Case Study: Weekends Only achieves $730K (27%) annual inbound freight savings with anyLogistix

Optimizing variable transportation flows

Weekends Only, a U.S. furniture retailer that operates weekend-only showrooms and an e-commerce channel, needed to optimize inbound ocean freight from Shanghai to its St. Louis distribution center. Faced with a choice between the historical Port of Los Angeles route and a potential multimodal alternative via the Port of New Orleans and the Mississippi River, Weekends Only worked with the University of Missouri–St. Louis and selected anyLogistix to model route, cost, capacity and lead-time tradeoffs.

Using anyLogistix’s network optimization and simulation capabilities, the team compared the current Shanghai→Los Angeles→St. Louis flow with a Shanghai→New Orleans→St. Louis barge-truck option. anyLogistix showed the New Orleans route was highly attractive, yielding roughly $730,000 in annual savings (about 27% of inbound freight spend); modest increases in lead time and landed inventory were outweighed by transportation savings and reduced trip frequency, and simulation experiments validated the decision and quantified the risks.

Weekends Only