Global facility networks

We hope that the results of this work will stimulate further research into the observed location practice of firms in response to the many complicating factors of the global market environment. For example, the use of operational hedging to account for uncertainty could be incorporated into our models, perhaps by using a scenario approach with discrete probability distributions. Hopefully, future field research will use our facility network classification framework to understand network structure and location practices of firms in various industries. Research explaining differences of facility network structures within an industry will be useful in pointing out other primary levers of such decisions that are potentially not in our current models. Finally, we see an opportunity for consultants to develop industry-specific structural equations based on our approach. 

Most of the published work in the area of supply network design is based on fixed and variable costs at each facility. For instance, Amtzen et al. (1995) and Camm et al. (1997) implemented a mixed integer programming model at Digital Equipment Corporation and P G, respeetively. Then-models serve as planning systems for determining optimal deeisions related to some of the above issues. However, there is no model that addresses the entire global supply network. 

Here, the scope is on an intercompany value chain network for one focal company that can make central planning decisions for its own facilities and tries to optimize the internal global value chain network with clear interfaces to multiple customers and multiple suppliers. 

Besides the issue of cost relevance, interdependencies between production and distribution networks are often limited for companies already operating global networks. Distribution facilities usually serve major markets... 

IMS will consist of a global network of 321 monitoring stations, as well as 16 laboratories, capable of detecting nuclear explosions worldwide. This network of 170 seismic, 80 radionuclide, 60 infrasound and 11 hydroacoustic stations, as well as 16 radionuclide laboratories—comprising a total of 337 facilities—will supply data for processing and analysis to IDC. 

South Africa s Richards Bay Coal Terminal, the world s biggest coal-export facility. Global trade in coal increased from 498 Mt in 1990 to 917 Mt in 2007. Coal exports are expected to continue to rise, and, therefore, the importance of ocean transport will increase. Ocean transport of coal requires a system of (1) transportation from the mine to the port (2) coal-handling facilities at the export port (3) ocean carrier networks with adequate number and size of ships, contractual obligations, management of the fleet, and route decisions (4) coal-handling facilities at the importing port and (5) transportation from the port to the customer. 

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