The inventory-routing problem in field supply logistics

This paper considers the application units (AUs) operating within cropping fields as the 'customers', and the farm depots as the 'suppliers', while taking the fuel consumption rare (FCR) as a cost factor and adding it to the IRP. Then a dedicated classification of field supply logistics is devised based on a modified classification scheme and tailored to a conceptual application of the IRP. The research results show that delivery scheduling and planning problems in field supply logistics can be cast as IRP instances and solved by their corresponding methods. Overall, the adoption and modification of the IRP methodology provide a promising approach for the process improvement of field supply logistics.