Network & transportation modelling
VicGoods Logistics
Built a linear-programming transhipment model to minimise weekly freight cost across a 3-tier network of plants, distribution centres, and retail outlets in Victoria, then stress-tested it against route disruption.
Min weekly freight cost: $6,943 · 5 plants · 2 DCs · 6 outlets
Executive summary
VicGoods needed to move freight from five plants through two distribution centres to six Victorian retail outlets at minimum cost, across 27 candidate routes with 800 pallets/week of supply against 550 pallets/week of demand. I built a Simplex LP transhipment model that found a $6,943/week optimum using only 10 of the 27 routes, idling the two most distant plants (Wodonga, Mildura) as freight-uncompetitive. To test resilience, I then blocked the network's two busiest corridors — a combined 50.9% of weekly volume — and re-solved: the network still met all demand, at a 9.03% cost premium ($7,570/week), with every disrupted unit absorbed by the Laverton North distribution centre. Sensitivity analysis showed Campbellfield's plant capacity was the single most valuable lever in the network, saving $7.70 per additional pallet of capacity.
The problem
VicGoods Logistics needed to route freight from five plants through two distribution centres to six retail outlets across Victoria at minimum weekly cost, across 27 candidate routes with unbalanced supply (800 pallets/week) against demand (550 pallets/week) — and needed to know how resilient that plan was if a key route went down.
The outcome
Built a 27-route Simplex LP transhipment model that found a $6,943/week minimum-cost solution using just 10 active routes, leaving two distant plants idle as freight-uncompetitive. Simulated a disruption scenario blocking the network's two busiest corridors, and found it could still meet 100% of demand — at a 9.03% cost increase ($7,570/week) — with sensitivity analysis identifying Campbellfield (P2) as the single most valuable node to expand.
Model comparison
Weekly freight costSimplex LP transhipment model · lower is better
Architecture
The optimal flow network — arrow thickness shows pallets/week from each plant, through the two DCs, to each retail outlet.