Dynamic programming formulations of multimodal logistic networks

Author

Ajith Kumar Karunakara

Abstract

"Transportation services and facilities have grown rapidly in the United States, Europe and are developing in Asia in the wake of increasing demand for seamless logistics services by multinational corporations and their suppliers and distributors. Economic globalization requires firms to produce and deliver goods faster to customers around the world. In order to do so, corporations must manage their supply chains and integrate their logistics systems more effectively.

Multimodal logistics, allows movement of cargo from origin to ultimate destination via different modes of transportation, e.g., road, rail, sea, and air, in order to reduce transportation cost while maintaining appropriate lead time. Tougher international competition and expansion of geographical markets have forced importers and exporters to focus on integrated production and transport logistics strategies in order to reduce costs and at the same time obtain a higher service standard. One area that has received significant attention from global traders is that of business logistics which has become an important component of the total cost.

The objective of the study is to provide a better understanding of multimodal logistics with respect to international, as well as domestic, cargo movement. In this study we present dynamic programming formulations of a multimodal logistics system with the objective of minimizing cost or lead time, subjected to maintaining on time service requirements or cost constraints. The resulting multimodal transportation networks are deterministic cyclic networks, and optimal routes may be obtained using Dijkstra’s Algorithm. The cost model includes both the transport costs of road, rail, sea, and air, and the intermodal transfer costs of ports, and rail-freight terminals as cost components.

Finally, the model is applied to a small case of an Indian automaker, and numerical results are obtained using a modified version of Dijkstra’s algorithm (programmed in c). The results demonstrate the potential of multimodal logistics"--Abstract, page iii.

Advisor(s)

Grasman, Scott E. (Scott Erwin)

Committee Member(s)

Meinert, Timothy S.
Saygin, Can

Department(s)

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering

Degree Name

M.S. in Engineering Management

Publisher

University of Missouri--Rolla

Publication Date

Spring 2003

Pagination

ix, 45 pages

Note about bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 42-44).

Rights

© 2003 Ajith Kumar Karunakara, All rights reserved.

Document Type

Thesis - Restricted Access

File Type

text

Language

English

Subject Headings

Business logistics -- Mathematical models
Programming (Mathematics)

Thesis Number

T 8235

Print OCLC #

53228580

Link to Catalog Record

Electronic access to the full-text of this document is restricted to Missouri S&T users. Otherwise, request this publication directly from Missouri S&T Library or contact your local library.

Recommended Citation

Karunakara, Ajith Kumar, "Dynamic programming formulations of multimodal logistic networks" (2003). Masters Theses. 2329.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/masters_theses/2329