Dynamic multi-objective emergency relief logistics: A decision support system framework

This paper presents a decision support system for relief distribution regarding natural disasters. The proposed methodology and decision support system incorporate a number of factors such as capacity limitations, priority of commodities, and dynamic demand requirements in designing a relief distribution system. Our approach employs the dynamic programming and goal programming models within equity, efficiency, and effectiveness being recognized as the fundamental objectives of the system. An interactive solution approach is being proposed for this model with its main characteristic being the explicit representation of trade-offs between the 3E objectives. We hope that this study can not only make the proposed emergency logistics system available with more benefits to the development of emergency logistics systems for the urgent needs of disaster areas around the world but also stimulate more excellent researches concerning emergency logistics management.