Centralized Food Processing:

Network Design and Optimization

Ikhsan Ramdan ,Rojan Chitrakar , Song Chao and Chung-Piaw Teo

November 5, 2003

Abstract
Singapore Food Industries (SFI) manages majority of the Singapore Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) cookhouses (which are distributed all around the Singapore Island) and provide material and
labor to prepare meals for the servicemen. This concept is known as self-contained Commercialized Cook-houses (CCH). The current mode of operation adopted by SFI is self-contained On-site
Cooking, i.e., all the meal requirement of a certain CCH is fulfilled by the CCH itself. Since there
is minimal amount of centralization in the current process, the case is to study the viability of a
new centralized operation mode and to come up with an optimal network design using optimization
techniques.
In the case we look into two levels of centralization. The first level is the centralization of the
raw material processing while the second level of centralization takes place in the preparation of the
meals. We model the problem as a Mixed Integer Programming (MIP) problem and look into two
different representations of the cost function. The first one is the step function representation while
the second one is a piecewise linear representation. The results obtained with the two representation
are slightly different, with piecewise linear representation achieving a slightly better result. At the
end of the study we show that centralization can make as much as twelve percent saving in the
total operation cost compared to the current operation.

1. Introduction
Singapore Food Industries was incorporated in 1973. It has since grown to become a leading
integrated food company in Singapore with international presence in UK, China and Australia. SFI
focuses on the 3 main strategic business areas, namely (1)Food Preparation, Manufacturing and Processing;(2) Food Distribution; (3) Hog Auction and Abattoir.
Food Preparation is a core business for SFI. As a leading institutional caterer in Singapore, SFI
operates more than 65 diverse food service outlets located in factories, schools, hospitals, and Singapore
Armed Forces camps. SFI is also very experienced in on-site catering to customers with special diets
such as hospital catering and the supply of ready-to-eat packaged meals. SFI also offers large-scale onsite and off-site catering services for formal and informal functions, by using its modern central kitchen

Singapore-MIT Alliance, National University of Singapore

Singapore-MIT Alliance, National University of Singapore

Singapore-MIT Alliance, National University of Singapore

Department of Decision Sciences, National University of Singapore E-mail:bizteocp@nus.edu.sg

facilities and a large pool of experienced catering personnel and logistics support. SFI manufactures
ready meals in retort-pouch suitable for Singapore Armed Forces consumption. The company also
manufactures the Instanchef and Farmpride Heat & Serve ready meals for the supermarkets and
food service sectors.
One of the traditional strengths of SFI has been its ability to import, process and distribute meats,
with its large cold room facilities and refrigerated vehicle fleet. Its Cold Chain system guarantees the
freshest and most hygienic meats at all times. This system ensures that meats are kept at controlled
temperatures from slaughter or import to the consumer, including the transportation phase. With
modern and extensive warehousing and cold storage facilities, and a large specialized fleet of vehicles
including refrigerated vans, SFI has been in the forefront of the Food Logistics and has extensive
experience in the sourcing and import of fresh fruits, chilled and frozen meats/seafood, and other
food products. These are distributed to a wide customer base that includes supermarkets, hotels, ship
chandlers, and some government institutions. SFI runs one of the most efficient logistics operations from the unloading of food items, whether frozen, fresh, or shelf-stable to the re-packing, uploading
and distribution of these items. In addition to distribution in Singapore, SFI also exports to countries
in the Asia Pacific region including Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Brunei, Cambodia and the
Maldives.
SFI now manages majority (about 90%) food service of the camps under MINDEF while its
competitor NTUC Foodfare manages the remainder. The current contract of SFI is expiring and
tender for a new contract is opened. With the food industry flourishing, it is expected that there will
be many interested players for this pie. Thus, it is important for SFI to be able to come up with a
good price to maintain competitiveness.

Figure 1: CCH Locations(Modified)

CCH management constitutes about 50% of overall revenue of SFI,which is a very high proportion.
By far MINDEF is SFIs biggest and hence the most important customer and thus the focus. Since
2

the cost of current mode of operation is quite high,it will be difficult for SFI to come out with a better
bid for the tender to remain competitive. This case looks into a new mode of operation which will
reduce cost without compromising the quality of service and standard of hygiene.
No
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

Camps assigned to CCH

USGA+B+C
ULCA+B
UKJA+B
USTZ
UBPZ
UHVZ
UPSA+B+C
UMIA+B+C
UJRA+B
UMJZ
URFZ

No
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22

Camps assigned to CCH

UCMZ
USLA+B+C
UKTA+B
UDBZ
UNSA+B+C
USWA+B
UHDZ
UCAZ
UCGA
UKHA+B
UGCZ

No
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33

Camps assigned to CCH

UPLZ
UAFZ
UAQA+B
UPDZ
UARZ
USBZ
UCPZ
UTAZ
UMRZ
UTGB
UTNZ

Table 1: Camps assigned to CCHs according to the index of map

Currently, SFI is operating about 30 CCHs all around the island(Figure 1 shows the distributions
of the CCHs1 ), serving some 18,000 Singapore Armed Forces personnel in 50 camps. The current
mode of operation is decentralized: each CCH has at least one camp with kitchen facility for the
self-contained on-site cooking to serve the camps assigned to it. Figure 2 shows the current operation
process of each CCH.

Figure 2: Current Process Flow of each CCH Operation

SFI felt that although some reduction in the cost may be achieved by optimizing the current mode
1

Note that these locations are not the exact locations as these are classified information.

of operation, the reduction will not be significant enough to raise the competitiveness of SFI to the
desired level. The current mode of operation adopted by SFI is what is called On-site Cooking, i.e., all
the meal requirement of a certain camp is fulfilled by the camp itself.There is not much centralization
in the current mode of operation and there is much overlapping of labor. Also, there is much wastage
of utility due to under-utilization of the existing facilities. For example, at present many of the chilling
facilities are heavily under-utilized. The electricity consumption of the chilling facilities only depend
on its size and not on the actual amount of raw material placed in it. If a camps meal requirement
is not very big, the amount of raw material using up the chilling facilities resource may be far below
its capacity, thereby leading to considerable wastage of electricity usage.

Figure 3: SFI Proposed New Operation Mode

Current operation does not fully yield the economic of scale and much overhead is incurred due
to duplication of processes. It was thereby decided that the mode will have to go through a major
structural change. Instead of continuing the decentralization of operation, SFI decided to go for Centralized Food Processing. In this new mode of operation centralization takes place in two hierarchy
levels. At the top level, the processing of the raw materials required for the whole network is centralized. All raw material is processed in a central facility, called Central Processing Kitchen(CPK),
while the CCHs themselves do minimal amount of raw material processing only. By replacing the
big chilling facilities in the CCHs with smaller ones, considerable saving can be made in the utility
expenses.Upon completion of preparation, these raw materials are distributed to the selected Regional
Kitchens(RK) from CPK. In the second level, centralization of the actual cooking process takes place.
Among the 33 odd CCHs, depending on their location and existing facilities, some of the CCHs will be
4

strategically chosen to act as Regional Kitchens (RK). These Regional Kitchens will prepare meals to
fulfill the meal requirements of the Dinning Halls(DH) assigned to it as well as its own meal requirements. At this level, the main saving comes from the sharing of resources, mainly labor. Once the
meals are cooked, they are delivered to the Dining Halls in specialize vehicles. Note that the S.A.CCH
in Figure 3 represents Stand Alone CCH, which are special cases of the Regional Kitchens. S.A.CCH
are Regional Kitchens that only cook the meal requirement of their own Dinning Halls, i.e., there are
no other DHs are assigned to S.A.CCHs.
This mode of operation(Figure 3)will introduce a new expense though,i.e., distribution cost, which
involves the transportation of the raw materials from the Central Processing Kitchen to the Regional
Kitchens plus the transportation of the cooked meals from the Regional Kitchens to the DHs assigned
to them. But this additional transportation expense is expected to be significantly lower than the
saving achieved through the centralization of the processes.The objective of this case is then to verify
the viability of this new concept of Centralized Food Processing. Among the 33 CCHs, we will identify
the CCHs to be operated as Regional Kitchens and also decide which of the remaining CCHs are to
be served by which Regional Kitchen.

