Redesigning Toyota’s spare parts supply chain using tabu search

In Schittekat and Sörensen (2009) we describe the development of a tabu-search based software tool to support tactical decision-making in the spare parts supply chain of Toyota Europe. For the distribution of spare parts to car dealers in Europe, Toyota operates two hubs, one in Germany and one in the Czech Republic. Car dealers requiring spare parts may place an order by telephone or the internet during the day and Toyota promises next-day delivery from one of its hubs for all parts ordered before a certain cut-off time. Such orders generate a complex workflow, in which the parts are first picked and readied for transportation. Then, they are combined into full truckloads (FTL) and transported to an intermediate transport platform, i.e. a warehouse or depot with some limited handling facilities. An important aspect of this supply chain is that all transport platforms are owned and operated by a 3PL (third-party logistics) provider, and that no inventory is held there. At the various transport platforms, spare parts are sorted and loaded onto (smaller) trucks and delivered to the car dealers the same night.