Shipment Consolidation and Synchronization of Inbound-Outbound Supply Chain Flows

进出供应链流程的装运整合和同步

• 批准号: RGPIN-2019-06207
• 负责人: Bookbinder, James
• 金额: $ 1.89万
• 依托单位: University of Waterloo
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=715643
• 关键词: Shipment; Consolidation; Synchronization; Inbound; Outbound

A set of suppliers each furnish one or more products to a group of retailers. Direct shipment, from each origin to every destination, is often inefficient. We study, therefore, the distribution consolidation problem, in which products from multiple origins to the various destinations will be transported via a consolidation terminal. The latter is termed “node O” of the supply chain. As in industry, the flows in this many-to-many supply chain (many suppliers, many retailers) are coordinated by a 3PL (third party logistics provider). We will develop an optimization model, and several extensions, to synchronize these supply-chain flows. The 3PL does not operate its own transportation assets. Rather, it acts as a broker, to arrange shipments via public carriers, of the goods from each supplier that are ordered by each retailer. Based on demand forecasts for the products, the 3PL commits (signs contracts) for a number of “transportation options.” Each such supplier option is a combination of a capacity and an arrival time at the consolidation center O. Similarly, customer transportation options each have a given capacity and time of dispatch from O. Naturally, every option has an associated cost. The demands for each product can be estimated, but because of randomness in those demands, the amount of required transportation capacity and its timing are uncertain. We will thus model this situation as a two-stage stochastic programming problem. The first stage decisions are the assignment of shipments, inbound to O and outbound from there, to respective transportation options. When the actual demands become known, the second stage decisions involve assignment of loads to spot-market carriers, to the degree necessary. We will develop an efficient solution algorithm for this problem. Building on already-existing relationships with a supplier and a 3PL, we will refine the basic model as above, and implement it at one or more partner firms. The team of student researchers and I will then expand the applicability of the model in years 2-5. Among the extensions are the inclusion of demand forecasting within the model; the revision of those forecasts as actual demands of early periods become known; and adaptation and use of the model in a “rolling time horizon” (rather than a fixed, static time period). Theoretical contributions of our proposed research: Enhancing the above as a multi-product solution of the shipment-consolidation problem An extension to Vendor Managed Inventory, in which the 3PL manages the stocks of certain products at particular retailers The inclusion of shipment consolidation within the theory of location modelling. (How many consolidation terminals should there be, and where should they be located?) This research program will train 3 PhD, 3 MASc. and 5 UG. They will gain experience in optimization modeling and software, and will be co-authors of research publications.

一组供应商为一组零售商提供一种或多种产品。从每个原点到每个目的地的直接运输通常都是无效的。因此，我们研究了分布整合问题，其中将通过合并终端运输从多个起源到各个目的地的产品。后者称为供应链的“节点O”。 与行业一样，这个多一到多的供应链中的流量（许多供应商，许多零售商）由3PL（第三方物流提供商）协调。我们将开发一个优化模型和几个扩展，以同步这些供应链流。 3PL不运营自己的运输资产。相反，它是经纪人，是通过公共承运人来安排每个零售商订购的每个供应商的商品的货物。根据对产品的需求森林人的需求，3PL提交了许多“运输选择”。每个这样的供应商选项都是容量和在整合中心O的到达时间的组合。同样，客户运输选项每个都具有给定的容量和派遣时间。自然，每个选项都有相关的成本。 可以估计对每种产品的需求，但是由于这些需求的随机性，所需的运输能力及其时机的数量尚不确定。因此，我们将把这种情况建模为两个阶段的随机编程问题。第一阶段的决定是分配货物，从那里入站和出站，再到相对运输选择。当实际需求已知时，第二阶段的决策涉及到必要的程度上分配货物市场载体的负载。 我们将针对此问题开发有效的解决方案算法。在与供应商和3PL的已经存在的关系的基础上，我们将改进上述基本模型，并在一个或多个合作伙伴公司中实施它。然后，我和学生研究人员团队将在2 - 5年内扩大模型的适用性。在扩展中，包括在模型中包含需求预测；这些森林随着早期的实际需求的修订而闻名；以及在“滚动时间范围”中适应和使用模型（即，而不是固定的静态时间段）。 我们提出的研究的理论贡献： 将上述作为货物结合问题的多产量解决方案增强 供应商管理库存的扩展，其中3PL管理特定零售商的某些产品的股票 在位置建模理论中包含货物合并。 （应该有多少个合并终端，应该在哪里定位？） 该研究计划将培训3博士学位，3 MASC。和5 ug。他们将获得优化建模和软件的经验，并将成为研究出版物的合着者。