Strategy & Network Planning
Supply Chain Network Optimization
We model your network: facilities, transportation, and inventory. We build the roadmap from where you are to where you need to be. Whether the answer is consolidating seven distribution centers to four or proving that expansion does not yet make financial sense, we bring the data and the recommendation.
The problem
Networks drift. Decisions get made on instinct.
Volume shifts, channels multiply, leases expire, demand changes, and the footprint quietly stops matching the business it serves. By the time a capital request lands on the board's desk, nobody can show the model behind it.
Summit brings distribution network optimization built on real data, facility location analysis, freight modeling, and inventory placement, so the recommendation is defensible before a dollar is committed.
Illustrative network model
Nodes · lanes · capacity · service
Capabilities
Network Planning
Model where inventory should sit and how it should move across facilities, lanes, and channels.
Board of Directors Strategy Material
Decision-grade material that holds up in the boardroom. Assumptions visible, scenarios quantified.
3PL Assessments
Evaluate current and prospective partners on cost, service, capability, and operational readiness.
Supply Chain Solution RFP Management
Run structured selection, from requirements to candidate assessment, site visits and award.
How we decide
Scenarios, side by side
We build competing network scenarios and compare them on cost, capacity, service, and risk. The recommendation is whichever one the model supports, including the one that says do nothing.
- 01Hold the current footprintBaseline cost, capacity, and service
- 02Consolidate to fewer multi-banner sitesFreight, labor, and inventory impact
- 03Add capacity in a new marketOnly if the model earns it
Why Summit
Former operators build the model, and then stay for the execution.
Our advisors have run the networks they now model. That means assumptions get sanity-checked against how buildings, carriers, and labor actually behave, and the roadmap accounts for the sequencing required to get there without breaking service.
Related case study
Sometimes the right recommendation is "don't build it."
A $500M+ outdoor specialty retailer asked whether a West Coast distribution center was justified. The model said its East Coast site carries the business through 2030.
Read the case study →Common questions
What clients ask before the first call
- What does a supply chain network assessment actually involve?
- We start with your data: order profiles, inventory positions, freight lanes, facility capacity, and cost to serve. From there we model your current network against alternative footprints so the tradeoffs are quantified rather than argued. You get a recommended network, the financial case behind it, and a phased roadmap for getting there.
- How long does a network study take?
- It depends on how many facilities are in scope and how quickly clean data can be assembled. A single-site capacity question moves faster than a multi-region consolidation study. We scope the timeline with you before the engagement starts and hold to it, because the recommendation only matters if it lands while the decision is still open.
- What does a 3PL assessment cover?
- Service performance against your actual requirements, cost structure and invoice accuracy, capacity headroom, systems fit, and whether the relationship still matches where your volume is heading. When an RFP is warranted, we manage it end to end: requirements, bidder list, scoring, and negotiation support.
- Will our board get something they can act on?
- Yes. Board and executive material is a standard deliverable, not an add-on. We build the capital case, the risk view, and the phasing in the language your leadership already uses to approve investment.
- Do you stay involved after the recommendation?
- That is the point of working with Summit. Our advisors are former operators, and most strategy engagements continue into implementation and sustainment. We do not present a deck and leave.
Next step
Get a Supply Chain Assessment
Send us the footprint question you are wrestling with. We will tell you what we would model first.