Coordinated replenishments from multiple suppliers with price discounts

In this study we present an integer programming model for determining an optimal inbound consolidation strategy for a purchasing manager who receives items from several suppliers. The model considers multiple suppliers with limited capacity, transportation economies, and quantity discounts. We propose an integrated branch and bound procedure for solving the model. This procedure, applied to a Lagrangean dual at every node of the search tree, combines the subgradient method with a primal heuristic that interact to change the Lagrangean multipliers and tighten the upper and lower bounds. An enhancement to the branch and bound procedure is developed using surrogate constraints, which is found to be beneficial for solving large problems. We report computational results for a variety of problems, with as many as 70,200 variables and 3665 constraints. Computational testing indicates that our procedure is significantly faster than the general purpose integer programming code OSL. A regression analysis is performed to determine the most significant parameters of our model. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Naval Research Logistics 45: 579–598, 1998     

Impacts of logistics information on sales: Evidence from Alibaba

Facing fierce competition from rivals, sellers in online marketplaces are eager to improve their sales by delivering items faster and more reliably. Because logistics quality can be known only after a transaction, sellers must identify effective ways to communicate logistics information to consumers. Drawing on the accessibility-diagnosticity framework, we theorize that the sales impacts of logistics information depend on its relative diagnostic value. Using data on 1493 items with 505,785 consumer reviews from an online marketplace, we examine how sales are affected by three information sources for logistics services: online word of mouth (WOM) about logistics, self-reported logistics services, and expected delivery time. We use an instrumental variable method to address the endogeneity issue between sales and WOM. We find that, ceteris paribus, consumers give more weight to WOM about logistics and delivery time when they make purchase decisions but less weight to self-reported logistics service. The effects of logistics information on sales are asymmetric for large and small sellers.     

网格环境下虚拟物流企业模型描述及设计研究

虚拟物流企业设计的目的是获取最佳的物流效能,而最佳物流效能必须通过最佳的组织效能来体现,表现在物流使命与企业架构的匹配。由于网格环境下虚拟物流企业设计较为复杂,基于组织权变理论,首先给出了相关的基本概念,指出虚拟物流企业设计包括工作流程和企业架构设计两个方面,设计过程就是二者的平衡过程。此外,按照在物流资源约束的情况下能够产生最佳组织状态为要求,进行了虚拟物流企业设计,以数学模型表示了设计过程,并明确了求解任务,对虚拟物流企业设计研究由定性分析向定量研究转变进行了初步尝试。     

战区弹药保障敏捷供应链优化模型及实现算法

针对现有的供需矛盾,在分析战区弹药保障供应链管理任务需求的基础上,初步构建了战区弹药保障敏捷供应链管理框架及运行机制,分析了战区弹药保障敏捷供应链的供需协同机制,重点对多级库存优化控制模型、多级弹药配送决策优化模型及实现算法进行了研究,提出了战区弹药保障敏捷供应链建设的具体对策。     

基于遗传算法的虚拟物流联合库存控制研究

针对随机需求条件下的虚拟物流库存控制问题进行了深入研究,提出了一种新的联合库存控制策略——（T,S,s）策略,建立了相应的库存成本模型,并构造遗传算法对模型进行求解。结果分析表明,所提出的（T,S,S）联合库存控制策略是有效的。     

Capacitated warehouse location model with risk pooling

In this article, we introduce the capacitated warehouse location model with risk pooling (CLMRP), which captures the interdependence between capacity issues and the inventory management at the warehouses. The CLMRP models a logistics system in which a single plant ships one type of product to a set of retailers, each with an uncertain demand. Warehouses serve as the direct intermediary between the plant and the retailers for the shipment of the product and also retain safety stock to provide appropriate service levels to the retailers. The CLMRP minimizes the sum of the fixed facility location, transportation, and inventory carrying costs. The model simultaneously determines warehouse locations, shipment sizes from the plant to the warehouses, the working inventory, and safety stock levels at the warehouses and the assignment of retailers to the warehouses. The costs at each warehouse exhibit initially economies of scale and then an exponential increase due to the capacity limitations. We show that this problem can be formulated as a nonlinear integer program in which the objective function is neither concave nor convex. A Lagrangian relaxation solution algorithm is proposed. The Lagrangian subproblem is also a nonlinear integer program. An efficient algorithm is developed for the linear relaxation of this subproblem. The Lagrangian relaxation algorithm provides near‐optimal solutions with reasonable computational requirements for large problem instances. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2008     

Analysis and optimal design of discrete order picking technologies along a line

Order picking accounts for most of the operating expense of a typical distribution center, and thus is often considered the most critical function of a supply chain. In discrete order picking a single worker walks to pick all the items necessary to fulfill a single customer order. Discrete order picking is common not only because of its simplicity and reliability, but also because of its ability to pick orders quickly upon receipt, and thus is commonly used by e‐commerce operations. There are two primary ways to reduce the cost (walking distance required) of the order picking system. First is through the use of technology—conveyor systems and/or the ability to transmit order information to pickers via mobile units. Second is through the design—where best to locate depots (where workers receive pick lists and deposit completed orders) and how best to lay out the product. We build a stochastic model to compare three configurations of different technology requirements: single‐depot, dual‐depot, and no‐depot. For each configuration we explore the optimal design. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Naval Research Logistics, 2008     

Think again – supplying war: reappraising military logistics and its centrality to strategy and war

This article argues that logistics constrains strategic opportunity while itself being heavily circumscribed by strategic and operational planning. With the academic literature all but ignoring the centrality of logistics to strategy and war, this article argues for a reappraisal of the critical role of military logistics, and posits that the study and conduct of war and strategy are incomplete at best or false at worst when they ignore this crucial component of the art of war. The article conceptualises the logistics–strategy nexus in a novel way, explores its contemporary manifestation in an age of uncertainty, and applies it to a detailed case study of UK operations in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001.     

增材制造技术在军事物流中的应用研究

增材制造技术是一种新型的制造技术,现已被应用到了航空航天、汽车工业和军事等诸多行业领域.作为军事领域的重要组成部分,军事物流与增材制造技术通过军用物资这一共同的作用对象为纽带存在着天然的联系.遗憾的是,目前增材制造技术在军事领域的应用范围还比较局限,有关军事物流的应用更是少见.为有效推动增材制造技术在军事物流中的应用实...     

面向AL的战略级仓库备件供应优化方法

针对维修备件供应保障费用较高、管理难度较大等问题,借助自主式保障(AL)理念设计了面向AL的维修备件调度与供应优化框架,提出面向AL的战略级仓库维修备件供应优化思路。在此基础上,为了解决战略级仓库备件供应路线规划不科学、弥补半定量经验方法不足的情况,建立了带混合时间窗的多供应地——多需求地维修备件供应路线优化模型,设计了求解模型的GA-SA混合算法。最后运用算例进行了说明。