Optimisation of global supply chain

Abstract

Globalization, increasing global competition and more complex products result that production and service companies have to focus on cost-effective and profitable operation. The key of success for final product is the adequate formation of the whole supply chain, therefore the optimization of the global supply chains is needed. The purpose of the study is the introduction of the elaborated method for the optimization of global supply chains, which means the optimal combination of the supply chain’s members (final assembler, suppliers, service providers) to achieve cost-effective and time-effective operation. This study introduces the objective functions (total cost; total lead time) and design constraints (production and service capacities; flexibility of the chain members) applied during the single- and multiobjective optimization. Based on the method, software has been developed for the optimization of global supply chains. The operation of the software is introduced in the frame of a case study.