Sustainable supply chain design: A case of collaborative wholesale distribution

Abstract

We assess the cooperative network design's efficiency outcomes in Morocco's food wholesale distribution. Before joining the collaborative coalition, we provide decision-makers with an initial preference instrument to assess the environmental and financial effects of cooperative freight distribution. We assess the practicality of incorporating decisions from the Facility Location Problem (FLP) and Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) into partnerships for sustainable freight transportation. The coalition utilizes a 3PL provider's fleet of cars, therefore the Vehicles are exempt from having to go back to the consolidation depot; as a result, the fundamental issue becomes an open location routing problem (OLRP). Although there have been several studies on open location-routing problems, their application to horizontal shipper collaboration is new. For diverse collaboration scenarios, our computational approach is founded on two-echelon OLRP under a multiple objective and periods’ framework. Every shipper involved in the partnership needs to receive gains. Therefore, evaluating the benefits to each individual shipper is essential for an effective and durable collaboration. This study addresses the issue of profit allocation to determine the collective and individual shipper's savings. By considering not just economic variables but also environmental factors, the Open LRP may help firms plan and optimize their collaborative supply chains in a more sustainable manner.