Alibaba Vehicle Routing Algorithms Enable Rapid Pick and Delivery

Haoyuan Hu (), Ying Zhang (), Jiangwen Wei (), Yang Zhan (), Xinhui Zhang (), Shaojian Huang (), Guangrui Ma (), Yuming Deng () and Siwei Jiang ()
Additional contact information
Haoyuan Hu: Cainiao Network, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311100, China
Ying Zhang: Cainiao Network, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311100, China
Jiangwen Wei: Cainiao Network, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311100, China
Yang Zhan: Cainiao Network, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 311100, China
Xinhui Zhang: Alibaba Group, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310052, China
Shaojian Huang: Alibaba Group, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310052, China
Guangrui Ma: Alibaba Group, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310052, China
Yuming Deng: Alibaba Group, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310052, China
Siwei Jiang: Lazada Group, Singapore 068811

Interfaces, 2022, vol. 52, issue 1, 27-41

Abstract: Alibaba Group pioneered integrated online and offline retail models to allow customers to place online orders of e-commerce and grocery products at its participating stores or restaurants for rapid delivery—in some cases, in as little as 30 minutes after an order has been placed. To meet these service commitments, quick online routing decisions must be made to optimize order picking routes at warehouses and delivery routes for drivers. The solutions to these routing problems are complicated by stringent service commitments, uncertainties, and complex operations in warehouses with limited space. Alibaba has developed a set of algorithms for vehicle routing problems (VRPs), which include an open-architecture adaptive large neighborhood search to support the solution of variants of routing problems and a deep learning-based approach that trains neural network models offline to generate almost instantaneous solutions online. These algorithms have been implemented to solve VRPs in several Alibaba subsidiaries, have generated more than $50 million in annual financial savings, and are applicable to the broader logistics industry. The success of these algorithms has fermented an inner-source community of operations researchers within Alibaba, boosted the confidence of the company’s executives in operations research, and made operations research one of the core competencies of Alibaba Group.

Keywords: vehicle routing problems; last-mile delivery; adaptive large neighborhood search; deep reinforcement learning; inner source; Edelman Award (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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