SCHEDULING AMPHIBIOUS CONNECTORS TO DELIVER MULTIPLE COMMODITIES
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Authors
Danielson, Matthew E.
Subjects
sustainment
amphibious operations
MEU
scheduling
linear programming
connectors
ship-to-shore
amphibious operations
MEU
scheduling
linear programming
connectors
ship-to-shore
Advisors
Lin, Kyle Y.
Atkinson, Michael P.
Date of Issue
2018-06
Date
Publisher
Monterey, CA; Naval Postgraduate School
Language
Abstract
Across the amphibious warfighting community, planners need to quickly develop schedules to deliver multiple supply commodities during ship-to-shore operations. We extend the single-commodity models underpinning the Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) Amphibious Connector Scheduler (MACS) tool to allow amphibious connectors to deliver multiple commodities, such as fuel, food, water, and ammunition. This extension provides amphibious planners with a flexible and versatile decision tool, which is much more operationally relevant compared to the one-commodity variant. Our primary contribution is a temporal network flow model that computes the optimal number of round trips for each connector configuration from the seabase to the shore to achieve both fast delivery and few connector trips. We formulate the optimization problem as a mixed integer linear program, and develop a linear program approximation to solve large-sized problems. Our approach generates several different schedules with different strengths, so the decision maker can choose the one that best meets mission requirements. Through our analysis of complex notional scenarios and a historical case study, we demonstrate the potential of the improved MACS as an amphibious planning tool of the future.
Type
Thesis
Description
Series/Report No
NPS Outstanding Theses and Dissertations
Department
Operations Research (OR)
Organization
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Expeditionary Energy Office
Funder
Format
Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.