Performance Improvement On Inbound Delivery Loading/Unloading System Based On Time Windows Configuration

This thesis studied the positive effects of time windows on the loading&unloading system performance from the point of inbound logistics in automotive industry. As we know, loading&unloading plays a significant role in modern logistics. Especially during daily operation in logistics center, loading&unloading occurs more frequently than the other logistics activities, and takes longer time. As a result, its cost is the key to total logistics cost. There’re two ways to reduce the loading&unloading cost by improving equipment utilization and quantities. One is enhancing the operation speed, which is not feasiable for the sake of safety and service quality, and the other is setting up time windows to balance the equipment utilization and eliminate waiting time. The thesis transformed the existing problem of loading&unloading system into an LP problem and found the optimal time windows distribution solution by Lingo, an LP tool. It is shown that setup of inbound delivery time windows can reduce the cost and complainmentts of clients and suppliers during loading&unloading, which also optimized the resources configuration and reduced the waste and logistics cost.