Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Business and Policy Studies

DOI: 10.54254/2754-1169/164/2025.20828

Application and Strategy Research of Data Analysis and

Statistical Methods in Supply Chain Process and Supply
Demand Optimization
Haoran Dai1,a,*
1
Institute of Dalian University of Technology, No. 2, Linggong Road, Ganjingzi District, Dalian,
China
a. [email protected]
*corresponding author

Abstract: This study digs into the importance and usefulness of data analysis and statistical
methods in making supply chain processes better and balancing supply and demand. It looks
at its usefulness in many real-life situations, like figuring out the best way to use resources,
making the supply chain more open, managing suppliers better, making logistics more
efficient, and lowering business risks. By stressing how important it is to combine data
analysis and statistical methods with supply chain process optimization, real-life business
examples make the usefulness and practicality of data analysis and statistical methods stand
out. At the same time, the study deeply explores the challenges and opportunities encountered
in the practical application of data analysis and statistical methods. Finally, we provide an in-
depth summary of the research findings and offer suggestions for future research. The goal is
to provide forward-looking insights and a solid theoretical foundation for the ongoing
improvement and innovation of supply chain management, as well as help businesses better
adapt to the tough international market competition environment.

Keywords: Supply chain, Data analysis, Statistical methods, Process optimization, Demand
prediction.

1. Introduction
In the current digital business environment, the complexity of supply chain management is increasing
exponentially [1]. To gain a competitive edge and maintain a dominant position, enterprises urgently
need to utilize data analysis and statistical methods for in-depth supply chain optimization to achieve
cost reduction and efficiency improvement [2]. Although various data analysis and statistical methods
have been widely applied in the current supply chain process, practical operations still have numerous
challenges and limitations in practical operations. Because of this, it is very important to do in-depth
research on how to use these methods, what their limitations are, and how to optimize and improve
them [3]. This will help lower costs and make the supply chain process more efficient. This not only
helps enterprises gain a more profound understanding of the digital development trend of supply chain
management but also provides them with practical guidance and inspiration in actual operations,
enabling them to achieve sustainable development in the complex and ever-changing market
environment [4].

© 2025 The Authors. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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DOI: 10.54254/2754-1169/164/2025.20828

2. Overview of Supply Chain Process Optimization

2.1. Key Links in the Supply Chain Process
The supply chain process mainly consists of four links: procurement, production, logistics, and sales
and distribution.
• Procurement Link: The primary task of an enterprise is to find reliable suppliers and negotiate
procurement contracts to ensure that the required materials can be supplied on time, with the right
quality and quantity.
• Production Link: This link encompasses a series of activities such as production planning
formulation, production scheduling arrangement, production operation execution, and quality
control, aiming to efficiently transform raw materials into finished products that meet market
demands.
• Logistics Link: It includes key functions such as warehouse management, inventory control,
transportation mode selection, and distribution route planning, with the core role of ensuring the
smooth flow of products from the production site to the sales site.
• Sales and Distribution Process: Enterprises need to build efficient sales channels, accurately
process orders, and ensure timely delivery of products to customers.

2.2. Goals

• Cost Reduction: Through refined optimization of each link in the supply chain, cut costs in
procurement, production, logistics, and inventory.
• Quality Improvement: Strictly control the quality in each link of the supply chain to ensure that
the product quality always meets or exceeds market standards.
• Delivery Cycle Shortening: Reasonably plan the production plan and logistics distribution scheme
to quickly respond to customer needs and shorten the product delivery cycle.

2.3. Significance of Data Analysis and Statistical Methods in Process Optimization

2.3.1. Optimize Resource Allocation
Data analysis is like the sharp eyes of a business, capable of identifying supply chain bottlenecks and
inefficiencies. By analyzing production, inventory, and logistics data, companies can identify
production slowdowns and resource waste. This enables them to develop targeted improvement plans,
increase production efficiency, reduce inventory backlog and costs, and shorten delivery cycles.
Therefore, the operational efficiency of the supply chain is higher, like a well-adjusted machine [5].

2.3.2. Improve Supply Chain Transparency

With advanced data analysis and statistical models, it is possible to effectively connect the data
sources of every link in the supply chain. This includes data from suppliers, logistics, transportation,
warehouse inventory, and more. This allows for the sharing of all information and updates in real
time. This enables enterprises to accurately grasp the overall operation status of the supply chain,
discover and solve supply chain problems in a timely manner, and ensure that each link is closely
connected and coordinated smoothly [6].

