Analyzing Network Model for Organic Vegetable Distribution: A Case Study of Zhengzhou City

Due to rapid population growth and increasing demand for high-quality and fresh agricultural products, it is essential to develop advanced transportation networks and distribution centers for perishable vegetables, particularly in urban areas. In this paper, a distribution center model is designed to speed up urban vegetable distribution and reduce transportation and economic costs. This paper develops an algorithm to solve the nonlinear problem and provides numerical analysis to illustrate the proposed solution. It discusses the effects of various system parameters on the decisions and total transportation cost. An improved model of the location selection for the organic vegetable distribution center and sorting center is calculated. The optimum locations of urban organic vegetables distribution center and sorting center are achieved. A real case of an agricultural product supply chain in Zhengzhou City is used to verify the model. The results of this study can serve as a reference for business administrators and managers.

Joint Optimization of a Dry Port with Multilevel Location and Container Transportation: The Case of Northeast China

Dry port construction can reduce the cost of container transportation, and its location is the focus of existing research. Considering dry port capacity limitations and scale advantages, this study calculates the costs associated with dry port construction and operations, transportation, time, and the environment and constructs a joint optimization model of the dry port location and transportation scheme to minimize the total cost. Taking 35 prefecture-level cities in Northeast China as the source of container goods and Dalian port as the destination, this study conducts an empirical analysis using the Gurobi 9.0.2 optimizer of the AMPL software to solve the problem and takes the minimum total cost as the goal to select the best dry port and container transshipment scheme. The research draws the following conclusions. Seven dry ports also need to be built in the road-rail (RD-RL) mode, which shares 82.76% of the container transshipment volume, to reduce the total transportation cost by approximately 21.67%. Although multimodal transport through dry ports increases the time cost slightly, it can significantly reduce the economic and environmental costs of container transportation.

Logistical transportation routes optimization for Brazilian soybean: an application of the origin-destination matrix

ABSTRACT: The last Brazilian agricultural frontier known as MATOPIBA, an acronym for the states of Maranhão, Tocantins, Piaui and Bahia, is a region that has stood out in the scenario of modern large-scale agriculture intensive in capital and technology. However, barriers related to the transportation system, especially regarding the high logistics costs, have been negatively impacting this sector. To optimize the performance of this chain, a model for minimizing transportation costs was developed, using linear programming with an origin-destination matrix. The purpose of this paper was to evaluate whether the use of the North-South Railroad has potential as a new alternative intermodal route for soybean export from the MATOPIBA region, in order to minimize the transportation costs and promote the viability of new ports located in the northeast region of the country. This configuration can also contribute to reduce the overload of Santos Port (SP). Two scenarios were proposed based on the 2016/17 harvest of soybeanwhere the first scenario (A) consisted only of road routes, while the second (B), in addition to these routes, incorporated road-rail and road-water way intermodal routes. As a result, total transportation cost was reduced by 30% in scenario B and about half of all cargo was shipped by the new intermodal road-rail route to the Itaqui Port in the Northeast region. This configuration promotes a more sustainable logistics chain for soy, with more rational use of transport modes and decentralization of investments to other regions.

Modeling and empirical analysis of regional hub-and-spoke road-rail combined transport network based on uncertain cost-time-demand

Taking into account the uncertainties of the factors of in-transit transportation cost, hub transshipment cost, hub construction cost, in-transit transportation time, hub transshipment time, and demand, this study uses triangular fuzzy numbers, expected value criteria, and distribution of credibility measure to minimise the total transportation cost of the hub-and-spoke road-rail combined transport (RRCT) network and the maximum transportation limit time between the origin and destination of the network. Firstly, a non-linear programming mathematical model is constructed for the regional hub-and-spoke RRCT network based on uncertain cost-time-demand. Then, an improved genetic algorithm is designed to obtain an optimized scheme. The algorithm uses genetic algorithm to search the global space, and uses two local search methods, i.e. shift and exchange, to search the local space. Finally, the RRCT network along the Yaan-Linzhi section of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway is used as the research object to verify the applicability and effectiveness of the regional hub-and-spoke RRCT network model and the algorithm proposed in the study.

Determination of the Safest Route for Logging Trucks Based on Road Types and Conditions

Hauling of wood-based forest products is a complex problem that requires evaluation of many alternative routes. Forest transportation has been generally done by using logging trucks with high carrying capacity. Logging truck driving is one of the dangerous occupations in forestry, particularly in Turkey, where forest lands are mostly located in mountainous regions with steep slopes. The safety risk of truck driving mainly depends on the road standards and conditions. The majority of the forest roads in Turkey have low standards that limit the maneuverability of logging trucks. In such conditions, forest transportation should be planned by considering not only transportation costs but also the safety of logging truck driving. In this study, the GIS-based network analysis method was used to develop the optimum transportation plans for two scenarios. In the first scenario, an optimum plan that minimized the total transportation cost was developed, while a transportation plan that ensured the safest logging truck driving was optimized in the second scenario. A safety score was assigned to each road section based on the road type (asphalt, gravel, forest road) and road conditions (good, medium, poor). In the study area, located in the city of Bursa in Turkey, there were three forest depots and five landings. The results indicated that the transportation cost increased by 15.76% when the safety of logging truck driving was prioritized. In this scenario, forest products from three landings were transported to different depots, compared to the first scenario.

