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IRF 2 Assignment 1

Sourabh Ruhil

Institutional Affiliation

Course

Instructor’s Name

July 8, 2025
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Expanding the Supply Chain for Cincinnati Seasonings

The goal of this assignment was to expand the network by adding three new store

locations, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Des Moines, and ensure smooth operations for 30

continuous days. The aim was to support business growth while maintaining a stable and

efficient 30-day operation. This required adjusting production levels, setting up delivery routes,

and solving logistical challenges as they arose. This report walks through the steps I took, why I

made specific decisions, and how I responded to errors and capacity issues along the way.

I began by placing the three new store locations on the map in approximate positions that

matched their real-world cities. Each store was configured with its respective daily demand: 80

units for St. Louis, 100 units for Kansas City, and 30 units for Des Moines. I used the default

storage capacities of 500 m³ for St. Louis and Kansas City, and 100 m³ for Des Moines.

I decided not to open a new distribution center (DC) for this assignment. Instead, I

supplied all three new stores directly from the existing Seasonings Factory. My reasoning was

based on the current scale of the business and the fact that the existing DC had sufficient capacity
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to handle the new demand. Adding another DC would increase fixed costs, add complexity, and

was unnecessary at this stage of growth. However, I would consider a new DC if further

expansion continues or if regional demand increases substantially. Also, the supply chain relied

entirely on trucks for this simulation. I did not incorporate rail transport because the current

delivery volumes did not justify the setup and infrastructure costs of rail. Additionally, trucks

allowed for more flexible scheduling and faster response to daily demand. That said, if

Cincinnati Seasonings expands to cover more distant markets or if sustainability becomes a

priority, combining trucks and trains could become a strategic option for reducing long-haul fuel

expenses and emissions.

To support the increased demand, I raised the factory’s production rate from 190 units per

day to 400 units per day and updated the daily operating cost to $55,000 to account for additional

staffing and resource usage. With the increased output, I established three dedicated delivery

routes using a large-capacity truck set to travel at 45 km/h. Each new store had its own delivery

path: Expansion Route 1 served St. Louis, Expansion Route 2 was assigned to Kansas City, and

Expansion Route 3 delivered to Des Moines. I planned my deliveries within every 24 hours in

the beginning, but this was excessive in some areas, especially Des Moines. To fix this, changed

the delivery frequency to once every 48 hours and the delivery quantities such that it better suits

the demand of the store and the storage capacity that the store has.

In initial test runs, a couple of major errors had stopped me. The first one was a ‘Not

enough storage capacity” error in Des Moines, the second was a “Not enough storage capacity”

error in Des Moines, and the third one was also a “Not enough storage capacity” error at Des

Moines. This truck was trying to give out what the store could not take. To correct this, I

decreased the number of deliveries to 30 units; the increment of the hours between each delivery
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was increased to 48 hours. This avoided the problem of overstocking, hence maintaining the flow

of inventory.

Afterwards, I encountered a kind of stockout problem in St. Louis, whereby it was sold

out, and many times deliveries could not match the demand. After the evaluation, I noticed that

the number of deliveries and the time of delivery were in some ways in need of correction. I

slightly augmented the level of delivery and made sure that the volume would not surpass the

storage capacity and would not fail any delivery in the future.
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I also monitored closely the buildup of inventory in the factory. At some point, it had to

start building up its surplus of stocks since trucks could not move the same fast. Though it did

not result in an error, this was an alarming signal. I modified how trucks may depart out of a

factory in a way that they have a smoother pull system.

Having adjusted the errors, I was able to simulate the model for 30 days without

observing errors. The delivery system was smooth, and all the stores were stocked regularly. The

factory never overtook the inventory, and there were no shortages or overloads in the truck

schedules. This achievement proved that the application of the current DC, the utilization of only

trucks, the tiering of deliveries, and parity of supply with appropriate store capacities could be

utilized in realizing the objective of developing business positions and maintaining a highly

efficient system.

This paper has highlighted the significance of key concepts such as foresight, planning,

and real-time responsiveness. I learned that over-delivering and under-supplying possess similar

threats (are both harmful), especially in small-format stores with limited storage like Des
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Moines. Every facility must be treated uniquely based on its demand and capacity. If this

simulation were extended, I would consider implementing rail transport to serve farther locations

like Kansas City, particularly if shipping volumes increase. I would also explore using a

centralized DC model in the western region to reduce delivery distances and allow more

consolidated multi-drop routes. The expanded supply chain worked well under the new demands.

Despite the challenges, thoughtful adjustments helped balance production, delivery, and storage.

This assignment provided valuable insights into managing growth without disrupting existing

operations, and highlighted how even small tweaks can make a major impact.