Starbucks Coffee Company

Material Flow and Partner Efficiency

Starbucks sought a more tailored way to set up inventory materials at the coffeehouse level, since standard guidance does not reflect differences in individual business patterns and could lead to excess waste or insufficient stock. This project focused on developing a data-driven model to track and quantify inventory materials across coffeehouses by analyzing material flow patterns, historical sales data, coffeehouse-level ingredient usage reports, and observations collected in the Starbucks TRYER Innovation Center. The resulting capability was intended to identify key factors that influenced effective coffeehouse setup and highlight opportunities to improve production throughout the business day. By turning store-level data into actionable inventory insights, the project aimed to support more efficient operations, reduce waste, and improve cost management while maintaining Starbucks’ customer experience standards.