IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aes/amfeco/v15y2013i33p8-26.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Solving a Supply Chain Management Problem to Near Optimality Using Ant Colony Optimization, in an International Context

Author

Listed:
  • Luminiţa Nicolescu

    (Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, Romania)

  • Cristina Galalae

    (Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, Romania)

  • Alexandru Voicu

    (Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, Romania)

Abstract

The importance of achieving optimality or near optimality in supply routing is on the rise as globalization leads to scenarios in which multiple, heterogeneous and highly spatially distributed demands have to be satisfied under stringent constraints. However, there is no consensus concerning what constitutes an all-encompassing objective function for the supply planner, who faces what can easily constitute a problem requiring Non-deterministic Polynomial time for determining the solution even in its simplest formulations. The work presented in this article proposes a mathematically grounded approach that uses Ant Colony Optimisation to yield near optimal results across a large set of problem formulations and objective functions. The latter are designed to capture real-world goals such as cost reduction, optimal transportation management, flexibility and minimal lead-time. This study adds a new dimension to topics traditionally encountered in the literature, namely that of the cultural differences between partners engaged in international trade relations. Furthermore, the impact of the lag between determining and implementing the quasioptimal strategy is forecast for an array of objective functions tailored to represent approaches encountered in international companies dealing with supply challenges in fields such as Information Technology. Finally, the framework thus established is employed to analyse the indirect relationship between Asian “white box” suppliers and a Romanian firm operating in Mobile Integrated Device space.

