Article ID: | iaor201530616 |
Volume: | 59 |
Issue: | 3 |
Start Page Number: | 157 |
End Page Number: | 170 |
Publication Date: | Mar 2016 |
Journal: | Omega |
Authors: | Adler Nicole, Fry Michael J, Hermel Dror, Hasheminia Hamed |
Keywords: | scheduling, optimization, allocation: resources, simulation |
In this paper we propose a framework for shift-level container scheduling and resource allocation decisions at a cross-dock facility. The Multi-Mode Resource-Constrained Cross-Dock Scheduling Problem (MRCDSP) approach minimizes material flow and schedules inbound and outbound containers to dock-doors such that the total processing time is minimized subject to the resource constraints at the cross-dock. While container scheduling and resource allocation problems at cross-dock facilities have been studied previously in isolation, our work is the first to consider a complete view of cross-dock operations providing optimal container to dock-door allocation, and a makespan minimizing schedule of containers to the cross-dock. We present a comprehensive framework that includes identification of container clusters to reduce the problem size, a container-to-dock-door assignment algorithm, and a container clusters scheduling model that is solvable for practically sized problems. In a comparative numeric study based on data simulating a cross-dock facility, our approach is shown to outperform current practice, reducing the average time required for processing a set of containers by 37% and reducing the weighted-distance material traveled within the cross-dock by 45%.