Multi-objective multi-echelon distribution planning for perishable goods supply chain: a case study

The growing concern of leading a healthy and balanced lifestyle has instigated the rise of the global consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables. However, the overall supply chain, particularly the product delivery system, is significantly hampered due to uncertain circumstances, such as a pandemic, natural disaster, and political strikes. Thus, better strategical decisions such as improved and optimised distribution planning have to be made to reduce this wastage and spoilage and ensure sustainability across its chain. Therefore, to ensure a sustainable supply chain architecture, this research proposes a tri-objective optimisation model for multi-echelon and multi-products aiming to lessen the annual supply chain cost, cold storage setup cost, and enhance the freshness of perishable by establishing a proper distribution channel. First, a mixed-integer linear programming model with three competing goals is proposed to solve the supply chain distribution network design problem. Then, to deal with the multi-criteria problem, a weighted sum method is considered. This was solved using CPLEX optimisation studio. A case study is considered to check the feasibility of the model with two common fruits of Bangladesh, i.e. guava and lemon. Finally, several cost-effective options and trade-offs between three factors are presented to aid the decision-making process.Highlights A unique flexible distribution planning model for multi-product fresh produceAllocating a new echelon, refrigerated DC between production and consumption zoneConsidering waste minimization and carbon emission to improve sustainabilityDetermining the most preferred location of DCs from potential locationsEstablishing cold storages, considering perishable nature for developing countries