Determining loading dock requirements in production-distribution facilities under uncertainty

Product handling activities play an important role in the operational aspects of a supply chain network. These activities apart from representing a major portion of the logistic costs, impede the product velocity and affect the lead time it takes to deliver the product to customers. A well designed shipping or receiving facility can significantly reduce the operational costs associated with these activities. Dock design in general and the problem of assessing the dock bay requirements in particular, has a major impact on these costs. The present paper uses a fuzzy set theoretic approach to address the dock bay requirements of a loading facility when the throughput, truck capacity, dock availability and loading times have a certain degree of imprecision or vagueness involved. A dock performance index has been introduced to check the adequacy of dock bays to support a certain level of loading activity. A simulation experiment has been designed and the model was simulated for several days to test the validity of results. Finally, concluding remarks and some direction for further research have been provided.