Supplementary data: Optimising centralisation and decentralisation in distribution networks for perishable products through mathematical modelling, parametric analysis, and machine learning

The success of distribution companies for perishable products is enabled by optimally configuring distribution networks, which allows for reducing total logistic costs while ensuring reduced product spoilage and high service levels. Since customer demand for perishable products varies over time, the network configuration should not be optimised once, but periodically reviewed. Among the decisions to be reviewed, determining whether to centralise or decentralise inventory (i.e., stock allocation in distribution centres) is crucial. However, the literature overlooks stock allocation decisions, and existing methodologies to compare the economic performance of centralised, decentralised, and hybrid policies neglect important cost items, also requiring advanced computational technologies and skills to be applied. This paper addresses these gaps by providing two contributions. In this dataset, a comparison has been made between the cost performance of centralized, decentralized, and hybrid stock allocation policies in distribution networks for perishable products. The dataset comprises 100,000 realistic case studies generated through a Sobol quasi-random low discrepancy series.