An Innovative Business Model for a Multi-echelon Supply Chain Inventory Management Pattern

Nowadays, companies are experimenting novel organizational solutions to efficiently operate in uncertain and highly dynamic scenarios. As a potential solution, this paper proposes a new business model for a multi-echelon Supply Chain inventory management pattern. Specifically, an inventory model with proactive lateral transshipments was developed and subsequently tested carrying out 288 experiments with the aim of assessing transshipments impact on the performance of a two-echelon Supply Chain. The final goal was to investigate the potential reduction of the overall cost of the enterprise and, conversely, whether this approach could promote significant improvements in the level of service, achievable through a more efficient management of resources. The analyses and simulations indicate the use of large batches and/or low-cost products did not demand the necessity of transshipment events. These preliminary findings could be potentially validated and tested in the future considering more complex networks or multiple products

Inventory models with lateral transshipments : a review

Lateral transshipments within an inventory system are stock movements between locations of the same echelon. These transshipments can be conducted periodically at predetermined points in time to proactively redistribute stock, or they can be used reactively as a method of meeting demand which cannot be satised from stock on hand. The elements of an inventory system considered, e.g. size, cost structures and service level denition, all in uence the best method of transshipping. Models of many dierent systems have been considered. This paper provides a literature review which categorizes the research to date on lateral transshipments, so that these dierences can be understood and gaps within the literature can be identied

Risk Mitigation Strategy for Coal Transshipment

Coal transshipment necessitates efficient and prompt execution, devoid of any delays or work-related accidents. Numerous events during the transshipment process have the potential to disrupt operations and pose substantial risks. This research aims to examine the risks associated with coal transshipment by leveraging ISO 31000:2018 as the risk analysis framework. Additionally, it seeks to prioritize risk mitigation strategies employing the Techniques for Other Preferences by Similarity to Ideal Solutions (TOPSIS) methodology. Data collection for this study involved surveys and expert discussions to comprehensively analyze all risks by ISO 31000:2018 guidelines. The findings were then visualized through the use of a fishbone diagram, which facilitated the identification and understanding of the generated risks. The analysis revealed several threats that could impact the coal transshipment process. These major threats include natural disasters, equipment failures, shipping accidents, health risks for workers, fire hazards, operational delays, inefficient loading and unloading processes, and transportation accidents. The proposed mitigation strategies such as designing SOPs, developing emergency response plans, implementing safety measures, providing training, conducting risk assessments, and ensuring equipment maintenance, are academically supported and practical in their application. However, challenges such as financial constraints, resistance to change, and the dynamic nature of the process need to be overcome for effective implementation. Organizations can enhance safety and operational efficiency in coal transshipment by carefully managing resources, engaging stakeholders, and continuously evaluating and improving strategies. Overall, the proposed strategies offer a feasible and proactive means to mitigate threats and promote a safer and more efficient transshipment process

Cross docking for libraries with a depot

Library organizations in the Netherlands show an increasing interest to employ depots for low-cost storage and demand fulfillment of item requests. Typically, all libraries in an organization have a shared catalog, and, on local unavailability, requests can be shipped from elsewhere in the organization. The depot can be used to consolidate shipment requests by making tours along all libraries, delivering requested items, but also picking up items that have to be stored at the depot, or that have to be shipped from one library to another. Cross docking and delayed shipments are two preferred methods for fulfilling requests that cannot be directly met using on-hand stock at the depot. In this paper, we compare these two methods from an inventory control perspective. We model the library system as a Markov Decision process. For one- and two-location systems, we derive analytical results for the average-cost optimal policy, showing that the decision to store items from the location at the depot satisfies a threshold structure depending on the number of rented items. For larger instances, an effective heuristic is proposed exploiting this threshold structure. In numerical experiments, important managerial insights are obtained by comparing cross docking and delayed shipments in different situations. Cross docking is shown to add most value in systems with low total stock, however, delayed shipments may achieve similar costs as cross docking when stock is high or when tours frequently visit all locations. Furthermore, effective decisions can be based on simple model formulations with memoryless rental time distributions