Performance evaluation of a multi-echelon production, transportation and distribution system: A matrix analytical approach

Performance evaluation of a multi-echelon production, transportation and distribution system: A matrix analytical approach

0.00 Avg rating0 Votes
Article ID: iaor20084344
Country: Netherlands
Volume: 176
Issue: 2
Start Page Number: 1066
End Page Number: 1083
Publication Date: Jan 2007
Journal: European Journal of Operational Research
Authors: ,
Keywords: queues: applications, supply & supply chains
Abstract:

This study proposes an originative method to evaluate complex supply chains. A tentative multi-echelon production, transportation and distribution system with stochastic factors built-in is employed as a test bed for the proposed method. The supply subsystem formulated in this study is a two-stage production facility with constant probability of feedback and stochastic breakdowns. The transportation subsystem is a service facility with one server. The distribution subsystem under study is a single central warehouse with M retailers. All the participants of the supply chain use base-stock policies and single-server settings. We investigated both the make-to-order (MTO) and make-to-stock (MTS) policies for different base-stock levels, as adopted at different sites. Applying quasi-birth-and-death (QBD) processes as decomposed building blocks and then using the existing matrix analytical computing approach for the performance evaluation of a tandem queue constitutes the main procedure of this study. We also discuss the possibilities of extending the current model to account for other inventory control policies as well as for multi-server case. Numerical study shows our proposed analytical model is robust for practical use.

Reviews

Required fields are marked *. Your email address will not be published.