Case Competitions2026

Castrol PowerUp 4.0 - Supply Chain Track

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Overview

Developed a data-driven supply chain planning methodology for a multi-stage network connecting plants, mother hubs, Clearing and Forwarding Agents (CFAs), and customers. Combined inventory planning with Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) to optimize production and distribution decisions, evaluate capacity constraints, and analyze cost and demand-fulfillment trade-offs, earning National Runner-Up recognition in the case competition.

About this project

Developed a data-driven supply chain planning methodology for a multi-stage network connecting plants, mother hubs, Clearing and Forwarding Agents (CFAs), and customers. Combined inventory planning with Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) to optimize production and distribution decisions, evaluate capacity constraints, and analyze cost and demand-fulfillment trade-offs.

Key Highlights

  • Supply Chain Network Modeling: Structured production, inventory, and distribution decisions across plants, mother hubs, CFAs, and customer demand.
  • Inventory Planning: Developed an inventory norm methodology using average demand, forecast variability, lead times, safety stock, reorder points, and days of cover.
  • MILP Formulation: Formulated a mathematical optimization model to minimize modeled production, transportation, inventory, and unmet-demand penalty costs while satisfying operational constraints.
  • Production & Capacity Planning: Incorporated fixed 25 kL production batch sizes and plant- and category-level capacity constraints into the planning model.
  • Scenario Analysis: Evaluated a 70% Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) scenario to assess its impact on effective production capacity, modeled costs, and unmet demand.
  • Bottleneck Analysis: Interpreted optimization outputs to identify structural capacity bottlenecks and evaluate production planning and resource allocation decisions.

Optimization Tool Development

  • Excel-Driven Workflow: Implemented spreadsheet data import to populate the optimization model.
  • Configurable Constraint Engine: Enabled users to add custom constraints and modify or remove default constraints for flexible scenario evaluation.
  • Optimization Backend: Developed the backend using Python and FastAPI, with PuLP for MILP formulation and the CBC solver for optimization.

Recognition

Competition result

National Runner-Up

Castrol PowerUp 4.0 Supply Chain Track Case Competition.

Technology stack

Python · Pandas · PuLP · CBC Solver · FastAPI · Excel · Mixed-Integer Linear Programming

Gallery

National Runner-Up confirmation · Castrol PowerUp 4.0

National Runner-Up confirmation · Castrol PowerUp 4.0

Email confirming the National Runner-Up result in Castrol PowerUp 4.0

Announcements

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