Number
of camps

Double
Kitchen
26

Muslim
Kitchen only
3

Non-Muslim
Kitchen only
19

No-Kitchen
At All
2

Total
50

Table 2: 4 types of camps based on their facilities

There are two types of meal flow from RK to DH, they are: Muslim meal and Non-Muslim meal.
The type of flow is dependent on the cooking mode of the particular RK, whether it operates as a
Double Kitchen (DK), Single Muslim Kitchen (M), or Single Non-Muslim Kitchen (NM). A double
kitchen in a certain location means that both its constituent Muslim and Non-Muslim cooking facilities
are operating. The size of Muslim kitchens are generally smaller than the Non-Muslim kitchens.
But not all camps have the capability of operating in the above mentioned three different cooking
modes. Only camps that have both Muslim and Non-Muslim kitchen can operate in either one of the
three operation modes. About 40% of the camps have either one Muslim or Non-Muslim kitchen only.
Furthermore, there are two camps that do not have any kitchen at all. These camps automatically
operate as a DH and fulfill their Muslim and Non-Muslim meal from other camps. Table 2 shows the
number of camps for 4 different types of facilities.
On the other hand, considering the demand requirements of each camp, there are also three
possibilities which might affect the type of flow from RK to DH. Some camps require both Non-muslim
and Muslim meal during breakfast, lunch and dinner. These camps belong to the first category. The
second and the third category are the camps that either only require Non-muslim or only require
Muslim meal. The composition based on the three categories is shown in table 3. The different types
of demand requirements should be considered during the design of a model constraint.
Another fact is that some camps (between 2 to 3 camps) are located in the same compound. The
distances among those camps are only around 500 meters. Therefore, if a demand requirement for a
certain type of meal for all those camps is fulfilled by other camps outside the compound, the meal
supplier needs only one vehicle to deliver the meals. For example the three camps USGA, USGB and
5

USGC in Table 1 are located within the same compound and if any other camp supplies meal to all
three of them, only one vehicle is required for a certain type of meal.

Number
of camps

Non-Muslim &
Muslim meal
34

Non-muslim
meal only
13

Muslim
meal only
3

Total
50

Table 3: 3 categories of demand requirement

A Regional Kitchen network design proposed by SFI is shown in figure 4. Those figures describe
the flow of meal (Muslim and Non-muslim) from Regional Kitchen to Dining Hall. Three types of
arrows are used to differentiate between Non-Muslim flow, Muslim flow, and both Muslim and NonMuslim flow. The dashed line represents the flow of Muslim cooked meal from the chosen RK to its
assigned DH whereas the normal arrow represents Non-Muslim cooked meal. The thick arrow is used
to represent the flow when a RK delivers both Muslim and Non-Muslim meal to a particular DH.
In figure 4 the CCHs are represented by boxes. Each box contain information about the camps
name, location number in the Singapore map, and the type of facility for each camp. For example
refer to camp USLA in figure 4. Its position number is 13 in the Singapore map, and it has only
Non-Muslim single kitchen. Here, USLA supplies Non-Muslim meals to camp USLB and camp USLC
while it receives muslim meals from USLB to fulfil its muslim requirement. Another example is
UNSB, located at the position specified by number 16 in Singapore map and has both Muslim and
Non-Muslim kitchen. This camp cooks muslim food for itself and supplies Non-Muslim food to itself
and the assigned Dining Halls. Also, there are CCHs that do not make full use of their facility such
as camp UPSB and USGB. Camp UPSB only makes use of its muslim kitchen whereas USGB makes
use of its non-muslim kitchen only.
There are some advantages of the SFI Proposed Centralized Operation:
Lower Food and Supply Cost There can be significant cost savings from purchasing food and
supplies in the very large quantities, rather than for several smaller operations at each CCHs
end.
Purchasing Power There will be greater purchasing power. Supplier/vendor issues such as delivery
schedules, order size, quality control can be reduced. Vendors often make deliveries to only one
location, which also can save money in purchasing.
Lower Labour Cost Although the number of workers needed in the Central Processing Kitchen will
be increased, there will be corresponding greater reduction in the number of workers needed at
each CCH. The high production quantities provide opportunities to increase productivity.
Lower Utility Cost at Dining Halls end With the centralized cooking done at the Regional Kitchens,
the Dining Halls need to cook only rice and soup. Thus, much utility cost can be saved.
Mechanization of Preparation The Central Processing Kitchen utilize mechanized equipment to
increase the efficiency of food preparation and minimize the lifting and heavy work on the part
of employees. The throughput will be increased with the help of these machines. It is more
6

Figure 4: SFI Proposed Network Configuration

economical to buy and put the machines at one centralized location, rather than one each at the
Regional Kitchens end.
However, from figure 4 one can easily conclude that the allocation of Regional kitchens and Dining
Halls,in this configuration, is almost solely determined by the location and capacity of the CCHs.
We also observe that the size of the clusters is relatively small. If we count the total number of
operating kitchen in the above arrangement, it has a total of 20 kitchens. Only 8 CCHs operate as
double kitchens and 12 CCHs operate as single kitchens. In term of percentage, less than 50% of
the CCHs act as double kitchens. This prompt us to question why more kitchens do not operate as
double kitchens since in total 26 CCHs have the capabilities to operate as double kitchens. Intuitively,
a double kitchen is cheaper to operate as compared to operating two single kitchens because of the
sharing of activities and resources. This question leads us to the importance of defining the right cost
function for different types of cooking mode. We will talk more about the derivation of cost function
and estimation in the model.

