Mathematical Models for Supply Chains
S. Goettlich (TU Kaiserslautern) and A. Klar (TU Kaiserslautern)
The minisymposium is addressed to researchers and scientists who are interested in mathematical models for supply chains, especially production networks. A supply chain consists of suppliers, manufacturers, warehouses and stores where parts are produced and distributed among different production facilities. Mathematical models are used to monitor cost efficient distribution of parts and to measure current business processes. Naturally, depending on the scale, these models are characterized by several approaches which are either discrete (Discrete Event Simulations) or continuous (differential equations). Under suitable assumptions some of the continuous models are equivalent to DES. In many applications the simulation and prediction of supply chain behavior over time is only one important aspect. Another question arising in this context is the optimization of supply chains. Typically, models based on mixed-integer programming (MIP) are used to find the optimal load balance on the interconnections between different entities. Mathematically, as an alternative to the discrete approach, continuous optimization techniques are of interest.
The objective of the minisymposium will be to highlight the different ways of modeling and to emphasize their application for simulation and optimization purposes. Scientists have the opportunity to present their research and to motivate their work. In particular, similarities of the models should be discussed which could be the basis for some joint future work.