Transportation Planning
Supply Chain Optimisation without transportation planning is not possible. For example, transport decisions are part of Master Planning approaches, if several factories at different locations are part of a supply network. A typical question: Is it efficient to fill a demand peak in New York from a factory located in New York by using overtime or is it better to use free capacity in a factory located in Miami and transport the products to New York? The answer to this question can be found with the help of a linear programming model, which includes production variables as well as transportation variables.
In the distribution of finished products usualy vehicle routing problems must be solved. Here are large number of specialized software systems are available.