A Mathematical model for Optimizing the Resilient Supply Network (RSN) of Healthcare centers during crisis conditions

Abstract

Abstract
The Resilient Supply Network (RSN) has emerged as one of the most critical aspects of supply chain management. This field focuses on managing the flow of goods, information, and services from the source to the destination under various conditions in a RSN. The innovative aspect of the present study lies in the development of a mathematical optimization model aimed at enhancing the resilience of the supply network for healthcare centers (hospitals) in Iran during the COVID-19 crisis, using Goal Programming (GP) combined with fuzzy logic. A Fuzzy Goal Programming (FGP) model with three objectives is proposed: minimizing total costs across the supply chain, minimizing the distribution time of medical items to healthcare centers (hospitals), and minimizing the total social damages. To address the multi-objective nature of the problem in the context of the RSN during the COVID-19 outbreak in Tehran, a FGP approach is utilized. For each objective, a desired (ideal) target is defined, and based on the principles of FGP, the model attempts to minimize undesirable deviations from these ideal targets. This research is applied in nature, and methodologically it is a descriptive-survey study based on data type and execution method. From a modeling perspective, it is a mathematical GP model using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to assign weights to the objectives, focusing on the optimization of the RSN. The proposed model, after review by academic advisors and consultation with 20 experts, was coded and implemented using GAMS 24 software. The solution methods applied in this model include the Tiwari method for parameter normalization and the FGP technique. The model was applied to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis in Tehran, with the resilient medical operations considered within a five-day (120-hour) time frame, focusing on four key medical items. The model results show that none of the goals fully reached their ideal values, and deviations remained across the objectives. However, the model achieved an optimal balance among the goals, reaching an equilibrium state.

Keywords

Optimization, Resilience, Supply Network, Mathematical Model, Healthcare Centers.