Mathematical modelling of a third-party logistics provider supply chain network in global context with demand uncertainty and quantitydiscount

Logistics outsourcing has caused to increase the speed of the business and to reduce costs. So, it has become critical in today’s globalization of business as well as the emergence of international companies. In this regard, this paper considers a supply chain model for a third-party logistics (3PL) provider regarding global issues (e.g. Incoterms). In this model, firstly, a possibilistic mixed integer nonlinear programming (PMINLP) is proposed through considering the imprecise nature of customers demand and considering quantity discount. Then, after applying appropriate strategies for converting the proposed possibilistic model into a crisp one, a possibilistic approach is developed to solve theproposed model. Finally, a numerical example is provided to investigate the validation of the model as well as deriving managerial insights.

Keywords:

global supply chain , third-party logistics (3PL) , uncertainty , quantity discount , Possibilistic interactive approach