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College of Computer Science and Engineering
Systems Engineering Department
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Presents a Seminar on
"The Value of Limited Flexibility in Service Network Designs"
Date: Sunday, 14th February, 2020
Time: 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm (KSA Time)
Location: MS Teams Click here to join
Speaker:
Dr. Ahmad Baubaid
Assistant Professor,
System Engineering Department - (KFUPM)
Abstract:
Less-than-truckload (LTL) carriers transport freight shipments from origins to destinations. Because each individual shipment occupies a small fraction of trailer capacity, LTL carriers rely on the consolidation of freight from multiple shippers to achieve economies of scale. The freight that is collected is routed through a network of consolidation terminals. In this research, we study the service network design problem confronted by these carriers. This problem includes determining (1) the number of services (trailers) to operate between each pair of terminals and (2) a load plan, which specifies the sequence of transfer terminals that freight with a given origin and destination will visit. Traditionally, for every terminal and every ultimate destination, a load plan specifies a single next terminal routing option. We introduce the p-alt model, which generalizes traditional load plans by allowing decision-makers to specify the desired number of next-terminal options for terminal{destination pairs using a vector p. Using a two-stage stochastic variant of this model, we show that, by explicitly considering demand uncertainty and by merely allowing up to two next-terminal options for terminal-destination pairs in the load plans, carriers can generate substantial cost savings that are comparable to the ones yielded by adopting load plans that allow for any next terminal to be a routing option for terminal-destination pairs. Moreover, by using these more flexible load plans, carriers can generate savings on the order of 10% over traditional load plan designs obtained by deterministic models.
Speaker Bio:
Dr. Ahmad Baubaid is an assistant professor in the Systems Engineering Department at KFUPM. He holds a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering (2020) from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). Prior to that, he received a BSc degree in Industrial & Systems Engineering (2013) from KFUPM and an MSc degree in Operations Research (2016) from Georgia Tech. His current research interests include the modeling and optimization of logistics and transportation (both freight and passenger) systems, and, more broadly, dynamic problems under uncertainty and applications of Approximate Dynamic Programming (ADP).
All faculty, researchers and graduate students are invited to attend.
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Systems Engineering Department, College of Computer Sciences and Engineering
Telephone: +966 (13) 860 2988, Email: c-se@kfupm.edu.sa, Website: www.kfupm.edu.sa/departments/se/
Copyright © 2014 King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals
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