Research And Application Of Tobacco Logistics Network Optimization Method

In recent years, the Chinese tobacco market is opening to othercountries. Along with the increasingly fierce international competition,controlling cost and improving service level means a lot to the domesticscompanies. As a special part of the tobacco companies, the logisticsability is important, especially when facing competitors. As a result, thecompanies gradually realize the significant of a rational logistics networkwhich with lower-cost and better-service. How to establish a scientificand effective network optimization methodology has become popularbetween the researchers.To solve the problem of high cost and low service level of logisticsthat tobacco companies face, this article proposed a methodology whichcombines quantitative evaluation and qualitative analysis together to getthe answer of Location Allocation Problems base on the tobacco logistics.Firstly, the solution bases on the thought of economies of scale andreducing the transit time, then builds a three-tier logistics networkarchitecture instead of the old one which is two-tier. The solution builds amathematical model which considers the transportation cost, theoperation cost, the distribution volume, and the penalty fees and so on.The model has the target of lowest cost. Then use Ant ColonyOptimization Algorithm to solve the model and get several optional plans.Secondly, use the multi-attribute decision-making method to get thebest plan out of the options derived from the quantitative phase.Qualitative analysis can remedy the defect of ignorance some importantqualitative factors in the quantitative phase. In this phase, most of thefactors that may affect the selection are considered; a qualitative factorindex evaluation system and a model are established. At last, the best plancomes out by sorting. Last, the article uses a tobacco logistics network optimization projectas an example to verify the solution.