Distribution Path Optimization of Fresh Products in Cold Storage Considering Green Costs

• Published in: Buildings (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 9; p. 2325
• Main Authors: Feng, Qun, Zhao, Ge, Li, Wenjing, Shi, Xuejun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.09.2023
• Subjects: Algorithms; Ant colony optimization; Backup software; Carbon; China; cold chain logistics; Cold storage; Continuous improvement; Costs; Customer satisfaction; Customer services; Distribution costs; distribution path optimization; Economic aspects; Emissions (Pollution); Emissions control; Energy conservation; Energy consumption; Environmental protection; Environmental tax; fresh products; Green building (Construction); green cost; Green development; Green market; Logistics; Logistics services; Mathematical models; Operating costs; Optimization; Optimization models; Refrigeration; Supply chains; Sustainable development; Transportation; Vehicles; China
• ISSN: 2075-5309; 2075-5309
• DOI: 10.3390/buildings13092325

With the continuous improvement of people’s income level and consumption level, the demand for fresh products is driven by the strong demand, and at the same time, low-carbon and green development puts forward new requirements for the cold chain logistics industry. Starting from the perspective of considering the green cost, by constructing a distribution path optimization model of fresh cold chain products considering green cost with the optimal total distribution cost as the research objective, energy saving and emission reduction are integrated into the path optimization problem so that we can explore how to protect the environment while realizing the benefits of the enterprise, and the model is solved by using the ant colony algorithm. By observing the cold chain logistics distribution path arrangement before and after optimization, it is found that the fresh cold chain product distribution path optimization considering green cost can effectively reduce the transportation cost, refrigeration cost, carbon emission cost, and cargo damage cost in the distribution process. Under the optimal distribution strategy, the total cost is reduced by about 16.6% compared to the original route, and the environmental cost is reduced while reducing the distribution cost. It shows that this strategy can improve transportation efficiency and customer satisfaction while saving resources and protecting the environment. And this study comprehensively considers the actual operation of logistics enterprises, so this study has a certain significance of reference value for the green transformation of enterprises. It further promotes the sustainable development of the cold chain industry and reduces the distribution costs of cold chain logistics companies. It also provides a certain degree of inspiration and reference for other cold chain logistics companies to realize the unification of economic and environmental benefits in actual operation.