Complex real-life supply chain planning problems

Supply chain planning concerns the selection of strategies and methodologies to facilitate the optimal flow of material from raw material suppliers to end-users through procurement, production and distribution activities. Supply chain (SC) implementation has significant impacts on the financial performance of manufacturing and distribution companies. Developing real-life SC models with centralised planning naturally leads to complex models which are difficult to solve optimally. This chapter firstly presents a comprehensive review on the current literature of SC planning and optimisation and classifies the published models based on their complexity. Next, a mixed-integer non-linear formulation is presented for modelling complex real-life SC planning problems which accommodates the identified gaps in the current literature. Evaluation of the available tools and techniques for the optimisation of the proposed SC model will conclude this chapter. © 2012, IGI Global