Coursework ABC Consulting
You are the chief (and only) business analyst of ABC Consulting. A major retail company asked for advice to design its logistics’ operations in England.
The client imports the products in containers from the port of Felixstowe, lift on/lift off operations, and is planning to open one store in every district of England (see List of English districts by population – Wikipedia). The volume of sales of each store in eighteen-tonne gross full truckloads is given by the following equation: Di = (where Pi = population of region i, GVAi = Gross Value Added/capita of region i and is the ceiling function). The company is planning to use 18 tonne gross-weight trucks for transporting its products from the port(s) to the warehouses, and 7.5 tonne gross-weight trucks for transporting its products from the warehouses to its stores. The payload of each 18-tonne gross truck is 12 tonnes, while the payload for a 7.5 gross truck is 4.5 tonnes.
The warehouses can be located at any of the three most populated districts of the region (see Regions of England – Wikipedia). The company has a policy which requires that the demand of each market (district) should be served by the same warehouse.
The company is considering importing the products from other UK ports as well. However, a new “import point” should accommodate at least 25% of the total demand to be economically convenient.
For the time horizon 2022-2027 the company wants to decide about the:
• Location of warehouses,
• Ports to use,
• Quantities of products that should be transported from each port to warehouses,
• Quantity of products that should be supplied to stores by each warehouse.
Tasks
• Develop the mathematical model(s) needed to express the logistical problem(s) faced by the company. Define the decision variables, parameters, and sets involved in your models. (25 marks)
• Use publicly available sources for the data needed to calculate the parameters of your model(s). Explain all assumptions made to identify the data that you will use and summarize these data in tabular form. Cite, in the relevant section of your report, all web links used to obtain your data. Provide an Excel file with all the data used. (10 marks)
• Calculate the parameters of your models. Explain the assumptions you have made to calculate the parameters and present the values of your parameters in a tabular form in the main body of your report. (10 marks)
• Solve the resulting model(s) using Julia. Present the results of your models in the main body of your report and include the code a separate file. (25 marks).
• Discuss possible shortcomings/limitations of your model(s). (15 marks)
• Prepare a report summarizing your work. (Quality of presentation, 15 marks)
Your report should have the following material:
• Cover page
• Executive Summary
• Table of Contents
• List of Tables
• List of Figures
• Problem Description
• Mathematical Models
• Data Sources and Assumptions
• Parameter Calculation
• Presentation of Results
• Discussion of Shortcomings
• References
• Appendices (if needed)