Metro Meals on Wheels Treasure Valley Employs a Low-Cost Routing Tool to Improve Deliveries

Andrew S. Manikas (), James R. Kroes () and Thomas F. Gattiker ()
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Andrew S. Manikas: Management Department, College of Business, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky 40292
James R. Kroes: College of Business and Economics, Boise State University, Boise, Idaho 83725
Thomas F. Gattiker: College of Business and Economics, Boise State University, Boise, Idaho 83725

Interfaces, 2016, vol. 46, issue 2, 154-167

Abstract: In this paper, we discuss a project in which we develop a spreadsheet-based system that interfaces with a no-fee driving-directions application programming interface to quickly and accurately build a travel-time and distance matrix, and then rapidly determine near-optimal delivery-route schedules using a modified genetic algorithm. To the best of our knowledge, the method we used to create the travel matrix had not been studied previously. The tool was tested and refined in a humanitarian setting—a local branch of the Meals on Wheels Association of America (now Meals on Wheels America), an organization that combats hunger and poverty by providing food to individuals who are in need. The tool, which is currently being utilized by Metro Meals on Wheels Treasure Valley, has substantially reduced the time required to plan deliveries and has also reduced the delivery driving times by approximately 15 percent.

Keywords: humanitarian logistics; vehicle routing; technology; community; planning; genetic algorithm (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:orinte:v:46:y:2016:i:2:p:154-167

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