Suggested Citation

  • Luminiţa Nicolescu & Cristina Galalae & Alexandru Voicu, 2013. "Solving a Supply Chain Management Problem to Near Optimality Using Ant Colony Optimization, in an International Context," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 15(33), pages 8-26, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:aes:amfeco:v:15:y:2013:i:33:p:8-26
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.amfiteatrueconomic.ro/temp/Article_1172.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John D. C. Little & Katta G. Murty & Dura W. Sweeney & Caroline Karel, 1963. "An Algorithm for the Traveling Salesman Problem," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 11(6), pages 972-989, December.
    2. Douglas A. Popken, 1994. "An Algorithm for the Multiattribute, Multicommodity Flow Problem with Freight Consolidation and Inventory Costs," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 42(2), pages 274-286, April.
    3. Gheidar Kheljani, J. & Ghodsypour, S.H. & O'Brien, C., 2009. "Optimizing whole supply chain benefit versus buyer's benefit through supplier selection," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(2), pages 482-493, October.
    4. Oded Berman & Qian Wang, 2006. "Inbound Logistic Planning: Minimizing Transportation and Inventory Cost," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 40(3), pages 287-299, August.
    5. Kenneth E. Boulding, 1956. "General Systems Theory--The Skeleton of Science," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(3), pages 197-208, April.
    6. Basarab Gogoneata, 2008. "An analysis of explanatory factors of logistics performance of a country," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 10(24), pages 143-156, June.
    7. Weber, Charles A. & Current, John R. & Benton, W. C., 1991. "Vendor selection criteria and methods," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 2-18, January.
    8. Yue, Jinfeng & Xia, Yu & Tran, Thuhang, 2010. "Selecting sourcing partners for a make-to-order supply chain," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 38(3-4), pages 136-144, June.
    9. Lap Mui Ann Chan & Ana Muriel & Zuo-Jun Max Shen & David Simchi-Levi & Chung-Piaw Teo, 2002. "Effective Zero-Inventory-Ordering Policies for the Single-Warehouse Multiretailer Problem with Piecewise Linear Cost Structures," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(11), pages 1446-1460, November.
    10. Xin James He & Xiaobo Xu & Jack C. Hayya, 2011. "The Effect Of Lead-Time On The Supply Chain: The Mean Versus The Variance," International Journal of Information Technology & Decision Making (IJITDM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 10(01), pages 175-185.
    11. Rust, John, 1996. "Numerical dynamic programming in economics," Handbook of Computational Economics, in: H. M. Amman & D. A. Kendrick & J. Rust (ed.), Handbook of Computational Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 14, pages 619-729, Elsevier.
    12. Emil Crişan & Liviu Ilieş & Irina Salanţă, 2010. "Management Best Practices Used in Romanian Logistics Customer Service Planning," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 12(27), pages 215-227, February.
    13. Makoto Okumura & Makoto Tsukai, 2003. "Distribution Network Configuration Considering Inventory Cost," ERSA conference papers ersa03p343, European Regional Science Association.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Elena-Madalina Vatamanescu & Bogdan Gabriel Nistoreanu & Andreea Mitan, 2017. "Competition and Consumer Behavior in the Context of the Digital Economy," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 19(45), pages 354-354, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hossein Abouee-Mehrizi & Oded Berman & M. Reza Baharnemati, 2014. "Designing Production-Inventory-Transportation Systems with Capacitated Cross-Docks," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(1), pages 121-135, February.
    2. Yang, Hui & Chen, Jing & Chen, Xu & Chen, Bintong, 2017. "The impact of customer returns in a supply chain with a common retailer," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 256(1), pages 139-150.
    3. Ventura, José A. & Bunn, Kevin A. & Venegas, Bárbara B. & Duan, Lisha, 2021. "A coordination mechanism for supplier selection and order quantity allocation with price-sensitive demand and finite production rates," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    4. Yu, Min-Chun & Goh, Mark & Lin, Hung-Chung, 2012. "Fuzzy multi-objective vendor selection under lean procurement," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 219(2), pages 305-311.
    5. Sara Martins & Pedro Amorim & Bernardo Almada-Lobo, 2018. "Delivery mode planning for distribution to brick-and-mortar retail stores: discussion and literature review," Flexible Services and Manufacturing Journal, Springer, vol. 30(4), pages 785-812, December.
    6. Juman, Z.A.M.S. & Hoque, M.A., 2014. "A heuristic solution technique to attain the minimal total cost bounds of transporting a homogeneous product with varying demands and supplies," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 239(1), pages 146-156.
    7. Mohammaditabar, Davood & Ghodsypour, Seyed Hassan & Hafezalkotob, Ashkan, 2016. "A game theoretic analysis in capacity-constrained supplier-selection and cooperation by considering the total supply chain inventory costs," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 181(PA), pages 87-97.
    8. Ventura, José A. & Valdebenito, Victor A. & Golany, Boaz, 2013. "A dynamic inventory model with supplier selection in a serial supply chain structure," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 230(2), pages 258-271.
    9. Noori-Daryan, Mahsa & Taleizadeh, Ata Allah & Jolai, Fariborz, 2019. "Analyzing pricing, promised delivery lead time, supplier-selection, and ordering decisions of a multi-national supply chain under uncertain environment," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 209(C), pages 236-248.
    10. Oded Berman & Qian Wang, 2006. "Inbound Logistic Planning: Minimizing Transportation and Inventory Cost," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 40(3), pages 287-299, August.
    11. Chitsaz, Masoud & Cordeau, Jean-François & Jans, Raf, 2020. "A branch-and-cut algorithm for an assembly routing problem," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 282(3), pages 896-910.
    12. Mosca, Alyssa & Vidyarthi, Navneet & Satir, Ahmet, 2019. "Integrated transportation – inventory models: A review," Operations Research Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 6(C).
    13. Xu, Jiuping & Ding, Can, 2011. "A class of chance constrained multiobjective linear programming with birandom coefficients and its application to vendors selection," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(2), pages 709-720, June.
    14. Haiqing Song & Vernon N. Hsu & Raymond K. Cheung, 2008. "Distribution Coordination Between Suppliers and Customers with a Consolidation Center," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 56(5), pages 1264-1277, October.
    15. Masoud Chitsaz & Jean-François Cordeau & Raf Jans, 2019. "A Unified Decomposition Matheuristic for Assembly, Production, and Inventory Routing," INFORMS Journal on Computing, INFORMS, vol. 31(1), pages 134-152, February.
    16. Araz, Ceyhun & Ozkarahan, Irem, 2007. "Supplier evaluation and management system for strategic sourcing based on a new multicriteria sorting procedure," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(2), pages 585-606, April.
    17. Liao, Zhiying & Rittscher, Jens, 2007. "A multi-objective supplier selection model under stochastic demand conditions," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(1), pages 150-159, January.
    18. Nassimbeni, Guido, 1996. "Factors underlying operational JIT purchasing practices: Results of an empirical research," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 275-288, April.
    19. Lu, Jinfeng & Dimov, Dimo, 2023. "A system dynamics modelling of entrepreneurship and growth within firms," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 38(3).
    20. Richard S. J. Tol & In Chang Hwang & Frédéric Reynès, 2012. "The Effect of Learning on Climate Policy under Fat-tailed Uncertainty," Working Paper Series 5312, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    International trade flows; supply chain management; control theory; ant colony optimisation; asymmetric travelling salesman problem;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F17 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Forecasting and Simulation
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • F47 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Forecasting and Simulation: Models and Applications
    • J53 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Labor-Management Relations; Industrial Jurisprudence
    • M11 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Production Management
    • M15 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - IT Management

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aes:amfeco:v:15:y:2013:i:33:p:8-26. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Valentin Dumitru (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aseeero.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.