2. Parameters Analysis and Model Formulation

2.1. Detailed Description of Proposed Centralized Process
The study interest is on the impact of the cost of operations by centralization of CCHs. Three
areas of cost of operations could be looked into:
1. Level of optimal deployment of kitchens;
2. Deployment of machines and workers;
3. Transportation of pre-processed raw materials from CPK to RKs and allocation of DHs to RKs.
The first among the above three cost of operations,i.e., Level of optimal deployment of kitchens of
the CCHs, is the main focus in this case.The objective is to minimize total operational cost of CCHs.
It is expected that there will be an average quantity of about 3 tons of vegetables and 3 tons of meat to
be prepared in the Central Processing Kitchen. The peak quantity is about 4 tons of vegetables and 4
tons of meat. The Central Processing Kitchen will be divided into 2 sections, with 1 section to process
vegetables and the other section to process poultry and fish. It will be a labor- and machine-intensive
environment. Below briefly describes a possible daily operation.
The few tons of vegetables and meat will be delivered to the Central Processing Kitchen early in
the morning. The workers will transfer the supplies from the suppliers containers (which can come
in different shapes and sizes) into SFIs uniform containers. These SFIs containers will be stacked at
the location (near the unloading bay) in Figure 5.
The vegetables are processed according to the requirement of the individual Regional Kitchens.
Different types of machine are be used to increase efficiency. Figure 6 shows one particular type of
machine for processing vegetables - a vegetable shredding machine.
Poultry and fishes that need to be thawed(Figure 7)will be put in the sink for the number of hours
depending on the type of meat.Then they are processed according to the requirement of the menu x
day after. Different types of machine will be used to increase efficiency(Figure 8).

Figure 5: Stack Location

Figure 6: Vegetable Shredding Machine

Figure 7: Thawing of Chicken

Figure 8: Meat Cutting Machine

10

Figure 9: Chiller Room

Figure 10: Transportation Truck

11

The processed vegetables and meat will be packaged to preserve freshness, and kept in the chiller
room(Figure 9). They will be ready to be transported to the Regional Kitchens.
The above process is expected to be completed within 16 hours. Then the transportation vehicles
at the Central Processing Kitchen will not go to all the Dining Halls around the island, but only to
the Regional Kitchens, which number will be much less the number of Dining Halls(Figure 7). Both
the refrigerated and non-refrigerated trucks will load the processed vegetables and meat and travel to
the respective Regional Kitchens using fixed routes.
The Regional Kitchens will receive the processed vegetables and meat and store them in the chiller
room. The Regional Kitchens will prepare the days meal with the supplies received. When the
cooking is done, the food will be distributed to the respective Dining Halls.
The Dining Halls will receive and unload the food from their respective Regional Kitchens. Together
with the rice and soup that the individual Dining Hall has cooked, the food is set up at the serving
counter and the food is ready to be served.

2.2. Cost Analysis

In this section the various costs involved in the operation will be investigated and mathematical
expressions will be presented.Depending on the nature of the camps, whether they are Single Kitchens,
Double Kitchens or Dinning Halls, they have different cost structures. The cost structure for camps
if assigned as RKs consist of operating cost and delivery cost , as shown in Figure 11. For Dining
Hall, the operating cost structure consist of some fixed cost and serving capacity dependent costs.The
utility consumption behavior is based on the data averaged over month of June, July, and August
2002.

Figure 11: Cost Structure for Regional Kitchen

12

Number of meal
25
50
75
100
62.5+62.5
75+75
87.5+87.5
100+100
75+75+75
83+83+83
92+92+92
100+100+100

Number of pan
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
3
3
3
3

Number of boiler
1
1
1
1
20
2
2
2
3
3
3
3

Cooking Time
10
17.5
22.5
25
10
22.5
24.5
25
22.5
23.5
24.5
25

Gas cost
1000
1750
2250
2500
4000
4500
4800
5000
6750
7000
7350
7500

Table 4: Gas consumption for 25 to 300 meal production

The cost function derived from gas consumption shows slight concavity, which shows that operating
at higher capacity is cheaper than operating at low capacity level. This concavity comes from the fact
that SFI uses relatively big size of cooking utensils such as pans and boilers. The amount of gas used
is proportional to the time needed to finish the cooking. The following scenario might occur during
the course of daily operation. If the amount of meal produced is between 0 and 100, then one pair of
pan and boiler is needed. For production levels between 100 and 200, and between 200 and 300, need
2 and 3 pair of boiler and pans respectively. Table 4 shows the time needed and the gas consumption
expense for different amount of meal production. Suppose that the cost of gas is just a multiplication
of a constant (eg. 100) and the cooking time needed. When we plot this scenario, it will be shown by
Figure 12, and thus explains the concavity of the gas cost function.

Figure 12: Gas consumption simulation between 0 to 300 production

13

Electricity consumption is much affected by the type of equipment, especially refrigerator owned by
each kitchen. Some kitchen have old refrigerators while others have new refrigerators which consume
less electricity. Therefore, electricity consumption is unique to each kitchen and is assumed to be
independent of the amount of meal cooked.
Same as in the case of electricity, the water consumption is not much affected by the amount of
meal cooked. Based on the information provided by the SFI management, the inconsistency in water
consumption is due to the cleaning service and water leaking. In this project, electricity and water
consumption is treated as a fixed cost, unique to each camp.
The above analysis can be directly used to forecast the utility cost for single kitchen.For double
kitchen and dining hall however, some modifications need to be made.The fixed cost for double kitchen
is assumed to be the same as that of a single kitchen because there is a sharing of usage between muslim
and non-muslim kitchens. For dining hall, the fixed cost is approximated to be 50% of the single kitchen
one, because only light cooking need to be done in the Dinning Halls. For electricity and water in the
double kitchen, the same cost data as a single kitchen is used, because it is assumed that electricity
and water usage are independent of the amount of meal cooked. On the other hand, the electricity
and water fixed cost is again approximated to be 50% of the single kitchen one.

Figure 13: Total Operating Cost for Regional Kitchen

SFI has created a labor allocation design to be incorporated with their CCH network models. There
are 5 levels of job allocation for each camp, there are executive, supervisor, cook, Catering Assistance
(CA), and Driver. Only supervisor, cook, and CA will be analyzed because of the availability of
information. For cook and CA, the allocation is expected to be proportional with the amount of meal
produced and served. Therefore, it might be more convenient to draw the labor cost as a function of
the total amount of cooking and serving capacity. For this purposes, regression analysis was applied
14

to describe the labor cost function based on the data given by SFI.
The total operating cost for Regional kitchen is obtained by adding the labor and utility cost
function as shown in Figure 13. This figure relates the number of meal produced and served during
lunch per day, and the monthly cost.
The transportation cost involves the delivery cost of raw materials from CPK to the selected RK
and the delivery cost of cooked meal from RK to the respective DH assigned to the RK. Both types
of delivery consist of a fixed and variable cost. The main contribution of the fixed cost includes driver
allowances, depreciations, monthly maintenance cost and miscellaneous cost whereas fuel cost is the
only variable cost which depend on the distance travelled.