Solving the fully fuzzy multi-objective transportation problem based on the common set of weights in DEA

A transportation problem basically deals with the problem which aims to minimize the total transportation cost or maximize the total transportation profit of distributing a product from a number of sources or origins to a number of destinations. While, in general, most of the real life applications are modeled as a transportation problem (TP) with the multiple, conflicting and incommensurate objective functions. On the other hand, for some reason such as shortage of information, insufficient data or lack of evidence, the data of the mentioned problem are not always exact but can be fuzzy. This type of problem is called fuzzy multi-objective transportation problem (FMOTP). There are a few approaches to solve the FMOTPs. In this paper, a new fuzzy DEA based approach is developed to solve the Fully Fuzzy MOTPs (FFMOTPs) in which, in addition to parameters of the MOTPs, all of the variables are considered fuzzy. This approach considers each arc in a FFMOTP as a decision making unit which produces multiple fuzzy outputs using the multiple fuzzy inputs. Then, by using the concept of the common set of weights (CSW) in DEA, a unique fuzzy relative efficiency is defined for each arc. In the following, the unique fuzzy relative efficiency is considered as the only attribute for the arcs. In this way, a single objective fully fuzzy TP (FFTP) is obtained that can be solved using the existing standard algorithms for solving this kind of TPs. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the developed approach.

Optimization of total transportation cost

In this research work, the study used transportation problem techniques to determine minimum cost of transportation of Gimbiya Furniture Factory using online software, Modified Distribution Method (MODI). The observation made was that if Gimbiya furniture factory, Birnin Kebbi could apply this model to their transportation schedule, it will help to minimize transportation cost at the factory to ₦1,125,000.00 as obtained from North west corner method, since it was the least among the two methods, North west corner method and Least corner method. This transportation model willbe useful for making strategic decision by the logistic managers of Gimbiya furniture factory, in making optimum allocation of the production from the company in Kebbi to various customers (key distributions) at a minimum transportation cost. Keywords: North West corner, Least corner, Transportation problem, minimum transportation.

Optimization in Determining Routes of Goods Distribution Vehicle Using the Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm Method at PT XYZ

PT XYZ is one of freight forwarding companies in Indonesia, which is located in the city of Bandung. This company has managerial functions related to Collecting, Processing, Transporting, Delivery, and Reporting. However, the fact is in the process of Transporting this company still uses a zoning system which is a shipping system that still divides tertiary areas and each of these areas uses one vehicle. One problem that arises is that companies want effective and efficient performance in the distribution system of goods with the minimum total transportation costs. However, the company does not know yet whether the company's shipping routes have been effective and efficient or not. The company has tertiary network distribution route that are 2 routes with a total distance of 143.4 Km and a total transportation cost of Rp 5,681,484 /month. This research aims to determine the optimal goods distribution route using the Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm method, which is the method of finding the shortest path following ant behavior in taking food to its nest. Based on the results of the research, it is obtained a total distance of 109.2 Km because it becomes 1 route and total transportation costs Rp 3,337,992 /month, then it is obtained optimal results with a difference in distance is 34.2 Km and a total transportation cost of Rp 2,343,492 /month using one vehicle. Keywords: Optimization, Distribution, Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm

Optimization of Container Terminal Layouts in the Seaport—Case of Port of Montreal

The intermodal transportation system plays a pivotal role in a global supply chain. Despite the benefits of intermodal transportation, it still has negative impacts, which are associated with congestion and emission. Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission is highly associated with the transportation industry, and the share of the transportation sector is growing at a rapid pace. This paper discusses intermodal transportation and its effects on port efficiency. We proposed a new layout for the container terminal in the seaport in order to decrease cost as well as emission generated by the port operations. The proposed layout can improve the sustainability of port activities by decreasing the distance between the berth and interface points as well as avoiding double handling. We propose multi-objective optimization using the ε-constraint method to solve this problem. The model was tested through a case study of the Port of Montreal in Canada. The findings reveal that the proposed layout resulted in considerable emissions and costs reduction. Compared with the current layout of Port of Montreal, the proposed layout achieved a reduction of 46.5% in the total transportation cost of the containers to their final destination, as well as 21.6% in the emission.