Published in Scientific Papers. Series "Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and rural development", Vol. 13 ISSUE 1
Written by Liliana CONDRATCHI
The purpose of this work is the presentation a general framework to support the operational decisions for supply chain networks using a combination of optimization model and discrete-event simulation. The simulation model includes nonlinear and stochastic elements, whereas the optimization model represents a simplified version. Based on initial simulation runs cost parameters, production and transportation times are estimated for the optimization model. The solutions of the optimization model are translated into decision rules for the discrete-event simulation. This procedure is applied iteratively until the difference between subsequent solutions is small enough. This method is applied successfully to several test examples and is shown to delivery competitive results much faster compared to conventional mixed-integer models in a stochastic environment. It provides the possibility to model and solve more realistic problems (incorporating dynamism and uncertainty) in an acceptable way.
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