2.3. Formulation 1: Formulation with 3 Levels of Production

Here the problem is firstly formulated based on step cost functions. Assume that every camp has a
double kitchen facility, though some kitchens may have only single muslim/non-muslim or no kitchen
at all. Then assign decision variables for each camp to indicate its operating mode.
2.3.1. Set definition
I1 = camp with only single Non-Muslim kitchen
I2 = camp with only single Muslim kitchen
I3 = camp with double kitchen
I4 = camp with not any kitchen at all
J1 = camp with non-zero Non-Muslim meal demand
J2 = camp with non-zero Muslim meal demand
J3 = camp with zero Non-Muslim meal demand
J4 = camp with zero Muslim meal demand
2.3.2. Decision Variables

1 if the non-muslim kitchen in camp i is operating

N =
at level production t
yit

0 otherwise
1 if the muslim kitchen in camp i is operating at level
M
production t
yit =

0
otherwise

1 if camp i is operating both of its muslim and non-muslim

D
kitchen with total production at level k
yik =

0
otherwise

1 if camp i is operating at least one of its kitchen

yi =
0 otherwise
1 if non-muslim kitchen in camp i serves camp j
xN
ij =
0 otherwise
1 if muslim kitchen in camp i serves camp j
xM
ij =
0 otherwise

15

In the formulation, 3 levels of production means that for any operating single kitchen (muslim or
non-muslim), there are 3 possible levels at which meals can be produced. For example, if the maximum
meal production of a certain camp is Pmax , then level 1 would be Pmax /3 , level 2 would be 2Pmax /3
and level 3 would be Pmax . Below is the description on how the sample points are taken.In figure 14,
Cf ixed represents the cost incurred if the kitchen is not operating, in other words, the camp operates
as a DH.Lets say the total number of meal required to be cooked by a particular single kitchen is
denoted by Pcook , then the corresponding cost attributed to this demand requirement would be one
of the following possibilities:

Figure 14: Step cost function

Level 1: 0 < Pcook Pmax/3, then the cost would be C1
Level 2: Pmax/3 < Pcook 2Pmax/3, then the cost would be C2
Level 3: 2Pmax/3 < Pcook Pmax , then the cost would be C3
The assumption here is that the kitchen will be producing more than the number of meal required.
This wastage would be avoided when the number of possible production level is increased, however,
more computational cost is incurred. Later, from our computational test, it is shown that for 3 level
of production, the wastage is not really that much. The complication of using this step function comes
in the case of double kitchen. Since the cost function of single Muslim and single Non-muslim kitchen
are different, then if each kitchen has 3 production level, it turns out that the double kitchen has 9
possible production level, as shown by table 5.
For example it is noticed that if each muslim and non-muslim kitchen has the same maximum
capacity, then even if the total production of both kitchens are the same, the cost would be different
for different combination of operating levels. In other words, the operating cost of Non-muslim kitchen
level 1 + Muslim kitchen level 3 is not the same as Non-muslim level 3 + Muslim level 1.Based on the
16

Non-Muslim
kitchen level
1
1
1
2
2
2
3
3
3

Muslim
kitchen level
1
2
3
1
2
3
1
2
3

Double
kitchen level
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Table 5: Relation between single and double kitchen level

above cost function , the following parameters can be defined , whose values are initialized from data
provided by the SFI after doing some statistical analysis.
2.3.3. Inputs and Parameters
aN
j
aM
j
bN
it
bM
it
fitN
fitM
sik
hi
gi
cN
ij
cM
ij

= Demand of camp j for non-muslim meal

= Demand of camp j for muslim meal
= Maximum capacity of camp i to produce non-muslim meal at level t
= Maximum capacity of camp i to produce muslim meal at level t
= Operating cost of producing non-muslim meal in camp i at level t
= Operating cost of producing muslim meal in camp i at level t
= Saving obtained if camp i is producing both muslim and non-muslim meal
at total production level k
= Operating cost if camp i is not producing any meal
= Cost of supplying raw materials from Central Kitchen(C.K.) to the
operating camp
= Delivery cost of non-muslim meal from non-muslim kitchen in camp i to camp j
= Delivery cost of muslim meal from muslim kitchen in camp i to camp j

2.3.4. Objective Function

Minimize

n P
n
P
i=1 j=1
n
P

i=1

N
M M
(cN
ij xij + cij xij ) +

hi (1 yi ) +

n
P
i=1

n P
3
P
i=1 t=1

N + f M yM )
(fitN yit
it it

n P
9
P
i=1 k=1

D
sik yik

gi yi CV

The objective function minimizes the weighted sum of the following cost components:
17

1. Delivery cost of cooked meal from Regional Kitchen to Dining Hall, given by

n P
n
P
i=1 j=1

2. The total operating cost from all CCHs, given by

n
P
i=1

n P
3
P
i=1 t=1

N + f M yM )
(fitN yit
it it

N
M M
(cN
ij xij + cij xij ).

n P
9
P
i=1 k=1

D +
sik yik

hi (1 yi ). For example, if non-muslim and muslim kitchen at camp 1 operates at level 3

N
and 1 respectively, then, due to the constraints which will be explained later, variables y1 , y13
M
D
, y11 , and y17 will be active (notice from table 5 that non-muslim kitchen level 3 and muslim
kitchen level 1 corresponds to double kitchen level 7). It means that the operating cost is equal
N + fM s .
to the sum of muslim and non-muslim kitchen minus the saving obtained, or f13
17
11
M
On the other hand, if camp 1 only operates its muslim kitchen at level 1, then only y1 and y11
are active. Finally, if none of the kitchens in camp 1 is operating, then no variable is active. It
means that only the term h1 is left.

3. Delivery cost of raw materials from CPK to RK, given by

n
P
i=1

gi yi .

4. Reduction due to the unnecessary cost, when there are deliveries to CCHs located in the same
compound. This is given by the the term CV . Suppose that CCHs A, B, and C are located in
one compound, then only one vehicle is needed to deliver to those CCHs instead of three. Since
in component 1 we have included 3 vehicles, we should eliminate the cost of 2 vehicles. This
condition will be explained more in the constraint 7 subsection.
2.3.5. Constraints
1) Saving Constraint:
Since every CCHs is treated as double kitchen, we would like to have a relationship between yD
ik ,
N
M
yit , and yit . If non-muslim kitchen operates at level 1 and the muslim kitchen operates at level 1,
the corresponding double kitchen operates at level 1 as well.Similarly, if both non-muslim and muslim
kitchen operate at level 3, the corresponding double kitchen operates at level 9.The relationship among
variables is represented by the following Boolean expression:
D
N
M
yi1
= yi1
AN D yi1

..
.
D
N
M
yi9
= yi3
AN D yi3

using Integer Programming, it will be :

D
N
M
D
2yi1
yi1
+ yi1
yi1
+ 1 i I3

..
.
D
N
M
D
2yi9
yi3
+ yi3
yi9
+ 1 i I3

18

Since yi is active if at least a kitchen is operating, then in all CCHs except CCHs which do not
have any kitchen facility at all the following will hold
yi =

3
X

N
(yit

M
yit
)

t=1

9
X

D
yik

i I1 I2 I3

k=1

Since only one operating mode can exist at any one time for CCHs in sets I1 , I2 , and I3 , then the
following constraint should be applied
9
X

D
yik
1 i I1 I2 I3

k=1
3
X

N
yit
1 i I1 I2 I3

t=1
3
X

M
yit
1 i I1 I2 I3

t=1

2) Available Facility Constraint:

As mentioned earlier, in our model, every camp is treated as having both muslim and non-muslim
kitchen. However, in reality, some of the CCHs have only one type of kitchen, and some of them do
not have any kitchen at all. Hence, for CCHs that only have non-muslim kitchens, the following will
apply :
D
yik
= 0 i I1
, k {1, ..., 9}
M
yit
= 0 i I1

, t {1, 2, 3}

Similarly, for those CCHs that only have muslim kitchen, the following constraints will apply
D
yik
= 0 i I2

, k {1, ..., 9}

N
yit
= 0 i I2

, t {1, 2, 3}

Finally, for those CCHs that do not have any kitchen at all,
D
yik
= 0 i I4

, k {1, ..., 9}

N
M
yit
= 0 , yit
= 0 i I4
M
xN
ij = 0 , xij = 0 i I4

, t {1, 2, 3}

, j I1 I2 I3 I4

3) Maximum Capacity Constraint:

The third category is to obey the capacity limit of the chosen Regional Kitchen. Please note that
distinction should be made between the zero and non-zero meal demand requirement. For zero muslim
or non-muslim meal demand requirement, there will be no delivery from any Regional Kitchen.
xN
ij = 0 i I
19

j J3

xM
ij = 0 i I

j J4

For non-zero non-muslim meal demand requirement

X

N
aN
j xij

3
X

N
bN
it yit

i I1 I3

t=1

jJ1

The above constraint will not be correct if we generalize to the case of zero non-muslim demand (case
N
when J1 is changed to J1 U J3 ). Because if xN
ij is equal to zero, there will be no conclusion about yit .
Similarly, for non-zero muslim meal demand requirement
X

M
aM
j xij

3
X

M
bM
it yit

i I2 I3

t=1

jJ2

It can not be generalized to include the zero muslim demand set.

