Deciding optimal center locations in a supply chain network

This study explores how an enterprise selects locations of manufacturing centers and assembling/distribution centers by focusing on an enterprise that supplies inbound demand for the domestic market. A conventional supply chain network model is proposed to analyze the optimal manufacturing centers, optimal assembling/distribution centers, and their transporting volumes. A numerical example is proposed to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed model. Results of the study demonstrate that approximately optimal transporting volume, which originates from the same nodes, should be equalized to subsequent and connected nodes for minimizing the total cost function of an enterprise.