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DOI: 10.54254/2754-1169/164/2025.20828

2.3.3. Optimize Supplier Management and Procurement Strategies

Data analysis provides a powerful support tool for supplier performance evaluation, helping
companies make wise and scientific judgments in the supplier selection decision-making process.
Businesses can accurately find key performance indicators and potential risks by looking at
multidimensional statistical data like supplier delivery time, quality indicators, cost structure, and
reliability. This helps supply chain managers make beneficial decisions. This helps optimize
cooperative relationships in the supply chain, reduce procurement costs, enhance its stability and
reliability, and ensure a stable, high-quality, and efficient supply of raw materials.

2.3.4. Improve the Efficiency of Logistics Distribution Network

By using data analysis technology to monitor and analyze various data on transportation routes in
real-time, including traffic flow conditions, road condition information, and real-time status of goods,
enterprises can optimize logistics routes and transportation modes, reduce logistics costs, improve
logistics efficiency, and shorten delivery cycles.

2.3.5. Reduce Potential Risk

Data analysis is crucial in reducing risks. It serves as a sensitive detector to help businesses identify
and assess potential supply chain risks, such as supplier disruptions, changes in market demand, and
transportation delays or losses. Based on the analysis results, the enterprise has established a risk
warning system similar to an alert. Once there are signs of risk, they can promptly detect and resolve
them, minimizing negative impacts and ensuring the stable operation of the supply chain [7].

3. The Role of Data Analysis in Supply Chain Process Optimization

3.1. Main Data Analysis Methods in the Supply Chain
3.1.1. Descriptive Analysis
Descriptive analysis is like a historical recorder of the supply chain. It faithfully presents past
situations, such as the sales and delivery status of the previous day or the inventory level of the last
month. After being sorted and presented, it clearly outlines the past performance of the supply chain,
providing indispensable basic materials for subsequent in-depth analysis and optimization, enabling
enterprises to review their operation tracks and gain insights into their development context.

3.1.2. Diagnostic Analysis

Diagnostic analysis is like a precise business probe, deeply exploring the root causes of supply chain
problems. Diagnostic analysis thoroughly examines the data to pinpoint bottlenecks, inefficient links,
and potential hidden dangers, enabling enterprises to gain a clear understanding of the internal causes
of the problems. Based on this insight, enterprises can formulate targeted improvement strategies,
just like prescribing medicine according to the illness, pointing out the direction for the efficient
operation and optimization upgrade of the supply chain [8].

3.1.3. Linear Programming

Linear programming is an exquisite operational research tool in supply chain management. It focuses
on dealing with problems where both the objective function and the constraint conditions are linear.
In the large stage of the supply chain, within the constraint framework of inventory level, production

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DOI: 10.54254/2754-1169/164/2025.20828

capacity, transportation capacity, etc., it skillfully weighs and seeks the balance between cost
minimization and profit maximization. It helps businesses make better decisions about things like
allocating resources, planning production, and the layout of their warehouses by using complex
mathematical models and scientific calculations to find the best way to move forward.

3.2. Case Analysis: The Practical Application of Data Analysis in Process Optimization
A food processing enterprise is facing problems such as short product shelf life, serious inventory
backlog, and low production efficiency.

3.2.1. Data Collection

Collect the whole process data from raw material procurement to the sales terminal, including raw
material procurement time, quality, price, production equipment operation parameters, processing
time, quality inspection results, product storage environment, inventory quantity, storage time, as well
as sales speed and customer feedback [9].

3.2.2. Analysis and Optimization

• In Inventory Management: Analyze the sales data of different products in different regions and
seasons. For example, the sales volume of a certain refrigerated cake in southern coastal cities in
the summer is three times that of other seasons. Based on this, adjust the inventory strategy,
increase the inventory before summer, and reduce it in winter in these areas; the inventory turnover
rate is increased by 45%.
• In Production Process: Analyze the production data and find that the defective rate of a certain
production line is high in the first two hours after startup on Monday morning because the
equipment needs time to reach the optimal operating state after shutdown on weekends. By
optimizing the equipment startup program and preheating and debugging key equipment in
advance, the defective rate on Monday morning is reduced from 5% to 1%, and the overall
production efficiency is increased by 10%.
4. The Role of Statistical Methods in Supply Demand Prediction
4.1. Main Statistical Analysis Methods in the Supply Chain
4.1.1. Time Series Analysis
This method focuses on analyzing the trends and seasonal patterns presented by historical data over
time to achieve accurate predictions of future market demand. It deeply mines the periodic patterns
in sales data, such as the sales peaks or troughs in specific seasons every year and the long-term
growth or decline trends [10].