4) Single Source Constraint:
For each type of meal, the recipient should be provided by only one supplier. For each of non-zero
non-muslim meal recipient, the following condition should be impose
X
xN
ij = 1 j J1
iI1 I3

whereas for non-zero muslim meal recipient

X

xM
ij = 1 j J2

iI2 I3

5) Self-Serving Constraint:
This constraint will force each Regional Kitchens to satisfy their own demand for a particular meal
that they produce.
3
X
N
N
xii =
yit
, i I1 I2 I3
t=1

xM
ii

3
X

M
yit

, i I1 I2 I3

t=1

6) Maximum Allowable Distance Constraint:

To prevent quality degradation, the meal should be delivered within 30 minutes of being cooked. If it
is assumed that the average speed of the truck to be 40 km/h, it means that the dining hall should
be approximately within 20 km radius from the Regional Kitchen. For this purposes, all the CCHs
whose distance from each other is > 20 km is tabulated in a table in the form of {tabu1(i),tabu2(i)}).
Then, the solution should satisfy the following constraint
xN
tabu1(i),tabu2(i) = 0 i tabu index
20

xM
tabu1(i),tabu2(i) = 0 i tabu index
In addition, it is important to avoid distance close to 20 km between RK to DH. Therefore, a penalty
as big as 1000 times the usual cost would be impose for distance between 15 km and 20 km.
7) Proximity Constraint:
As mentioned earlier, some CCHs are located within one compound and the distance among them
is only about 500 meters. To model this, suppose camp A and B is in the same compound. If the
demand for a particular meal for both CCHs are fulfilled by RK outside the compound, then, this RK
should only send one vehicle for both CCHs. In addition, CCHs A and B should be fulfilled by the
same RK. To model this, we need to put constraint
N
xN
iA = xiB
M
xM
iA = xiB

Then, since only one vehicle is needed to deliver the food, we should add the following component in
the objective function to reduce the number of vehicle needed
N
M M
N N
M M
(cN
iA xiA ciA xiA )or(ciB xiB ciB xiB )

Now, if lets say there are 3 CCHs A,B, and C in one compound. Then, the constraint should be
changed to
N
N
xN
iA = xiB = xiC
M
M
xM
iA = xiB = xiC

and we should add the following components in the objective function

N
M M
N N
M M
N N
M M
2(cN
iA xiA + ciA xiA ) or 2(ciB xiB + ciB xiB ) or 2(ciC xiC + ciC xiC )
since
N
N
M
M
M
cN
iA = ciB = ciC and ciA = ciB = ciC

2.4. Formulation 2: Piecewise Linear Formulation

In this formulation, we model the operating cost of a kitchen as a piecewise linear function.
2.4.1. Representing an arbitrary Piecewise
Linear Function
First of all, we briefly describe how any arbitrary piecewise linear function can be modelled using
binary variables.
Suppose that a1 < a2 < . . . < ak , and that we have a continuous piecewise linear function f(x)
specified by the points (ai , f(ai )), for i = 1,. . . ,k, defined on the interval [a1 , ak ]. Then any x
[a1 , ak ]can be expressed in the form:
x=

k
P
i=1

21

i ai

Figure 15: An arbitrary piecewise linear function

where 1 , ..., k are nonnegative scalars such that

k
P
i=1

i = 1. The choice of coefficients 1 , ..., k

used to represent a particular x is not unique.

However, if we require that at most two consecutive coefficients i can be nonzero, then we get
a unique choice of the coefficients 1 , ..., k and any x [a1 , ak ] can be uniquely represented as
x = i ai + i+1 ai+1 , with i + i+1 = 1, and
f (x) =

k
P
i=1

i f (ai )

To model the additional constraint that at most two consecutive coefficients i can be nonzero,
we define binary variable zi , i = 1, ..., k 1, which is equal to 1 if ai x < ai+1 , and zero otherwise.
Then we can model the minimization problem involving piecewise linear cost function as the following
mixed integer programming:
minimize
s.t

k
P
i=1
k
P

i f (ai )
i = 1

l=1

1 z1 ,
i zi1 + zi,
k zk1 ,
k
P
zi = 1,

i = 2,..,k - 1

i=1

zi {0, 1}
22

2.4.2. Problem Formulation

As mentioned before, the operating cost of the Single Non-Muslim kitchen is the function of amount
of Non-Muslim meals cooked and the amount of Muslim meals served at the camp itself. Similarly
the operating cost of the Single Muslim kitchen is the function of amount of Muslim meals cooked
and the amount of Non-Muslim meals served at the camp itself. It is observed that the operating cost
of Single Non-Muslim kitchen is almost linear and hence can be approximated by the linear function
z = 7.5928 x + 5.0324 y + 24855 as shown in Figure 16. Here z represents the monthly operation cost,
x represents the amount of Non-Muslim meals cooked and y represents the amount of Muslim meals
served at the camp itself.

Figure 16: Linearized Operating cost of Non-Muslim Kitchen

Similarly, it is observed that the operating cost of Single Muslim kitchen is almost linear as well
and hence can be approximated by the linear function z = 15.069 x + 17.377 y + 12411 a. Here z represents the monthly operation cost, x represents the amount of Muslim meals cooked and y represents
the amount of Non-Muslim meals served at the camp itself.
As for the operating cost of the Double Kitchen, it is independent of the amount of meals served
and is a function of the total amount of meal cooked only. The operating cost of Double Kitchen is
as shown in Figure 17. We model it as a two-piece linear function with break point at x = 1000. Here
x represents the amount of meal cooked.

