ABSTRACT
In an increasingly dynamic business environment, the goal of any supply chain is providing competitive services to customers, especially in terms of costs. This is why over the last years there has been a remarkable growth of interest regarding the establishment of the location of the intermodal transport networks hubs that carry out the goods transfer, consolidation and grouping. Throughout this study we will try to perform a theoretical transition from the usual intermediate storage platform to the concept of “dry port” (a key component of the intermodal transport chain) in order to determine the optimal location for establishing it. We will approach two distinct methods that can be used to determine the optimal location of a facility, a genetic algorithms and a linear programming, in order to establish which of these methods give us the more appropriate results in accordance with our economic set goal. Theoretical discussions will be transposed at different ports of Dobrudja, respectively seaports: Constanta, Mangalia, Midia and river ports: Murfatlar, Medgidia and Cernavoda. Although it seems a local approach, the optimal solution that was found has a particular significance due to the geographical position of these ports (the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal and the Danube-Black Sea Canal), but also due to their importance and their share in the transit of goods inwards Europe.
