LAYOUT OPTIMIZATION OF A MULTI-CENTRE DISTRIBUTION MODEL

Abstract

Supply chain planning is becoming increasingly important today, as it is essential for efficient operations to design supply chains that are flexible, sustainable, highly available and able to respond quickly and efficiently to dynamically changing customer needs, while operating cost-effectively. When designing supply chains, it is important to consider not only the investment cost but also the operational cost. This requires the most accurate forecasting of future supply chain needs. In this paper, the authors present a new method for the optimal design of a multicentre distribution network, which uses evolutionary optimisation and Monte Carlo simulation to determine the optimal distribution network structure in an arbitrary geographical area. The design takes into account investment and operational costs, with particular emphasis on the question of how to estimate the average transportation distances in a distribution network with an unknown structure.