Strategic Cross-dock Allocation for Traffic Safety Products Across Thailand

This research aims to investigate a strategic method for determining suitable locations to build cross-dock facilities for a specific company that distributes traffic safety products to government offices across every province in Thailand. By having a predetermined location of customers and the corresponding demands for each customer, the cross-dock facilities must be placed in locations where the costs of renting, the cost of travelling from the headquarter, and the cost of travelling to and from customers are minimized while satisfying vehicle capacity constraints. The problem was decomposed into two distinct parts. The first part is minimizing data size using a k-mean clustering approach via a GIS platform to group customers based on location. The result from this clustering process is then utilized in the second part, which involves using the optimization method to find the optimal location for the cross-dock facility and the optimal routes from that cross-dock to all customers in each cluster group. By utilizing this approach, the research shall provide the company with a comprehensive solution that will minimize company expenses and, at the same time, maximizes the efficiency of its distribution network. This optimization could positively impact the company's profitability and improve its competitiveness in the marketplace.