A technique for creating a warehouse distribution network structure for industrial enterprises in metropolitan areas

Economic & mathematical methods and models
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Abstract:

The currently existing problems in organizing industrial enterprises’ supply networks cause the methods of designing warehouse distribution networks in geographic regions with high-population centers to become increasingly important. Due to this circumstance, it makes sense to create a technique for forming a warehouse distribution network structure for industrial enterprises in metropolitan areas. The technique is based on applying statistical processing methods (including approximation approaches) and also methods of linear and non-linear optimization. Initial data for implementing the technique includes the weight and size parameters of transport units and vehicles, the characteristics of a geographic region’s map and its corresponding rectangular coordinate system, and also the volumes of supplies and demands of the contractors, i.e., the suppliers and consumers, respectively. The main stages of the implementation process for the technique are as follows: forming functional relationships (describing a metropolitan area’s features) between the characteristics of warehouse objects and transportation processes and the location parameters of a distribution network’s elements based on the statistic data on the services of commercial organizations in the areas of goods transportation and short-time storage; aggregated justification of the warehouse network structure and the cargo flows between warehouses and contractors; correction of coordinates for warehouse objects forming the distribution network. The results of the proposed technique include the characteristics of the amount, location, capacity and rental costs for the warehouse objects forming the distribution network and also the characteristics of cargo flows and the corresponding transportation costs. The main assumptions of the technique are taking into account only the leasable (i.e., not purchased or built) warehouse objects forming the network, and also independence of cargo flow structure from warehouse locations corrected at the last stage of implementing the technique.