An e-commerce facility location problem under uncertainty

Document Type : Article

Author

Department of Public Basic Courses, Nanjing Institute of Industry Technology, Nanjing 210023, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China

Abstract

Facility location problem is a branch of operational research and computational geometry. It involves the best allocation of facilities to minimize transportation costs, while considering factors such as avoiding placing dangerous materials near the premises and the facilities of competitors. According to B2C e-commerce unique customer characteristics and fierce market competition, two facility location models in e-commerce under uncertainty are proposed, i.e., expected value model and pessimistic value model. It is proved these models can be converted into equivalent models based on inverse uncertainty distribution method. A hybrid algorithm is proposed to solve these models. Some numerical experiments are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed models and approach.

Keywords

Main Subjects


References
1. Cao, M., Zhang, Q.Y., and Seydel, J. \B2C ecommerce
web site quality: an empirical examination",
Industrial Management & Data Systems, 105(5), pp.
645{661 (2005).
2. Chiu, C.M., Wang, E.T.G., Fang, Y.H., and Huang,
H.Y. \Understanding customers' repeat purchase intentions
in B2C e-commerce: the roles of utilitarian
value, hedonic value and perceived risk", Information
Systems Journal, 24(1), pp. 85{114 (2014).
3. Gefen, D. and Straub, D.W. \Consumer trust in B2C
e-commerce and the importance of social presence:
experiments in e-products and e-services", Omega,
32(6), pp. 407{424 (2004).
4. Klose, A. and Drexl, A. \Facility location models
for distribution system design", European Journal of
Operational Research, 162(1), pp. 4{29 (2005).
5. Manzini, R. and Gebennini, E. \Optimization models
for the dynamic facility location and allocation problem",
International Journal of Production Research,
46(8), pp. 2061{2086 (2008).
6. Lau, H.C.W., Jiang, Z.Z., Ip, W.H., and Wang,
D.W. \A credibility-based fuzzy location model with
Hurwicz criteria for the design of distribution systems
in B2C e-commerce", Computers & Industrial Engineering,
59(4), pp. 873{886 (2010).
7. Chen, Q., Li, X.P., and Ouyang, Y.F. \Joint inventorylocation
problem under the risk of probabilistic facility
disruptions", Transportation Research Part B:
Methodological, 45(7), pp. 991{1003 (2011).
8. Berman, O., Krass, D., and Tajbakhsh, M.M. \A coordinated
location-inventory model", European Journal
of Operational Research, 217(3), pp. 500{508 (2012).
9. Tancrez, J.S., Langea, J.C., and Semala, P. \A
location-inventory model for large three-level supply
chains", Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and
Transportation Review, 48(2), pp. 485{502 (2012).
10. Shahabi, M., Unnikrishnan, A., Jafari-Shirazi, E., and
Boyles, S.D. \A three level location-inventory problem
with correlated demand", Transportation Research
Part B: Methodological, 69, pp. 1{18 (2014).
11. Rashidi, S., Saghaei, A., Sadjadib, S.J., and Sadi-
Nezhada, S. \Optimizing supply chain network design
with location-inventory decisions for perishable items:
A Pareto-based MOEA approach", Scientia Iranica,
23(6), pp. 3035{3045 (2016).
12. Lin, B.L., Liu, S.Q., Lin, R.X., Wang, J.X., Sun, M.,
Wang, X.D., Liu, C., Wu, J.P., and Xiao, J. \The
location-allocation model for multi-classi cation-yard
location problem", Transportation Research Part E:
Logistics and Transportation Review, 122, pp. 283{308
(2019).
13. Labbe, M., Leal, M., and Puerto, J. \New
models for the location of controversial facilities:
A bilevel programming approach", Computers
& Operations Research, 107, pp. 95{106 (2019).
doi.org/10.1016/j.cor.2019.03.003
14. Snyder, L.V., Daskin, M.S., and Teo, C.P. \The
stochastic location model with risk pooling", European
Journal of Operational Research, 179(3), pp. 1221{
1238 (2007).
15. Tezenji, F.R., Mohammadi, M., Pasandideh, S., and
Koupaei, M.N. \An integrated model for supplier
location-selection and order allocation under capacity
constraints in an uncertain environment", Scientia
Iranica, 23(6), pp. 3009{3025 (2016).
J. Shen/Scientia Iranica, Transactions E: Industrial Engineering 28 (2021) 412{423 423
16. Markovic, N., Ryzhov, I.O., and Schonfeld, P. \Evasive

