Decision Support System Based on Multi-Objective Programming for Central Warehouse Location

Since locating distribution warehouses is not easy to do, using a decision support system will help increase the effectiveness of decisions in this area. Accordingly, in this study, the aim is to use a model in addition to introducing the most suitable location for the construction of the central warehouse, to calculate the desirability of the desired location using multi-objective linear planning to determine potential and proposed locations. To what extent can they be a good place to build a central warehouse?

Proper location of distribution warehouses are the main key to productivity, which can be used to achieve various goals of the organization, such as providing optimal services to customers and at the same time reducing distribution costs. Warehouse location is related to the placement and orientation of a piece of land according to the location of consumers and suppliers of the warehouse, and it consists of determining the location of the warehouse in such a way that its goals are met. Determining possible locations for warehouses varies from organization to organization and from one situation to another. Decision making in this case requires careful planning and proper forecasting and some analysis. However, the scientific method of planning directs the existing experiences into an optimal plan.

Previous researches that have been conducted in the field of warehouse location have used different decision making methods to design a decision support system and introduced the appropriate location for building a warehouse. Now, the question that is raised is whether the same decision-making methods of the past can be the criteria for choosing the location of the central warehouse, or whether a new method should be used to design the decision support system based on the importance of the studied problem? Based on this, in this research, the purpose of using a model is to introduce the most suitable place for the construction of a central warehouse, it calculates the desirability of the desired location using the proposed multi-objective linear programming, to determine the potential and proposed locations. To what extent can they be a suitable place to build a central warehouse? Optimal methods for decision making have always been considered and used in many important industrial issues. In the present study, the cumulative utility of the star, which is one of the most important methods for calculating and extracting utility functions, has been used.

According to the planning of the managers for the development of the factory for new products, the need to have a central warehouse to store the goods and to choose the right place requires attention to this matter. Based on this, the managers of Foulad Company are trying to take an important step by choosing the right location for the central warehouse, in order to reduce costs and the level of good service to the nearby workshops, as well as to increase profits. In this research, due to the importance of choosing a warehouse location and the complexity of making such a decision, we have presented a decision support system based on a multi-objective linear programming model, which is able to provide appropriate assistance by considering the minimum information from the researchers. Increase the effectiveness of decisions and help managers and researchers in the process of making optimal decisions.

According to the findings, it can be argued that by using the obtained results, it will create the possibility for companies to make decisions to optimize the support system in their company and with this, in addition to reducing Costs to increase their competitiveness.

On the one hand, according to the results of multi-objective linear planning, he has calculated and presented the overall desirability of the reference options, which include potential and proposed options for building a central warehouse location. Also, on the other hand, it deals with the sensitivity analysis of options to help managers and researchers in the process of making a favorable and optimal decision. The results indicate that the warehouse location has the first rank with 84% desirability as the most desirable central warehouse location of Damghan Steel Company. Also, the important point of the obtained results is that none of the proposed options can be the most desirable place for other sectors in the future.