Robust optimization for United States Department of Agriculture food aid bid allocations

Jomon Aliyas Paul and Wang, Xinfang (Jocelyn)

Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 2015, vol. 82, issue C, 129-146

Abstract: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) currently uses a bidding system to determine carriers and suppliers that would partner in providing food aid annually in response to global emergencies and famine. We mimic the USDA approach via a robust optimization model featuring box and ellipsoid uncertainty frameworks to account for uncertainties in demand, supplier and carrier bid prices. Through a case study utilizing historical invoice data, we demonstrate our model applicability in improving ocean carrier and food supplier bid pricing strategy and similar supply chain network optimization problems. Through a validation algorithm we demonstrate the value of our robust models.

Keywords: Disaster relief; Robust optimization; Supply chain; Transportation; Food aid; Government agencies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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DOI: 10.1016/j.tre.2015.08.001

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