MAKING BETTER USE OF OPTIMIZATION CAPABILITY IN DISTRIBUTION-SYSTEM PLANNING

To have an efficient optimization technique for a class of problems is to have no more than a tool. Like any tool, it can be used well or poorly. This paper is about how to use one such tool for distribution planning problems [5]. Discussion centers on four topics of importance in practical applications: the relationship between system cost and the number of distribution facilities, sensitivity analysis, robustness analysis, and implementation priority analysis. Each of these topics requires the use of optimization in ways that are sometimes less than obvious. Several illustrations are drawn from actual applications in the auto parts, consumer products, food, and mining industries. © 1979 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.