Routing strategies for integrating forward distribution and reverse collection

• Published in: The Journal of the Operational Research Society Vol. 62; no. 6; pp. 971 - 981
• Main Authors: Chang, T-S, Liao, Y-F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Taylor & Francis 01.06.2011; Palgrave Macmillan; Palgrave Macmillan UK; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Algorithms; Applied sciences; Business and Management; Case-oriented Paper; Case-oriented Papers; Convenience stores; Customer services; Exact sciences and technology; Firm modelling; Flows in networks. Combinatorial problems; Heuristics; Itinerant sales; Logistics; Management; Operational research and scientific management; Operational research. Management science; Operations research; Operations Research/Decision Theory; Optimal solutions; pickup and delivery; reverse logistics; routing; Transportation networks; Travel time; traveling salesman path problem; Traveling salesman problem; Vehicle capacity; Vehicles; pickup and delivery; routing; reverse logistics; traveling salesman path problem; Contracting service; Competitiveness; Travelling salesman problem; Operating cost; Routing; Subcontracting; Economy of transports; Modeling; Transportation problem; Asymmetry; Efficiency; Heuristic method; NP hard problem; Reverse logistics; Profit; Outsourcing; Open market; Service Proposal; Cost lowering
• ISSN: 0160-5682; 1476-9360
• DOI: 10.1057/jors.2010.21

Due to the significant growth in the demand for logistics services and the ongoing trend towards the outsourcing of logistics activities, logistics service providers have concurrently gained a significant profit-making opportunity and faced the unprecedented challenge of surviving in the midst of increasingly fierce market competition. This research thus aims to propose routing strategies that optimally integrate forward distribution and reverse collection to help logistics service providers reduce their operating costs when providing transportation services, and thus improve their market competitive power. The integrated routing problem is formulated as the mixed pickup-delivery asymmetric traveling salesman path problem. The problem is NP-hard and new in the literature. Therefore, the objectives of this research are to first model the problem and then develop an efficient and effective heuristic solution algorithm to the problem.