Simulation of lateral transshipment in order delivery under e-commerce environment

In this research, we apply a discrete event simulation approach to explore how enterprises in the Chinese mainland make a successful operation with the aid of e‐commerce. This paper examines the effects of proposed four kinds of transshipment operation network structures on the performance under different policies of transshipment and inventory allocation. Results show that: 1) transshipment based on availability (TBA) policy can produce the high service level, while transshipment based on the inventory equalisation (TIE) policy can give high profits; 2) adoption of TBA or TIE is contingent on different stages of development; 3) an optimal service level and performance can both be acquired at the same time by adjusting transshipping structure; 4) the 'complete link' transshipping structure is the best in improving the service level; 5) the 'small‐world' transshipping structure is optimal; 6) the 'scale‐free' transshipping structure should be averted forming in operation.