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Finding optimal recycling facility locations

  • January 14, 2025
  • 3 replies
  • 90 views
V
AIMMS Partner

Hi,

 

With the center of gravity tool, I want to find optimal recycling/ production centres. I was wondering how to use the tool for finding the optimal production locations. Now, it seems like I can only determine optimal warehouse centre locations.

 

Moreover, I was wondering whether it be possible to leave out warehouse locations at all. So, just include the suppliers, production / recycling centres and customers.

 

Also, I want to add a specific constraint on the minimum that has to be produced in total. Thus, not a minimum constraint for a specific recycling/production facility but a constraint on what all facilities together should produce (outflow of all facilities together equals a number)

 

Thank you!

Best answer by Paul

Hi veerlevcitters

Good questions!  For the first question, you could create a new dataset where customer demand is netted back to the warehouse locations, and warehouses are used as demand points in the CoG (Center of Gravity) Analysis.

However, we should point out that CoG is designed to be a support algorithm for the full SC Navigator solve, is designed for ideation and not full answers, and accordingly has limitations.  For the other questions you pose (multi echelon questions, group constraints) and other more complex problems, we suggest that you use SC Navigator and not CoG.

Hope this helps!

    3 replies

    Paul
    AIMMSian
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    • Paul
    • AIMMSian
    • 13 replies
    • Answer
    • January 14, 2025

    Hi veerlevcitters

    Good questions!  For the first question, you could create a new dataset where customer demand is netted back to the warehouse locations, and warehouses are used as demand points in the CoG (Center of Gravity) Analysis.

    However, we should point out that CoG is designed to be a support algorithm for the full SC Navigator solve, is designed for ideation and not full answers, and accordingly has limitations.  For the other questions you pose (multi echelon questions, group constraints) and other more complex problems, we suggest that you use SC Navigator and not CoG.

    Hope this helps!

    V
    AIMMS Partner
    • veerlevcitters
    • Author
    • 2 replies
    • January 16, 2025

    Thank you for your answer.

     

    I will indeed be using the SCnavigator for the full optimization, however as I do not have a dataset for the recycling facilities yet, I wanted to obtain this through center of gravity. At this moment I have supplier and customer data- through which I want to obtain a set of optimal production (warehouse locations) based on transport costs.

     

    I am not sure if I understand you correctly. You are saying that I should include the customer demand points in the warehouses sheet? 

     

    I tried using just the supplier and customer sheets (and deleted the warehouse sheet). However, I am not sure if this is a correct way and I think this is not what you were trying to explain. Moreover, I specified in the transport sheet that transport should go from supplier to DC (and from DC to customer), but the DC is obviously missing in this case, which i want to let the CoG define. 

    V
    AIMMS Partner
    • veerlevcitters
    • Author
    • 2 replies
    • January 16, 2025

    Just to clarify, I am obtaining the optimal recycling locations based on collection points and customer points (locations and quantities) . The customers do not send back their scrap but the scrap is generated from collection (supplier) points. 

     

    I tried the CoG now with a (dummy) production sheet and BOM included, but it seems like it is still finding the optimal warehouse locations instead of production locations. (It is also unclear to me whether the warehouses are now set before or after the production sites)


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