Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Inbound container queuing optimization model for distribution centers
Abstract
dc:description.abstractLarge, multi-national retailers have massive, worldwide supply chain networks which move product from a supplier to the end consumer. During the product's transit from a factory to a regional distribution center, customers may change or cancel their order, or the planned arrival date of the product at the distribution center may change. These products are packed in containers and arrive at the distribution center daily. Each day, humans may make decisions of which containers will be received at a distribution center and there are opportunity costs associated with selecting the wrong container to receive, namely, that the distribution center will become filled with product which is not immediately needed to meet outbound demand. This thesis analyzes one method of receiving containers at a distribution center and the impacts it has on satisfying customers' orders. A model for a lean inventory management system and a container selection optimization model are described in it. Representative data is presented and the model is used to solve which containers should be received. Finally, the efficacy of the model and a comparison to a heuristic are discussed.
Degree
thesis:*- Department dc:contributor.department
- Leaders for Global Operations Program at MIT
- Grantor dc:publisher
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Year dc:date.issued
- 2017
Author and committee
dc:creator, dc:contributor.*- Author dc:creator
-
- Forthuber, Russell G
- Advisor dc:contributor.advisor
-
- Stephen Graves and Stanley B. Gershwin.
Subjects
dc:subject × 3Rights
dc:rights- Statement dc:rights
-
- MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.
- Licence dc:rights.uri
- Language dc:language.iso
- eng
Identifiers
dc:identifier.*- Handle dc:identifier.uri
- http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/111265
- OAI identifier oai:identifier
- oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/111265