How Cencora Invested in Supply Chain Design to Benefit the Value Chain 

For decades, supply chain design followed a predictable, albeit slow, rhythm. You gathered data for three months, built a massive baseline model, ran a five-year network study, and presented a PowerPoint to the board. Then, you put the model on a digital shelf until the next merger or crisis forced you to dust it off.

That "one-and-done" approach is obsolete.

The world doesn't wait for your next five-year study. Tariffs change overnight. Ports strike. Demand surges in specific regions. If your model is static, your strategy is already decaying.

The reality: As AI automates planning decisions, competitive advantage has shifted to design. Supply chain leaders like Cencora have compressed their planning cycles from five years to monthly—sometimes weekly—updates. They've moved from expensive one-time studies to continuous optimization that adapts as fast as the business changes.

In a recent discussion on Let's Talk Supply Chain, Diana Orrego-Moore (VP of Supply Chain Modeling & Optimization at Cencora) and Sarah Butler (Engagement Lead at Optilogic) revealed the blueprint for making this critical shift.

Here is how leading enterprises are turning design into an always-on capability.

From "Event-Based" to "Always-On"

The hallmark of a legacy supply chain is the "major study." These are infrequent, high-effort events. Cencora, a global pharmaceutical solutions organization, recognized that agility required a different cadence. They didn't just build a model; they built a timeline that shrinks as their capability grows.

As Diana Orrego-Moore explained, the goal was to compress the planning horizon without losing rigorous methodology:

"Being able to go from a five-year plan model to a one-year plan to now monthly, and if we wanted to run it weekly, we can. Having consistency on the process, the methodology, and the data that we have and ensuring that we can go from a macro perspective to a micro perspective really helps with the speed."

This shift didn't happen overnight. It required three critical ingredients: consistent data pipelines, repeatable methodology, and leadership commitment to building long-term capability rather than chasing short-term answers.

Speed is not just about computing power (though our hyperscale engine helps); it is about AI that eliminates lengthy model-building and data cleansing efforts. When your data and logic live in a unified platform like Optilogic, you aren't reinventing the wheel every month. You are simply turning the crank.

Stop "Firefighting" by Building a Framework

Why does every new supply chain question feel like a fire drill? Because most teams tear down the house and rebuild it every time an executive asks, "What if...?"

Sarah Butler, Optilogic's Engagement Lead, notes that the biggest barrier to continuous design is the lack of a persistent design framework. Without it, talented teams get stuck in "firefighting mode," rebuilding baselines for every single request.

Her advice is to invest early in a repeatable foundation:

• Build the Process: When you establish a framework, you gain process and repeatability, ensuring you aren't starting from scratch every time. ‍
• Scale the Capability: Instead of one-off victories, you create a system that allows your team to answer more questions, faster.

The alternative? Constantly changing priorities, teams working on islands, and valuable analysts spending 80% of their time on data wrangling instead of generating insights.

Optilogic is built to maintain your baseline as a living asset. Our AI automatically refreshes your data, fills in missing rates, and keeps your model current. Whether you are running a greenfield analysis today or a tariff impact scenario tomorrow, the foundation remains.

Own the Model (Partner Smarter, Not Harder)

The traditional consultant engagement follows a predictable pattern: they build the model, run scenarios, deliver insights, and leave. The problem isn't the consultant—it's what happens next.

Without internal ownership and knowledge transfer, companies find themselves calling the same firm every time a new question arises. The intelligence walks out the door, and the cycle repeats.

Cencora found success with a different approach: Strategic partnership with full enablement. Consultants are vital partners for speed and expertise—and Cencora used partners to jumpstart their capabilities—but the intellectual property (IP) and capability reside with their internal team.

Diana emphasizes this distinction clearly:

"Something that is really key for me when we are working with partners developing capabilities is that Cencora owns the model. The consulting company doesn’t walk away with the details on the model and we are just left with that PowerPoint presentation. No."

By owning the model within the Optilogic platform, Cencora ensures that knowledge transfer is 100% and that their internal team can run the next 1,000 scenarios independently—with or without external support.

The result? The best of both worlds: consultant expertise when you need it, internal capability that compounds over time.

"We had a big 'why,' and we always need to start with that big why. That leadership team was on board, and then bringing the rest of the teams was a lot easier because we had a common goal." 

— Diana Orrego-Moore, VP of Supply Chain Modeling & Optimization, Cencora

‍Break the Data Paralysis

The number one reason companies delay optimization? "Our data isn't ready."

Sarah Butler hears this objection constantly—often in the first meeting with a new customer. Her advice is blunt: Stop waiting.

"Everyone is in the same boat. You are not the exception. That absolutely should not stop you."

The truth is that perfect data doesn't exist. What does exist is the opportunity to create value while improving your data. By centralizing data into a platform like Optilogic, you create a single source of truth. Our AI automatically fills gaps in transportation rates, generates demand forecasts, and bridges missing data with intelligent benchmarks.

Having an always-on baseline model pays dividends far beyond the immediate project—suddenly, finance has better visibility, operations understands the true network picture, and strategy has a foundation for rapid scenario testing.

The Verdict: Defining the Problem First

If you are a leader being asked to "do more with less," where do you start? According to Diana, it isn't about jumping straight to a solution or a specific technology.

"Defining the problem, spending time defining what it is that they need to achieve, is where I will advise a VP of supply chain that needs to make improvements to spend the time."

Before you invest in any tool, any consultant, or any initiative—get crystal clear on:

• What business outcome you're trying to enable
• What questions your leadership team needs answered (and how often)
• What decisions will actually change based on the insights

Cencora didn't get here by accident. They got here by choosing a strategy of continuous design, investing in a framework that would scale, and ensuring their team owned the capability.