PInland container depot integration into logistics networks based on network flow model: The Tanzanian perspective

Abstract

In response to increasing container volumes, congestion and capacity constraints; ports have embarked on implementation of inland container depots (ICDs) as capacity enhancement strategy. Determination of optimal routing of containers, depot location and number of depots to insert in the logistics network is a challenge faced by many ports today. This paper presents a network flow optimization model for container depot integration in multi-stage logistics network with direct shipment constraints. LINGO mathematical modeling language is used for programming and solving the model using Dar es Salaam port in Tanzania as a case study. The model evaluates various flow scenarios and simultaneously determines container routing options as well as the optimal number of depots to include in the network in order to attain minimal total cost. Partial integration approach is proven by computational result to be a superior strategy for ICD integration into the freight network.

Dry Port Terminal Location Selection by Applying the Hybrid Grey MCDM Model

“…In the literature, the problem of the DP terminal location selection has been solved in different ways, i.e., by applying different techniques. A significant group is formed by the studies in which the DP terminals are located by solving the optimization problems, most often formulated as the mixed integer linear programming (MILP) problems (e.g., [30][31][32][33][34]). Various metaheuristics are often used to solve these problems, e.g., greedy algorithm (e.g., [35]), genetic algorithm (e.g., [36]), or heuristics developed exclusively to solve the defined problem (e.g., [37]).…”

“…Considering the geographical area of research, most papers deal with the DP terminal locations in Asia (e.g., [10,35,36,43,46]) and Europe (e.g., [8,26,33,41]), and considerably fewer with locations in Africa (e.g., [34]), North America (e.g., [50]), and South America (e.g., [47]). The vast majority of papers deal with the DP terminal locations for the area of a state or region within a state, as well as for serving a single port [51].…”

“…By applying the Equations (20)- (25), the grey Euclidian distances were obtained, and by applying the Equations (26)- (28), the grey Taxicab distances of the alternatives from the negative ideal solution were obtained. Afterwards, by applying the Equations (29)- (34), the grey matrix of the relative values of the alternatives was obtained and is presented in Table 6. By applying the Equations (35)- (38), the GPD values were calculated, based on which the final ranking of the alternatives, i.e., potential locations, was obtained ( Table 7).…”