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Abstract
Materials required for precast fabrication are dissimilar to those cast at construction sites. Fabricators who lack materials must wait until specific suppliers deliver the required materials. The objective of this study is to reduce total material management costs in the supply chain system through the most advantageous transshipment strategies. A material supply chain framework that enables fabricators to implement lateral transshipment is first proposed. Transshipment strategies are then formulated into a mathematical model. The most advantageous transshipment strategies are analyzed using computer simulation. Diverse order lead times, demands, transportation costs, and shortage costs are simulated to approximate operational conditions encountered in supply chain systems. Through various experiments, the most advantageous strategy for precast fabrication industry can be found. In addition, four rules are developed based on simulation results to enhance transshipment decision making. This research is one of the pioneering studies applying lateral transshipment to precast production management.
Acknowledgements
This research was funded by grants NSC 94-2218-E-212-011, NSC 95-2221-E-212-051, NSC 96-2221-E-020-030, and NSC 97-2221-E-020-036- MY2 from the National Science Council (Taiwan), whose support is gratefully acknowledged. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not reflect the views of the National Science Council. The writer would also like to thank the investigated precast fabricator for supporting this study. Special thanks are due to student Yu-Dian Li for data analysis, equations formulation, and simulation programming.