The efficiency increase in a two-stage transport system

Abstract

In this study, the author investigates a two-stage transport system, which consists of several warehouses and demand points grouped into clusters. The study aims to identify the combination of shipping and delivery strategies, which implementation in two-stage transport system increase efficiency. To achieve this objective, the author models the costs associated with the application of those strategies in different transport solutions, proposes a framework useful for efficiency evaluation and its practical application. During a case study, the author investigates those transport solutions and specifies the most economically attractive ones allowing to achieve costs reduction for products supply to each cluster. According to the case study analysis, approximately 47 % of costs could be minimised in the transport system by applying the transportation solution, which includes the combination of store order shipping and direct store delivery strategies. The scientific novelty of this research is the application of the proposed framework for efficiency examination in the two-stage transport system.