Coca-Cola Enterprises: Optimizing Product Delivery of 42 Billion Soft Drinks a Year

The Problem

Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE), the world’s largest bottler and distributor of Coca-Cola products, has grown significantly in the last two decades, increasing its number of vehicles from 13,000 in 1986 to 54,000 today. Coca-Cola Enterprises’ fleet is nearly the largest in the world, second only to that of the U.S. Postal Service.

The beverage industry has become a highly competitive market. Operating in that market, CCE management wants to provide world-class customer service, optimize its labor and assets, reduce natural resource consumption, and provide its employees with a productive, rewarding working day.

The Analytics Solution

With such a vast system and the goal of having the most efficient fleet possible, Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) used analytics to improve the scheduling of its trucks.  CCE achieved its goals by implementing a vehicle-routing optimization model, the result of a joint cooperation between CCE, the software company ORTEC, and Tilburg University.

In addition to handling the unique characteristics of Coca-Cola Enterprises, the implementation transitioned smoothly from prior business practice. During the initial phase, CCE limited the degree by which the new routes differed from the prior routes. Subsequent phases allowed the changes to increase gradually. In this manner, change rolled out at a tolerable pace.

The Value

The impact includes annual cost savings of $45 million. Missed deliveries have dropped, increasing customer satisfaction and diminishing lost sales. The reduction in miles driven has resulted in reduced consumption of fossil fuels, and less pollution.
The success of the approach has burgeoned. Implementation has begun at other Coca-Cola bottling companies (including Coca-Cola HBC, which serves 25 mainly eastern European countries) and beer distributors (including Carlsberg, Heineken, and Inbev). At Inbev, the return on investment was realized within a single year and the planning process has improved significantly.
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