A decision support system for logistics operations

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-13161-5_14Proceedings of 5th International Workshop Soft Computing Models in Industrial and Environmental ApplicationsThis paper describes an Artificial Intelligence based application for a logistic company that solves the problem of grouping by zones the packages that have to be delivered and propose the routes that the drivers should follow. The tool combines from the one hand, Case-Based Reasoning techniques to separate and learn the most frequent areas or zones that the experienced logistic operators do. These techniques allow the company to separate the daily incidents that generate noise in the routes, from the decision made based on the knowledge of the route. From the other hand, we have used Evolutionary Computation to plan optimal routes from the learning areas and evaluate those routes. The application allows the users to decide under what parameters (i.e. distance, time, etc) the route should be optimized.We want to thank Antonio Montoya for his contribution in the tool developed. This work has been supported by the Espi & Le Barbier company and the public projects funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation under the projects COMPUBIODIVE (TIN2007-65989), V-LeaF (TIN2008-02729-E/TIN) and by Castilla-La Mancha project PEII09- 0266-6640

Site Selection for Joint Logistics over the Shore (JLOTS) Operations Using Multi- Objective Decision Analysis

As the U.S. military faces an increasing need to deploy across a range of military operations and environments, the ability to establish and sustain logistics support remains a major challenge. The Engineer Research and Development Center is currently developing the Planning Logistics Analysis Network System (PLANS), a decision support tool, to facilitate strategic and operational logistics planning. This paper describes a site selection protocol for logistics operations occurring without a suitable port, commonly referred to as Logistics over-the Shore (LOTS) operations. The model uses multi- objective decision analysis techniques to weight different operational criteria to determine the best overall site for logistics over the shore operations. This tool will enhance the time and accuracy in determining an optimal site that meets the decision maker’s specific operational needs

Integrating a web-based system with business processes in closed loop supply chains

Closed Loop Supply Chains include operations for physical collection of end-of-use products, selection based on their configuration and/or condition and decision making for reuse, remanufacturing or recycling. Uncertainty factors regarding the time, place of origin, and status of returns introduce many difficulties in planning these operations. With the aim to minimize such problems, this paper presents an architecture for virtual reverse logistics networks and an implementation for end-of-use PCs. The virtual reverse logistics network for PCs relies on E-commerce and WWW technologies for remote monitoring and benchmarking, instead of physical transportation and inspection. A configuration monitoring and benchmarking agent screens the computer that is about to enter the end-of-use stream and registers the data in the system’s databases. The virtual reverse logistics network regards all incoming PCs as submitted offers. Also, users or agents may explicitly register requests for PCs or modules. Offers are matched to requests with a decision support system to provide recommendations for reuse, remanufacturing or recycling of end-of-use PCs. An electronic marketplace matches requests and offers. The proposed architecture diminishes the uncertainty factors and provides us with an understanding on what is missing and it is likely to have a positive impact to the development of virtual reverse logistics networks for computers and other equipment with embedded logic.business processes;Closed Loop Supply Chains;virtual reverse logistics networks;web-based system

Simulation model of the logistic distribution in a medical oxygen supply chain

Research activities on operations management in the last years are always more dedicated to supply chain and logistics optimization models. The study belongs to this branch and describes the problems related to a re-configuration of the distribution net in a company that produces medical oxygen cylinders for Italian market. The enterprise is particularly sensible to the optimization of supplying processes due to the characteristics of its product, as any delay in the delivery could create dangerous health situation for patients. The work has the objective to realize a software for supply chain management that could be a decision support system, analyzing strategic impacts that changes in distribution system create. In details, the model shows the differences in service level in case of closing one or more factories and the relative necessary changes in logistics net. The paper is articulated in the following parts: • analysis of company and construction of simulation model; • study of classic operation research techniques to solve dynamic vehicle routing problems; • description of possible scenes derived by strategic decision in closing factories; analysis of experiments and global conclusions and developments

