Integrated design of sustainable supply chain and transportation network using a fuzzy bi-level decision support system for perishable products

Abstract

This study introduces a fuzzy bi-level Decision Support System (DSS) to optimize a sustainable multi-level multi-product Supply Chain (SC) and co-modal transportation network for perishable products distribution. To this end, two integrated multi-objective Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) models are proposed to formulate the problem. On-time delivery is taken into account as the main factor that determines model performance due to perishability of products. Optimizing the design of SC network using the first level of the proposed DSS, the transportation network configuration is provided optimally in the second level considering different modes and options. In order to contribute to the literature, mainly by addressing uncertainty and perishability, a hybrid solution technique based on possibilistic linear programming and Fuzzy Weighted Goal Programming (FWGP) approach is developed to accommodate our suggested bi-level model. This technique can deal with problem uncertainty while also ensuring the sustainability of the overall system. Lp-metric method is implemented along with three well-known quality indicators to assess the performance of the proposed solution method and quality of obtained solutions. Finally, three illustrative numerical examples are provided using the CPLEX solver to showcase the applicability of the proposed methodology and discuss the complexity of the model. Results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed methodology in finding optimal solutions compared to Lp-metric method, such that it is able to treat a problem with more than 2.2 million variables and 1.3 million constraints in 1093.08 s.