Indian Journal of Geo Marine Sciences Vol. 48 (03), March 2019, pp. 397-402 Supply chain integration through ship routing optimization among BRICS by using meta-heuristic technique Pravendra Tyagi 1 *& G. Agarwal 2 1 Department of Electronics, Banasthali Vidyapith 2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, MNIT, Jaipur *[E-mail: indiakt@rediffmail.com] Received 04 August 2017; revised 08 January 2018 Acquiring and distribution of goods among BRICS countries by way of supply chain integration through route optimization of a fleet of vessels to serve customers of coined members with minimum total cost and sum of demurrage cost (charged by port) and detention cost (charged by ocean carriers), arising from earliness and tardiness in ship’s arrival at ports with respect to the delivery deadlines of customers, is a homogeneous heterogeneous ship routing problem with time window (HHSRPTW), which involves the routing of a set of ships with known demands and predefined time windows as well as delivery time. To solve the problem, this study proposes a genetic algorithm as an optimization technique and MATLAB as a software tool. [Keywords: Maritime transportation, Freight forwarder, Hinterland, Detention, Demurrage, Ocean carrier] Introduction BRICS is a notation of an organized association of emerging market economies of South Africa, Brazil, Russia, India, and China. All BRICS countries are distinguished by their drastic enhancement in their economies that has considerable influence on regional and international affairs. These countries represent population strength of 3 billion people with combined GDP 1-3 $ 14.9 trillion. This study is an attempt to facilitate trading enhancement among BRICS countries by optimizing sea routing to maintain the inventory in the prescribed lead time, by connecting ports of BRICS with the shortest distance of sea route to attain the customer commitment taking into consideration all input variables, output variables, decision variables and constraints. It is impractical for any country to have proficiency to produce all types of required inventory because of non-availability of high technology, skilled labor, and appropriate machines. So it is important to connect five countries for inventory maneuver through optimized route with minimum total cost and sum of demurrage cost (charged by port) and detention cost (charged by ocean carriers), arising from earliness and tardiness in ship’s arrival at ports with respect to the delivery deadlines of customers 4 . BRICS plays an important role in technological, economic, commercial and social network activities expansion among the member countries and integration of their international trade. The availability of products and services in one country/other parts of the world becomes promptly accessible or procurable by using advance communication tools and techniques. Coined countries, realizing the positive outcome of international economic integration, have attempted fostering this strategy for implementation. One of the most impacting force behind international integration of BRICS countries in efficient implication of logistics and distribution 5 system is facilitating the movement of cargo or shipment from supply end to delivery end or point of origin to the point of distribution, economically in terms of cost, speed and reliability. BRICS trading integration also can be made possible through land, air and sea. The most popular land-based logistics are buses, trains, and trucks that are not flexible and efficient with respect to distance and amount of cargo they can cover and carry per round. Long distance transition of the shipment requires remaining modes of transportation, either by air or sea. Air-based logistics are fast, secure with strictly maintained safety standard, making them ideal for the transportation of perishable products; but they have limitations on size, weight, and high costs 6 . The third mode of logistics is maritime transportation. Nearly 65% to 85% international trade by weight is done by shipping fleet, and 90% of the global cargo is