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Network Operating Plan / Grainger

From static PDFs to a searchable master plan.

Recreated individually maintained PDF plans as a connected Excel system, with owner-maintained tables feeding a searchable master plan through Power Query.

The operational problem

Each awarded carrier had a separate Word document that was converted to a PDF and stored in a SharePoint folder. A change to a distribution-center point of contact could require updates across multiple documents. That repetitive work meant some important updates were not completed promptly. Because the plans were also distributed externally, keeping their formatting consistent and aligned with brand standards added to the maintenance effort.

My contribution

I wanted to make the plans easier to maintain for my aligned location and saw potential for the approach to scale. I created an Excel-based tool using tables maintained by the responsible owners, Power Query to consolidate those tables into a master plan, and lookup functions to retrieve information by plant and carrier.

Information in the plan

  • Pull times
  • Lanes
  • Package groups
  • Intraday cut times
  • Carrier contacts and facility information
  • Grainger contacts and facility information
How the Network Operating Plan works

  1. Ownership at the source

    Plan owners update their assigned Excel tables using an aligned structure.

    Multiple source tables

  2. One shared plan

    Power Query brings the source tables together in the Network Operating Plan.

    Power QueryNetwork Operating Plan

  3. Access for operations

    Freight Admin uses it to find the right points of contact within distribution centers.

    DC teams use it to validate pull times and find dispatch contacts for their local carrier terminals.

    Transportation Strategy and Design uses it to understand the current plan when considering improvements.

    Outbound Ops uses it to handle escalations when covering for peers.

    The plan is also distributed to carriers to support continuity of operations during their personnel changes.

    Look up by
    PlantCarrier

The change: Individually maintained PDFs became a connected system with ownership at the source and shared access to the plan.

Rolling it out

After proposing the tool to my leadership team, I added it to the agenda for an upcoming team call to present it to my peers. I then created templates for each location. To address initial hesitation about the tool’s perceived complexity, I also created a visual guide explaining how to use it. I distributed the templates and guide to everyone so they could populate the templates with their own site information.

The delivered change

Plans became much easier to maintain and were kept current much more consistently. Bringing network information together in a single source also made it easier to locate. The Network Operating Plan became a company standard and is now used by many people across roles. Freight Admin uses it to find points of contact within distribution centers. DC teams use it to validate pull times and find dispatch contacts for local carrier terminals.

Potential next step

Discussions with Analytics have explored using this information to feed Snowflake tables.

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