Williams Technologies' Distribution Center Finds a New Home

Williams Technologies Incorporated (WIT) intended to increase customer satisfaction by decreasing cost and time-to-market of its products, namely remanufactured transmissions. WTI believed this goal could be accomplished with a more efficient shipping system. 

Students Erik Wikstrom and Jeff Cate evaluated whether or not to develop this new system in-house then built a transportation model including all primary markets, secondary markets, distribution centers, the production plant, and all combinations of connecting routes. The team determined that a single distribution center that serves all markets should be located in Charlotte, NC to maximize cost and efficiency. 

Quest Stabilizes Natural Gas Cost for Non-Contract Employees

Quest guaranteed about 85% of its gas through monthly contracts, while selling the remaining product at the daily price. Quest decided to optimize the process and guarantee a monthly "per sale point." This would require analyzing past production and the historical relationship between Quest's contract prices and the corresponding monthly market prices. 

Students John Jarvis, Claudia Johnson, and Liana Vettermodel designed a model that maximized expected profit, enabling Quest to thrive in both rising and falling markets. If the proposed model had been implemented, in one quarter alone, Quest would have realized an additional $20,400 in profits. 

Frito-Lay Inc. and Sam's Club: The Pick N' Pack Aggregate

Frito-Lay Supply Chain Department sought an improved inventory process to increase in-stock performance at Sam's Clubs, which demand a 99.8% in-stock performance. Challenges included inventory inconsistencies and communication shortfalls. One particular difficulty involved forecasting a new product line, Pick N' Pack (PNP), with little or no sales data. In addition, PNP shares a UPC across multiple product lines. 

Using various data from field studies, Frito-Lay's Order Management System, and Wal-Mart's Retail Link, students Christian Edison, Ashley Mills, and Stephen Rumpler created a forecasting model for PNP that proved to be more accurate than Frito-Lay's existing forecasting model. The results would improve the inventory replenishment process and in-stock performance.

Learn more here: lyle.smu.edu/emis/design