Freight Consolidation for a European Automotive Manufacturer

Data Fragmentation at Manufacturing Scale

We partnered with a major automotive manufacturer, which operates a complex multi-plant manufacturing network across Europe. The logistics planning team lacked the analytical infrastructure to systematically exploit optimization opportunities. The historical delivery data was fragmented and cost structures varied, presenting the challenge of how savings opportunities could be quantified, validated, and operationalized at the speed required for procurement decisions. A hidden layer of complexity was uncovered as accurate freight cost modeling required precise weight and volume calculations for each purchase schedule line, which in turn required detailed knowledge of load carrier specifications. A small part delivered on a heavy-duty pallet has radically different transport economics than the same part in a lightweight returnable container. This required building a material-centric ontology that unified purchase schedules, demand forecasts, stock positions, and physical packaging specifications into a coherent analytical framework.