Hubshape

Where every site should be, and what it costs to get there.

Hubshape models a distribution network from its factories to every customer: the ground each site serves, the lanes between them, the cost to serve and the peak, then sets each option against today on cost, service, miles and carbon.

Run as a gated studyBuilt on your own loads and costsThe model is handed over

A Libra Europe product

One model of the network, from the factory gate to every customer.

  1. Where each site should be

    A hub's centre of gravity among the customers it serves, first unconstrained and then from a set of real candidate sites.

  2. The ground each site serves

    Each customer assigned to the site that serves it, so every catchment can be seen and redrawn.

  3. Cost to serve, customer by customer

    Each customer's landed cost per pallet built from the segments its goods really pass through, from first mile to peak space, each traced to its driver.

  4. Peak space for the weeks that need it

    Fifty-two weeks of demand run against the space each site has, so overflow is bought for those weeks instead of a bigger site all year.

Every option is set against today on cost to run, cost of change, service, miles and carbon, and the decision stays with your board.

Run as a study with four gates, each closed by a decision you sign.

No stage starts until the one before has met its exit criteria and been signed Go, No-go or Reshape, with the evidence in a printable gate pack.

  1. 01A coded data request

    Delivery points, loads, the site master and the cost ledger, each item marked essential or desirable, checked as it arrives.

  2. 02A baseline that reconciles

    The model has to match last year's actual costs, line by line and within a tolerance you agree, before anyone signs it.

  3. 03Options against the base case

    Each configuration tested on cost, service, miles and carbon, and against failures such as losing the main hub in peak.

  4. 04The model handed over

    At the end the model stays with your team, so it can be re-run when volumes, sites or rates change.

What operations and finance directors ask before a study starts.

Is Hubshape software we buy, or a study Libra runs?
Both. Libra runs the study with your team through four gates, using Hubshape as the model. At the end the model is handed over, so your team can re-run it when volumes, sites or rates change.
What data does it need?
A coded data request covers delivery points, loads, the site master and the cost ledger, each item marked essential or desirable. Uploads are checked as they arrive, every gap gets a treatment you agree, and estimated rows stay flagged in every output.
How do we know the baseline is right?
It has to reconcile to last year's actual costs, line by line and within a tolerance you agree, before anyone signs it at the second gate. Any option run before then is labelled indicative.
How are road miles and service worked out?
Miles are straight-line distances corrected by a road circuity factor. Service is tested on modelled drive time, with trunk and urban speeds, so a site that looks close on the map but sits behind slow roads shows up.
Where does the carbon figure come from?
From the miles each option runs, at emission factors agreed for your fleet, with building energy as a separate layer. It sits beside cost, so an option that saves money by running more miles is plain to see.
Does it just pick the cheapest option?
No. Each option is shown against the base case on cost to run, cost of change, service, miles and carbon, tested against failures such as losing the main hub in peak, and every rejected option is written up with its reason. The decision stays with your board.
Can it hold our own sites' limits?
Yes. Site visits feed a constraint register, and each constraint is a rule the model tests: a site's space, a delivery window, a road restriction. An option that breaks one is either changed or carries it as a stated trade-off.

Start with a year of your own loads.

Talk to Libra about a Hubshape study. We will scope the data request, the measures and the first gate with you.

Talk to Libra about Hubshape

Hubshape is built and run by Libra Europe, and the model stays with your team at the end.

Talk to Libra about Hubshape