Supply Chain Network Optimization in Canada & USA

Develop a holistic view of your supply chain network to reveal the solutions that are best positioned to help you meet your organizational goals.

Dark stores, micro-fulfillment and pop-up inventory sites are fast becoming the centre of modern retail supply chains, requiring new thinking and strategies.

Assess strategies and take a data-driven approach to analyzing and optimizing the financial and operational performance of your transportation network.

Focus on your core competency and leverage the expertise of a 3PL to provide order fulfillment, inventory control, transportation and contract packaging.

Select a transportation management solution that can be tailored to your needs, including freight forwarding, fleet management and last-mile delivery.

Supply chain network optimization is the process of designing or redesigning the physical and operational configuration of a company’s distribution and transportation network to minimize cost, reduce lead times, and improve service levels. It typically involves modelling different combinations of warehouse locations, transportation modes, supplier origins, and customer demand patterns to identify the most efficient structure.

A network study is warranted when a company experiences significant changes in its business such as entering a new geographic market, acquiring another company, facing major changes in freight costs, losing or gaining a large customer, opening or closing a distribution centre, or responding to major supply disruption such as tariff changes. Most businesses benefit from reviewing their network every 3–5 years even without a triggering event.

US tariffs on imported goods directly affect the landed cost of products entering the country, potentially making existing sourcing and distribution configurations uneconomical. Companies are redesigning networks to source from alternative countries, shift distribution centres closer to end consumers, reduce cross-border inventory, or build buffer stock in Canada or bonded warehouses in the US. Supply Chain Alliance’s network optimization team models these trade-off scenarios for Canadian and US businesses.

A distribution centre optimization focuses on improving the performance and efficiency of an existing facility layout, labour productivity, material handling, and throughput. A network study is a strategic exercise that determines how many facilities a company should operate, where they should be located, and how inventory should be allocated across the network. The two are complementary: a network study determines the right structure; DC optimization maximizes performance within that structure.

Third-party logistics (3PL) outsourcing involves contracting an external provider to manage warehousing, order fulfillment, transportation, and inventory management. It makes sense when a company lacks the capital or expertise to operate its own distribution infrastructure, when its volume is too variable to justify fixed overhead, or when it is entering a new market. Supply Chain Alliance manages the 3PL selection, RFP, and transition process to ensure the provider chosen is the right fit.

A comprehensive network optimization study typically takes 12–16 weeks, depending on the number of distribution points, the complexity of the product mix, and the availability of data. The study includes data collection and validation, baseline modelling, scenario analysis, sensitivity testing, and a final recommendation with implementation roadmap. Supply Chain Alliance has conducted network studies for clients across Canada and the US in retail, CPG, industrial, and food and beverage sectors.