Decision making in humanitarian logistics - A multi-objective optimization model for relocating relief goods during disaster recovery operations

Disaster recovery operations rarely proceed smoothly and disruptions often require the redistribution of relief items. Such a redistribution has to be carried out taking into account both the current disruption and the uncertainty regarding possible future incidents in the respective area. As decisions have to be made fast in humanitarian operations, extensive optimization runs cannot be conducted in such a situation. Nevertheless, sensible decisions should be made to ensure an efficient redistribution, considering not only satisfaction of needs but also operational costs, as the budget is usually scarce in the recovery phase of a disaster. In this work, different scenarios are generated and then solved with a multiobjective optimization model to explore possible developments. By evaluating the results of these scenarios, decision rules are identified which can support the decision maker in the actual disaster situation in making fast, but nevertheless well-founded, decisions.