A Supply Chain Design Approach to Petroleum Distribution

Product distribution account for a significant portion of the logistical costs of a product.Distribution activities are repetitive in nature and they impact the delivery lead time to customers.A well designed supply chain network can substantially improve these costs and lead times. Thispaper presents a supply chain network design approach for distribution of petroleum products ofa retailer by identifying the depot locations and gas station allocations. A heuristic procedure tosolve large sized problems is also recommended. Finally, concluding remarks andrecommendations for further research are presented.