Adding a new distribution center

After looking at the stores that the Dacula distribution center serves we will want to
place a new distribution center somewhere in North Carolina to serve these stores and
to allow for more expansion in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.

To select this location we looked at data from the Data Observatory, specifically the
employment, total population, and roads data to find a large city near major highways
with connections around the region.

We narrowed this down to three candidates:

 Raleigh
 Charlotte
 Greensboro
 All cities are suitable based on the population and employable population.
However after looking at the proximity to the current store footprint and proximity
to major roads, it is clear that Charlotte is the best suited location for the new
Distribution Center.


Outcomes of the network optimization

The process for analyzing the new routes is almost identical to the process above:
create logical clusters, analyze the routes, review and refine the routes.

After running this same analysis with the new store clusters and distribution center
(resulting map here and below), we noticed some significant optimizations in the supply
chain network from our original map at the top of the post:

 15.7% decrease in distance driven

 6.4% decrease in overall delivery time
 9 fewer routes