We consider the joint decision problem of renting three types of warehouses and allocating products among the warehouses in an E-commerce supply network, which are supplier, regional, and local warehouses. The research is motivated by a real-world emerging problem in an open warehouse platform (OWP) environment. We focus on the distinct characteristics of a network using an OWP and its underlying cost drivers and propose a nonlinear mixed integer programming model that reflects the interdependencies among inbound transportation, warehousing, delivery, and return, as well as time-sensitive demand. Our nonlinear model with multiple products is converted into a linear form so that it can be solved by a solver. The application of the model to a real-world case of a leading E-commerce company in China demonstrates a significant potential to increase profit, and our sensitivity analysis provides insights for operations managers into warehouse rent and inventory decisions.

我们考虑租用三种类型的仓库并在电子商务供应网络中的仓库之间分配产品的联合决策问题，即供应商仓库、区域仓库和本地仓库。这项研究的动机是开放仓库平台 (OWP) 环境中现实世界中出现的问题。我们专注于使用 OWP 的网络的独特特征及其潜在的成本驱动因素，并提出了一个非线性混合整数规划模型，该模型反映了入境运输、仓储、交付和退货之间的相互依赖关系，以及对时间敏感的需求。我们的具有多个产品的非线性模型被转换为线性形式，以便可以通过求解器求解。