A reliability indicator to measure a stochastic supply chain network with transportation damage and limited production capacity

Abstract

This article proposes a reliability measurement for a supply chain network, in which a vertex denotes a supplier, a transfer center, or a customer, while a route connecting a pair of vertices denotes a carrier. Each carrier's available transportation capacity (e.g., number of containers) is not deterministic since the transportation capacity may be partially reserved by other customers. Thus, the supply chain network can be regarded as a Stochastic Supply Chain Network (SSCN). In an SSCN with multiple suppliers and markets, the goods may be damaged due to traffic accident, natural disaster, inclement weather, time, or collision during transportation such that the intact goods may not meet the customer's demands. In addition, the goods supplied by a specified supplier cannot exceed its production capacity, and the total transportation cost cannot exceed a budget. SSCN reliability is defined as the probability that the SSCN can successfully deliver goods to multiple customers subject to a specified level of damage, budget, and limited production capacity. An algorithm is proposed to evaluate the SSCN reliability based on minimal paths. A real case study of a pineapple supply chain network is utilized to demonstrate the utility of the proposed algorithm.

Keywords::

• Stochastic supply chain network (SSCN)
• transportation damage
• limited production capacity
• available transportation capacity
• SSCN reliability
• multiple suppliers

Funding

This work was supported in part by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, Republic of China, under Grant No. NSC 102-2221-E-011-080-MY3.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Cheng-Ta Yeh

Cheng-Ta Yeh is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Business Administration, Shih Hsin University, Taipei, Taiwan. He received a bachelor's degree in the Department of Information Management from Shih Hsih University, Taiwan, in 2004, his master's degree in Institute of Commerce Automation and Management from National Taipei University of Technology, Taiwan, in 2006, and his Ph.D. degree in the Department of Industrial Management, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (NTUST), Taiwan, in 2010. From August 2012 to January 2014, he was a postdoc in the Department of Industrial Management, NTUST. His research interests include supply chain management, system optimization, and decision analysis. At present, he has published over 20 papers in several international journals, such as Applied Mathematics and Computation, Applied Soft Computing, Computers and Operations Research, European Journal of Operational Research, IEEE Transactions on Reliability, Information Sciences, and Reliability Engineering & System Safety.

Yi-Kuei Lin

Yi-Kuei Lin is currently a Chair Professor and the Chairman of Industrial Management Department, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taiwan, Republic of China. He received a bachelor's degree in Applied Mathematics from National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan. He obtained his master's and Ph.D. degrees in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management at National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, Republic of China. He had the honor to be awarded an Outstanding Research Award from National Science Council of Taiwan in 2008 and 2010. His research interests include performance evaluation, stochastic network reliability, operations research, and telecommunications management. He has published over 140 papers in refereed journals including European Journal of Operational Research; Computers and Operations Research; Reliability Engineering & System Safety; IEEE Transactions on Reliability; IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics–Part A: Systems and Humans; International Journal of Industrial Engineering; Computers and Mathematics with Applications; International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology; International Journal of Reliability, Quality and Safety Engineering; Journal of the Operations Research Society of Japan; Mathematical and Computer Modelling; Computers and Industrial Engineering; International Journal of Production Economics; and Applied Mathematics and Computation.

Cheng-Fu Huang

Cheng-Fu Huang is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Industrial Management Department, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taiwan, Republic of China. He received his bachelor's degree in the Department of Industrial Engineering, Feng Chia University, Taiwan, in 2004; master's degree in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, National Chin-Yi University of Technology, Taiwan, in 2006; and a Ph.D. degree in the Department of Industrial Management, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taiwan, in 2010. His research interests include stochastic network reliability, performance evaluation, and quality management.