Simulated Annealing Approach for the Composite Facility Location and Resource Allocation Problem: A Study of Strategic Positioning of US Air Force Munitions.

摘要

The US Air Force faces a problem deciding where to locate munitions storage facilities and inventories in order to prepare for possible future wars. This Munitions Pre-Positioning problem has several possible objectives such as minimizing cost, maximizing demand coverage, or minimizing response time. This research develops a model to provide answers for how to best preposition US Air Force munitions inventories needed for future conflicts for a variety of demand scenarios. This model is a combination facility location model and inventory allocation model which is aimed at simultaneously determining where to locate facilities and how to position inventory quantities. It is the intent of the research to identify solutions that identify improved storage locations and munitions inventories stocking locations while taking into consideration the logistics constraints of potential future demands. The overall purpose of the research is to provide managers and strategic planners with an improved method for making decisions about facility location and inventory positioning problems.