A model for two-stage fixed charge transportation problem with multiple objectives and fuzzy linguistic preferences

In this paper, a multi-objective model for two-stage fixed charge transportation planning problem is studied. The transportation process is considered to occur from manufacturing plants to the distributers and then from distributers to the customers. The availabilities at the manufacturing plants, capacities of the distributers and demand of the customers, all are considered to be fuzzy numbers. The proposed model is formulated with three conflicting goals or objective functions. The first objective is to minimize the total transportation cost involved in the whole transportation process. The second objective is to maximize the total quantity of the products to be transported, whereas minimizing the total deterioration that occurred during the transportation process is considered to be the third objective function. Fuzzy linguistic relations or preferences among the three objective functions are studied. A linear membership function is used to represent the fuzzy relative preferences between the objective functions. For solving the multi-objective problem, fuzzy goal programming technique is adopted with some linear and nonlinear membership functions. Finally, the proposed model is illustrated and solved for some simulated numerical data and some sensitivity analysis for the problem is also discussed. The best results for the solved numerical problem are found when hyperbolic membership functions are considered to model the aspiration levels for objective functions, whereas comparatively less significant results are found when linear membership functions are used to model the aspiration levels for objective functions.