Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

5-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Engineering (MSE)

Department

Engineering Management

First Advisor

Hiram Moya

Second Advisor

Benjamin Peters

Third Advisor

Satya Akundi

Abstract

Supply chains have been actively developing and implementing strategies to enhance resilience in response to various disruptive events like the COVID-19 pandemic, hurricanes, geopolitical tensions, and climate change. These strategies aim to address demand and supply imbalances, logistical challenges, and policy restrictions encountered in transborder commerce. One area significantly impacted by such disruptions is cross-border trade between the US and Mexico. Understanding these strategies is crucial for achieving supply chain resilience, defined as the ability of a supply chain to quickly adapt to sudden disruptions without affecting the flow of goods. In both the US-Mexico and US-Canada borders, Free and Secure Trade (FAST) lanes have been established for commercial vehicles. Additionally, in 2022, the government of Nuevo León, Mexico, introduced a new approach by inaugurating a dedicated lane exclusively for northbound commercial traffic related to Tesla. Such dedicated lanes in queueing systems represent innovative methods to enhance performance measures by prioritizing the needs of specific companies.

This thesis aims to investigate the impact of a unique strategy implemented at the Colombia-Solidarity Port of Entry in the US-Mexico border: the introduction of a dedicated lane exclusively for the suppliers of a single company. The study seeks to develop methods for analyzing this strategy, including a cost-comparison model and a simulation model. The cost-comparison model will assess the cost-effectiveness of the dedicated lane compared to regular lanes, while the simulation model will explore various scenarios involving an increase in the flow of the dedicated lane to evaluate its positive or negative effects on the supply chain. The methodology will analyze different traffic flow scenarios for the dedicated lane and normal lanes at the Colombia-Solidarity Port of Entry. It will also compute other metrics to compare the system under different congestion scenarios. The thesis will determine whether the strategy implemented enhances resilience in the supply chain or if alternative strategies need to be considered.

Comments

Copyright 2024 Carlo Zorola Gonzalez.

https://go.openathens.net/redirector/utrgv.edu?url=https://www.proquest.com/pqdtglobal1/dissertations-theses/dedicated-lane-analysis-supply-chain-resilience-u/docview/3085279707/sem-2?accountid=7119

Download

Share

COinS