Using announcement options in the bid construction phase for disaster relief procurement

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of the bid construction phase of procurement auctions in disaster relief and humanitarian logistics. Substitution and partial fulfillment options are presented in formulations to allow bidders with fewer inventories to offer substitute item types and partial bids in auctions. During the auction announcement phase, a coordinating platform for disaster locations (i.e., auctioneer) allows substitution and partial fulfillment options to the relief suppliers (i.e., bidders) when acceptable. Thus, suppliers with fewer inventories can offer substitute item types and participate in more auctions by partially bidding. A genetic algorithm, a simulated annealing algorithm and an integer program are used for the analysis of the bid construction phase with different announcement options. Heuristic solution techniques and an IP formulation help understand the dynamics of the bid construction problem. It is shown that the addition of substitution and partial fulfillment options is essential to diversify and increase the usable capacity of the supplier base. Additionally, the partial fulfillment option enables better usage of supplier inventories in an environment with scarce supplies. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.