Topic:Dynamic Containers Deployment:  Two-Stage  Robust Model, Complexity, and Computational Results

Speaker: Shu Jia, Southeast University, Nanjing, China.

Time: 14:30, pm., 6, April. (Wed.), 2016.

Venue: Room 308, Tongji Building A 

Abstract: In this paper, we study a multi-sourcing supply chain network design problem under demand uncertainty, in which each retailer can source a single item from more than one distribution center. The problem takes into account the complex trade-off among the costs of location and inventory holding, as well as the fixed linkage and per unit delivery costs between distribution centers and retailers. We propose a nonlinear mixed integer programming model with a joint chance constraint to optimally balance all the cost components while achieving a pre-specified service level. Two approaches, namely, the set-wise approximation and the approximation based on linear decision rule, are constructed to conservatively approximate the service level chance constraint based on incomplete information of demand distribution. Both approaches yield sparse distribution networks, which are effective in matching uncertain demand using on-hand inventory and hence successfully reach a high service level. We also show through extensive numerical experiments that the proposed approaches outperform other commonly adopted approximations of the chance constraint. 

Bio: Shu Jia is a Professor at the Department of Management Science and Engineering, School of Economics and Management, Southeast University, Nanjing, China. He received a B.Eng. degree in Power Automation Engineering from Southeast University, and a Ph.D. in Operations Research from the Singapore-MIT Alliance Program. His research interests include Logistics and Transportation Management, Computational IP, etc.