23

Figure 17: Operating cost of Double Kitchen

2.4.3. Set Definitions
In the formulation, depending on the types of facilities they posses and their different demand patterns,the entire set of 50 CCHs is divided into different subsets.
I:
Single M :
Single NM :
Double :
Nonzero M :
Nonzero NM :
Zero M :
Zero NM :
No Kicthen :

set
set
set
set
set
set
set
set
set

of
of
of
of
of
of
of
of
of

all
all
all
all
all
all
all
all
all

CCHs
Single Muslim Kitchens
Single Non-Muslim Kitchens
Double Kitchens
CCHs with demand for Muslim food
CCHs with demand for Non-Muslim food
CCHs with zero demand for Muslim food
CCHs with zero demand for Non-Muslim food
CCHs with no kitchen

2.4.4. Parameters:
aN
j :
aM
j :
bN
i :
bM
i :
D
bi :
hi :

demand of the jth CCH for Non-Muslim meal

demand of the jth CCH for Muslim meal
maximum capacity of the ith CCH for Non-Muslim meal
maximum capacity of the ith CCH for Non-Muslim meal
maximum capacity of the ith CCH Double Kitchen.
operating cost if ith CCH is not a regional kitchen
24

gi :
Cij :
index tabu:
tabuij :
level :
B:
fD
il :
aD
il :

the cost of supplying the raw materials from the Central Kitchen
(C.K.)to the ith CCH
Cost of delivering meals from the ith camp to the jth camp
Number of kitchens that are further than 20km apart from each
other
contains index of CCHs that are tabu
number of pieces in the piecewise linear cost funtion
arbitrary big number
Cost of running the ith CCH as a double kitchen at level l .
Production level of the ith Double Kitchen at level l.

2.4.5. Decision Variables:

1
if the ith CCH is choosen to be a Regional Kitchen
yi =

0
otherwise

yiN =

yiM =

yiD =

(
xN
ij

otherwise
if the ith CCH is choosen to be a Regional Kitchen to serve
Muslim meal
otherwise
if the ith CCH is choosen to be a Regional Kitchen
to serve both Muslim and Non-Muslim meal
otherwise

1
0

if the ith Regional Kitchen serves Non-Muslim meal to the jth CCH
otherwise

1
0

if the ith Regional Kitchen serves Muslim meal to the jth CCH
otherwise

(
xM
ij =

if the ith CCH is choosen to be a Regional Kitchen

to serve Non-Muslim meal

D
il :

Piecewise linear coefficients for the ith Double Kitchen.

iN :

Variables to compensate the zero production

cost of the ith Single Non-Muslim kitchen .
Variables to compensate the zero production

iM :

25

zilD :
pD
i :
pN
i :
pM
i :

cost of the ith Single Muslim kitchen .

Piecewise linear binary variables for the double kitchens.
Actual meal production of the ith double kitchen
Actual production of the ith single Non-Muslim kitchen.
Actual production of the ith single Muslim kitchen.

2.4.6. Objective function

The cost involved in the overall operation of this centralized Cooking concept can be broken down
into the following two components:
(i) Transportation Cost
PP
iI jI

cij xN
ij +

PP
iI jI

cij xM
ij +

P
iI

gi yi

The transportation cost involves the cost of transporting the processed raw materials from the
Central Processing Kitchen to the Regional Kitchens and the cost of transporting the cooked meals
from the Regional Kitchens to the respective Dinning Halls assigned to them.
(ii) Operating cost
P

M
(7.5928 pN
i + 5.0324 ai + 24855)

iI
P

N
+
(15.069 pM
i + 17.377 ai + 12411)
PiI
D

(7.5928 iN + (5.0324 aM
i + 24855)yi )
iI
P
D

(15.069 iM + (17.377 aN
i + 12411)yi )
iI

P
iI

D (1
fi1

P level
P

iI l=1
P
yiD )
iI

D
D
il fil +

hj (1 yj )
P
24855(1 yiN )
12411(1 yiM )
iI

iI

The overall operating cost comprise of the operating cost of the Single Kitchens, the operating of the
Double Kitchens and the operating cost of the Dinning Halls. As mentioned before, the operating cost
M
of the Single Kitchens are modelled as two linear functions z = 7.5928 pN
i + 5.0324 ai + 24855(NM)
M
N
and z = 15.069 pi +17.377 ai +12411(M), while the operating cost of the Double Kitchen is modelled
as a two piece linear function. The operating cost of the Dinning Halls only depend on the amount of
meals to be served, which is fixed for a certain Dinning Hall. Hence the operating cost of a Dinning
Hall is just a constant term.
Since the operating cost of a Single Kitchen and a Double Kitchen is completely different, we
have to make sure that when a CCH is operating as a Double Kitchen, the operating cost of its
constituent Single Kitchens does not show up in the objective function. That means that if the ith
M
M
N
CCH is a Double Kitchen, then the terms 7.5928 pN
i +5.0324 ai +24855 and 15.069 pi +17.377 ai +
12411 corresponding to the two constituent Single Kitchens of that Double Kitchen has to go to zero.
26

Although we have defined binary variables yiD to indicate whether a CCH is a Double Kitchen or
not, we cannot use it to drive the above two terms to zero, as this will make the objective function
non-linear. Therefore, we define new variables iN and iM which are zero if the ith CCH is not a
M
th CCH is a Double Kitchen.
Double Kitchen, or equal to pN
i and pi respectively if the i
Also, the operating costP
functions do notPgo to zero when P
the amount of meal cooked is zero.
D (1 y D )
N)
Hence, add the last term,
fi1
24855(1

y
12411(1 yiM ), to make sure that
i
i
iI

iI

iI

when there is no cooking done in a CCH, its operating cost is zero.

Complete Objective function:
PP

cij xN
ij +

PP

cij xM
ij +

gi yi
iI jI
iI jI
iI
P
P
M
N
+
(7.5928 pN
(15.069 pM
i + 5.0324 ai + 24855) +
i + 17.377 ai + 12411)
iI
iI P
P
D)
D

(7.5928 iN + (5.0324 aM
+
24855)y
(15.069 iM + (17.377 aN
i
i
i + 12411)yi )
iI

P level
P
iI l=1

iI

D
D
il fil +

P
iI

hj (1 yj )

P
iI

D (1 y D )
fi1
i

P
iI

24855(1 yiN )

P
iI

12411(1 yiM )

2.4.7. Constraints
Constraints 1 ,2 and 3 enforce the relationship between the binary variables yiN , yiM , yiD and yi . Binary
variable yiD indicates whether a CCH is Double Kitchen or not, and it can be equal to one only if both
of its constituent Kitchens are open at the same time, that is, yiD can be equal to one only if both yiN
and yiM are equal to one. Similarly yi indicates whether a CCH is a Regional Kitchen or a Dinning
Hall and it is equal to one if any one of yiN , yiM or yiD is equal to one.
yiN + yiM
yiN

yiM

yiD + 1 ,

i I

(1)

2yiD

i I

(2)

yi = yiN + yiM yiD ,

i I

(3)

Constraints 4 and 5 are to ensure that demand of each of the CCHs is met and that only one
Kitchen can supply to a certain camp.
X
xN
j Nonzero NM
(4)
ij = 1 ,
iI

xM
ij

= 1,

j Nonzero M

(5)

i I

(6)

i I

(7)

iI

Each RK serves its own Dinning Hall

xN
ii
xM
ii

= yiN ,
=

yiM

27

If a CCH has no demand for Non-Muslim food, it cannot be assigned to a Non-Muslim R.K. and
vice versa
xN
ij

= 0,

j Zero NM, i I

(8)

xM
ij

= 0,

j Zero M, i I

(9)

Muslim kitchen cannot be opened in a CCH with only Non-Muslim facility and vice versa.
yiN

= 0,

i Single M

(10)

yiM

= 0,

i Single NM

(11)

To ensure that a camp can supply another camp only if it is a Regional Kitchen.
xN
ij
xM
ij

yiN ,

yiM

i I, j Nonzero NM
i I, j Nonzero M

(12)
(13)

CCHs with only one kitchen cannot be a double kitchen

yiD = 0 ,

i Single M

(14)

yiD

i Single NM

(15)

yiD = 0 ,

i No Kitchen

(16)

yiD

j No Kithcen

(17)

= 0,

CCH with no kitchen cannot be a R.K.

