The 4PL Network Optimization Considering The Behavior Of Customer

Along with the rapid development of economy, people have huge demand on the logistics industry. Logistics industry evaluated from 1PL to 2PL and then 3PL. Because of 3PL’s simply providing logistics services, along with limited technology, strategy and extension ability,3PL is hard to realize the optimization of the whole supply chain. The Fourth Party Logistics arose at the historic moment.4PL is the leader of the third party logistics. It relies on excellent 3PL logistics providers, technology providers, management consulting and effective resources to provide a complete supply chain solution and reduce the cost for the customers, at the same time receiving profits for themselves.4PL operation modes can be divided into synergy, scheme of integrated type, industry innovation and dynamic alliance.This thesis aims at scheme of integrated type and considers the condition that capital is not sufficient. This paper studies 4PL network optimization problem under limit cost, to maximize customers’ satisfaction. The thesis does the following work on the basis of related researches and theories.First, this thesis uses the theory of operational research and utility theory to build mathematical model.Second, the thesis adopts with adaptive mutation factor and adaptive crossover factor in differential evolution algorithm to solve the problem, along with using the minimum cost network flow algorithm and a two-phase adjustment.At last, aiming at different scale of the fourth party logistics network problems, we simulate experiments and compare the results with the standard differential evolution algorithm. We verify that the improved differential evolution algorithm has better applicability under different scale problems. In view of the different cost ceilings, customer service level requirements, and performance parameters, this thesis does experiments and concludes that:1) customer satisfaction decreases with the increase of customer service level requirement value, and increases with the increase of cost ceiling; 2) When facing earnings, if the customer’s attitude towards the increase of earnings is more sensitive,4PL provides the more scattered the level of customer service for each demand point, whereas the more concentrated; When the situation is opposite, the outcome is opposite;3) If customer is more sensitive for the damage,4PL provides the more concentrated the level of customer service for each demand point, whereas the more scattered.