IBM released a case study showing how Südzucker, Europe’s leading supplier of sugar products with an annual revenue of approximately €7 billion, used network design to adjust to changing regulations in Europe.

Here is a key quote from the case.  The link to the IBM case has more details:

“When the European Union adopted a new market regulation for the sugar industry in 2006, Südzucker was forced to re-evaluate their entire supply chain network. On the one hand the company’s ability to export sugar to world markets became very limited, on the other hand major sugar deficit areas within the European Union were created. This led to a much greater focus on sales and distribution. Südzucker also knew this ruling would give them the ability to enter new sugar markets like Greece, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. Their challenge was to merge their national supply chain networks to create one integrated and powerful European supply chain network. The company had to determine how to modify their supply chain network by adding new facilities to ensure excellent service but also minimize transportation costs.”