= 0,

Single Muslim kitchens cannot serve Non-Muslim food and vice versa
yiN

= 0,

i Single M

(18)

yiM

= 0,

i Single NM

(19)

RKs cannot serve CCHs further than 20km away

xN
tabui1 ,tabui2

= 0

i Single NM

(20)

xM
tabui1 ,tabui2

= 0

i Single M

(21)

If several CCHs, say j1 and j2 are within the same compound, the assignment to those CCHs must
N
N
be the same, that is xN
ij1 = xij2 . In the objective function we deduct the cij1 xij1 term which reflects
the fact that if the CCHs in that complex are active, we only need one vehicle to make the delivery
for all the CCHs within the compound.
Integrality constraints:
xN
ij

{ 0,1}

i I,j I

(22)

xM
ij
yiN
yiM

{ 0,1}

i I,j I

(23)

{ 0,1}

i I

(24)

{ 0,1}

i I

(25)

28

Constraints 26 to 45 are added to implement the piecewise linear cost function.

To ensure that yiN is equal to zero when the ith CCH doesnt serve Non-Muslim meals and yiM is
equal to zero when the ith CCH doesnt serve Muslim meals.
X
xN
i I, j I
(26)
yiN
ij ,
jI

yiM

xM
ij ,

i I, j I

(27)

jI

Production of Single Kitchen is less than the capacity

pN
i

N
bN
i yi ,

pM
i

M
bM
i yi

i I

(28)

i I

(29)

When the kitchen is operating as a Double Kitchen, we have to make sure that the terms corresponding to the Single Kitchen Costs in the objective function go to zero. We also have to ascertain
that it is operating at the same production level as the sum of the production levels of the single
kitchens associated with the Double Kitchen. In summary, we want the following relation to hold
true:
yiD = 0 ilN = ilM = 0
M
M
yiD = 1 ilN = pN
i , il = pi

These conditions are implemented through Constraints 30 35 .

ilN
ilM

B yiD ,
B

ilN pN
i
ilM pM
i
N
pi ilN
M
pM
i il

yiD

B(1 yiD ) ,
B(1
B(1
B(1

yiD )
yiD )
yiD )

i I, l = 1,..,level

(30)

i I, l = 1,..,level

(31)

i I, l = 1,..,level

(32)

i I, l = 1,..,level

(33)

i I, l = 1,..,level

(34)

i I, l = 1,..,level

(35)

Double Kitchen piecewise linear cost function modelling:

level
X

D
= 1,
il

i I

(36)

l=1

D
zilD ,
il
D
il
D
il
level
X

D
zil1
D
zil1

+
,

zilD = 1 ,

zilD

i I, l = 1

(37)

i I, l = 2,..,level - 1

(38)

i I, l = level

(39)

i I

l=1

29

(40)

Actual production level of Double Kitchen

pD
=
i

level
X

D
D
il ail ,

i I

(41)

l=1

When a CCH is operating as a Double Kitchen, we have to ensure that its production level is equal
N
M
to the sum of the production levels of its two constituent Single Kitchens, i.e., pD
i = (pi + pi ) only
D
when yi = 1 .
N
M
D
pD
i (pi + pi ) B(1 yi ) ,

i I

(42)

(pN
i

i I

(43)

pM
i )

pD
i

B(1

yiD )

Production is less than the capacity

D
pD
bD
i
i yi ,

To ensure that the demand is met

X
N
aN
j xij

i I

(44)

pN
j

j I

(45)

pM
j

j I

(46)

jI

M
aM
j xij

jI

3. Implementation and Results

3.1. 3 Production Levels Formulation
The model was implemented by using OPL studio 2 running on Pentium III 128MB SDRAM. It
took about 30 minutes to solve and the resulting network configuration is as shown in Figure 18 and
Figure 19.
The result obtained is summarized in Table 63 . In this configuration there are a total of 16
camps operating as Regional Kitchens. Among them 10 are Double Kitchens, 5 are Single NonMuslim Kitchens and 1 is Single Muslim Kitchen. The remaining 34 camps operate as Dinning Halls
and depend on the 16 Regional Kitchens for their meal requirements. As for transportation, this
configuration requires a total of 44 vehicles, 24 of them Non-Muslim trucks and 20 Muslim trucks.
Please note that this figure doesnt include the number of vehicles required to deliver the raw materials
from CPK to the RKs. As determined by the transportation project, 4 vehicles are required for this
purpose and this number is not expected to vary with the network configuration. The total operating
cost per month with this configuration is S$2,060,884 which means a saving of around S$184,647 per
month.
2
3

ILOG companys optimization software product

Please note that the tabulated Cost estimates have been altered due to the confidential nature of the data

30

Proposal
SFI
SMA

Number of
Double kitchen
8
10
Proposal
SFI
SMA
Proposal
SFI
SMA

Number of
Single NM kitchen
7
5

Number of
Non-Muslim truck
27
24

Utility
Cost(S$)
356,653
330,114

Labor
Cost(S$)
1,773,287
1,622,563

Number of
Single M kitchen
5
1

Number of
Muslim truck
21
20
Transportation
Cost(S$)
116,588
108,207

Number of
Dining Hall
31
34

Total
truck
48
44
Total
Cost(S$)
2,246,531
2,060,884

Table 6: Design comparison with SFI network design

As mentioned earlier, the demand data used to run the models is the 85 percentile demand data.
Although the 85 percentile demand data is expected to approximate the actual demand most of the
time, occasionally there may be surge in demand, for example, during special training periods etc.
To study how the optimal solution is affected by this surge in demand, the model was ran with 95
percentile data. The choice of Regional Kitchen for the two sets of demand data is shown in Table 7.
85% demand
Single NM Single M
UMIA
UARZ
UHDZ
UPLZ
USGB
USBZ

95% demand
Single NM Single M
UMIA
UARZ
UHDZ
USTZ
UPLZ
UDBZ
USGB
USWA
USBZ
ULCA
UBPZ
UJRB

Double
UCGA
UAQA
UKJB
UPSB
UMJZ
UKTA
UNSA
USWB
UTAZ
UJRB
10

Double
UCGA
UAQA
UKJB
UPSB
UMJZ
UKTA
UNSA
USWB
UTAZ
UTGA
10

Table 7: Change in Configuration with change in demand data

31

The demand requirement calculated from 95 percentile data is higher than from the 85 percentile
one. It is observed that at 95 percentile demand, more Regional Kitchens need to be operated. For
single Non-Muslim kitchen, there is no difference in the choice of Regional Kitchens. The two demand
requirements require exactly the same set of single Non-Muslim kitchens. On the other hand, at 95
percentile demand six more single Muslim kitchens are required. In addition to UARZ, it need to
open USTZ, UDBZ, USWA, ULCA, UBPZ and UJRB. As for Double Kitchens, only UJRB need to
be converted into a single Muslim Kitchen and open a new Double Kitchen, UTGA.

