Decision support system for truck scheduling in logistic network through cross-docking strategy

Abstract

In recent years, companies around the world need to find new ways to reduce costs, increase productivity, improve product quality, and meet various customer demands. Each Distribution Center (DC) or warehouse is specifically designed to minimize costs in the company's supply chain. Cross-docking is a logistics technique that eliminates storing and picking up items at warehouses. Cross-docking has several advantages compared to other product distribution strategies from both an economic and an environmental point of view. Cross-docking decisions are influenced by many factors such as the level of product demand, the cost of stock-outs, and the distance from suppliers to customers. This research builds a Decision Support System (DSS) that can help companies to ensure sustainability in the supply chain. This study assumes the demand is deterministic which is indicated by Economic Order Quantity (EOQ). This system can detect the time and quantity of certain items that experience cross-docks accurately. If the customers'demand cannot be fulfilled by the warehouse, then the goods are categorized as out of stock. By knowing the time and quantity of goods at the time of the cross-dock, the warehouse manager can make operational decisions quickly and accurately related to the resources such asoperators and forklifts.