Applying GIS and OR Techniques to Solve Sears Technician-Dispatching and Home Delivery Problems

Don Weigel and Buyang Cao
Additional contact information
Don Weigel: Transportation/Logistics Services ESRI, Inc., 380 New York Street, Redlands, California 92373
Buyang Cao: Transportation/Logistics Services ESRI, Inc., 380 New York Street, Redlands, California 92373

Interfaces, 1999, vol. 29, issue 1, 112-130

Abstract: Sears, Roebuck and Company uses a vehicle-routing-and-scheduling system based on a geographic information system to run its delivery and home service fleets more efficiently. Although the problems to be solved can be modeled as vehicle-routing problems with time windows (VRPTW), the size of the problems and thus practical complexity make these problems of both theoretical and practical interest. We constructed a series of algorithms, including the algorithm to build the origin-and-destination matrix, the algorithm to assign resources, and algorithms to perform sequencing and route improvement. The combination of GIS and OR techniques makes the system quite efficient. The system has improved the Sears technician-dispatching and home-delivery business; resulting in over $9 million in one-time savings and over $42 million in annual savings. The success of this application also suggests a promising link between GIS and OR techniques.

Keywords: computers/computer science; system; design/operation; transportation; models; network (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1999
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (18)

Downloads: (external link)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/inte.29.1.112 (application/pdf)

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:inm:orinte:v:29:y:1999:i:1:p:112-130

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Interfaces from INFORMS Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Asher ().