Dynamic shipment planning in an automobile shipment yard using real-time radio frequency identification (RFID) information

Wireless communication technology has been increasingly adopted in various business environments of supply chains. Radio frequency identification technology provides real-time information of vehicle movements and, associated shipment operations can benefit from it for better, efficient load makeup. A Markov decision process model is proposed for dynamically building the shipment loads using real-time information of the wireless tracking system. Simulation results demonstrate the superior performance of dynamic decision approach compared to conventional shipment practices in terms of reducing vehicle dwell time, improving customer fulfillment, and increasing utilization of the transportation carriers.