A technique for determining viable military logistics support alternatives

A look at today's US military will see them operating much beyond the scope of protecting and defending the United States. These operations now consist of, but are not limited to humanitarian aid, disaster relief, and conflict resolution. This broad spectrum of operational environments has necessitated a transformation of the individual military services into a hybrid force that can leverage the inherent and emerging capabilities from the strengths of those under the umbrella of the Department of Defense (DOD), this concept has been coined Joint Operations. Supporting Joint Operations requires a new approach to determining a viable military logistics support system. The logistics architecture for these operations has to accommodate scale, time, varied mission objectives, and imperfect information. Compounding the problem is the human in the loop (HITL) decision maker (DM) who is a necessary component for quickly assessing and planning logistics support activities. Past outcomes are not necessarily good indicators of future results, but they can provide a reasonable starting point for planning and prediction of specific needs for future requirements. Adequately forecasting the necessary logistical support structure and commodities needed for any resource intensive environment has progressed well beyond stable demand assumptions to one in which dynamic and nonlinear environments can be captured with some degree of fidelity and accuracy. While these advances are important, a holistic approach that allows exploration of the operational environment or design space does not exist to guide the military logistician in a methodical way to support military forecasting activities. To bridge this capability gap, a method called A Technique for Logistics Architecture Selection (ATLAS) has been developed. This thesis describes and applies the ATLAS method to a notional military scenario that involves the Navy concept of Seabasing and the Marine Corps concept of Distributed Operations applied to a platoon sized element. This work uses modeling and simulation to incorporate expert opinion and knowledge of military operations, dynamic reasoning methods, and certainty analysis to create a decisions support system (DSS) that can be used to provide the DM an enhanced view of the logistics environment and variables that impact specific measures of effectiveness.Ph.D.Committee Chair: Mavris, Dimitri; Committee Member: Fahringer, Philip; Committee Member: Nixon, Janel; Committee Member: Schrage, Daniel; Committee Member: Soban, Danielle; Committee Member: Vachtsevanos, Georg

Advanced Planning and Scheduling in the United States Air Force Depot-Level Maintenance

In the post cold war environment, the rapid deployment of combat capability is critical. Deployment lift capability is limited, however, so the real-time selection of the optimal combat asset mix that balances capability provided and sustainment required has become paramount. In this model, the value of a force mix is determined by the sum of the individual weapon system suitabilities against their assigned missions. The value is constrained by the numerical limits on the items required to create and support the force mix, and the lift required to move these items. The research considered heuristic and complete enumeration methods against the problem structure to develop a decision support model that expedites the selection of the best overall force mix. War planners are provided a decision support tool that objectively compares alternative force mix packages and selects the optimal asset mix in a reasonable amount of time while explicitly considering logistics constraints. This demonstrates the feasibility of an approach that integrates intelligence, operations, and logistics issues into a single decision support and planning tool for force mix decisions

Integrating a web-based system with business processes in closed loop supply chains

Closed Loop Supply Chains include operations for physical collection of end-of-use products, selection based on their configuration and/or condition and decision making for reuse, remanufacturing or recycling. Uncertainty factors regarding the time, place of origin, and status of returns introduce many difficulties in planning these operations. With the aim to minimize such problems, this paper presents an architecture for virtual reverse logistics networks and an implementation for end-of-use PCs. The virtual reverse logistics network for PCs relies on E-commerce and WWW technologies for remote monitoring and benchmarking, instead of physical transportation and inspection. A configuration monitoring and benchmarking agent screens the computer that is about to enter the end-of-use stream and registers the data in the system’s databases. The virtual reverse logistics network regards all incoming PCs as submitted offers. Also, users or agents may explicitly register requests for PCs or modules. Offers are matched to requests with a decision support system to provide recommendations for reuse, remanufacturing or recycling of end-of-use PCs. An electronic marketplace matches requests and offers. The proposed architecture diminishes the uncertainty factors and provides us with an understanding on what is missing and it is likely to have a positive impact to the development of virtual reverse logistics networks for computers and other equipment with embedded logic

An integrated planning-simulation-architecture approach for logistics sharing management: A case study in Northern Thailand and Southern China

International audienceIn logistics, freight transportation is a major source of income in a country's economy. One of the most popular strategies is logistics sharing, which is a complex problem due to the involved stakeholders. Moreover, the current several transport operations are extremely expensive due to the empty return. For these reasons, a decision support system is needed to enhance or predict the system optimum and the best strategies of each stakeholder in the context of logistics sharing schemas. In this paper, we will discuss how a Knowledge Management System methodology can be developed for a real case study from the project between Northern Thailand and Southern China which will be used in our study. In parallel, we will show how we model the agent from the analysed data in order to use in our Multi-Agent Simulation in the next phase. The agents will be defined such as transport agents, intermediate agents and customers, among others

Governance Structure Transforemation during ERP Implementations

The United States Air Force (USAF) has a number of initiatives underway to better support tomorrow’s Warfighter. As part of the Expeditionary Logistics for the 21st Century (eLog21) campaign, one of the most critical initiatives is the Expeditionary Combat Support System (ECSS). ECSS is the world’s largest enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation and will completely transform USAF logistics operations. The benefits of an ERP include centrally-managed and integrated information sharing, while the many challenges include training future state operations and employing change management. An effective governance structure is essential in order for the USAF to realize the full benefits of ECSS and minimize the challenges of ERP implementation. Governance is the means by which decisions are made and how decision-makers are held accountable for those decisions. This case study research examines the changes that five organizations made to their governance structure during a large transformation effort, such as an ERP implementation. Specifically, this research examines the main trigger points, or causes of these governance structure changes. The implications of these trigger points and changes to the governance structure are explored within the context of the current ECSS implementation