Coal Orders Using Multimode Transportation In Ceramics Industry - A Case Study of Loi Hung Pottery Company

Abstract

Purchasing different types of material from multiple suppliers has been researched for years. To get more competitive advantages in terms of product cost, manufacturer ought to keep their production cost as low as possible. Considering in ceramics industry where various kinds of coal needed to be purchased in order to operating the firing kilns to finished the pottery products and there are various suppliers whose capacities can satisfy that demand. In this case, manufacturer would decide how much of each kind of material should be ordered from which supplier so that the transportation cost is minimum. This thesis uses a proposed model taking into account such factors as demand, given capacity limits of suppliers, costs and product characteristics and apply the model to a real-world case of a pottery manufacturer in Binh Duong. Keywords: transportation cost, ceramics, multiple suppliers, coal.