and updates with the latest thinkings on the supply chain.

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Blog
Optimizing supply chain network design concept illustrating the competitive advantage of interconnected supply chains.

Optimizing Supply Chain Network Design: The Key to Competitive Advantage

Supply chain network design is a strategic lever for responding to market shifts, entering new markets, and balancing cost…

DECEMBER 29, 2025
Blog
Multi-echelon inventory optimization concept showing inventory levels and decision-making in a supply chain network.

What is Multi-Echelon Inventory Optimization? Why It’s Essential for…

Multi-Echelon Inventory Optimization is a strategy for optimizing inventory management within global supply chains.

MAY 20, 2025
Blog
Network design in supply chain planning concept showing interconnected facilities and supply chain operations.

What is Network Design in Supply Chain Planning?

Network design in supply chain planning helps you create a blueprint for how products will most efficiently flow from…

APRIL 21, 2025

Supply Chain Network Design FAQ

Business Value & Outcomes of Network Design

How supply chain network design improves cost efficiency, service levels, resilience, and emissions performance.

1. How does ICRON’s solution reduce operational costs?

ICRON’s supply chain network design solution reduces operational costs by balancing competing cost drivers across inventory, transportation, and facility location decisions. On average, organizations achieve a 15% reduction in inventory holding costs and a 15% reduction in transportation costs by identifying efficient routes, optimal facility footprints, and eliminating underutilized resources.

2. Can this software help improve customer service levels?

Yes. ICRON’s supply chain network design solution improves customer service levels by optimizing distribution center proximity to demand hubs and reducing end-to-end lead times. Organizations typically see an average 20% reduction in lead times and a 25% reduction in stockouts, resulting in higher product availability and improved customer experience.

3. Does the platform support sustainability and green supply chain goals?

Yes. Supply chain network design supports sustainability goals by enabling carbon footprint modeling and emissions analysis. By optimizing transportation routes, sourcing strategies, and network footprints, organizations can reduce CO₂ emissions and energy consumption while maintaining cost and service performance.

Network Design Fundamentals & Core Concepts

What supply chain network design is, what problems it solves, and why it matters for strategic and tactical decision-making.

4. What decisions can be optimized with supply chain network design?

Supply chain network design supports a wide range of strategic and tactical decisions, including facility location, consolidation or expansion; supplier selection and sourcing allocation; capacity placement and utilization across plants and distribution centers; inventory positioning and stocking policies; transportation lane and mode selection; service-level differentiation by market or customer segment; and balancing cost, service, and sustainability objectives. These decisions are evaluated holistically to ensure local improvements do not create downstream inefficiencies elsewhere in the network.

  • Facility location, consolidation, or expansion
  • Supplier selection and sourcing allocation
  • Capacity placement and utilization across plants and distribution centers
  • Inventory positioning and stocking policies
  • Transportation lane and mode selection
  • Service-level differentiation by market or customer segment
  • Balancing cost, service, and sustainability objectives

5. How does scenario-based network design support strategic planning?

Scenario-based supply chain network design supports strategic planning by allowing organizations to compare multiple future network configurations under different assumptions. Decision-makers can evaluate robustness across scenarios such as demand growth, regional expansion, supplier disruption, cost changes, or sustainability constraints before committing to structural change.

Network Design Process, Scope & Use Cases

How supply chain network design works, when organizations should apply it, and which planning and investment decisions it supports.

6. What is what-if scenario planning in network design?

What-if scenario planning allows organizations to test specific changes or disruptions within a broader network design framework. This includes simulating supplier failures, fuel price increases, capacity constraints, or new market entry. By comparing what-if scenarios side by side, organizations can identify the most resilient and cost-effective network configuration before making real-world investments.

7. When should companies apply supply chain network design software?

Companies typically apply supply chain network design software when entering new markets, consolidating or expanding facilities, responding to regulatory or cost changes, mitigating supply risk, or reassessing sustainability and resilience objectives.

8. Is supply chain network design a one-time project or a continuous process?

Supply chain network design is a continuous strategic process. Organizations revisit network design as demand patterns, costs, regulations, and sustainability requirements evolve to keep the network aligned with business goals.

AI-Driven & Advanced Network Design Capabilities

How optimization, scenario analysis, risk modeling, and sustainability trade-offs are handled in advanced network design.

9. How does ICRON handle global supply chain disruptions?

ICRON supports disruption management through dynamic global pegging and predictive analytics. The platform identifies vulnerabilities across sourcing, production, and distribution and allows organizations to test alternative sourcing strategies, capacity buffers, and network structures to remain agile amid geopolitical or operational disruption.

10. Which software platforms support AI-driven supply chain network design for large, multi-country organizations?

AI-driven supply chain network design platforms support large, multi-country organizations by enabling scenario-based modeling, optimization, and decision intelligence across facilities, sourcing, inventory, transportation, and capacity under real-world constraints.

11. Which software solutions are used for strategic supply chain network design in complex, multi-country environments?

Strategic supply chain network design solutions are used to evaluate and compare alternative network structures across countries by modeling cost, service, lead times, capacity, risk, and sustainability impacts before committing to long-term structural decisions.

12. What AI-driven decision intelligence platforms are used for long-term supply chain network optimization?

AI-driven decision intelligence platforms support long-term supply chain network optimization by combining advanced analytics, optimization, and scenario simulation to evaluate structural decisions across multi-year planning horizons.

13. Which platforms support resilient supply chain network design under disruption and geopolitical risk?

Resilient supply chain network design platforms support disruption and geopolitical risk management by enabling organizations to model alternative sourcing strategies, capacity buffers, and distribution paths and compare network robustness across disruption scenarios.

Data, Integration & Scalability for Network Design

What data is required, how network design integrates with ERP and TMS systems, and how models scale across global networks.

14. How does supply chain network design fit into the broader supply chain planning process?

Supply chain network design provides the strategic foundation for the broader supply chain planning process. Once the network structure is defined, it feeds into tactical planning processes such as S&OP or IBP and supports operational execution, ensuring long-term infrastructure decisions align with day-to-day planning.

15. Which solutions connect supply chain network design with S&OP or IBP processes?

Supply chain network design solutions connect with S&OP or IBP processes by providing the strategic network structure that informs tactical demand, supply, capacity, and inventory planning decisions.

16. Which supply chain planning tools help companies balance cost, service, and CO₂ emissions in network design decisions?

Supply chain network design tools help balance cost, service, and CO₂ emissions by modeling transportation distances, facility locations, sourcing options, and inventory flows alongside financial, service, and sustainability metrics.

17. How does supply chain network design support cross-border and EU supply chains?

Supply chain network design supports cross-border and EU supply chains by modeling multi-country flows, lead times, transportation constraints, duties, taxes, and regulatory considerations common in European and global networks.

18. What level of data detail is required to start network design analysis?

Network design analysis can begin with aggregated and validated data. The focus is on structural decision-making rather than transactional precision, allowing organizations to refine data progressively as scenarios are evaluated.

19. What types of organizations benefit most from supply chain network design software?

Organizations with complex, multi-site, or multi-country supply chains benefit most from supply chain network design software, including manufacturers, life sciences companies, consumer goods producers, and industrial enterprises operating across European and global markets.

20. Why is supply chain network design critical for long-term supply chain performance?

Supply chain network design is critical for long-term performance because it aligns structural decisions with cost efficiency, service reliability, resilience, and sustainability objectives. A well-designed network enables organizations to adapt to change while maintaining operational feasibility and strategic coherence.

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