Multiobjective optimisation of production, distribution and capacity planning of global supply chains in the process industry

The performance of a supply chain should usually be measured by multiple criteria. We address production, distribution and capacity planning of global supply chains considering cost, responsiveness and customer service level simultaneously. A multiobjective mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) approach is developed with total cost, total flow time and total lost sales as key objectives. Also, two strategies to expand the formulation plants' capacities are considered in the model. The epsilon-constraint method and lexicographic minimax method are used as solution approaches to tackle the multiobjective problem. Finally, a numerical example is investigated to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed model and solution approaches. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.