Goal programming and data envelopment analysis approach to disaster relief supply chain design

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to present and demonstrate the use of goal programming and data envelopment analysis (GP-DEA) framework for the disaster relief supply chain (DRSC) design problem to help decision-makers who are responsible for disaster planning and management. For this, we develop a GP model with multi-objective functions, and each of the results from the GP is considered as a decision making unit (DMU). The impacts of the emergency relief facilities (ERFs) and the distribution channels between the facilities are evaluated and quantified concerning the efficiency and robustness. A case study using historical data in South Carolina is analysed with the framework. We identify that GP-DEA framework optimizes and evaluates DRSC layouts without any subjective judgment from decision-makers. Further, we also identify that the performance of DRSC layouts is the most significantly determined by the distribution channels. If any DRSC includes more influencing channels, its performance improves.