Military Logistics for the Modern Age: An Application and Analysis of Optimization Techniques on a Military Supply Chain

Abstract

The optimization of supply chains is an important subject across multiple industries that has been a popular research topic. Advancements in supply chain engineering have been known to drastically reduce costs and improve the performance of a system. While private firms’ supply chains have access to and make use of the latest technology and principles, the United States military lags behind. A use case for the techniques of supply chain engineering and optimization is presented in this thesis to showcase the opportunities for improvement within established military logistics practices. More specifically, the focus will be on the advancement of logistics practices that concerns the typical transportation and organization of supplies to an Army forward operating base. This can be a complex process that could result in extra supplies being brought in to cover potential delays, losses, and a slew of other issues. Excessive costs can be incurred in terms of human life and capital with the mis-apportionment of materials. Current practices are based on oftentimes dated regulations that do not make use of the newest technologies. As such, this particular case makes for an important topic where optimization and employment of new techniques would yield a substantial impact. Based on the simulation of this use case, it can be reasoned that improvement to the existing logistics infrastructure is possible and further research is necessary to examine more areas and means with which improve.