A Novel Two-Phase Approach for Optimization of the Last-Mile Delivery Problem with Service Options

Nima Pourmohammadreza and Mohammad Reza Akbari Jokar ()
Additional contact information
Nima Pourmohammadreza: Department of Industrial Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran 1458889694, Iran
Mohammad Reza Akbari Jokar: Department of Industrial Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran 1458889694, Iran

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 10, 1-25

Abstract: As the growth of e-commerce continues to accelerate, there is a need for new and innovative strategies in last-mile delivery to meet the changing demands of customers. The main objective of this study is to address this need by optimizing the last-mile delivery problem with service options (LMDPSOs) through a novel two-phase approach that considers various delivery options such as home delivery, self-pickup, and delivery at different prices. This original approach enables simultaneous optimization of the selection of the most appropriate pickup and delivery points and determination of the most efficient vehicle routing. The LMDPSOs reduces overall costs, minimizes environmental impact, and considers customer satisfaction levels by determining the most appropriate trips according to the available service options. This research employs a two-phase methodology for decision making. The first phase determines the value of the proposed locations through a novel multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach that incorporates sustainability criteria. In the second phase, a tailored mathematical model is proposed for vehicle routing with service options. The model is coded in the CPLEXsoftware version 12.6 in various dimensions. We evaluate the potential and advantages of diverse delivery choices, illustrating that aggregating orders at pickup and delivery points can reduce delivery costs and minimize environmental impact. Additionally, this paper directs managers in selecting the most appropriate delivery method for last-mile delivery, considering environmental, social, and economic factors.

Keywords: multi-criteria decision making; vehicle routing problem; sustainability; pickup and delivery points; two-phase methodology; service options; sustainable last-mile delivery problem (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/10/8098/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/10/8098/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:10:p:8098-:d:1148267

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().