4.1.2. Regression Analysis

Regression analysis can guess important factors in the supply chain, like cost and demand, by building
a mathematical model of the relationship between independent and dependent variables.

4.1.3. Correlation Analysis

Correlation analysis aims to determine the correlation strength and direction between multiple
variables. This is achieved in the supply chain by analyzing the correlations between variables such
as sales data, inventory levels, and production costs.

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4.1.4. Inventory Control Models (Taking EOQ and ROP Models as Examples)
The Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) model and the Reorder Point (ROP) model are both based on
the idea that inventory costs and ordering costs should be equal. These models help businesses figure
out the best level of inventory and ordering strategy by giving them numbers.

4.2. Case Analysis: The Practical Application of Statistical Methods in Process Optimization
A supermarket chain is facing problems such as large differences in demand for different stores and
product categories and being greatly affected by holidays and promotional activities, resulting in high
difficulty in demand prediction.
For bread in food products, build a demand prediction model based on multiple regression analysis,
taking the daily sales volume of bread as the dependent variable and the independent variables
including the population of the store area, the average temperature of the day, whether it is a holiday,
and whether there is a bread promotion activity by competitors around.
It is found that for every 5°C increase in temperature, the bread sales volume increases by 10%;
the sales volume on holidays is 20% higher than that on weekdays. According to the results of the
time series prediction model, adjust the bread inventory and procurement plan, reducing the bread
out-of-stock rate from 8% to 3% and the inventory cost by 12%.
For air conditioners in household appliances, adopt a hybrid prediction model of Seasonal
Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA) and machine learning. First, use the
SARIMA model to look at how sales of air conditioners change with the seasons and over time. Next,
put the results and other factors that affect them into the Support Vector Machine (SVM) model to
make more predictions and study the topic more.

5. Challenges and Opportunities

5.1. Data Privacy and Security Issues
In supply chain data applications, data privacy and security are crucial. Enterprises handle a large
amount of sensitive information, and the current centralized storage and processing of statistical
analysis methods increase the risk of data leakage. For example, data sharing in multi-enterprise
cooperative supply chains may lead to privacy issues.

5.2. The Challenges of Data Integration and Analysis

The supply chain data comes from a wide range of sources with different formats and qualities, and
a huge amount of data makes it difficult to integrate and extract valuable information. For example,
in the global procurement supply chain, the data formats and languages of suppliers in different
countries and regions differ, making integration difficult.

5.3. Opportunities Brought by Technological Progress

The development of technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, and blockchain brings
opportunities for optimizing supply chain processes. Big data technology can efficiently store and
process massive amounts of data and explore potential problems and optimization opportunities;
artificial intelligence technology can improve the accuracy and efficiency of demand forecasting and
risk assessment; blockchain technology can solve data trust and security issues, ensuring data
authenticity and immutability.

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6. Conclusion
In conclusion, this study has delved deeply into the application and strategies of data analysis and
statistical methods in supply chain processes and supply-demand optimization. Data analysis and
statistical methods play a crucial and multifaceted role in supply chain management. They enhance
supply chain visibility, optimize various links (such as supplier management and logistics), and
support intelligent decision-making. By identifying bottlenecks and inefficiencies, these methods
enable enterprises to allocate resources more effectively, reduce risks, and respond promptly to
market changes.
Nevertheless, the application of these methods is not without challenges. The rapid development
of technology, such as the wide application of IoT, brings both opportunities and difficulties.
Looking ahead, future research could focus on how to better integrate emerging technologies with
data analysis and statistical methods to enhance supply chain performance. Moreover, exploring more
effective ways to train and develop data analysis professionals for the supply chain industry is of great
significance. By addressing these aspects, we can expect supply chain management to achieve greater
levels of optimization and innovation, helping enterprises thrive in the highly competitive market
environment.

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