Location and lead-time perturbations in multi-level assembly systems of perishable goods in Spanish baby food logistics

© 2014, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. The current economic crisis is reflected in lower capacity expansion or even capacity contraction, closing of distant activities and reduction of lead time. However, the locations of suppliers are strongly connected with the quality of agricultural products. The transportation from distant locations can largely affect the food production business in all aspects. The article presents how the Extended Material Requirements Planning (EMRP) model enables to evaluate perturbations in lead time and temperature, and shows how distant growing areas of agricultural products, and, as a result, transportation lead times play a crucial role in the net present value calculation. In this paper, we show the impact of choosing a less distant site for growing of agricultural products, and overlapping the transportation and quarantine lead times on decreasing the perishability, hence increasing the added value in multi-level food assembly systems. Also, a case study of Spanish baby food industry is presented, using the principles of the well-developed EMRP Theory.