Our own tools

SDI Supply Chain Builder

The simulation tool we built for supply chains and logistics networks. It models a network from small, general building blocks, so it fits the network you actually have instead of forcing it into a template.

Talk about your network See it in VINLogic

How it came about

Built from the projects, not from a template

In the late 1990s SDI was building supply chain models for large companies one at a time. Andy Siprelle challenged his partner David Parsons to design a tool that would let us build them faster. Supply Chain Builder combined what we had learned across those supply chain and logistics projects.

The key design choice was to keep the blocks granular: inventories, resources, locations and controls. It imposes no higher-level structure. That is why it went far beyond supply chains. We have used it to model pharmaceutical production, the rehabilitation of weapons components and project task networks.

What it answers

Supply chain questions it is built for

Where to hold inventory, at plants or at DCs, and how much (inventory deployment)
Moving packaging downstream to distribution centers (downstream packaging)
Adding or removing an echelon, and the bullwhip and risk-pooling effects that follow
Transportation networks with vehicles, railcars and trucks in motion (VINLogic)
Ordering, run-length and shipping policy, tested before they reach the plant (supply chain simulation)

Results

What clients got from it

$1B+ in savings over a decade

VINLogic, a vehicle logistics network model first built in Supply Chain Builder, later rebuilt in .NET, and used for more than 10 years. Read the case.

$5–7M less inventory

A retail supply chain study predicted units and value for different store types, policies and new products. It found $1–2M in cost savings and a $5–7M inventory reduction.

A deciding factor

In the VINLogic selection, the client named SDI having Supply Chain Builder as a key reason for choosing us.

Today

Still in use, on current projects

Supply Chain Builder has run on Extend and in .NET, and it still runs our supply chain studies today. Its models are driven by SDI DB tables, so a network changes by editing data, not by rebuilding the model.

Like everything we build, it is a tool we use on your project. We don't sell it. If your team would rather work in ExtendSim, Plant Simulation or another tool, we can work there too.

Tell us your problem

Want to test a supply chain policy before it reaches the plant?

Tell us about the network: plants, DCs, customers and the decision in front of you. We'll tell you what a model would show.

A straight answer on whether simulation is the right tool
Which tool fits, even if it isn't one we use every day
A rough scope and timeline, before any commitment

Or book a 30-minute call.