An application of a target oriented robust optimization model for managing bullwhips and inventory deviations in disaster relief operations

• Main Authors: Lim, Hazel Lynne C., Ong, Steven Kristopher L., Ongchuan, Martin Julian F.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2015
• Subjects: Disaster relief
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/6675
• Institution: De La Salle University

Natural disaster and calamities are virtually unavoidable. Due to increasing occurrences and severity, organizing relief operations have become increasingly difficult to conduct. With many similarities in its components and activities, the difficulty of relief operations may be tackled through a supply chain approach birthing the application of disaster supply chains. The biggest concern in disaster supply chains is the assurance that relief goods are supplied at the right location and at the right time. By employing an end-to-end optimization through a linear programming model, the amount of inventory allocations and deliveries are optimized throughout a three-echelon system. The proposed mode decides on the optimal quantity to deliver and uses a binary function to route it through the appropriate transportation modes with respect to varying lead times, capacities, and costs at key locations. This proposed model is validated through different scenarios with varying input parameters which determine sensitive points in the model. The study is taken a step further through the realization of demand uncertainty and the significant trade-offs its presents in terms of service level and total costs. Here, a target oriented robust optimization approach is applied in order to develop a model that produces a robust solution against the uncertainty in demand while still optimally satisfying target parameters that are set in the model.