Stochastic evaluation of supply chains and replenishment policies with Petri net components

The outbound logistics deals with the transportation and storage of finished goods. It is one of the most complex and expensive activity of the supply chain management and is decisive for the Quality of Service (QoS). This paper proposes the use of pre-defined Petri net components to model and evaluate this activity. The model that represents an outbound logistics scenario is obtained with a bottom-up approach, guaranteeing some expected Petri nets properties. Furthermore, the use of pre-defined, validated components allows modelling and evaluating the supply chain entities and processes through a systematic procedure. In the end of this paper, results related to a real case study, conducted by considering the proposed models, is depicted. © 2008, Inderscience Publishers.