Transshipment and Routing Model for Multi-Product Planning and Distribution at a Refreshment Company in Bogota, Colombia

Abstract

In this article, a model is established for the planning of the weekly distribution of refreshments in a company that produces 6 types of beverages in 3 Production Centers, with the potential use of 3 Distribution Centers and supplying 22 Consumer Centers located in Bogota. Due to the impact of transportation costs on the company profits, it is necessary to determine the optimal planning of the allocation of sources to destinations in the nodal network of the system and its subsequent routing with two types of vehicles. Therefore, a two-phase model is proposed. In the first, the initial optimal assignments are established by comparing two techniques; one based on the Open Transshipment Problem (OTP) and the other on the Capacitated Transshipment Problem (CTP), which determine the trips to be made from production centers to consumer centers using distribution centers as intermediaries. This comparison allowed to analyze its efficiency to choose the model with the lowest cost and number of trips. In the second phase, routing was performed on routes that do not use the full capacity of the vehicles. The routes were established through the Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP). As a result, a comprehensive model was obtained to carry out the planning of the product distribution, obtaining in Phase II the use of the OTM model, which presented 14% less distance; 2.6% less time and 0.28% less than the total cost compared to the CTP model. In Phase II  5 routes were obtained, of which Distribution Center 2 covers 59% of customers.