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Hub-and-spoke network design
What it is
A network design used wherever processing has scale economies but collection must be local. Volume is gathered at many low-cost spokes and routed to a few high-throughput hubs, instead of replicating full capability everywhere
In diagnostics the hub is a central reference lab running the esoteric menu; spokes are collection centres and satellite labs doing routine tests near the patient
Impact on industries
- Splits fixed from variable cost - expensive analysers, automation and specialists sit only at the hub, while spokes scale cheaply, so incremental volume drops through at high margin
- Widens the addressable menu at every touchpoint, since a small-town collection centre can offer the full oncology and genomic panel without owning the equipment
- Only works if hub utilisation stays high - underloaded hubs turn the fixed-cost advantage into an operating-leverage trap
- Adds logistics dependency: sample integrity, cold chain and turnaround time now hinge on transport, and a hub outage disables the whole catchment