Alternate Distribution of Perishable Items: A Case Study of Ujjain Dugdh Sangh

Distribution channel is very important factor in supply chain management. It consists of manufacturers, suppliers, distribution, logistics, retailing, and consumers etc. In any supply chain network design of distribution is very important but for perishable items like fruits, milk, farm fresh, meat etc. It is all the more important due to various reasons, first frequent visit and supplies (may be twice or thrice a day) and limited lead time available to the distributor. Further this duly demand also fluctuates significantly due to many reasons making the decision making dynamic and no readymade solution, thus can be employed all the time. Various distribution strategies like milk run, spoke and hub, arrangement, transportation model, distribution through number of distribution centers have been suggested in literature. In this project case of UDS is consider. Two alternative network designs are suggested and cost and time calculations are presented Google map application is extremely used for these calculations. Better solutions are obtained by redesigning the milk network and recommendations are made to case organizations.