For my Virginia Tech ISE Senior Design project, my team and I had the opportunity to tackle a really interesting operational challenge for BreakingT, a sports apparel company that produces real-time, licensed merchandise for NCAA, NFL, and MLB. BreakingT needed to dramatically streamline their operations to keep pace with fast-moving sports events and market trends, specifically optimizing their design and production planning processes to anticipate consumer demand and reduce overhead costs.

Our initial deep dive into their existing workflows quickly revealed a unique challenge: while their merchandise isn't physically perishable, its value rapidly declines if it doesn't immediately relate to real-time sporting moments and fan interest. Therefore, every hour underutilized in the product design process could cost BreakingT thousands—if not tens of thousands—in missed revenue from potential consumers.

Delivering production planning and inventory control statistical analysis, our recommendations projected a revenue increase of $140,000 from our recommendations on their algorithm’s functioning, due to optimized production planning and faster market response to viral sporting moments. The CEO of BreakingT gave final sign-off on our recommendations, and we presented them to a panel of Virginia Tech Industrial Engineering alumni and board members. Thisproject proved to be a fantastic opportunity to apply industrial engineering principles to a cutting-edge, sporting apparel startup in digital marketing and inventory control products.