Battery and Charger SC Network Optimization – Hilti

 Overview

Company Description

Hilti stands for innovation and direct customer relationships. More than 34,000 employees around the world, in over 120 countries, contribute to making our customers’ work more productive, safer and more sustainable. We do this with our hardware, software and service offering. With roughly 300,000 customer contacts each day, many ideas come directly from our customers. If there is a challenge for which no Hilti solution exists, one will be developed. This is why we invest approximately 7 percent of sales each year in research and development. From product development to manufacturing, logistics, sales and services, we cover the entire value-added chain. Founded in 1941 by brothers Eugen and Martin Hilti, our company builds on strong roots and continuity. This long-term commitment has supported us in becoming a reliable partner for our customers and a trusted brand that they choose to work with. With our defined purpose of “Making Construction Better”, we are committed to developing products and solutions that drive productivity, sustainability, and safety in the construction industry with our values of integrity, courage, teamwork and commitment at the base of everything we do.

Project Description

Our current supply chain network, involving assemblers, external warehouses, HQ warehouses, and regional distribution centers (DCs), faces challenges due to changing laws, capacity constraints, and reliability issues. These factors impact inventory planning, leading to inefficiencies and increased costs. Frequent changes in assembler partnerships disrupt inventory flow, while capacity limitations and reliability concerns exacerbate delays and stockouts. Additionally, our mixed transportation model lacks optimization, further complicating inventory management. We propose a comprehensive supply chain network design optimization project, focusing on inventory planning. This includes developing an advanced inventory planning model, creating a global conceptual model for strategic portfolio handling, and building a user-friendly tool to support these strategies. The project aims to optimize stock levels and production footprint, reduce warehousing costs, and establish a unified strategy for inventory management across all Hilti locations.

Goals of the project

We propose a comprehensive supply chain network design optimization project, focusing on inventory planning and TOC (total cost of ownership). This includes building a tool that supports the following:

• Creating a global conceptual model for production footprint decisions (batteries) across all company locations, validated by the Business Unit and global logistics management.
• Developing an advanced inventory planning model to optimize stock levels and distribution strategies considering the SS (Safety Stock) strategy in place.

Deliverables

Inventory Planning Model:

Develop an advanced inventory planning model to optimize stock levels and production footprint. Incorporate the SS strategy into the model.

Global Conceptual Model for Strategic Portfolio:

Create a proposal for handling strategic inventory (batteries and chargers) across all company locations. Ensure the model is validated by the Business Unit and global logistics management.

Tool Development:

Build a tool to support the new inventory planning model and strategic portfolio handling. Ensure the tool is user-friendly Test the new model and tool in a controlled environment. Validate results with key stakeholders and make necessary adjustments.

Training and Implementation:

Train relevant staff on using the new tool.

Knowledge

• Modelling, Programming (R, Python), Operations Research

 More information: escf@tue.nl