MODELING A DISASTER RELIEF SUPPLY CHAIN WITH ARENA

Abstract

ABSTRACT Recent natural and man-made disasters underscore the need of a resilient and agile disaster relief supply chain to mitigate the damages and reduce casualties. Simulation modeling have become a powerful and useful tool to help decision makers tackle problems related to disaster relief supply chain. In this study, a simulation model of the disaster relief supply chain has been designed and developed using Arena Simulation software. The simulation model considers the key processes of the disaster relief supply chain, which consists of four stages: Point of Distribution (POD), State Staging Area (SSA), Federal Staging Area (FSA), and Suppliers. The victim demand is random at the PODs and the supply of disaster relief goods are unlimited and 100% reliable at the supplier stage. At the PODs, SSA, and FSA stages, (Q, R) continuous review inventory policy is used to control the inventory. The main performance measures include total inventory costs, inventory level, backorder level, lost demand, and customer service level. The developed simulation model is evaluated through a computational study, which shows the impact of demand loads on the main performance measures. The computational results are discussed and the future work is addressed. Keywords Disaster Relief Supply Chain, Simulation modeling, Arena Simulation Software