The optimization of inventory control strategy in the three-echelon supply chain under palletized unit load-based logistics

Abstract

Aiming at the promotion difficulties of palletized unit load-based logistics in cost and inventory control, a three-echelon supply chain system composed of one supplier, one DC and multiple retailers under pallet unit load-based logistics was constructed. A mathematical model was established to minimize the total logistics cost of the supply chain by taking the goods palletizing scheme, the reorder point and the maximum inventory level of each node of the supply chain as decision variables. A simulation-based PSO method was designed to solve the model. The effectiveness of the model was verified by comparing with the example of bulk transportation. The results show that the shorter the transportation distance and the greater the demand for goods, the pallet unit load-based logistics has more advantages than bulk transportation. Under the palletized unit load-based logistics, considering the impact of goods palletizing scheme on inventory control and appropriately increasing the number of goods palletizing scheme can effectively reduce the logistics cost of the supply chain. The conclusion can provide a basis for enterprises to choose palletized unit load-based logistics and formulate the corresponding inventory control strategy.