Operations & execution systems · strategy atlas
Hub-and-spoke distribution
what it means
Routing goods or services through a small number of central hubs that then distribute outward to many smaller spokes, rather than connecting every point to every other point directly.
a real example
Logistics and airline networks route through regional hubs specifically because it dramatically reduces the number of direct routes needed to connect a large number of origins and destinations.
when to use it
Businesses serving many scattered locations, where direct point-to-point connections would require an unmanageable number of individual routes or relationships.
when it backfires
Hub congestion or a hub failure can disrupt the entire network at once — the efficiency of centralisation comes with a concentrated single point of failure.