Optimization of dynamic military supply chains

Ter Wei Zhi

Abstract

The importance of a good logistics network in military operations cannot be overemphasized. Timely supplies of ammunition and other logistic goods are critical in the determination of the success of these operations and any delay in the supply of these commodities can be detrimental to the outcome of these operations.

While previous researches tend to suspend on the static Supply Chain with few making breakthrough in the study of Dynamic Military Supply Chain networks (DMSC), this thesis aims to provide the reader with a formulation of the problem DMSC, taking into consideration the deployment, inventory, transportation, and other unique constraints such as satisfying the weighted fill rate as well as forbidding certain commodities from being able to be transported together.

A framework on an effective analysis is presented with the help of two models, DMSC-FR and DMSC-MinCost. DMSC-FR allows the user to understand the capability of the network in terms of its maximum achievable fill rate, based on a fixed amount of resources. With the availability of accurate input parameters, DMSC-MinCost can provide users with a customized efficient frontier using the algorithm provided which the user can then select based on his or her requirements and preferences. Users can also understand the tradeoffs in varying the parameters and the extra costs incurred or saved.