Multi-objective multi-echelon distribution planning for perishable goods supply chain: a case study

Abstract

The growing concern of leading a healthy and balanced lifestyle has instigated the rise of the global consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables. However, the overall supply chain, particularly the product delivery system, is significantly hampered due to uncertain circumstances, such as a pandemic, natural disaster, and political strikes. Thus, better strategical decisions such as improved and optimised distribution planning have to be made to reduce this wastage and spoilage and ensure sustainability across its chain. Therefore, to ensure a sustainable supply chain architecture, this research proposes a tri-objective optimisation model for multi-echelon and multi-products aiming to lessen the annual supply chain cost, cold storage setup cost, and enhance the freshness of perishable by establishing a proper distribution channel. First, a mixed-integer linear programming model with three competing goals is proposed to solve the supply chain distribution network design problem. Then, to deal with the multi-criteria problem, a weighted sum method is considered. This was solved using CPLEX optimisation studio. A case study is considered to check the feasibility of the model with two common fruits of Bangladesh, i.e. guava and lemon. Finally, several cost-effective options and trade-offs between three factors are presented to aid the decision-making process.

Highlights

• A unique flexible distribution planning model for multi-product fresh produce

• Allocating a new echelon, refrigerated DC between production and consumption zone

• Considering waste minimization and carbon emission to improve sustainability

• Determining the most preferred location of DCs from potential locations

• Establishing cold storages, considering perishable nature for developing countries

KEYWORDS:

• Supply chain network design
• perishable goods
• distribution planning
• multi-objective optimisation

Acknowledgements

Methodology, Software, Writing- Original draft preparation done by Samiha Mustabin Jaigirdar. Data curation, Validation, Writing- Original draft preparation done by Sudipta Das. Software, Visualization, Investigation done by Autoshe Ray Chowdhury. Conceptualization, Supervision, Writing- Original draft, Reviewing and Editing done by Sayem Ahmed. Supervision, Reviewing and Editing done by Ripon Kumar Chakrabortty.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

All basic data correspond to generate results are mentioned in this manuscript. For more information, potential readers are requested to contact the first author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Samiha Mustabin Jaigirdar

Samiha Mustabin Jaigirdar attained her B.Sc. in Industrial and Production Engineering (IPE) from Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology (AUST), Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2019. Her current research interests and areas include- Digital Supply Chain, Perishable Food Chain, Disruption and Risk Assessment, Scheduling and Project Management, Production Planning and Control, Engineering Data Analysis.

Sudipta Das

Sudipta Das attained her B.Sc. in Industrial and Production Engineering (IPE) from Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology (AUST), Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2019. Her current research areas include- Supply Chain Management, Disruption and Risk Assessment, Production Planning and Control, Quality Planning and Control.

Autoshe Ray Chowdhury

Autoshe Ray Chowdhury attained her B.Sc. in Industrial and Production Engineering (IPE) from Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology (AUST), Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2019. Her current research interests include- Supply Chain Network Design, Scheduling and Project Management, Production Planning and Control, Lean and Green Practices.

Sayem Ahmed

Sayem Ahmed currently works as an Assistant Professor of Industrial and Production Engineering (IPE) in the Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering (MPE) at Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology (AUST), Dhaka, Bangladesh. His current research interests and areas include- Green and Sustainable Supply Chain, Digital Supply Chain and Industry 4.0, Humanitarian Logistics, Disruption and Risk Assessment, Production Planning and Control, Quality Management and Control, Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) Techniques, Simulation and Multi-Objective Optimization. His research appears in the International Journal of Production Economics, Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, International Journal of Logistics Research and Applications, Sustainable Production and Consumption.

Ripon Kumar Chakrabortty

Dr Ripon Kumar Chakrabortty is a lecturer on System Engineering and Project Management at the School of Engineering and Information Technology, the University of New South Wales (UNSW Australia), Canberra. He obtained his PhD in Computer Science from the same University in 2017. He has written two book chapters and over 130 technical journal and conference papers. His research interest covers a wide range of topics in Operations Research, Optimization problems, Project Management, Supply Chain Management and Information Systems Management.