09-15, 10:00–10:30 (Europe/Amsterdam), Bar
Global political circumstances and unpredictable crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic can cause a scarcity of grocery goods within the retail supply chain. We present a data-driven approach to ensure a fair and replicable distribution from the supplier to the retail warehouses at REWE, one of the largest grocery chains in Germany.
Optimizing the distribution of scarce perishable goods presents a complex challenge in the retail industry. It requires balancing logistical constraints such as pallet weight and truck capacities with the need to ensure a fair distribution of goods according to available stock and customer demand. In this talk, we offer insights into the solutions we have developed to tackle this problem.
We will begin by discussing our initial approach, which involves employing a greedy algorithm for distributing one product at a time. We will then delve into an enhanced simultaneous multi-product distribution approach, which constitutes a discrete optimization problem with nonlinear constraints and unfeasible combinatorial search spaces. We present our approach to reduce the complexity of the optimization problem and use algorithms from the scipy library to ensure stable converging solutions. Throughout, we will discuss advantages and disadvantages of the approaches used.
Furthermore, we will provide an overview of our tech stack, leveraging the Google Cloud architecture. Additionally, we will discuss our utilization of the Streamlit framework, enabling us to create an interactive dashboard that empowers users to leverage our optimization approaches in addressing upcoming challenges effectively.
Previous knowledge expected
Data Scientist at REWE Group. Previously worked as Data Scientist in the chemical industry (Covestro AG). Prior to working in industry, earned a PhD in Computational Psycholinguistics (University of Antwerp).
I am a Data Scientist at REWE Group, using my background in information systems to solve complex problems with data-driven approaches. I am passionate about programming in Python and continuously seek to enhance my skills. Additionally, I am interested in exploring cloud technologies and their applications in the field of data science.