Design of Tactical Support Strategies in Military Logistics: Trade-offs Between Efficiency and Effectiveness. A Column and Cut Generation Modeling Methods

摘要

Military tactical logistics planning is concerned with the problem of distributing heterogeneous commodities (e.g., fuel, food, ammunition, etc.) from main operating bases to forward operating bases in a theatre of operations using a combination of heterogeneous transportation assets such as logistics trucks and tactical helicopters. Minimizing the sustainment cost while satisfying the operational demand under time and security constraints is of high importance for the Canadian Forces. In this study, a logistics planning model is developed to explore effective and efficient strategies for tactical logistics distribution. A mathematical optimization algorithm based on a column and cut generation technique, using Gomory-Chvatal rank-1 cuts, is developed to solve the problem. This report presents details of a mathematical formulation and a solution algorithm along with an example application to demonstrate the methodology. Computational results are presented in order to measure the degree of efficiency and scalability of the proposed approach, and to study the trade- off between the efficiency and effectiveness in the resulting sustainment strategies.