Cross-Dock Location: An Airbus Helicopters Case Study

Overview & Synopsis

In this paper, we evaluate the implementation of a cross-docking strategy at Airbus Helicopters (AH). To this end, firstly, we conduct a literature review on cross-dock location, and the facility location problem (FLP). Then, we describe briefly the AH current supply chain and based on literature review we develop a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model adapted to this case. We apply this model to optimize the AH current supply chain. Results show that total costs could be potentially reduced by 21% by implementing a cross-docking strategy at AH. Finally we conduct a sensitivity analysis on input costs in order to evaluate the robustness of the solution obtained. It is found that results obtained are sensitive to variations on the input transportation costs.