Figure 18: Optimal Solution with 3 level formulation, part 1

32

Figure 19: Optimal Solution with 3 level formulation, part 2

33

3.2. Piecewise Linear Formulation

The formulation was modelled in OPL studio. The model consists of 9375 constraints and 5703
variables and needed around 30 minutes to solve on a pentium III, 650Hz 128MB machine. The
resulting network configuration is shown in figure 20.
The result obtained is summarized in Table 84 . In this configuration there are a total of 27
CCHs operating as Regional Kitchens. Among them 8 are Double Kitchens, 5 are Single Non-Muslim
Kitchens and 14 are Single Muslim Kitchen. The remaining 23 CCHs operate as Dinning Halls
and depend on the 27 Regional Kitchens for their meal requirements. As for transportation, this
configuration requires a total of 36 vehicles, 25 of them Non-Muslim trucks and 11 Muslim trucks.
The total operating cost per month with this configuration comes out to be S$1,966,058.
The Cost estimates tabulated in Table 6 and Table 8 are not taken from the objective values
obtained with OPL studio but are computed off-line. The cost functions derived before were used on
the network configurations obtained to come up with the different cost estimates.
It is observed that although there are considerably more Single Muslim Kitchens in the solution
obtained with the piecewise linear model. The result obtained , in terms of the total operating cost,
is better than that obtained with the 3 production levels model. With the Piecewise Linear model, it
is managed to make a total saving of S$280,472 which is around 12% of the total cost.
Proposal
SFI
SMA

Number of
Double kitchen
8
8
Proposal
SFI
SMA
Proposal
SFI
SMA

Number of
Single NM kitchen
7
5

Number of
Non-Muslim truck
27
25

Utility
Cost(S$)
356,653
341,818

Labor
Cost(S$)
1,773,287
1,535,738

Number of
Single M kitchen
5
14

Number of
Muslim truck
21
11
Transportation
Cost(S$)
116,588
88,502

Number of
Dining Hall
31
23

Total
truck
48
36
Total
Cost(S$)
2,246,531
1,966,058

Table8: Design comparison with SFI network design

4

Please note that the tabulated Cost estimates have been altered due to the confidential nature of the data

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Figure 20: Optimal Solution with piecewise linear formulation

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The Regional Kitchen configuration at 85 percentile and 95 percentile demand data is shown in
Table 9.
85% demand
Single Nm Single M
USGB
ULCA
UMIA
USTZ
UHDZ
UBPZ
UPLZ
UJRB
USBZ
UMJZ
UCPZ
UCMZ
USLB
UKTA
UDBZ
USWA
UGCZ
UAQA
UTGA
UTNZ
6

14

95% demand
Single Nm Single M
USGB
ULCA
UMIA
USTZ
UHDZ
UBPZ
UPLZ
UJRB
USBZ
UMJZ
UCPZ
UCMZ
USLB
UKTA
UDBZ
USWB
UGCZ
UAQA
UTGA
UTNZ

Double
UKJB
UPSB
UNSA
USWB
UCGA
UARZ
UTAZ

14

Double
UKJB
UPSB
UNSA
USWA
UCGA
UARZ
UTAZ

Table 9: Change in Configuration with change in demand data

It is observed that most of the Kitchen types remain unchanged. In both configurations, there are
6 Single Non-Muslim kitchens, 14 Single Muslim Kitchens and 7 Double Kitchens. Only USWA which
was originally a Single Muslim kitchen is operating as a Double Kitchen in the new configuration while
USWB which was originally a Double Kitchen is a Single Muslim Kitchen in the new configuration.
There are some changes in the Dinning Hall assignment though. The cluster sizes are smaller in the
new configuration. This is to be expected, because with bigger demands, the number of camps a
Kitchen can serve cannot be as high as with smaller demands. It is found that most of the R.K.s
whose Dinning Hall assignments have changed are those originally operating at near peak capacities.

4. Conclusion
In this case, a location and assignment problem of the Commercialized Cook House (CCH) was
looked into. In order to save the total cookhouse operating cost, the Singapore Food Industries (SFI)
decided to restructure its operation from On-site Processing to Centralized Food Processing. The
focus of the project was to come up with a centralized mode of operation without compromising the
existing quality of service. Two different models were developed in this project, the step cost function
model and the piecewise linear model.
The most challenging part of this project was to determine the cost parameters of the model. Two
cost components were considered, the operating cost and the transportation cost. For operating cost,
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it was found out from regression analysis that only gas usage and labor cost have relationships with
production and serving volume, and thus only the two of them are considered in the operating cost
model. For electricity and water, the cost was treated as a monthly fixed cost since they showed a
poor relationship with the production volume. In the model, the transportation cost was modelled as
a sum of a fixed cost and distance-dependent cost. The fixed cost was mainly contributed by vehicle
depreciation, maintenance, and driver allowance. As for distance-dependent cost, only fuel usage was
considered.
The effort for data gathering, data validation, cost estimation and error detection was substantial
and involved close corporation with the SFI managers and staffs. Furthermore, the multitude of
parameters as well as uncertainties regarding the demand requirements made it necessary to perform
some statistical analysis. Finally the two models were implemented using OPL studio. The result
showed that a network configurations which can reduce the total cost by about 10%, compared to the
network configuration proposed by SFI, is theoretically possible.
Below it briefly compares the three different network configurations, one proposed by SFI and the
other two obtained through the two models developed in the project.
The main attributes of SFI network configuration are the small cluster sizes and the relatively
small number of Double Kitchens. As a result, the total number of operating kitchens is relatively big.
The Dinning Hall assignments are also relatively simple; the Regional Kitchens only supply to nearby
Dinning Halls. As a result, the daily operations are less complicated and hence easier to manage.
In both of the configuration obtained with the two new models, the cluster sizes are relatively big,
with some of the clusters containing 10 or more CCHs. The Dinning Hall assignments are also quite
complicated. Consequently, the daily operations may be more complicated and harder to manage.
With step cost function model, the double kitchen assignment seems to be the most dominating
type, followed by Single Non-Muslim and Muslim kitchen. On the other hand, the most dominating
type in the result of piece wise linear model is single Muslim kitchen, followed by double kitchen
and single Non-Muslim kitchen. In the original cost function derived from the regression analysis,
the Muslim kitchen has a bigger slope but a lower y-intercept value compared to the Non-Muslim
kitchen. That means, it is more cost effective to operate the Muslim kitchens in smaller production
level. With the step cost function model, the information about the slope and intersection value at a
low level of production could not be captured as accurately as with the piecewise linear model. The
minimum production level of a kitchen is one-fourth the maximum capacity of that kitchen, and since
the Muslim demands are not that big, one Muslim kitchen can provide meals to quite a large number
of Dinning Halls, which explains the lesser number of Muslim kitchens with this model. On the other
hand, with the piecewise linear model, it is possible to capture the exact level of production. This
results in many of the Muslim kitchens being operated in small production level. Most of the Single
Muslim kitchens in this configuration are actually producing meals for themselves only.
Both of the problem formulations are based on the 85 percentile demand data obtained through
statistical analysis, although the actual demand may be stochastic in nature. The models, as such,
cannot capture this time variant nature of the input demand data. Therefore a possible future work
can be to further refine our model to incorporate this randomness in data.

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