Study on a multi-brand auto distribution network serving multiple cities to minimize the total distribution cost

Abstract

The current research project consists of minimizing the total cost of an auto dealership supply chain management system that provides two auto brands for five major industrial cities in the Great Lake Area of the United States. The two auto brands are Ford and Chrysler. The five major cities are Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, St. Louis, and Cincinnati. The total cost includes transportation cost from auto assembly plants to individual cities, along with warehouse cost and/or transshipment cost depending on the supply chain management configuration. Concerning the auto delivery schemes, both centralized and decentralized alternatives are considered. For either the centralized or decentralized alternatives, trucks and/or trains could be adopted. Each brand may utilize an independent delivery scheme. The objective is to find the best combination of the delivery schemes for both brands that could achieve the minimized total cost while meeting the demand of each city. The proposed study includes literature review, proposed methodology, and methodology applications using real world data. Finally, the report has a summary and some concluding remarks, as well as future direction of extended research to implement the research products.