AN ONLINE OPTIMIZATION APPROACH FOR DYNAMIC FACILITY LOCATION AND RE-SUPPLY

Abstract

In contested maritime environments, ensuring timely and efficient medical evacuation is critical for maintaining operational readiness and saving lives. Adversarial threats, resource constraints, and unpredictable casualty demands complicate the execution of these missions, requiring innovative approaches to logistics and routing. Building on previous models, we developed a dynamic optimization framework to strategically position evacuation resources and adapt to evolving operational conditions. Using simulation-based methods, our model identifies optimal locations for medical facilities and transport assets, balancing the competing objectives of maximizing patient pickups and minimizing resource consumption. To evaluate its effectiveness, we structured our analysis by comparing the framework’s performance against static configurations and explored the impact of a tuning parameter to adapt to different operational priorities. By addressing critical logistical challenges, our research advances decision-making tools for resource allocation and facility placement under uncertainty. This framework equips decision-makers with a flexible and effective solution for managing operations in contested and resource-constrained environments.