Better for midterm Flashcards
Steps of the network planning process
- Network design
- Inventory positioning
- Resource allocation
Network design
o Number, location, and sizes of manufacturing plants, warehouses,
o Assignment of retailer outlets to warehouses
o Other major decisions with a planning horizon of a few years
Inventory positioning
o Identify where to stock the different products
o Decisions related to inventory management
Resource allocation
o Where to produce? Should each plant specialize in a few products or should be flexible?
o What should be the sourcing strategy?
o How much capacity should each plant have?
What is the trade-off of a decision?
It is a situational decision that involves diminishing or losing one quality, quantity, or property of a set or design in return for gains in other aspects.
Inventory carrying costs (Centralization vs. Decentralization)
Lower Higher
Transportation costs (Centralization vs. Decentralization)
Higher Lower
Facilities costs (Centralization vs. Decentralization)
Lower Higher
Information costs (Centralization vs. Decentralization)
Lower Higher
Delivery time (Centralization vs. Decentralization)
Longer Shorter
Product availability (Centralization vs. Decentralization)
Higher Lower
Flexibility (volume, mix, product) (Centralization vs. Decentralization)
Higher Lower
Network design can be solved in 2 ways:
Mathematical optimization techniques
Simulation models
Items are aggregated into product groups based on:
Distribution pattern
Product type
Distribution pattern
all products picked up at the same source and destined for the same customers are aggregated together
Product type
in many cases, different products are variations in product models or style, or differ only in the type of packaging
Transportation rates
They can be associated with internal or external fleet
Two modes of transportation
Truckload (TL)
Less than truckload (LTL)
LTL carriers divide the rates in three types of freight rates
o Class
o Exception
o Commodity
LTL cost function is
not linear with distance
We can estimate the distance using
o Straight-line distances
o Street network
Warehouse costs include three main components
Handling costs
Fixed costs
Storage costs
Handling costs
labor and utility costs, proportional to the annual flow through the warehouse
Fixed costs
all cost components that are not proportional to the amount of material flow
Storage costs
they represent inventory holding costs, which are proportional to the average inventory