Chapter 5
Location Selection of Bioethanol
Distribution Centers
Siamak Kheybari and Alireza Pooya
Abstract In this chapter, the location problem of bioethanol distribution centers is
investigated based on two objectives. While the first objective is to maximize the
overall utility of the selected places, the second objective is to minimize the cost
allocated to establishing the distribution centers. To solve the problem, a hybrid
methodology consisting of the best-worst method (BWM) and a set covering model
is proposed. BWM is employed to calculate the overall utility of candidate places, and
the set covering model is used to select the minimum number of places. By employing
the methodology, the selected distribution centers cover the demand of customers
within a specific radius. To calculate the overall utility of the candidate places using
BWM, a comprehensive framework of sustainability criteria is presented. The proposed framework is formed by criteria extracted from studies which have employed
multi-criteria decision-making methods to solve the location problem of distribution
centers in different industries. The result of BWM in the proposed methodology is
employed as a parameter in the utility function of the set covering model. To solve the
model, Lp-metric is suggested. The performance of the proposed methodology is
evaluated by a set of data collected from Iran. The proposed hybrid methodology can
also be used for locating distribution centers in other industries.
Keyword Bioethanol · Distribution centers · Best-worst method (BWM) · Set
covering model · Lp-metric
S. Kheybari (*)
Department of Management, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
NEOMA Business School, Mont-Saint-Aignan Cedex, France
e-mail: Siamak.Kheybari@neoma-bs.fr
A. Pooya
Department of Management, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
J. Rezaei (ed.), Strategic Decision Making for Sustainable Management of Industrial
Networks, Greening of Industry Networks Studies 8,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55385-2_5
71
Location Selection of Bioethanol
Distribution Centers
Siamak Kheybari and Alireza Pooya
Abstract In this chapter, the location problem of bioethanol distribution centers is
investigated based on two objectives. While the first objective is to maximize the
overall utility of the selected places, the second objective is to minimize the cost
allocated to establishing the distribution centers. To solve the problem, a hybrid
methodology consisting of the best-worst method (BWM) and a set covering model
is proposed. BWM is employed to calculate the overall utility of candidate places, and
the set covering model is used to select the minimum number of places. By employing
the methodology, the selected distribution centers cover the demand of customers
within a specific radius. To calculate the overall utility of the candidate places using
BWM, a comprehensive framework of sustainability criteria is presented. The proposed framework is formed by criteria extracted from studies which have employed
multi-criteria decision-making methods to solve the location problem of distribution
centers in different industries. The result of BWM in the proposed methodology is
employed as a parameter in the utility function of the set covering model. To solve the
model, Lp-metric is suggested. The performance of the proposed methodology is
evaluated by a set of data collected from Iran. The proposed hybrid methodology can
also be used for locating distribution centers in other industries.
Keyword Bioethanol · Distribution centers · Best-worst method (BWM) · Set
covering model · Lp-metric
S. Kheybari (*)
Department of Management, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
NEOMA Business School, Mont-Saint-Aignan Cedex, France
e-mail: Siamak.Kheybari@neoma-bs.fr
A. Pooya
Department of Management, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
J. Rezaei (ed.), Strategic Decision Making for Sustainable Management of Industrial
Networks, Greening of Industry Networks Studies 8,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55385-2_5
71