CInIS Presentation

Speaker: Henry Lau¹, Dilupa Nakandala², Prem Samaranayake³

Affiliation: Centre for Industry and Innovation Studies, UWS¹, Centre for Industry and Innovation Studies, UWS², Centre for Industry and Innovation Studies, UWS³

Time: Monday 28/11/2011 from 14:00 to 15:00

Venue: Access Grid UWS. Presented from Parramatta (EB.1.32), accessible from Campbelltown (26.1.50) and Penrith (Y239).

Abstract:

Dr Henry Lau, Dr Dilupa Nakandala and Dr Prem Samaranayake from the CInIS Research group will be presenting a seminar on their research. Their presentation will focus on Supply Chain Innovation using Mathematical/Fuzzy Logic and Supply Chain Network Models across various applications.

Key areas of research investigation include (i) developing decision model for lateral trans-shipments by wholesalers, using mathematical modelling of the total cost of inventory replenishment process, (ii) a fuzzy-based decision support model for determining the variability of meeting on-time delivery in a complex and dynamic supply chain environment, and (iii) a profit-based air cargo loading information system (ACLIS), based on objective of profit maximization with constrains and rule- based reasoning.

This presentation aims to share the team’s approach to deal with supply chain and logistics issues adopting three different research methodologies. The first investigation is basically a quantitative approach, employing probability distribution functions to provide expected cost outcomes for various options of inventory replenishment decisions. The second investigation adopts a computational intelligence approach using fuzzy logic principle to deal with uncertainties, capitalizing on the captured knowledge from field experts. The third investigation deals with optimisation problems in profit maximisation and cost minimization using heuristics and rule-based approach to solve complex objective functions.

The following provides the outlines of the three models proposed.

The decision model for lateral trans-shipments by wholesalers aims to assist managers decide whether it is more cost effective to trans-ship urgent outstanding retailer orders from other wholesalers, at a higher purchase cost, or to order from their suppliers. The decision rules are derived based on the cost minimization objectives and the simplicity of the rules enables easy adoption by inventory management.

The fuzzy-based decision support model integrates fuzzy logic principles and unitary structure-based supply chain network. The proposed model deals with the fuzziness of the key inputs of the variations of demand forecast, materials shortage/availability and manufacturing lead time and combines fuzzy expert system approach for monitoring on-time delivery of finished products.

Air-cargo loading system with profit maximization embeds an innovative technology known as heuristics iterative reasoning technology (HIRT) that supports loading plan generation. The proposed system is meant to maximize the profit in the airfreight forwarding business. It adopts an objective function governed by a list of constraints together with rule-based reasoning to provide expert advice to support the generation of appropriate loading plans.

Biography¹: To come

Biography²: To come

Biography³: To come