The Methodology for Modeling Logistics Systems: Implementation Principles and Examples

The article deals with the development of a methodology for constructing a model of an enterprise’s logistics system engaged in production and marketing activities. The introduction notes the importance of general theoretical research methods. A universal method for constructing a logistics system is developed, starting with the construction and analysis of the simplest reservoir systems (J. Forrester’s approach). The construction of the logistics system is carried out in stages, as a result of the consistent refinement of the reservoir model. At the first stages, the model is modified with consideration for the most important functions of any logistics system. At each stage of the construction, calculations of the main characteristics of the logistics system are made. Based on the analysis of the calculations results, the conclusions on the ways for further refinement of the model are drawn. The model is used to solve optimization problems in order to determine the optimal value of the parameters of the constructed logistics systems. The optimization problems solved in the article by their formulation are similar to Pontryagin’s maximum principle used in optimal control theory. To solve them, the method for computation of optimization problems of this class is applied. The developed methodology is universal and applicable for any theoretical study of the logistics system.