Mathematical modeling will help Baltika build an infrastructure development strategy

2024: The beginning of the use of the mathematical twin of supply chains

To solve the problem of expanding the production and warehouse network, the Baltika brewing company began to use a mathematical twin of supply chains. This tool allows you to determine the optimal locations and configuration of infrastructure objects in a risk-free environment. To develop a double, Baltika attracted a consulting company LAMACON, which specializes in optimizing logistics using mathematical modeling. Lamacon announced this on January 16, 2025.

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Фото: Lamacon

To optimize the supply chain on the existing production and logistics infrastructure, Baltika uses the modeling functionality built into the enterprise's IT systems, and some of the calculations are carried out in Excel. However, the capabilities of these tools were not enough to create a comprehensive infrastructure development strategy, so it was decided to introduce a more powerful industrial modeling tool.

Consultants studied   the client's business features and developed a strategic supply chain model with high detail of production stages. On the basis of a mathematical twin, a roadmap was built with recommendations for opening new and expanding existing warehouse and production infrastructure facilities, which will minimize the company's costs when reaching the target sales volume.

LAMACON experts also analyzed various infrastructure configurations using scenario planning and identified the main levers for reducing the company's operating costs. In terms of transportation costs, optimization was possible due to a reduction in the volume of interfilial movements due to a more distributed network of plants. The main lever for optimizing the cost of operating infrastructure facilities is to reduce the use of expensive 3PL warehouse operations. Also, by balancing the load of plants and effectively selecting suppliers of raw materials, the possibility of reducing the cost of production was found. In total, LAMACON experts estimated potentially possible savings in operating costs of up to 6%, which indicates a fairly high efficiency of the current supply chain.

The key feature of the project was the high involvement of the team from Baltika at all stages of modeling and scenario analysis. The company was faced with the task of developing an internal competence center for modeling supply chains in order to maximize the analytical capabilities of a mathematical twin, as well as engage in its own development.

The Baltika team is familiar with the possibilities of optimization modeling, but the functionality built into our systems had a number of restrictions for strategic infrastructure planning. During the project, we not only participated in the development of the model, but also significantly expanded our expertise in modeling. Now the task is not only to integrate the tool into the main business processes, but also to popularize its capabilities among the company's divisions, "said Evgenia Shulgina, head of the strategic planning and development department.

The end-to-end strategic model allows you to get the most complete picture of supply chain optimization, since many factors are taken into account: supplier locations, customer demand and the level of service they need, and so on. Taking into account such completeness of data, the optimal locations of infrastructure facilities are determined in compliance with all significant prerequisites. Sometimes such decisions can be unexpected and counterintuitive for business, because on the basis of only internal expert experience it is difficult to analyze so much input data, - summed up the project General Director of LAMACON Dmitry Krasilov.