Supply Chain Network Design

Multi-Period Supply Chain Network Design for E-Commerce Expansion Problem Definition and Terminology

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SCND — Multi-Period Network Design (NL, 2026–2030)

Strategic timing & siting of FCs to balance transport OPEX vs. FC CAPEX & Ops across all half-years.

1) Why It Matters

Opening FCs closer to demand reduces Hub→FC and FC→DC haul lengths, but adds CAPEX and FC Ops. The best plan changes as topline grows over time.

  • Too few FCs → high transport OPEX, possible shortfalls.
  • Too many/early → CAPEX & Ops overhead before needed.
Goal: Choose where and when to open 10k–25k FCs so total cost over 2026H1–2030H2 is minimized while meeting demand.
Half-year periods Capacity bands Nearest-FC routing

2) Compact Formulation

\[ \begin{align} \min\;\; & \sum_{f\in F}\sum_{k\in K} \mathrm{CAPEX}_{f,k}\, y_{f,k} + \sum_{t\in T}\Big(\mathrm{OPEX}^{\mathrm{trans}}_t + \mathrm{OPEX}^{\mathrm{ops}}_t\Big) \tag{1} \end{align} \]
\[ \begin{align} \mathrm{OPEX}^{\mathrm{trans}}_t &= \frac{\mathrm{days}_t}{10^6}\Big[ \alpha \Big(\sum_{h,f} x^{HF}_{t,h,f} + \sum_{f,d} x^{FD}_{t,f,d}\Big) + r \Big(\sum_{h,f} d^{HF}_{h,f}\, x^{HF}_{t,h,f} + \sum_{f,d} d^{FD}_{f,d}\, x^{FD}_{t,f,d}\Big) \Big] \\ \mathrm{OPEX}^{\mathrm{ops}}_t &= \sum_{f\in F} \mathrm{OpsYear}_{k(f)} \cdot \frac{\mathrm{days}_t}{365}\, z_{f,t} \tag{2} \end{align} \]
\[ \begin{align} q_{t,d} &= \mathrm{Topline}_t \cdot s_d, \quad s_d=\sum_{h\in H} s_{h,d}, \quad \sum_{d\in D} s_d \approx 1 \\ 500\sum_{f} x^{FD}_{t,f,d} &\ge q_{t,d} && \forall t,d \\ 500\sum_{h} x^{HF}_{t,h,f} &\ge 500\sum_{d} x^{FD}_{t,f,d} && \forall t,f \\ 500\sum_{d} x^{FD}_{t,f,d} &\le \mathrm{cap}_{k(f)}\, z_{f,t} && \forall t,f \\ z_{f,t} &= 1 \ \text{iff}\ t\ge \text{start}(f), \qquad y_{f,k}\in\{0,1\},\ \sum_{k} y_{f,k}\le 1 \tag{3} \end{align} \]

\(x^{HF}\) and \(x^{FD}\) are trucks (not orders, capacity = 500 orders/truck); \(\alpha=50\) €/truck and \(r=1.5\) €/km. The allocator uses nearest-FC assignment under capacity; costs follow (1)–(3) across all periods.

3) Data & Assumptions

  • Topline per period (daily), exact days per half-year (leap-aware).
  • Hub→DC share matrix → DC demand split.
  • Fixed distances (km): Hub→FC and FC→DC; trucks handle 500 orders.
  • FC CAPEX by city/band; yearly FC Ops by band; one-off CAPEX upon opening.

4) References

Try It

Open the planner and toggle FC openings to see capacity sufficiency and total-cost impact across all periods.

Open SCND demo
Nuxt + Tailwind + Chart.js; greedy DC→FC allocator with capacity and multi-period OPEX aggregation.