Background
A major food manufacturer realized their conventional snapshot-based analysis methods were inadequate for understanding complex supply chain dynamics. They needed to see how their system actually behaved over time, not just at single points.
The Solution
SDI partnered with General Mills to create a dynamic simulation that could run six months of supply chain data in minutes, providing a "video" view of operations instead of static snapshots.
The Story
The real breakthrough came during model building itself. As one executive noted, the process "forced a certain diligence" in understanding system interconnections that they had never achieved before. The model became so fast and reliable that they could explore substantially more alternatives, leading to more thorough and novel solutions.
Industry Recognition
Featured in IIE Magazine (June 2001 IIE Solutions) highlighting the transformation from "snapshot" to "video" analysis capabilities:
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the simulation of a complex supply chain must be worth a million. That's one of the conclusions General Mills drew after the company enhanced its conventional methods of analyzing supply chain cost savings with a simulation-based process offered through Simulation Dynamics.
The investment in Simulation Dynamics software has taken the guesswork out of analyzing supply chain scenarios and empowered General Mills with a more productive supply chain.
Project Results
A step change in analysis capabilities and decision-making speed. The model provided unprecedented insight into supply chain operations through dynamic rather than static analysis.
"Instead of taking a snapshot, this is more like a video. It's more than just a point solution. Your ability to actually see the activity in action and plot out the results allows you to understand impacts much better while the supply chain is running. We can run six months of supply chain data in a matter of minutes." - Mike Geddis, Director of Engineering, General Mills
"What we really found to be very powerful was the actual building of the model. It forced a certain diligence in terms of saying, if we change the system here this happens over here. We had not gone to that level of understanding the interconnections of our systems before."
"This definitely saves us time. It gives the ability to let the tools follow our questions and follow them rapidly, so once we have the model constructed, we can get results in as little as 15 minutes. There's no question we will explore substantially more alternatives than we would have if this were a more laborious process like before. As a result, we end up with much more thorough and novel solutions."
Strategic Understanding Transformation
Before Simulation Study: "If anyone here tells you they understand our supply chain, they are lying!" - Customer executive
After Model Development: The collaborative model-based consulting approach helped supply chain leaders visualize and understand complex network dynamics, transforming their strategic decision-making capabilities. The database and simulation tools used to build that model have since been completely reimplemented — the "video view" now runs at speeds that were not possible in 2001.
Strategic Assessment
The following list provides links to articles within this document that address strategic assessment issues related to this case study:
- Supply Chain Structure
Understanding complex network dynamics and echelon impacts through dynamic rather than static analysis methods. - Inventory Deployment
Optimizing deployment strategies across the network using "video view" of operations instead of snapshots. - Production Capacity
Managing demand variability and capacity constraints with 15-minute scenario analysis capability.