ow capture: A multi-period stochastic facility location
problem with independent demand", European
Journal of Operational Research, 257(2), pp. 687{703
(2017).
17. Amiri-Aref, M., Klibi, W., and Babai, M.Z.
\The multi-sourcing location inventory problem with
stochastic demand", European Journal of Operational
Research, 266(1), pp. 72{87 (2018).
18. Zadeh, L.A. \Fuzzy sets", Information and Control,
8(3), pp. 338{353 (1965).
19. Hajikhani, A., Khalilzadeh, M., and Sadjadi, S.J. \A
fuzzy multi-objective multi-product supplier selection
and order allocation problem in supply chain under
coverage and price considerations: An urban agricultural
case study", Scientia Iranica, 25(1), pp. 431{449
(2018).
20. Perez, J.A.M., Vega, J.M.M., and Verdegay, J.L.
\Fuzzy location problems on networks", Fuzzy Sets and
Systems, 142(3), pp. 393{405 (2004).
21. Veysmoradi, D., Vahdani, B., Sartangib, M.F., and
Mousavic, S.M. \Multi-objective open location-routing
model for relief distribution networks with split delivery
and multi-mode transportation under uncertainty",
Scientia Iranica, 25(6), pp. 3635{3653 (2018).
22. Wen, M.L. and Iwamura, K. \Fuzzy facility locationallocation
problem under the Hurwicz criterion", European
Journal Operational Research, 184(2), pp. 627{
635 (2008).
23. Zhou, J. and Liu, B.D. \Modeling capacitated
location-allocation problem with fuzzy demands",
Computers & Industrial Engineering, 53(3), pp. 454{
468 (2007).
24. Liu, B.D. Uncertainty Theory, 2nd Edn., Springer-
Verlag, Berlin (2007).
25. Liu, B.D. Uncertainty Theory: A Branch of Mathematics
for Modeling Human Uncertainty, Springer-Verlag,
Berlin (2010).
26. Shen, J.Y. and Zhu, Y.G. \Uncertain
exible
ow shop
scheduling problem subject to breakdowns", Journal
of Intelligent & Fuzzy Systems, 32(1), pp. 207{214
(2017).
27. Shen, J.Y. and Zhu, K. \An uncertain single machine
scheduling problem with periodic maintenance",
Knowledge-Based Systems Volume, 144, pp. 32{41
(2018).
28. Shen, J.Y. and Zhu, Y.G. \An uncertain programming
model for single machine scheduling problem with
batch delivery", Journal of Industrial and Management
Optimization, 15(2), pp. 577{593 (2019).
29. Wen, M.L., Qin, Z.F., and Kang, R. \The -cost
minimization model for capacitated facility locationallocation
problem with uncertain demands", Fuzzy
Optimization and Decision Making, 13(3), pp. 345{356
(2014).
30. Chen, Z.H., Lan, Y.F., and Zhao, R.Q. \Impacts of
risk attitude and outside option on compensation contracts
under di erent information structures", Fuzzy
Optimization and Decision Making, 17(1), pp. 13{47
(2018).
31. Liu, Y.H. and Ralescu, D.A. \Value-at-risk in uncertain
random risk analysis", Information Sciences,
391(1), pp. 1{8 (2017).
32. Zhou, J., Liu, Y.Y., Zhang, X.X., Gu, X., and Wang,
D. \Uncertain risk aversion", Journal of Intelligent
Manufacturing, 28(3), pp. 615{624 (2017).
33. Chen, X.W. \Uncertain calculus with nite variation
processes", Soft Computing, 19(10), pp. 2905{2912
(2015).
34. Yang, X.F., Gao, J.W., and Kar, S. \Uncertain calculus
with Yao process", IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy
Systems, 24(6), pp. 1578{1585 (2016).
35. Yao, K. \Multi-dimensional uncertain calculus with
Liu process", Journal of Uncertain Systems, 8(4), pp.
244{254 (2014).
36. Liu, H.J. and Fei, W.Y. \Neutral uncertain delay
di erential equations", Information: An International
Interdisciplinary Journal, 16(2), pp. 1225{1232 (2013).
37. Wang, Z.R. \Analytic solution for a general type of
uncertain di erential equation", Information: An International
Interdisciplinary Journal, 16(2), pp. 1003{
1010 (2013).
38. Yao, K., Gao, J.W., and Gao, Y. \Some stability
theorems of uncertain di erential equation", Fuzzy
Optimization and Decision Making, 12(1), pp. 3{13
(2013).
39. Liu, B.D. \Some research problems in uncertainty
theory", Journal of Uncertain Systems, 3(1), pp. 3{
10 (2009).
40. Jiang, Z.Z., Wang, D.W., and Ip, W.H. \Fuzzy
programming model and algorithm for optimal design
of distribution centers for B2C e-commerce", In Proceedings
of 2007 IEEE International Conference on
Automation and Logistics, pp. 1533{1539 (2007).
Volume 28, Issue 1
Transactions on Industrial Engineering (E)
January and February 2021
Pages 412-423
  • Receive Date: 11 February 2018
  • Revise Date: 28 March 2019
  • Accept Date: 20 May 2019