Which Manufacturing Logistics Decisions are Supported by Operational Research? A Literature Survey

This paper presents a literature survey of operational research applications to manufacturing logistics decision-making. A total of 80 applications published in Interfaces were reviewed in order to identify the decisions supported, their horizon, and their system boundary. The references to the papers reporting on these applications are included in the paper. Most OR applications were found in short-term production planning and scheduling, plant location and physical distribution system design, production system design, and master planning. Other areas, such as supplier selection and business process design, had few or no applications. While the survey sample does not allow generalizations, the unequal distribution of applications suggests that there is a rather clearly defined set of decision areas that are regularly supported by operational research. Findings also suggest that not only operational, but also certain strategic decisions, such as plant location, plant capacity and equipment capacity, are supported by OR. Finally, a lack of applications crossing organisational boundaries has been identified.