Logistic models to minimize the material handling cost within a cross-dock

Abstract

<abstract> <p>Retail supply chains are intended to empower effectiveness, speed, and cost-savings, guaranteeing that items get to the end client brilliantly, giving rise to the new logistic strategy of cross-docking. Cross-docking popularity depends heavily on properly executing operational-level policies like assigning doors to trucks or handling resources to doors. This paper proposes a linear programming model based on door-to-storage assignment. The model aims to optimize the material handling cost within a cross-dock when goods are unloaded and transferred from the dock area to the storage area. A fraction of the products unloaded at the incoming gates is assigned to different storage zones depending on their demand frequency and the loading sequence. Numerical example considering a varying number of inbound cars, doors, products, and storage areas is analyzed, and the result proves that the cost can be minimized or savings can be intensified based on the feasibility of the research problem. The result explains that a variation in the number of inbound trucks, product quantity, and per-pallet handling prices influences the net material handling cost. However, it remains unaffected by the alteration in the number of material handling resources. The result also verifies that applying direct transfer of product through cross-docking is economical as fewer products in storage reduce the handling cost.</p> </abstract>