# What to make at each plant: optimized allocation across a global manufacturing network

> With manufacturing plants in three countries, deciding what to make at each one is no longer a separate choice per site but a single optimization problem.

Sector: Metalworking. Client: Manufacturer with plants in three countries (anonymous, per Orion policy).

## Results

- **3** — manufacturing plants optimized as a single network
- **~12,000** — components considered in the model
- **4** — technical and economic dimensions integrated into the decision

## The challenge

The company operates three manufacturing plants located in different countries, with about 12,000 components in scope. Deciding what to make at each plant was not a local choice: every reallocation changed logistics cost, tooling utilization and unit cost at the others, and no plant-by-plant analysis could see that ripple effect.

The relevant inputs, including deliveries, due dates, resources, costs, logistics and tooling, came from different parts of the company. Combining them manually for every allocation decision was unworkable with 12,000 components.

## The approach

Orion approached the problem globally, bringing into a single formulation the technical and economic fields of analysis that had previously been handled separately: economic location, logistics chain, business strategy and operations management, from part numbers and families through to plants, distributors and customers, covering multiple businesses at once.

The result is a single allocation model: for each component, the three-plant network is now evaluated as one integrated system rather than as three independent decisions.

## Project objectives

- Define production allocation across plants by considering cost, logistics and tooling together.
- Replace local, plant-by-plant decisions with a global evaluation of the manufacturing network.
- Sustain the decision as new components and businesses come into scope.

## About the company

- 3 manufacturing plants, in different countries
- ~12,000 components in scope
- Multiple businesses served in parallel

## Solution applied

[Portfolio Optimization](https://orionotimizacao.com/en/solutions/portfolio-optimization) — The ideal product mix to maximize margin, meet commercial constraints and balance channels.

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