Scholarly record

MINIMIZING THE TRANSPORTATION COSTS BY OPTIMAL POSITIONING OF UNITS IN LOGISTICS SYSTEMS

R. Nikolaev, T. Milkova, D. Zhelyazkova

Abstract

The present research paper deals with the problem for determining the optimal positioning of units in logistics system aiming the minimization of the transportation costs for providing communication between the units. For the purposes of the research a logistics system is treated as relatively stable set of units (structural and/or functional subunits of the company but also suppliers, consumers and logistical mediators) connected to each other and united in one management of the logistical process for realizing the corporative strategy of the business organization. Basic task of the management of logistics systems is providing minimal expenses for all the processes, one of which is concerning the positioning of the interconnected units. When determining the optimal positioning of the units in logistics systems must be taken into account a variety of factors, one of which is dealing with the transportation costs depending on the distance between the interconnected units. Usually when determining the optimal positioning of units an approach is applied when choice is made between certain quantity of options taking into account specific factors – production expenses, transportation costs etc. In the present paper another type of optimization is proposed, using the instruments of the analytical geometry. On that base the units of the logistics system are treated as points in Cartesian coordinate system. A non-linear model for optimization is constructed and an analytical method for its solving is proposed based on the famous Heron’s problem. By this model the coordinates of the points at which to position the units to minimize the total distance between interconnected units are found taking into account certain restrictive conditions.

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